"13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words." (I Thess. 4: 13-18 nkjv)
This being "caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" is what is called "the rapture." No one disagrees on what it is, all affirming that it is the catching away of those believers who have not died at the time when Christ appears in the clouds of the air. The disagreement comes over when the rapture occurs in relation to other things, such as the second coming, the resurrection and judgment of the living and dead, and especially of "the great tribulation" spoken of by Christ in the gospels and by Christ in the Book of Revelation. Does the rapture occur before the great tribulation and before the day of wrath? Or during it? Or after it?
Further, in the text the meeting place is the lower atmosphere, the place where are the clouds; And the Greek word for "air" being "aer" and not "ouranos," meaning the atmosphere where birds fly, clouds roam, where are the peaks of the mountains, where dust is blown in winds, etc. It is not the extreme outermost sphere, nor outer space.
Further, the Greek word for "meet" shows that it means greet, as one who greets someone who is coming to his house at some point before he comes all the way so that he can escort him back the remaining way. The text also says that this rapture of living believers occurs in conjunction with the 1) resurrection of the bodies of all the righteous dead, and the 2) descent of the spirits of the righteous dead from heaven (so as to unite with their ascending bodies in the clouds and then experience glorification, the transformation of their bodies suited for immortality and eternal life, and equipping, etc.)
Notice that the rapture takes away all the saved people on earth and this leaves only unsaved people on earth. Further, it seems that the ones who are "left" on earth are the unsaved. Yet, other scriptures seem to say that it is the wicked who are taken away in the final judgment, thus leaving only the righteous on earth. So, how can both these be true? Who is taken away and who is left on earth? Before addressing that question, let us list some of the leading passages dealing with the rapture and resurrection gathering of believers when Christ appears in the clouds of the sky.
Texts on the Rapture Gathering
"...but gather the wheat into my barn." (Matt. 13: 30)
We have been discussing that text at length. We have also looked at this text:
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." (II Thess. 2: 1-2 kjv)
Other verses that also speak of the same harvest, and let us begin with this text from the Psalmist:
"Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah." (Psa. 50: 3-6)
Of course, each time a righteous person dies he is "gathered unto his people" (Gen. 25: 8; Etc.) But, this is a gathering of disembodied spirits in heaven by death that has been going on every day since the beginning of the human race, and is not the gathering (rapture) of the end time harvest of all living believers that occurs when Christ returns.
Christ spoke of the rapture as occurring when he returns, saying:
"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matt. 24: 30-31)
"And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." (John 11: 49-52)
Paul also wrote of it when he writes:
"That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him." (Eph. 1: 10)
Is This The Rapture?
"And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left." (Luke 17: 26-36 KJV)
"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." (Matt. 24: 37-41)
Though these verses are often cited as dealing with the rapture and showing that it is the righteous who are taken away and the unrighteous who are left on earth, they show just the opposite. The ones who were "taken away" by the flood were the wicked and the ones left were the eight righteous souls of Noah and his family.
On the other hand, some make the argument that the text says that Lot went out of Sodom before the destruction fell upon the wicked and so say that this is what happens when Christ returns, i.e. the righteous go out of the world and then comes the great tribulation or day of wrath.
Again, the main idea is one of separation of those living on earth when Christ comes. Further, there is judgment and destruction for the wicked both before Christ's appearance in the clouds and the rapture of the saints and also afterward. The final destruction of the wicked occurs when Christ descends with his saints from the clouds of heaven. Recall too these words:
"For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it; But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it." (Prov. 2: 21-22 nkjv)
So, many of the wicked will be taken away by the judgments of the Apocalypse before the righteous are raptured, but the rest when Christ descends with his people and with the angels.
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