The Rapture, as we believe, is the moment when Jesus calls for the Church and so, in a twinkling of an eye our bodies are transformed, and we are caught up to meet Jesus in the air. We will then spend the rest of the Tribulation period with Jesus in Heaven. The Rapture is a promise made to believers in Christ who are here in this Church Age that we will be gathered up to Jesus Christ. Jesus said that He does what the Father tells Him, and so He’s waiting for that word from the Father. I believe that we are on the cusp of the rapture!!
We have to almost go back to the origin of the word Rapture. A lot of people claim that word is not even in the Bible. Not true. The word “rapturo” or “rapio” can be found in the Latin Vulgate version in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The word expresses a quick action such as a snatching away.
All of us who look forward to the Rapture as the next major prophetic event realize that it will happen very quickly. Jesus promised, “Behold, I come quickly,” meaning “I come suddenly,”
I liken the Rapture to a pregnancy. The signs of the approaching due date were very evident, but we still didn’t know the exact moment. We could sense it was getting closer and closer. Like a delivery date, I believe that the timing of the Rapture is getting closer and closer.
In 1st Thessalonians the Apostle Paul has the following to say about the coming day of the Lord. Paul states that they will be saying peace and safety! Which means at the very least there will be an illusion of peace, of things getting better, things being ok. Paul claims it will come as a thief in the night, it will be a shock, a surprise, unexpected to those who are not children of the light. Paul goes on to say, that we are not of the night, that this should overtake us as a thief! For those of us watching, and living in expectancy of our Lord Jesus. This will not be shocking or surprising. It will be our delight and because of that we will receive a crown of righteousness!
Paul’s words in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-7 tell us that the Lord will remove the Holy Spirit’s restraining influence when He takes His church out of the world. This means the rapture must happen before the Lord allows Satan to install his man at the helm of the coming New World Order or what the World Economic Forum refers to as the Great Reset! The rapture will change everything in regard to the current dynamic between the demonic forces of evil seeking to destroy our world and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of countless millions. Without His restraint, Satan will bring his many to power and wreak much more havoc on the world that we currently see!
In the study of Eschatology, these two events are often confused. Both happen during end times and both describe a return of Christ. Yet there are important differences to discern. The following is a comparison of the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ, highlighting the key distinctions noted in Scripture. Jesus wanted his followers to be watchful, living each day as though his return was imminent. The message was simply, “Be Ready.” What we do know from the Bible is that the Rapture is a separate distinct event from the Second Coming.
1. THE PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE IS The ‘BLESSED HOPE’ WHILE THE SECOND COMING IS A DAY OF ‘GREAT WOE’!
In Titus 2:13, talking about the Rapture, Paul calls it “the Blessed Hope”, a day of great comfort and joy. From Chad Thomas’s (Watchman on the wall 88) article titled… THE RAPTURE : WHY IT’S CALLED THE BLESSED HOPE? Why are we told to look for that ‘Blessed Hope’? What is so ‘blessed,’ and why should our ‘hope’ be in it? I’ll tell you why, because it is an event where the Lord will remove Christians that are truly His before the coming judgement of God on this Christ-rejecting world. But in Amos 5:18, talking about the Day of the Lord, which is in fact the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, God tells us that it is a day of “great woe”, and greatly to be feared! Now, how can the Rapture and the Second Coming possibly be the same? Read Joel 3 for more on the ferocity and woefulness of the Second Coming. Paul calls the Rapture of the Church the “day of Christ”. The Second Coming is called the “day of the Lord”. The day of Christ is to be looked forward to, the Day of the Lord to be feared.
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJV) – The Rapture
“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.” 2 Thessalonians 2:2 (KJV) – The Rapture
“Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.” Amos 5:18 (KJV) – The Second Coming
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isaiah 13:9 (KJV) – The Second Coming
2. IN THE PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE, JESUS WILL RETURN FOR HIS SAINTS. AT THE SECOND COMING, HE WILL RETURN WITH HIS SAINTS!
Paul teaches over and over again that at the Rapture, the Church is taken up and out from off the face of the Earth. But at the Second Coming, Jesus returns with His saints. Another fatal difference when trying to reconcile the two events as one. The first it’s a “going up”, and in the second it’s a “coming down”. The Church had no part in the first sixty nine weeks of Daniel and it will have no part in the seventieth week.(Daniel 9:24)!
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 (KJV) – The Rapture
“And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” Revelation 19:24 (KJV) – The Second Coming
3. IN THE PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE, JESUS WILL APPEAR IN THE AIR, AT THE SECOND COMING, HE WILL DESEND TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES AS A PRELUDE TO HIS EARTHLY REIGN!
In both John and Paul’s writings, the promise of a “heavenly home” awaits for the born again Christian. We call this the Kingdom of God. But in the Second Coming, a thousand year kingdom is established on Earth, known as the Kingdom of Heaven. Christians are never promised an earthly home, but an heavenly one. The Jews and Tribulation saints were never promised that, they get instead a home on the Earth. The Church is mentioned 19 times in the first 3 chapters of Revelation, but there is no mention of the Church between Revelation 4:1 and Revelation 19:1.
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2,3 (KJV) – The Rapture
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4 (KJV) – The Second Coming
4. THE ANTICHRIST CANNOT BE REVEALED UNTILL AFTER THE RAPTURE (2 THESSALONIANS 2:6-8)!
The Pretribulation Rapture happens before the Antichrist and the Tribulation, while the Second Coming happens after both. Paul stresses repeatedly that one of the incredible benefits of being taken out in the Rapture is that you get to miss the entire wrath of the Great Tribulation. But Matthew tells us that the Second Coming is “after the Tribulation of those days”. The church is promised an excemption from divine wrath.( 1 Thess 1:10; 5:9 , Rom 5:9, Rev 3:10; 6:17 ).
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (KJV) – The Rapture
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” 2 Thessalonians 2:3 (KJV) – The Rapture
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 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.” Matthew 24:29,39 (KJV) – The Second Coming
5. IN THE PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE, IT IS IMMINENT. THE SECOND COMING WILL OCCUR SEVEN YEARS LATER!
When only the born again Church sees the Lord come for them, at the Second Coming the whole world witnesses it! The apostle Paul, who the Holy Spirit used to write that doctrine, also viewed it as a secret, he called it a “mystery”. In the Rapture, only the redeemed hear the Shout of the Lord and He calls us up to be with Him in the air. At the Second Coming, Jesus appears in JUDGMENT to the whole world!
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (KJV) – The Rapture
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” Revelation 1:7 (KJV) – The Second Coming
6. IN THE PRETRIBULATION, NO ANGELS ARE SENT TO GATHER THE CHURCH AT THE SECOND, ANGELS DO ALL GATHERING FOR JUDGEMENT!
Paul says that it is Jesus Himself who comes to gather His Church up and out of here. We hear His Shout, and “in the twinkling of an eye” we are gone. No angels are mentioned anywhere. Compare this with His Second Coming where only angels are sent to gather God’s elect, the Jewish remnant who made it through the Tribulation! The Lord will send out His angelic company to gather in the Jewish, believing remnant that He will rescue from the danger of all the world’s armies who have gathered by the anti-Christ in an attack upon Israel and Jerusalem. The Church must go to heaven for the marriage of the Lamb ( Revelation 19:7) before the second coming at the end of the tribulation period ( Revelation 19:11-14 ).
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52 (KJV) – The Rapture
“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.” Matthew 24:30,31 (KJV) – The Second Coming
7. THE BEMA SEAT JUDGEMENT FOLLOWS THE PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE WHILE THE JUDGEMENT OF THOSE WHO HAVE REJECTED HIM FOLLOWS THE SECOND COMING!
Immediately after the Rapture of the Church, Paul says that we will be appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ known as the Bema set judgement. This is not a judgment on sin, which was taken care of at Calvary, it is a crowning ceremony for what the we did or did not do for Jesus Christ after we got saved. But immediately after the Second Coming, the judgment that takes place is a public judgment!
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 (KJV) – The Rapture
“Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Matthew 25:44-46 (KJV) – The Second Coming
8. FAMINE, WAR AND PESTILENCE FOLLOW THE PRERIBULATION RAPTURE WHILE A THOUSAND YEARS OF PEACE THROUGH THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST FOLLOWS THE SECOND COMING!
After the Rapture, a time of unbelievable suffering is ushered in, the time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). But after the Second Coming, a 1,000 reign of the Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem brings a world peace so amazing that even poisonous animals are no longer dangerous. The verse in Matthew 24 where the apostles ask Jesus about the “sign of thy coming” is a direct reference to the Second Coming. The doctrine of the Rapture was unknown to them at this time and would not be revealed until Paul, 30 years from the writing of Matthew.
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:3,6-8 (KJV) – The Second Coming
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:6-10 (KJV) – The Second Coming
9. NO ONE IN THE BIBLE KNEW OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH UNTILL THE MYSTERY WAS REVEALED BY THE LORD TO PAUL!
This dispensation of Grace that we live in was revealed to the Apostle Paul. So, what of this mystery known as the Rapture? It’s a mystery because this was never a promise made to Israel! This is for me the greatest proof-texts for why the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming cannot be the same event. Paul, in Corinthians 15, is the very first to tell us of the Rapture of the Church, and lets us know that it is a “mystery” revealed by God to him alone which he then was charged with teaching the Church. Nearly every bible chronology places the date of the writing of Matthew at around 35 AD, and the writing of Corinthians at around 66 AD.
Why is this important? Because if no one knew of the doctrine of the Rapture of the Church until Paul, then Matthew 24 and 25 cannot be, under any circumstances, referring to the Church and the Rapture because no one knew of any Rapture. In fact, at the time of Matthew the Church itself was not even formed!
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51,52 (KJV) – The Rapture
10. AT THE PRE TRIBULATION RAPTURE BELIEVERS ARE GIVEN A GLORIFIED BODY, AT THE SECOND COMING THEY REMAIN IN EARTHLY BODIES AS THEY ENTER THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM!
At the Rapture of the Church, great personal and physical change takes place for the believer. The Bible says that the born again believer receives a new body that is fashioned just like the “glorious body” that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself was given at His Resurrection. How exciting for the believer to be able to look forward to that day. But at the Second Coming, as Jesus sets up His earthly government from Jerusalem, the people who made it through the Tribulation have no special bodies, and it is possible for them to die. Christians who get glorified bodies can never die.
“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Philippians 3:20,21 (KJV) – The Rapture
“But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.” Isaiah 65:17-21 (KJV) – The Second Coming
Over and over again we are told in the Bible to look for the Blessed Hope (Titus 2:13) which is Jesus Christ, and not for the Antichrist and not for any of the other signs. This principle of imminence is why we believe the Rapture has nothing that precedes it.
The tribulation is casting its shadow right here right now and we know the rapture happens first, SO HOW CLOSE ARE WE?! I would say closer than many realise! We don’t have to look for other signs, we just have to look for Jesus Christ!
