‘RAPTURE’

I cannot remember vividly if the Bible used the word RAPTURE in any way. Or better still I cannot remember ever seen the word Rapture in the Bible. I stand to be corrected. Though the word itself depicts the taken to heaven of the saints when Christ comes the second time. I am totally in agreement with the definition adduced to the word RAPTURE. Normally the word - bearing in mind the magnitude of what it stands for – should be seen in the same category in the Bible as words like judgement, righteousness, salvation, faith, sin, love, law, grace, mercy etc.

Having said that the word RAPTURE is not a biblical word, the meaning people attributed to it is a major future event in the bible. Therefore, I am going to discuss RAPTURE from the context of it meaning.

The book of Daniel in the Old Testament and the book of Revelation in the New Testament made significant analysis of powers, gospel, visions, judgements, new Jerusalem, Heaven, beast, dragon, the woman, testimony of Jesus Christ, horses of different colours, fire etc. all those aforementioned above are related to Christ Second coming.

Before I go deep into the integrity of how the second coming will unfold, I need to reiterate that many films and movies have acted RAPTURE. I have watched some of these movies but they are quite contrary to the process that is involved in the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The general believe is that people will be in twos, in threes and in groups and the saint will just disappear while the unjust will be left behind. It is quite true that the bible says two people will be walking together, one will be taken, and the other will not. I perfectly agree with that, but the scenario goes beyond that. Matt24:37-41 say 37 ‘For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left’.

Going by what Christ says, His coming the second time will not be, until the gospel has been preached to the whole world as witness Matt 24: 14 ‘And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come’. Christ also says (Matt24;36) “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Many self-acclaimed seers have predicted in the past the time and day that Christ would be coming. To my great surprised many Christians fell for this, and sold or gave away their belongings. Brethren where is your bible? Matt 24:23-27 ‘Then if anyone says to you, ‘look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christ and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man’. This is exactly where I disagree with peoples’ theory of RAPTURE where is it believed that only the saved that are raptured will see Christ coming. As lighting cannot be hiding, so also His coming. All eyes will see Him but only the saints would be able to stand while the unjust would be running to the rock and be asking the rocks to fall on them.

Christ second coming (RAPTURE AS PEOPLE TERMED IT) as explained in the book of Revelation is in total agreement with how Christ Himself described it in the book of Matt 24. At His second coming, there will be four (4) different groups of people on earth: the living righteous; the righteous dead; the living unjust and the unjust dead. Before I continue can I quickly mention that Christ Second coming and His judgement will not happen simultaneously? According to the book of revelation chapter 20; judgement will come after the 1000years reign of the righteous with Christ in heaven.

Back to the Rapture stuff, at the Second coming of Christ, a loud trumpet shall sound, Christ shall appear in the cloud on a white horse, at the sound of this trumpet, the dead in Christ shall rise and will be cut up with Christ after which the living righteous will be cut up with Him as well. According to the book of Matthew account, all eyes shall see him both of the just and the wicked. Christ’s feet will not touch the earth at the second coming until the earth is cleanse of all it unrighteousness. Both the dead and living righteous will go to heaven with him for 1000 years. Rev 20:4 ‘Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

The unjust dead will remain in their tomb until the end of the 1000years Rev 20:5. 5 ‘The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection’. The living unjust will still be alive but will not have the opportunity of repenting anymore because by then Christ would have pronounced that let the righteous remain righteous and let the unjust remain unjust. No more chance to repent at this time. Satan will be bounded and throw into the bottomless pit for the 1000years and will be made inactive. ‘Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while’; Rev 20:1-3.

After the 1000years, Satan will be released for a while Rev 20: 7-8 ‘And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. The book will be opened and both the unjust dead and the unjust living will be judged according to the book of life. He whose name is not found in the book of life will be judged to eternal destruction (second death). It simply means that even the unjust dead will be resurrected to face judgement, Act 24:15 15 ‘having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
Satan will gather all the wicked ones in an attempt to take the New Jerusalem but will not succeed. There is the misconception that those who will not make it to heaven for the 1000years but are still living can be saved by sacrificing their own blood. Brethren, this is a false and wrong teaching. There is nowhere in the entire bible where such was mentioned. Judgement is another topic for another time, God bless.