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Line 47: − − There is some debate within dispensationalist/tribulationist circles over whether the Rapture will occur before, during or after the reign of the [[Antichrist]], but the original reference by St [[Paul]] that "we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (at I Thessalonians 4:17) clearly dates it to the time of the [[Second Coming]], and does not suggest in any way that it will result in Christians being spared in advance the horrors of the [[Tribulation]], as is sometimes proposed. Matthew 24:29-35 seems to favor the [[Prewrath Rapture|pre-wrath]] position, however:+
Added sections for Pre-Trib and Post-Trib/Pre-Wrath, streamlined introduction, removed duplication
'''The Rapture''' (from the Greek word έκσταση, ekstasi) is an event expected to take place in the [[Last Days]] as was first explained by a mid-19th century preacher, John Nelson Darby. John Nelson Darby interpreted 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 in the New Testament of the Bible as the occasion on which future believers in Jesus Christ will be suddenly taken away prior to the events of the war of Armageddon and the ushering in of the Millennial Kingdom.
'''The Rapture''' is a term used to describe the physical resurrection of the Church which many expect to take place in the [[Last Days]]. As described in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, this resurrection will include Christians who have not yet died physically.
==Meaning of the term==
==Meaning of the term==
The word ''rapture'' is not found in the Bible, but taken from the Greek word "harpazo" (pronounced har-pad'-zo). The term is found 13 times in the New Testament (including Revelation 12:5 which addresses Jesus' ascent described in the Book of Acts). According to Strong's Greek Dictionary, "Harpazo" means "to seize (in various applications): - catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force)." To this effect, most modern Christian ministries{{fact}} imply that "rapture" means "harpazo," which specifically points to being "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
The word ''rapture'' is not found in the Bible, but taken from the Latin word "rapio" which in turn was taken from the Greek word "harpazo" (pronounced har-pad'-zo). The term is found 13 times in the New Testament (including Revelation 12:5 which addresses Jesus' ascent described in the Book of Acts). According to Strong's Greek Dictionary, "Harpazo" means "to seize (in various applications): - catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force)." To this effect, most modern Christian ministries{{fact}} imply that "rapture" means "harpazo," which specifically points to being "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
Others have derived the concept of the rapture from the Greek word έκσταση, which is translated as ''ekstasi''.
Others have derived the concept of the rapture from the Greek word έκσταση, which is translated as ''ekstasi''.
==Origin of the doctrine==
==Controversy Surrounding Rapture==
The Rapture is a controversial topic primarily due to disagreements over when it will occur in relationship to other end time events such as before, during, near the end (pre-wrath) or after the seven year tribulation period. (The seven year tribulation was first specified in the Bible in Daniel 9:24-27 as the last week or final seven year period of Jewish time.) There are also disagreements as to whether all members of the church or some members will be resurrected in the rapture. A related controversial topic is dispensationalism which is typically promoted by those who believe the rapture will occur prior to the seven year tribulation. Briefly, dispensationalism holds that God deals with people differently during different time periods or ages on the Earth. Those who promote a pre-tribulation rapture insist that there must be a clean break between the Church age and the final seven years of Jewish time which they believe to be in the future. This difference explains why those who do not believe in dispensations believe the last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15:52 is in reference to the last trumpet in Revelation 11:15 while those who believe in dispensations and the pre-tribulation rapture interpret this verse to be the last trumpet or gathering together of the church which is found in Revelation 4:1.
==Origin==
There are several theories on the origin of the rapture.<ref>Sanders, E.F. [http://www.theologue.org/origins.html ''The Origin of the Pretribulational Rapture Theory''] (n.d.)</ref> Most of these are dated from the late 18th century onwards, but the concept was most popularly explained by [[John Nelson Darby]], a mid-19th century preacher.
There are several theories on the origin of the rapture.<ref>Sanders, E.F. [http://www.theologue.org/origins.html ''The Origin of the Pretribulational Rapture Theory''] (n.d.)</ref> Most of these are dated from the late 18th century onwards, but the concept was most popularly explained by [[John Nelson Darby]], a mid-19th century preacher.
Those who do not accept the pre-tribulation view of the rapture like to point out that the rapture was first explained by a mid-19th century preacher, John Nelson Darby. Those who believe in a pre-tribulation view will either say there is sufficient explanation in the Bible or point out that Saint Ephrem The Syrian wrote about the concept of the rapture if not in the same terminology.
==Biblical References and Exegesis==
==Some justifications supporting the Pre-Tribulation view==
The concept of the rapture is described as a mystery or something which was not revealed in the Old Testament. However, the disciples would have been familiar with the resurrection mentioned in the Old Testament which describes believers being resurrected to the Earth and then God’s Messiah setting up God’s physical kingdom on the Earth. Based on the perceptions of the physical kingdom of Jesus on the Earth, there was a consensus among the people when Jesus was on the Earth that God’s Kingdom would be established on the Earth as opposed to starting out in Heaven: Matthew 21:8-9; Acts 1:6; John 21:23.
===Old Testament and Tribulation Saints who died are resurrected to the Earth===
Jude 14 Describes a freshly resurrected Enoch on the ground admiring the return of Jesus with His Saints returning from Heaven with Him
Daniel 12:2 Describes saints who are sleeping (meaning they are dead) who are resurrected to the Earth (not to Heaven) at the end of the age.
The resurrection which occurs at the return of Jesus Christ will include believers from Adam until the resurrection of Jesus Christ and also those who became born again after the rapture of the church but then died before the end.
===Tribulation Believers Alive at the Return of Jesus Will Be Rescued, Not Resurrected===
Daniel 12:1 Describe believers alive on the Earth who are physically rescued by angels and then left alive on the Earth without a resurrection.
Joel 2:32 Describes believers alive on the ground who manage to escape or endure the trials of the last of the last days who will be spared or saved with no mention of a resurrection.
Zechariah 14:5 Describes saints alive on the ground who are greeted by the Lord's return who is accompanied by a multitude of His Holy Ones (who are the previously resurrected Church).
Matthew 24:31 is a repeat of Daniel 12:1 where angels physically rescue believers who endured to the end. Angels are incapable of resurrecting people and do not escort people who have angelic bodies.
Matthew 24:37-41 The return of Jesus Christ will be just the same as the days of Noah where believers were physically saved and remained on the Earth and unbelievers were killed without a resurrection. Just as in Noah's days, those taken off the Earth as described in Matthew 24:37-41 are all sinners; those who are left behind on the Earth are all believers.
===Differences in authority between Church and Believers during Tribulation===
Matthew 24:15-28 describes the primary method to endure to the end which is to run away from the anti-Christ. This command to run away from the anti-Christ tells us that these people are not members of the Church whom Jesus gave authority over the gates of hell but rather people who became born again after the rapture of the church. Although believers at this time will not have the same authority as individual believers during the church age, God will be able to perform large scale miracles such as those performed during the Jewish time period by Moses and Elijah as recorded in Revelation 11:6 and Angels will fly through the sky preaching the Gospel to people on the Earth followed by warnings of not believing in God Revelation 14:6-11. Based on the different ways that God works with people on the Earth between the Jewish age and the Church age, there are some who believe the rapture will occur either during or immediately before the war described in Ezekiel 38-39 since God will be able to perform overtly obvious miracles to protect the nation of Israel after the Church has left the Earth. Then these two enormous signs of God's faithfulness to His people (the rapture of the church and His divine protection of Israel) will motivate many to believe in God who, if they can endure to the end, will be among those who are then saved by angels seven years later when Jesus returns to the Earth.
==Some justification supporting the Post-Tribulation and Pre-Wrath views==
John Nelson Darby interpreted 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 as the occasion on which future believers in Jesus Christ will be suddenly taken away prior to the events of the war of Armageddon and the ushering in of the Millennial Kingdom:
John Nelson Darby interpreted 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 as the occasion on which future believers in Jesus Christ will be suddenly taken away prior to the events of the war of Armageddon and the ushering in of the Millennial Kingdom:
{{Bible quote|But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.' For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.|book=1Thessalonians|chap=4|verses=13-18|version=KJV}}
{{Bible quote|But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.' For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.|book=1Thessalonians|chap=4|verses=13-18|version=KJV}}
* A peace treaty between Israel and the Arabs for seven years (Daniel 9)
* A peace treaty between Israel and the Arabs for seven years (Daniel 9)
* The commencement of the rebuilding of the Jewish temple on its original site in Jerusalem.
* The commencement of the rebuilding of the Jewish temple on its original site in Jerusalem.
The website 'Rapture Ready' maintains an index of how close the world apparently is to the Rapture.<ref>[http://www.raptureready.com/rap2.html Rapture Ready]</ref>
The website 'Rapture Ready' maintains an index of how close the world apparently is to the Rapture.<ref>[http://www.raptureready.com/rap2.html Rapture Ready]</ref>
===Relationship with Tribulationism===
===Relationship with Tribulationism===
The original reference by St [[Paul]] that "we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (at I Thessalonians 4:17) clearly dates it to the time of the [[Second Coming]], and does not suggest in any way that it will result in Christians being spared in advance the horrors of the [[Tribulation]], as is sometimes proposed. Matthew 24:29-35 seems to favor the [[Prewrath Rapture|pre-wrath]] position, however:
{{Bible quote|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. 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. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.|book=Matthew|chap=24|verses=29-35|version=KJV}}
{{Bible quote|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. 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. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.|book=Matthew|chap=24|verses=29-35|version=KJV}}