William Cody Bateman ☕ – ☀ "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." ~ Psalm 119:105

What is the Rapture?

The term Rapture indicates a swift catching up or rescuing of devoted followers of Christ before the terrible events of the Tribulation.

Does this mean that some people will not have to live through the holocaust that is coming? YES. Terrible events are coming—the Rapture is your ticket to escape.

The English term Rapture comes from the phrase “caught up” found in I Thessalonians 4. There the Greek text (the original language of the New Testament) includes the word “harpazo”, which means to seize upon with force or to catch or snatch up.

The Latin translators of the Greek New Testament Bible translated that word, harpazo, “rapturo”. The Latin, rapturo, became the root word for the English term Rapture.

Through the Rapture, God will catch-up His church—the devoted followers of Christ. By this event faithful followers of Christ will be saved from the terrible Tribulation-period events that are to come.

John, the writer of the book of Revelation, said it this way: The church will be “kept from the hour of testing that shall come upon the world” (Revelation 3:10).

Paul, writing of the quick and sudden nature of the Rapture records: “Behold I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment in the twinkling of an eye…the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised…and we shall be changed.” (1 Cor. 15:51-52)

Writing to the Thessalonian Church, Paul wrote:

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout…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.” (1 Thess. 16-18)

Jesus spoke about the suddenness of the Rapture:

“There will be two in the field, and then suddenly one will be left.”
“There will be two women grinding at the mill. One will be taken, and one will be left.”
In addition, in Luke 12 Jesus notes the importance of expecting His return. In Matthew 24 Jesus spoke of the need to be watching and waiting and ready for his return.

Summary:

The Rapture represents Jesus fulfilling His promise to come again (John 14:3 and Acts 1:9) and rescue His people, the true Church, from the upcoming time of wrath (Rev. 3:10).

There are more than two dozen allusions to the Rapture in the Bible. The admonition is to be spiritually prepared for this event. Those who are not spiritually prepared will be left behind and will have to endure the horrors of the seven-year tribulation period.

Visit IAmAWatchman.com to access an abundance of materials designed to reach the lost, encourage and equip the saints, and prepare all for the return of the Lord.

“But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.” (Titus 3:4)

Six times in the pastoral epistles Paul refers to God (evidently meaning the Father) as our Savior (1 Timothy 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4). Usually, however, he and the other New Testament writers identify Jesus Christ as our Savior. “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18, for example). In the same fashion, Paul relates that his commission to preach the gospel came from “God our Saviour” (Titus 1:3), while elsewhere he says his commission came “by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:12).

Is this a contradiction? No! In fact, references to God as our Savior should not surprise us, for it is found in numerous places in the Old Testament. (See, for example, Psalm 106:21.) Furthermore, our understanding of the Trinity insists that all three persons of the Godhead are One in God. Of course, Christ made many references to the fact that He was not acting on His own but came to do “the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38). Paul himself seemed to be comfortable with this seeming overlap, for in one sentence he wrote, “God our Saviour;…Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Titus 1:3-4). Such usages further confirm also that Jesus is God.

While Christ was the primary instrument of salvation as the perfect sacrifice for sin, God the Father is the source of all human salvation, and the application of the title Savior to Him is proper. Indeed, we derive great comfort as we see the role of all three Persons of the Godhead involved in our salvation.

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). JDM