Rapture Q&A - Part 1

What are the different views of the rapture?

For the answer to that question and more, stay tuned. I believe that the number one thing that will cause America to almost dissolve is the rapture of the church. I don't need the clapping. I want to be out of here. First, I want a new body because this tent is not for me.

I want a building and I want to be in the presence of the Lord whenever he comes to take us and meet with us in the clouds. Until then, we are up for unbelievable ride on a roller coaster, emotional roller coaster, physical roller coaster. It's going to be amazing. But remember, remember, remember, Jesus is coming soon. Welcome to Discerning the Times. It is great to be with you once again this week. And I certainly agree with Amir Tsarfati, who you heard in that opening clip, that I am looking forward to the rapture and I am really praying and hoping that it is very soon. So we will talk about that subject on today. But before we get to that, I need to remind you, as we always do, that your eternal state is far more important than your current state. If you've never received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I encourage you to do so today.

Otherwise, if you leave this out of life without having done so, you will spend eternity in the lake of fire separated from God. So will you please give your heart to Jesus Christ on today? All right, folks. So again, we are going today to begin a two part series on the rapture. We want to answer several questions.

And I am really looking forward to dialogue with my co-host, Dr. Bruce Logan, who I will bring in shortly. But before we get into the questions, I want to share just some opening thoughts concerning this topic of the rapture itself. The apostle Paul wrote of this in First Thessalonians chapter four, verse 13 through 18.

And I want to highlight in this text and what he said in verse beginning with verse 15. He said, 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. 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. 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, therefore comfort one another with these words.

So a very, very powerful passage. Again, this topic of the rapture draws a lot of interest from people, a lot of conversation from a lot of people. But I just want to share again before we get into the question that when the rapture occurs, millions of Christians will vanish from the earth. And the subject is controversial because the Bible does not explicitly state when it will occur.

So it's really not a debate over whether it will occur, but it is over the timing of its occurrence, meaning in terms of sequence. The free dictionary dot com defines the term rapture as, number one, the state of being transported by lofty emotion, ecstasy. And number two, an expression of ecstatic feeling often used in the plural.

And number three, the transporting of a person from one place to another, especially to heaven. Now, there are those out there, the naysayers, they say, well, the word rapture is not found in English translations of the Bible, but it is in the Latin Vulgate of the Bible. And it is derived from the the Latin term rapio, which means to seize quickly or suddenly or to snatch away. Now, the Greek equivalent of rapio is harpazo, which means to raise from the ground, take for oneself or simply to choose. And when translated into English, both words mean to be caught up or snatched away. The apostle Paul wrote First Thessalonians Chapter four, verse 17, originally in the Greek using the term harpazo. And when we translate that into English, the words caught up are used. And again, just one more thing that I want to say to set this up is that I want to tell people out there for those who argue that, well, the word rapture is not even in the Bible.

They'll say that you try to dismiss it. Well, the words Bible, the words demon, Trinity are not found in the Bible. But of course, we all know those is this demon is not found in the King James version of the Bible. But we know that the Bible, we know that demons, we know that Trinity, they all exist.

And so don't get caught up, folks, in this whole thing about that exact word. The concept is there and that is what we want to focus on. But I want to bring in my co-host, Dr. Bruce Logan. And Doc, any thoughts concerning the introduction before we get into the questions on the rapture? Well, first of all, I'm excited to be able to share with you this fantastic topic, a topic that can't be spoken about enough, because, you know, as it relates to the current events in this world, we can see that the events that are described in the Bible is really upon us. And I think honestly, to be honest, I can't really think of a more important topic than this topic of the rapture and when would it occur. And hopefully during the course of this conversation that those who are listening will be able to, you know, develop a more of a hunger to learn more about God's word and what God's word has to say about end time events and to be watchful, to be looking, to be more critical thinking when it comes to the events of this world and what's happening in the political arena around the world and so on and so forth.

And hopefully that that will come out of what we're discussing today. But I really enjoyed, you know, the introduction and especially the clip from Amir that talks about, you know, the next great thing that's going to happen, a prophetic event is probably we're looking for, according to scripture, is the rapture of the church. And, you know, folks, I just want you to understand that we all live through COVID and when the rapture occurs, it's going to make everything surrounding COVID seems like, you know, looks like a bad case of the flu. And it's going to be it's going to be so cataclysmic. In fact, I heard one teacher say that the rapture is going to be the most cataclysmic event that ever happened in human history. And if you can imagine that millions upon millions of people all of a sudden is going to be snatched away in an instant, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, as the scripture tells us, and imagine what that's going to happen to the world, to the stock market, to the hospital system and, you know, because people are going to be driving in cars and be caught up flying in planes and be caught up and pilots are going to be caught up. So imagine just the worldwide cataclysm that that's going to be. And it is going to open the door for a worldwide leader to step in and bring calm and peace. And that's going to open the door for the Antichrist, I firmly believe, and which is all the more reason, especially coming out of COVID and all the the the world government mandates to put out and everybody just just capitulated to because of the fear of COVID.

And it's going to be the same thing because what COVID did is set the precedent for that one world government and that one world leader to step in. So that I know that was just a kind of a long segue. But it's it's it's this is, as you can probably tell, this is one of my favorite topics. All right, well, let's get into it and into our listening audience.

These are questions that we have compiled from years of going through this topic. So we just wanted to share some of the main questions when it comes to this topic of the rapture. So the first question is, what are the different views of the rapture? So the one that I want to share first is the post tribulation rapture view. That is the belief that the rapture in the second coming is a single event that occurs at the end of the seven year tribulation.

It is often based on Matthew Chapter 24, verse 31, which states and he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So, again, this is the view that the rapture and the second coming is one single event that takes place at the end of the seven year tribulation. Then there's the mid tribulation rapture view, which is the belief that the church will be raptured midway of the tribulation just before Antichrist, his reign of terror begins. So the people in this camp believe the seventh trumpet sounds at the midpoint of the tribulation.

The church is taken up and then the bold judgments are poured out upon the earth. Thirdly, there is the pre wrath rapture view, and that is the belief that the rapture will occur during the tribulation, but before God's wrath begins. So this all comes down to timing as to when you think God's wrath begins. So they believe that God's wrath begins at about about five years and a quarter into the tribulation. They believe the rapture is just before that point when God's wrath begins. And then lastly, there's the pre tribulation rapture view, which is the view that we hold to here. That is the belief that the rapture will occur before the tribulation begins and is a separate event from the second coming of Jesus Christ. So that's the first question, Doc.

What do you have up next? Yeah, the next question that we have, which is a very good question of all those views that you just outlined and highlighted, which, of course, again, just to reiterate what you said. We firmly believe in the pre tribulation rapture view, which basically means that, as you stated, that the rapture will occur prior to the seven year tribulation period. But with that, the next question that we have is which rapture view provides the most hope and comfort to us as believers? And, of course, that's an easy one because it's without question, which regardless of which view that you hold to, there is no view other than the pre tribulation rapture view that provides the most hope for the believer. And Paul, in a scripture that you also quoted in First Thessalonians Chapter four, as it relates to the rapture, he starts that dialog out by saying sorrow not or be not sorrowful as those who have no hope.

Jesus rose and those who sleep in Jesus will also rise. Now, so he goes on to tell us and that same narrative in verse 18, he says, Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. And so, in other words, he's letting us know that these words should bring comfort to us if we continue to meditate and on the idea that the rapture will occur before the wrath of God is poured out on the earth.

And, of course, you know, that's another subject we can discuss at another time. In fact, we've also done episodes on the difference between the wrath of God and God's judgment. And when we're talking about the seven year tribulation, we're specifically talking about God's wrath being poured out, which is a completely different animal altogether. So but yes, so the idea that we will be delivered from that, that we will be transported regardless if we have died first or those are going to be still alive when it occurs, that without question will provide the believer the most comfort and hope.

Yeah. And that segues into the next question, because when we talk about having hope and comfort, you know, we're being comforted from all of the calamities that are going to come on the earth during that time. And so the next question that we have is, does the rapture protect Christians from God's wrath? Now, as I said, with the different views, there are other views other than the pre tribulation or rapture view that also believe we are protected from God's wrath because they believe the wrath starts at later points of the tribulation. But concerning the view of the pre tribulation or rapture view, and that's the aspect where I am coming from this. Romans chapter five, verse nine says, much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Now, there are some out there that say this is a reference to the wrath of eternal damnation in the lake of fire. And then there are some out there that say this could mean Christians will be protected during the tribulation in the same way that God protected the Hebrew slaves from the plagues against the Egyptians or in the same way that he is going to protect the 144,000 Jews in the tribulation. And, you know, that those things could be the case. And now God has the power.

He could do that. But I truly believe that when we look at Romans five, nine, that it is talking about the wrath that he speaks of that is going to be poured out on the earth during the seven year tribulation, that he is going to literally take us. He's going to literally remove Christians from the earth during that time because we are told to wait on Jesus and he will deliver us from the wrath to come. That's First Thessalonians chapter one, verse 10. And, you know, the Bible makes it clear that those who receive salvation through Jesus Christ are not appointed to wrath.

That's First Thessalonians chapter five, verse nine. And so that really ties into, as you just say it with the question, the hope and comfort. When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we have that comfort of knowing that we are not appointed to his wrath.

And so there are those out there that I think they get things sort of sort of mixed up. And I'll speak to that in just a moment. But Luke Chapter 21, verse 36 says, Watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to do what? To escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. So a lot of people out there have discussions with them on this topic. There are some who say, well, what makes us so special today that we think we don't have to suffer as the early church did, or even as the church in other parts of the world outside of our nation are suffering.

So they'll say, why do we think we don't have to go through that? But the issue is people are confusing or they're merging together God's wrath and Satan's wrath. But those are two totally different things. Because the early church, when they were being fed to hungry lions and when they were being sold in half and used as human torches to light the gardens, they were suffering Satan's wrath. Satan was out to destroy the church. And that is why Jesus said when he gave the charge to the apostles to establish the church, he said the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

That is what was taking place. But, folks, that is against Satan's wrath. God is not going to pour out wrath on the church, on those who have already received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So what we're going to see during the seven year tribulation is God pouring out his wrath upon those who have rejected his son, God the son, Jesus Christ. He is going to pour out his wrath upon them for having done so. We as the church, by definition, we've already received Jesus Christ. So he's not going to pour out his wrath on us for something that we did not do, which would be rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So any thoughts on that, Doc, before I toss it to you for our fourth question?

Yeah, just real quick. I love the way you broke that down. And I just want the listeners to just remember that that's what you described is a very, very important distinction that needs to be made if you want to be an astute Bible student, especially if you want to really learn more about Bible prophecy, learning the difference between the wrath of God and the wrath of Satan, but also to learn the difference between God's judgment and God's wrath. Those are also two completely different things. And so, in other words, when the Jews were taken into captivity in Babylon, they were suffering God's judgment because of their sin and because of their iniquity. But that was not the wrath of God, which is to come in the future during the tribulation period.

That's something completely different. And so that's a very important distinction that I'm glad you were able to highlight. Now, the next question, though, that we have is also, I think, a very, very good question. And it says, what is imminence and how does it relate to the rapture? So basically, we're talking about the writer of the question wanted to understand about the doctrine or the teaching of imminence. And what do we mean by imminence or something is imminent? The word imminent actually means something that is likely to happen at any moment, something that is impending, something that's going to happen for an assurity.

We may not know when precisely, but we know that it's going to happen. In other words, the doctrine of imminence is the idea that Jesus Christ could return at any moment without warning and that believers should be prepared. Now, this is a very interesting topic because Jesus spoke about this on a couple of occasions and he used terms and remember, again, I'm getting put in my Bible teacher hat on here. And when you studying scripture, you got to remember that Jesus often used analogies that everyday people could relate to in order to convey a spiritual point. And when it comes to this idea of imminence, this is a perfect example. There's a number of examples, but I'm just going to cite two very quickly in which Jesus referred to this idea of imminence as a woman or a woman who's in sorrow or a woman who's in travail, meaning a woman who's in labor about to deliver. And the first passage is in Saint John chapter 16 verses 20 through 21. I just want to read that real quickly. It says, barely, barely I said to you that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. I just want you to lock that verse in your mind. Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

And then it goes on to give a description as to exactly what he meant by that. As a woman, when she is in travail, has sorrow or a woman who is in labor has sorrow because her hour is come. But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish for the joy that a man is born into the world. Now, any woman who's ever had a child or any father who's ever been in the delivery room, and then I have two children and I was in the delivery room for both of my children. And what happens is those who experience this will know that they have what they call doctors come in and they measured a woman and they know by the certain amount of centimeters that the woman is open that it's going to be time for the birth to occur. So in other words, when they come in and measure and they'll say, oh, well, she's only at four centimeters.

Well, you know, it's imminent. This child is going to be born and nothing can stop it. But you don't know when precisely because, you know, there are stories of women who's in labor for three, four, five days and then some who's only in there for four, three, four, five hours and then they deliver.

So you don't have any way of knowing, but one of the things you know for certain is that this child is coming and nothing you can do can stop it. And so that's basically what Jesus is saying here by the doctrine of imminent. He mentions it again in Matthew 24. His first mentions it in chapter in verse five and then again in verse 44 and verse five, he says, I'm sorry, in verse eight, he says, All these things are the beginning of sorrows. Again, using that analogy again, when he was previously referring, this, of course, is Olivet Discourse, where he was answering his disciples questions about when shall the time of the end be and when shall his coming be?

That was his famous Olivet Discourse. And he begins to outline a different list of signs that were going to occur. He said, these are the beginning of sorrow.

These are the beginning of labor pains, of birth pains. Then drop down to verse 44. He says, Therefore be also ready for in such an hour as you think not the son of man cometh. And so basically what he was saying that is his coming is imminent. Nothing can stop it, just like a woman in travail, just like a woman having labor. So we believe that the Lord is coming.

He's going to return. We don't know when, just like a woman who's in labor, you know, there's no way to pinpoint the exact moment that that child is going to be delivered. But we all but we know that that child is going to is going to come and nothing that we can do can stop it. And that's what we mean by the doctrine of imminence or the imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There's a number of other scriptures, but I just want to quote real quick and I'm going to turn it back over. But when Jesus ascended, his final ascension back up into heaven, after he was given his last instruction to his apostles, giving them the Great Commission and telling them that they were going to be in do with power, letting them know to go wait in Jerusalem until they are in do with power. And then all of a sudden, he's ascends out of their sight up into heaven. And as they're gauging up into heaven and watching him ascend up, two angels stood by them and said, Ye men of Galilee, why are you standing here gazing up into heaven?

And notice what the angel says. This same Jesus, as you see go up into heaven, shall someday come back in like manner as you see him go up into heaven. And again, so that event is imminent.

He's going to return and there's nothing we can do to stop it. We don't know when, but we do know that he's coming without question. And we as believers, it is incumbent upon us to be ready and watchful.

Yeah. And so that is a good note to end on. We're going to stop on that question for this week because that sets us up for where we're going to pick up next week, which is concerning the Jewish marriage tradition and the rapture of the church in which we'll go. We're going to talk about the fact that the bride did not know when the bridegroom would be coming for her.

So she had to be ready at all times. And as we've answered these questions, these questions all point to what we believe are great supports for the pre tribulation or rapture view, because as you said, imminence means it can happen at any moment. But in all the other views, there is no imminence. Because, well, mere tribulation, you say, well, the tribulation hasn't began yet. And when it does begin, you can start the countdown three and a half years. OK, then the rapture. Same thing with post tribulation or rapture. People who hold their views say the rapture cannot happen now because, well, again, the seven year tribulation has to begin and conclude. So these are many the one of the several of the many reasons as to why we believe the pre tribulation or rapture view is the correct view.

So we're going to park it right there this week, Doc. And we're going to come back next week again to continue and close out this this short series on questions concerning the rapture of the church. So to our listening audience, we want to thank you for tuning in. Please come back and join us next time as we continue to discern the times by viewing life through the lens of the Bible. Until then, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel until the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Thank you for tuning in to Discerning the Times. Please come back and join us next week as we continue to encourage you to view current events through the lens of the Bible. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God.