Who’s right when it comes to the Rapture?

Written by: Johnny Clay

These are some viewpoints about the “rapture” of The Church. There are those who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, there are those who believe in a mid-tribulation rapture, there are those who believe in a post-tribulation rapture and there are those who do not believe in the rapture of the Church.

The Greek word from this term “rapture” is derived appears in 1st Thessalonians 4:17, translated “caught up.” The Latin translation of this verse used the word rapturo. The Greek word it translates is harpazo, which means to snatch or take away. Elsewhere it is used to describe how the Spirit caught up Philip near Gaza and brought him to Caesarea (Acts 8:39) and to describe Paul’s experience of being caught up into the third heaven (2nd Corinthians). Thus, there can be no doubt that the word is used in 1st Thessalonians 4:17 to indicate the actual removal of people from earth to heaven.

In the Book of Revelation there are four groups of sevens in Revelation. 7 Churches, 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets and 7 Bowls Judgment. In reading about the 7 Churches it is interesting to note that there are only two Churches that are without fault. These two Churches are Smyrna and Philadelphia, the second and sixth Church. All seven Churches are within the Nation of Turkey.

The interesting part about the 7 Seals is what takes place between the 6th and the 7th Seals. Between the 6th and the 7th Seals are the 144,000 Israelites from the twelve tribes of Israel are sealed. Revelation 7:3-4, “Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel”.

The most important part about the 7 Trumpets are the 5th and the 6th Trumpet. Here the bottomless pit is opened, and demons are turned loose upon this earth. They have a King over them who is Abaddon or Apollyon. This is the same one who will kill the two witness and he will become the 8th King and setup the mark of the beast (Revelation 17:10-11).

The last of these sevens is the Bowl Judgement. The main event is the Battle of Armageddon. Satan is bound for a thousand years and then turn loose, and Satan will deceive all the nations of this world which will bring forth the End of humans and the End of this World (Isaiah 65:17, 66:22, 2nd Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1).

There are Three Woes in Revelation 8:13, “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” The first woe starts with the 5th Trumpet, Revelation 9:12, “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. The second woe starts with the 6th Trumpet and end after the two witness are taken to Heaven. Then the last woe which is the wrath of God. Revelation 9:12, “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter”. Revelation 11:14, “The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly”.

So, when will the Bride of Christ be taken out of this world or we can say the RAPTURE. Let’s consider some viewpoints. First, we should remember what Jesus said in, Matthew 24:36 and in Mark 13:32, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only”. Nowhere in the New Testament does it foretell the time or the date of the Rapture. Over hundreds of people have tried to foretell the date of Christ return starting around 53 A.D, even before all the books of the Bible were written, there was talk that Christ’s return had already taken place. There was a rumor that Christ had already return and the Thessalonians panicked and when Paul heard about this rumor that the day of the Lord was at hand, and they had missed the rapture, Paul wrote to this Church. However how many remembers a person called Harold Camping who predicted the end of the world in 1994 and then predicted that on May 21, 2011 at exactly 6pm, sunset in Jerusalem that the Lord would return and the rapture. However, they were wrong. There are no scriptures that foretells the date of the rapture and because of this, then people will search within the Bible for any scriptures that will agree with their belief.

Those that believe in the Pre-Tribulation will use the “DOOR” in Revelation 4:1, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter”. Matthew 24:33, “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors”. Matthew 25:10 “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut”. John 10:7, “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep”. John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture”. They believe that the Church is raptured before the Seals are opened and Tribulation. They use the issue that Noah and his family was saved and entered the Ark and God shut the door, before the wrath of God fell upon the earth. Just because the Apostle John mentions a “door” it does not foretell of a date nor a time.

Another group called the Mid-Tribulation will use Revelation 11:12, “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them”. Revelation 14:14-16, “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped”. 2nd Thessalonians 2:2-12, “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. 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; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time”. They use the words, “Come up hither”, “falling away, man of sin revealed, sitteth in the temple of God”. God was talking too the two witness and not to the Church. Remember that Jesus said, “no one knows, and he will come as a thief in the night. The Apostle Paul said the same in 1st Thessalonians 5:2, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night”. The “man of sin revealed” how will this happen? Some believe that the Antichrist will be revealed when he takes his place in the Temple at Jerusalem during the middle of tribulation. This would mean that the Church will not know who the Antichrist is until the middle of the tribulation. But there is something left out and that is the war between Israel and the Arabs, called the Gog and Magog war. Whoever comes forth with the Seven years Peace Treaty will be the Antichrist. This global world of people will embrace this person and the religious community will honor him at the Vatican as a god. This Church of Rome will play a very important role in setting up the Antichrist’s kingdom (Revelation 17). A temple does not necessarily mean the 3rd Temple in Jerusalem because a Church House is also considered the temple of God in its worship. But during the middle of tribulation the Antichrist will attend a ceremony at Jerusalem and break the Seven years Peace Treaty. When he proclaims that he is God then he will be wounded unto death and then the King of the Demons will take over his body and become the Eight King. This will be the beginning of the Mark of the Beast. If the rapture of the Church is in the middle of the tribulation and the souls who were killed during the Great Tribulation or the last 31/2 years and they are resurrected, then that is two resurrection.

Another group is the Post-Tribulation. Their rapture doctrine is the belief in a combined resurrection and rapture of all believers coming after the Great Tribulation. The church will be on earth through the tribulation of the Last Days and the rapture of the church will take place at the end of the tribulation. The church will face the Antichrist who will establish the Mark of the Beast and everyone on earth, including those professing to believe in Jesus Christ, will be required to decide to take or refuse the Mark of the Beast. But this does not make any sense because if the rapture or resurrection takes place at the end of the tribulation, then what about the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” and who will be with Jesus when he returns. What about the souls that John saw in Heaven?

There are those who do not believe in the rapture nor the tribulation. In Matthew 24:48-51, “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

In studying the Book of Revelation there is a verse that has and leads towards many questions. In Revelation 20:4-5. “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. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection”. “This is the first resurrection” shows a completion of different stages that leads to the final resurrection, (Vine’s Bible Dictionary “Rev. 20:5, "the first resurrection;" hence the insertion of "is" stands for the completion of this "resurrection," of which Christ was "the first fruits”).

It is very likely and possible that there are four stages to the resurrection. They are: 1. The Old Testament Saints, 2. The Bride of Christ which is His Church, 3. The tribulation Saints, 4. The Great tribulation Saints. If the Two Witness are a sign that the Church is raptured then it would be a resurrection of the dead Saints and then the Saints who are resurrected at the end of the tribulation, then that makes two different resurrection.

Jesus said in Luke 23:43, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise”. In 1st Peter 3:19, “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison (The word prison is not a place of punishment but a place of containment such as paradise). The first group would be the Old Testament Saints that Jesus took with him when he departed this earth and it could be that the 24 Elders came from this group of Saints. One of the questions that stands out is to whom was John talking to in Revelation 22:8-10, where it is said, “for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God”? We find “Elders” and Brethren the Prophets” in Heaven and communicating with the Apostle John. Elders and brethren of the Prophets points towards the Old Testament Saints. But we do not find any of the other Apostles in Heaven, why.

The Rapture of the Church is for the Bride of Christ. How does one become a Bride of Christ? Who proclaimed that Jesus is the Bridegroom and his followers are the Bride? In John 3:27-31, “John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all”. The Apostle Peter and the other Apostles proclaimed the only way to become a member in the Bride of the Church. In Acts 2:37-39, “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call”.

Only those believers who are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost/Spirit will be in the Rapture of the Church because they have the NAME of the BRIDEGROOP and that name is Jesus Christ. Peter said in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”. There are many who call themselves Christians who will not be in the Rapture of the Bride of Christ. Too many will just believe in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”. If they believe in that name of Jesus, then they will be baptized in his name. One should understand that the Baptism of the Holy Ghost/Spirit of God, then the Spirit of God seals that soul, but a seal has a name of authority and the name of authority on that seal is Jesus Christ.

There are some who believe that the 2nd Church in Revelation represents the Rapture Church which would take place before the Tribulation. The Sixth Church represents the Rapture of the Saints who gave their life to Jesus Christ during the first 3 ½ years of Tribulation and would coincide with the Two Witness or at the end of the 7th Trumpet.

It is also interesting that in the Book of Numbers Chapter 9 there are two Passovers. The first is for those who are not defiled and are clean. The second Passover was for those who were defiled but have become clean according to the Law. Moses went before God and in Numbers 9:8-11, “And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the Lord. The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs”. The Rapture of the Bride of Christ is for those who has the name of Jesus Christ in baptism and have washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb and full of the Spirit of God and this would represent those who were not defiled for the Passover. The rapture of the Tribulation Saints would represent those who were defiled and could not partake of the Passover but became clean during the tribulation.

The Tribulation Saints are those who were not ready for the Rapture of the Bride of Christ or who will turn to Jesus Christ during the Trumpet Judgment. The last group are those who are killed during the last 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation because they resisted the Antichrist and refused to worship him or take his mark. These are the two groups that will come to Jesus Christ during the Tribulation. Both groups will become clean by the Blood of the Lamb of God. However, many will be killed by the Antichrist.

It is interesting to notice in Revelation 6:9-17, when the fifth seal is opened John sees those who are under the Altar. They asked a question, “how long dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on those on the earth”. They were told to wait a little season. Why did John see this in the fifth seal when the first four are about the four horsemen of death and destruction, but the sixth seal is a time of horror and an unexplained phenomenon and astonishing events taking place. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “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”. Will the heavens depart as a scroll being rolled together because of this “shout” and in the Greet word its meaning is “a shout of command”? What great event is taking place for the Physical world to open and what great event has occurred for a gateway into the Spiritual world to appear? Could it be the Return of Jesus for His Bride?

It is stated to the Church at Smyrna, that “little season” or that “10 days or 10 years” did it end at the end of the Sixth Seal when the “heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together”? The souls under the altar asked, “how long dost thou not judge” and at the end of the Sixth Seal it said, “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand”? This could be the “rapture of the Saints of the Church that belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ”.

In Revelation 3:7-11, it talks about the Church in Philadelphia. Jesus is described as, “he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David”. In Isaiah 22:22, “And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; So, he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open”. This show control over David’s domain and the one who has the Key has the authority. An open door and Jesus said thou hast a little strength, but you have kept my word and not denied my name. Jesus mention once again about those who call themselves Jews/Christians, but they are of the synagogue of Satan. Of little strength show that the world has turned against them and the number is small due to the persecution from the One World Faith, but to those who turned to Jesus, he said, “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, hold fast which thou hast”. This could be the Tribulation Saints.

From the Sixth Seal, we jump to the sealing of 144,000 Israelites from the twelve tribes of Israel who are from all the nations. Revelation 7:3-4, “Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel”. These 144,000 souls are from the seed of Jacob and they are Israelites and not Christians, as some believe.

Notice that after the sealing of these Israelites then there is a great multitude that no man could number. John had no question about the souls in the Fifth Seal but here John could not answer because he did not know. John was told that these came out of great tribulation.

This would point to the fact that these 144,000 Israelites are preachers preaching the Gospel to the whole world and under their preaching a multitude of unknown number were saved during the 7 years of tribulation. The Gospel was started by the Jews and then the Gentiles took over but with the sealing of these 144,000 Israelites and the Rapture of the Church then the Gospel will end with the 12 tribes of Israel and their preaching to the whole world. They will be killed at the middle of the 7 years of tribulation. These are the tribulation Saints and not the Bride of Christ which is the Rapture Church. If the Church is still here, then why the sealing of the 144,000 Israelites.

This is the first resurrection and its completeness. Which theory do you believe in and is it correct? People will believe in the way a theory is presented or because it is the way that their parents believed. Maybe it is the theory that their Church believes in, but the Truth is that “No one knows”. I believe in my own theory but is it correct, I have no way in saying that it is correct because no one knows and because of this we look for different theories to match our own belief.

It’s not the question of when the Rapture will take place, but the question is, “will we be ready and waiting for Jesus”. Will our robes be white as snow because we have washed it in the Blood of the Lamb of God? Will our body which is a temple be full of the Spirit of God? Will we become tired and become spiritually asleep and miss the midnight cry of the sound of the Trump of God? Will we be watching and praying when Jesus returns for His Bride? Will we?

We are living in trying times and the faith in Jesus Christ to some Christians has just become lip service. We are seeing a falling away from the belief in God and Jesus Christ. Church doors are closing, people prefer entertainment, their pleasure and enjoyment of the things in this world, more than serving the Lord Jesus Christ and the things that are of God. Too many Christians are like the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:5, “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept”. How many believers in Jesus Christ are Spiritually asleep.

It leaves a question; will we be ready for the Rapture of the Bride of Christ. WILL WE?