A vast portion of professing “Christianity”
is obsessed with a myth-- a myth that clouds
their understanding of the end-times,
that obscures other doctrinal truths of the Bible,
and that provides false hope concerning the
Great Tribulation and the days before
the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
And yet, it is widely believed.
When I travel to various cities giving public
presentations concerning the Gospel of the Kingdom
of God and what to expect before Christ's return,
some of the most common questions I receive are
centered around this myth.
So, it's about time we put that myth to rest.
Join me for this episode of Tomorrow's World,
where we'll debunk the Rapture myth.
♪
Warm greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow's World,
where we work to help you make sense of
your world through the pages of the Bible.
You know, if I had a dime for every time I've been
asked about the Rapture, I'd be a wealthy person.
When is it coming?
Is it before the Great Tribulation, during the
Great Tribulation, or after?
At the heart of most of these questions is a more
fundamental one: Is the common belief in the
Rapture actually true?
Today, we're going to tackle that question, and we're
going to do it with irrefutable evidence from your Bible.
We're also going to give you an opportunity to
request our free DVD,
"Is the Rapture Your Incredible Future?"
Be sure to watch for the information you need
to order your free copy.
Now let's begin by being as clear as we can.
Before we can address what the Bible does or does not
say about the Rapture, we first need to define
what we mean by the word "Rapture"--cause people
use it to say many different things.
Most use the word to indicate their belief
that before Jesus Christ returns to rule the world,
and before the time of trouble and suffering
known as the Great Tribulation, Christians
all over the world will be "raptured" into thin air--
taken to heaven.
Those who are not Christians will simply see that many
people have suddenly vanished without explanation.
Planes will plummet from the sky as their Christian pilots
disappear. Non-Christian husbands or wives will
despair as they wonder where their Christian spouse
has disappeared to.
And as the world sorts through the mass
disappearance, the Great Tribulation will be
unleashed on those who are "left behind"--as the book
series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins worded it.
Then, 3 or 7 years later-- depending on who's explaining--
Jesus begins His reign on earth.
This idea of the Rapture as being mysteriously and
mystically whisked away from the earth is often
associated with the words of the Apostle Paul, who says
in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17...
"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."
This is an important passage for those who
believe in the "Rapture" because in the Latin
Vulgate translation of verse 17, the word for
"we shall be caught up" is "rapiemur," thus, the "Rapture."
But is Paul describing what many think of as
"the Rapture" or is he talking about something else entirely?
God wants us to read His word carefully, putting
the details together to get the most complete
picture we can, and that takes diligence.
As Paul told the evangelist Timothy,
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,
a worker who does not need to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth."
Similarly, the prophet Isaiah wrote the following,
"Whom will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon
precept, line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little."
Let's do that.
Let's "rightly divide the word of truth" and put
the whole of God's word together to help us see
the truth about the Rapture theory and to
understand what to truly expect of the end times.
And since ideas differ so widely in their details
concerning the Rapture and what it really means,
we're going to focus on Bible passages that will
help us clarify the most common elements that are
central in most people's beliefs about the Rapture.
So, as the program progresses, keep in
mind these three crucial questions:
Will Christians vanish around the world
without explanation?
Will Christians be caught up into the air years
before Jesus returns?
[And] Will Christians spend the Great Tribulation
in heaven?
Remember those questions.
And as we look into what the Bible says will
actually happen with true Christians at the return
of Jesus Christ, you will see each of these
questions answered plainly and simply in God's word.
And when you do, you will see that the popular idea
of the Rapture is little more than a popular myth.
If you're ready, we'll jump right in
in our next segment.
But first, let me pause briefly to give you an
opportunity to request today's free DVD,
"Is the Rapture Your Incredible Future"
This DVD compiles three powerful Tomorrow's World programs
that shed light on misunderstandings
most have about what the Bible actually says.
You've probably never heard these topics explained as
clearly and completely as they are in these videos.
Take this opportunity to get a free copy of this DVD.
And I'll be right back to examine what God Himself reveals
about whether Christians will mysteriously disappear.
So, don't you disappear.
♪
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Or go to...
This clear and straight-forward resource
will help you understand this vital truth--
straight from the pages of the Bible.
If you're calling for the first time, you will also
receive a free annual subscription to Tomorrow's
World magazine.
Six inspiring issues discussing news, science,
and modern culture will help you make sense of
your world from a biblical perspective.
Call today and join millions around the world
who are turning to Tomorrow's World for
truth, prophecy, and hope in these confusing times.
Call now!
Or go to...
♪
Welcome back.
Let's start tackling our "Rapture" questions.
As we do, take note of the Scriptures we read.
We don't want you to just believe us--we want you
to believe your Bible.
So, does the Bible teach that years before Jesus
returns in visible glory to rule the world,
Christians around the world will vanish and
secretly be caught up into heaven right before the time
of global horrors known as the Great Tribulation?
No, it doesn't.
We can begin to see this if we go back
to 1 Thessalonians 4.
But this time, let's begin reading in verse 13.
"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you
sorrow as others who have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
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."
Too many are so "enraptured", pun intended, with seeing
the "Rapture" in this passage that they skip right over
those elements that prove Paul is not talking about their
idea of a "Rapture."
For instance, Paul says that this is the time of
the resurrection of those who died in Christ--
those he describes as "asleep"--saying,
"the dead in Christ will rise first." He also says that
"the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with
the trumpet of God."
This doesn't seem like a quiet, mysterious vanishing to me--
more like a triumphant event announced to the world by
the returning Jesus Christ.
But my personal opinion doesn't matter--
and neither does yours.
Instead of settling for opinion, let's look into
additional Bible passages that describe this event--
as we read earlier,
"precept upon precept... line upon line...
here a little, there a little."
For example, the Apostle describes the exact same
event in another passage: 1 Corinthians 15.
Let's read there starting in verse 50:
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does
corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed--in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality."
Now notice: The dead are raised in incorruptible
glory and the living will be transformed at that time,
as well, just as we read in 1 Thessalonians.
Now is this done quietly?
No.
Again just as we saw earlier, this happens
with the sound of a mighty trumpet:
"...in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."
In fact, read that again carefully: It happens not
just at any trumpet, but at the last trumpet.
This implies that there's a sequence of trumpets,
and the resurrection and glorification of the
saints occurs at the last of these trumpets.
So, ask yourself: Is there any passage of Scripture
that describes a series of trumpets in the end times?
Cause if there is, then we have located the
time of this resurrection and transformation
of faithful Christians.
And, in fact, yes, the Bible does describe a
sequence of trumpets.
We don't need to guess, or theorize, or debate about it.
The Bible makes it plain.
And as it does, we will see the answers to our
three questions beginning to take shape as well.
But before we examine those angelic trumpet blasts,
let me pause very briefly to give you another opportunity
to request our free DVD,
"Is the Rapture Your Incredible Future?"
You need the life changing answers these three
Tomorrow's World programs hold.
Again, the DVD is completely free--
there are no strings attached, and no one will ask you
for a donation of any kind.
Request yours right now, and then I'll be right back to tell
you exactly when the saints rise to meet Jesus Christ,
according to your Bible.
♪
This clear and straight-forward resource
will help you understand this vital truth--
straight from the pages of the Bible.
Call now!
Or go to...
♪
In our last segment, we learned that at the
last trumpet, Christians will be resurrected and
transformed and will meet Jesus Christ.
And we can locate this exactly in the
prophetic sequence of end-time events, using the
seven seals of Revelation.
The book of Revelation gives us a specific
sequence leading up to Jesus' return and
the commencement of the Kingdom of God.
Revelation chapter 6 reveals the Seven Prophetic Seals of
Revelation, which the Apostle John sees in vision,
opened in sequence by Jesus Christ to reveal the
end-time events ahead.
The first four seals represent the Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse, symbolizing global Religious Deception, Warfare,
Famine, and Disease. Verse 8 says, that
"power was given to them over a fourth of the earth,
to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts
of the earth."
The prophetic pathway continues with the fifth seal,
describing a martyrdom of true Christians.
In Matthew 24 and verse 21,
Jesus describes this time, saying...
"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not
been since the beginning of the world until this time,
no, nor ever shall be."
This is a time so terrible that no time before nor after
will ever compare.
After two and one-half years of this Tribulation,
the sixth seal is opened, and the Heavenly Signs take
place: a great earthquake, the sun darkened, the moon
red as blood, the stars falling from the sky,
and every mountain and island on earth shaken.
These announce that God and Jesus Christ are about
to personally intervene in world affairs.
That time is described by the prophet Isaiah as
"the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of
recompense for the cause of Zion."
This year-long Day of the Lord begins when
the seventh seal of Revelation is opened.
We read of this in Revelation 8:1-2...
"When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence
in heaven for about half an hour.
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God,
and to them were given seven trumpets."
Finally, we see where a sequence of trumpets
appears in end-time events--exactly what
Paul's description told us to expect.
After the end-time rides of the Four Horsemen,
the Great Tribulation, and the Heavenly Signs, we come
to the series of Trumpets indicated by the Apostle Paul.
And those first six Trumpet blasts are devastating.
One-third of earth's vegetation is burned up;
one-third of the seas become blood; one-third of
ships and marine life are destroyed; one-third of
the planet's waters become bitter; and one-third
of the sun, moon, and stars cease to shine.
Then, in the most destructive military exchange in history,
one-third of mankind is obliterated.
Joel 2 calls the Day of the Lord
"great and very terrible" for a reason.
It represents God's wrath unleashed on
unrepentant mankind.
Yet, these terrors are only the first six of
the Seven Trumpets.
The Seventh, Last Trumpet is described in Revelation 11:15...
"Then the seventh angel sounded: And there
were loud voices in heaven, saying,
'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign
forever and ever!'"
Paul says that at this trumpet--the seventh,
declaring the authority of the Kingdom of God over
the world--the Resurrection occurs, when faithful
Christians, past and present, are gathered,
glorified with immortality, and brought
to meet Christ to become His Bride and
to participate in the vanquishing of His enemies
and the inauguration of the reign of God's Kingdom.
All of this proves that this is no secret "vanishing."
In fact, Jesus Christ personally described this moment to His
disciples to make the public nature of this event very clear.
Read it yourself, starting in Matthew 24:29...
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days
the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give
its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in
heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth
will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And He will send His angels with a great sound
of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
My friend, these passages are inseparable.
Their descriptions of the end-time events are consistent
and in perfect sequence: The Great Tribulation,
the Heavenly Signs, the Seven Trumpets, the revealing of
Christ to the world at the Last Trumpet, and the resurrection,
gathering, and glorifying of true Christians as the
Kingdom of God commences its glorious reign.
And where will that reign begin?
Not in heaven. Rather, as Revelation 5 says, those
glorified Christians will have been
made kings and priests to [their] God; and [they] shall
reign on the earth.
No one will vanish into thin air as unsaved
loved ones wonder where they went.
All eyes will see, and all ears will hear.
The Rapture is simply a misunderstanding that
conceals the magnificent truth of Scripture.
Still, that might leave some worried.
Does this mean that every Christian must go through
the Tribulation?
No, it doesn't, though some will, while others
are protected--though not by a "Rapture."
Who will be protected from that time, and how will
they be protected, is exactly what we'll answer next.
Before that, let me take just one more break
to let you request our free DVD,
"Is the Rapture Your Incredible Future?"
It contains three full Tomorrow's World programs
on topics you must understand:
"Your Ultimate Destiny," "Heaven, Hell, and the
Resurrection," and "Will Christians Be Raptured?"
The Bible's message on these topics is more
hopeful and inspiring than most have ever heard.
You need the hope that only God's word provides.
Order your copy, and I'll be back to explain who is
protected during the Great Tribulation--and how.
♪
For today's free offer call...
Or go to...
This clear and straight-forward resource
will help you understand this vital truth--
straight from the pages of the Bible.
If you're calling for the first time, you will also
receive a free annual subscription to Tomorrow's
World magazine.
Six inspiring issues discussing news, science,
and modern culture will help you make sense of
your world from a biblical perspective.
Call today and join millions around the world
who are turning to Tomorrow's World for
truth, prophecy, and hope in these confusing times.
Call now!
Or go to...
♪
Welcome back.
At the beginning of our program, we summarized
some major points about the popular belief of the Rapture
that we could examine in the light of Scripture.
We asked:
Will Christians vanish around the world mysteriously
and without explanation?
We saw in the pages of the Bible that, no, they will not.
Christians will join Christ at the first
resurrection at the same time when all the tribes
of the earth will see Jesus returning.
Will Christians be caught up into the air
years before Jesus returns to rule?
Again, no they won't.
The resurrection of true Christians occurs when the
very Last Trumpet is blown when Christ is inaugurated
as Ruler of the world, only days before Satan is
bound for 1,000 years, as described in Revelation 20.
Finally,
Will Christians spend the years of the Great
Tribulation in heaven?
Again, no.
They rise to meet Christ at the commencement of
His reign, after the Tribulation.
Indeed, from that moment on, they will reign alongside Him,
ruling on this Earth, with Him, for 1,000 years.
At the same time, some Christians will be
protected during the Tribulation--but they
will be protected here on Earth.
While God reserves many details to Himself,
He does make this plain in a number of passages.
For instance, in Revelation 12, we read of the Church in
the end times, symbolized by a woman, persecuted by Satan
the Devil, symbolized by a dragon-like serpent.
Starting in verse 14, we read,
"But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle,
that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where
she is nourished for a time and times and half a time,
from the presence of the serpent."
The "time, times, and half a time" here is the
two-and-one-half years of the Great Tribulation
before the Heavenly Signs, followed by the year-long
Day of the Lord we read about earlier.
This passage makes plain, too, that while a portion
of the Church is protected, she is not
protected in heaven.
Note that the passage says she is protected in
"the wilderness"--a word which is never used by God
to describe heaven in the Bible, but which He does
use to describe locations here on Earth.
If we're going to let God interpret His own word,
then we have to agree that Christians are going to be
protected during the Great Tribulation, but that
protection is not going to be in Heaven as many
Rapture fans would have us believe.
It will be right here, somewhere on planet earth.
But notice, too, not all Christians are protected.
As we read in verse 17,
"And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make
war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the
commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
Yes, some Christians, "the rest of her offspring,"
must endure the trials of the Great Tribulation
and the anger of Satan.
The distinction--one group protected and one sent
into the Tribulation-- is reflected in Christ's
comments to the two prophetic End-Time Churches of
Revelation 3: the zealous Christians of Philadelphia
are told by Jesus
that He will "keep [them] from the hour of trial which shall
come upon the whole world",
while the lukewarm Christians of Laodicea are told
they must "buy gold [from God] refined in the fire
[of persecution]" and that they need His "chasten[ing]."
Those Laodicean Christians who must go through the
Tribulation are described as those unable to see
their need to repent and to change--too self-satisfied
in what they already believe they know, and too willing
to compromise in their actions.
There is a reason that Jesus Christ says to
all of us concerning the times to come,
"Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted
worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of Man."
Yes, there will be protection during the climactic,
earth-shattering events of the end times--not a Rapture off
to heaven, but right here, somewhere on earth--for zealous,
faithful Christians who are unwilling to
compromise on the truth God has shown them.
As Jesus warns us, whether we're a part
of that group or not is fundamentally up to us
and the choices we make now.
We pray that your choice will be the right one.
And we pray you'll request a copy of today's
free DVD and come back to join us again next week.
When you do, Gerald Weston, Richard Ames, Rod McNair,
and I will be right here waiting for you,
ready to share the good news of the Kingdom
of God, the true teachings of Jesus Christ, and the
meaning of the end-time prophecies in your Bible.
Until then, take care.
♪
For today's free offer call...
Or go to...
Call today and join millions around the world
who are turning to Tomorrow's World for
truth, prophecy, and hope in these confusing times.
♪
The preceding program is produced by the
Living Church of God.
♪