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Yes! Please Subscribe MePopular rapture theories obscure Biblical truth
The idea of a rapture of believers into heaven before the prophesied tribulation of the last days is widely taught and believed in Christianity today, but those willing to take a careful look at the Bible will see that this popular rapture theory doesn't stand up to the scrutiny of God's Word.
The idea of a rapture of believers into heaven before the prophesied tribulation of the last days is widely taught and believed in Christianity today, but those willing to take a careful look at the Bible will see that this popular rapture theory doesn't stand up to the scrutiny of God's Word.
Yet while God does offer protection for His people during the time of the Great Tribulation, nowhere is it stated that this will be in heaven. Rather, the prophetic outline makes it clear that believers do not ascend to meet Christ until He returns at the last of seven trumpets (see our free booklet The Book of Revelation Unveiled).
As for this most popular concept of the rapture, the Bible doesn't teach it. It should be clarified, however, that the English word "rapture" itself literally just means being "suddenly caught up," and the Bible does mention that happening. The apostle Paul states in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 that at Christ's triumphant return to the earth, living believers "shall be caught up together with [those who died in the faith] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
Yet while the catching up of believers to meet Christ is certainly biblical, where many have placed the timing of this event with the rapture doctrine is not.
Most who espouse "the rapture" are more technically described as "pre-tribulationists" who believe in a "pre-Tribulation rapture"—typically mistaken in thinking the Tribulation is seven years, with it turning "Great" at the halfway point. There are also "mid-tribulationists" who believe in a "mid-Tribulation rapture," thinking the catching away occurs at that supposed halfway point, 3 1⁄2 years before Christ's return. Finally, there are "post-tribulationists," who believe in a "post-Tribulation rapture," wherein the catching up of believers to meet Christ in the air comes at the end of the 3 1⁄2-year Great Tribulation period. While the latter position is closer than the others to what the Bible teaches, the term rapture is still problematic, given all the false conception surrounding it.
To be clear, the popular rapture doctrine is false. There is no rapture of believers months or years in advance of Christ's actual second coming. Rather, believers will be caught up to meet Christ as He returns to the earth—after having been alive on earth through the 3 1⁄2-year Tribulation period.
- Source:
UCGiA Booklet
- https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/booklets/the-rapture-vs-the-bible/popular-rapture-teachings-obscure-biblical-truth
Watch related sermon
The Rapture: Fact Or Fiction?
by Steve Myers, Darris McNeely and Gary Petty
The Rapture vs. The Bible
Christians all over the world are looking for a sudden rescue - a Rapture - to save them from the coming time of trouble. But does this Rapture teaching come from the Bible?