Caught up Together With Him

“Paul, speaking of the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, called it “that blessed hope.” Titus 2:13

What a blessed hope indeed when finally united with Christ, our beloved bridegroom soon the warfare will be ended, the toiling and suffering over. Soon we will experience that joy of seeing him face to face and sharing the presence of his fellowship throughout eternity. Long have Christians waited for the second coming of Christ; long have they fervently prayed for the time they would be united with him whom they have grown to love so much. Inspiring thoughts of this glorious event have been the basis of many hymns. A phrase evolving from this joyous expectation is the “rapture.”

It is well to bear in mind that the word “rapture” is not found in the Bible. Consequently, we must determine if the popular rapture concept is actually Scriptural. A consideration of all the scriptures on the resurrection of the saints reveals that when Christ returns, the “dead in Christ” are raised; then, during the intervening period between his return and the full establishment of his Kingdom, the living saints are gathered to him individually as they die over a period of time.

What Say the Scriptures?

1 Thess 4:16, 17, describes the raising of the saints at Christ’s second presence. Note the sequence of time between the resurrection of the “dead in Christ” and the living saints being caught up.

“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 [that is we who are alive and awake at the Second Advent, we who are living during the Parousia] 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 scripture plainly states that Christ first resurrects the saints who are “dead, having fallen asleep in death since his first advent, “THEN” (afterwards, Greek epeita, “thereafter“) the living saints are “caught up” to meet the Lord. The contrast of “first” and “then” denotes a difference of time.

Paul doesn’t tell us here how long the time difference is, but other scriptures do. Note another important point. Evidently the phrase “caught up together with them” does not denote the time, but rather the place of their being together, for in 1 Thess 5:10, the same Greek word hama is again translated “together” and clearly denotes place. “That whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” Thus, nothing in 1 Thess 4:16, 17, indicates that the “dead in Christ” and the living church are taken at the same time.

1 Cor 15:51, 52, also describes the two parts of the resurrection of the saints.

“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at [during] the last trump.” The word “at” is a poor translation. Rotherham correctly translates it “during.” The phrase “the last trump” implies previous trumpets. The only other trumpets in the New Testament are a series of seven trumpets found in Revelation.

Some erroneously believe that the trumpet of 1 Cor 15:51 sounds during a “secret rapture” to be followed by a “seven-year tribulation” during which, among other events, the seven trumpets of Revelation literally sound. However, since the trumpet of 1 Cor 15:51 is called the last trumpet, it must correspond with the last of the seven trumpets of Revelation. This would mean the previous six trumpets have ALREADY SOUNDED.

Evidently, the sounding of these six trumpets is not literal, since such a literal sounding would have aroused worldwide attention. Therefore, we can reasonably conclude, that the six trumpets are symbolic. And if the first six are symbolic, then the seventh trumpet is also symbolic. Scriptural proof that the symbolic meanings of the trumpets are a proclamation of truth will be dealt with at a later point. It is during this period of the sounding of the last trump that the resurrection of the church will occur. The “day of the Lord” is also the “day of the trumpet.” (Zeph 1:15, 16) This symbolic trumpet (proclamation of truth), sounds during the whole “day of the Lord (Which consists of the whole day of his parousia the millennial reign, 1000 years).” Excerpts taken from the booklet, “I Will Come Again” edited

Continued with next post.