What Does the Bible Say About the Rapture (Part 1 - The 2nd Coming)

I don’t know where you are pastoring in the world, but for Christians and churches in middle to northern Nigeria, it feels like we are living in the middle of the end times tribulation that is spoken about in the Bible.

A ministry called, Open DOORS USA which keeps track and supports persecuted Christians around the world recently ranked Nigeria as the “9th most difficult country to follow Jesus” (out of 50). Violence against Christians is being perpetrated by Boko Haram, Fulani militants and ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province)—as well as other, armed bandits; all of which has led to tremendous suffering and displacement among the Christian community, especially in the north.

For many Nigerians, the end times isn’t something that is coming in the future that they need to watch for, it is already here, and they are smack in the middle of what feels like the great tribulation. So, in this two-part blog series, we want to look at the prophetic unfolding of the end of the age and what it is we as Christians should expect.

There are two reasons why I’m teaching this series.

• One, is to encourage you as a pastor personally. Some of you reading these posts reside in parts of Nigeria where your churches have been attacked by extremist or bandits and your members have fled or you church has been burned down. You, as a pastor may be wondering where God is in all of this and where you will find the strength to continue this work of ministry. Our prayer is that this teaching on the end times will strengthen your will and resolve to keep pressing on in light of Jesus’ eminent return.

• The second reason is to provide you with a Biblical framework for understanding the end times so that you can actually teach it to your congregation. Feel free to use this series as a commentary guide as you study the Bible to understand the latter days. All the teachings in this series will be available in a PDF document that you can download for free on this podcast episode page. Please feel download, study it along with the scripture, and teach it to your church to encourage, equip, and envision them as they too wait in anticipation of the return of Christ.

With that said, let’s launch into this post with a discussion about a supernatural event that almost every Christian is anticipating and looking forward to but may not quite understand.

NAMELY, THE RAPTURE.

In the Bible (Matthew 24), Jesus was asked by His disciples, “…what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” In response, Jesus listed several signs that quite honestly, sounds as if He was reading a newspaper headline from yesterday.

• He said there would be wars and rumors of wars (nations rising against nations).

• He spoke of an increase in famines, and earthquakes

• the rapid spreading of the Gospel, and also an increase in apostacy (the abandonment of faith in Christ)

• …all of which eventually leads to the most troubling and traumatic period in history right before Jesus Christ returns.

Each of those events Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24 have happened in history and are happening with increasing regularity and intensity in our day.

CONCERNING WARS AND RUMARS OF WAR THAT JESUS SPOKE OF, the website, crisis group.com lists out at least 10 different world conflict presently raging (or that may begin raging), including:

• Palestine: An Uncertain Future for Gaza and the West Bank,

• Ukraine: A Deadly Stalemate with No End in Sight

• Yemen and the Red Sea: Rising Tensions Threaten Peace Process and International Security

• Sudan: Setting the Stage for a Long War

• The Sahel: A Deadly New Era in the Decades-Long Conflict

• Democratic Republic of Congo: Re-elected President Tshisekedi Faces Regional Crisis in the East

• Myanmar: Resistance to the Military Junta Gains Momentum

• Haiti: Gangs and Vigilantes Thrive Amid Political Deadlock

• Mexico: Confronting Deadly Political and Criminal Power Struggles in an Election Year

• United States: Intensifying Polarization and the Looming Presidential Election

CONCERNING FAMINES AND EARTHQUAKES, on the world food program website, it reports that an estimated 45 million people (that’s the same amount of people in Canada), are at risk of starving to death because of famine. Unfortunately, the areas at the most immediate risk are in the conflict-affected areas of Yemen, South Sudan, northeastern Nigeria and Tigray in Ethiopia. There has certainly been an increased coverage of earthquakes, mudslides, forest fires, and floods on my news feed!

These are the signs, “the beginnings of birth pains” that Jesus said would precede His return that we are seeing happening in our day today!

Incidentally, in Matthew 24:14, Jesus also spoke of the rapid spreading of the Gospel, and also an increase in apostacy (the abandonment of faith in Christ). Though there are still many unreached people groups that the church needs to rally around and send missionaries to, with the advent of social media and the internet, the Gospel has spread far and wife and covered many parts of formerly unreached places.

I give you all that background on current events in our day and its correlation to the prophetic words of Jesus to bring us to this question:

“What is next for the church on the prophetic calendar of events?”

 And the answer to that is what we are discussing in this blog post, an event known as, “The Rapture.” The word, “rapture” is a reference to a supernatural event that will suddenly and physically remove every Christian on earth in one single moment to be reunited with Jesus Christ in the sky.

Now, to be clear, you will not find the word, “rapture” in your English Bible. It is taken from a word in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where the apostle Paul explains that we will be “caught up” to meet with the LORD in the sky.

The word, “caught up is from the Greek word, “harpazo” which is translates as (“to seize” or “to snatch out/away”). In the Latin translation of 1 Thessalonians. 4:17 (in the Vulgate), it is the word, “Rapere”, which is where we get the English word, “Rapture” from.

So that is the source of the word if anyone ever asks!

The event of the rapture itself is described in at least three separate places in the scriptures (Matthew 24:40-42, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, and, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Each of those passages gives us different details about the unfolding of that future day.

• In the Matthew 24:40-42 passage, Jesus says on the day of the rapture, “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left. “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming.

• In 1 Corinthians 15:50-53, the apostle Paul explains a little bit more… He says, “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.”

• And then finally there’s 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 which we I spend the rest of this post on.

Now, before I read the passage to you, I need to set up the context for you so you know what was happening in the church in the city of Thessalonica that Paul is writing to because they were a fairly young church with a lot of new Christians. This church was facing GREAT persecution from their pagan and Jewish neighbors, and in fact, many of their members had died for a variety of reasons. 

So, the church members were starting to panic in fear because they thought they had MISSED the rapture and were living in the end times already because of all the persecution and suffering they were facing.  Not only that, but they were also afraid that their family members and friends in church who had died had also missed the rapture and would not receive their resurrection body.

So, it’s in response to this that Paul now writes 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 to explain how the rapture will happen, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep [have died as Christians], or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 therefore encourage each other with these words.” 

• So, here is the first thing we know. According to verse 1, Paul’s understanding of the rapture is a revelation that came directly from the LORD Himself. In other words, it has divine authority and authorship and is to be taken seriously as a very real event that will be fulfilled soon in our future.

• The second thing we should know is that God is a God of order, and even in the rapture, there is an orderly sequence in which believers will be raptured.

The rapture will begin the shout of the archangel that every living and dead Christian will hear.This shout is both a command and a trumpet call that basically announces, “IT IS TIME!!” …ascend and join your Savior in the sky.

The first people who will respond are followers of Jesus Christ who have already died and were buried. Their decayed bones or burned ashes will in one moment, and in response to the trumpet call of God, suddenly be restored to a fleshly glorified body that ascends to meet Jesus in the sky.

By the way, this has happened before in Biblical history, not only with people like Lazarus whom Jesus raised to life after three days of his body being in the tomb, but also in places like Matthew 27:52-53. That was the moment Jesus died on the cross and it says tombs were opened throughout the city, and many godly men and women who had died rose from the dead and appeared to people throughout the city. That was a small glimpse of what will happen first at the rapture when the dead in Christ are resurrected.

So, listen, if you have anyone in your family, church, village, who was a Christian who you miss dearly because they died, either through persecution, accident, or naturally – YOU WILL SEE THEM AGAIN IN THEIR FULL GLORY ON THAT FUTURE DAY OF THE RAPTURE!

That day and that moment will be the fulfilment of 1 Corinthians 15:54 where it says, “54 … when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Keep in mind that scripture says all of this will happen suddenly and in as much time as it takes for you to blink your eye once.

Now, after the dead in Christ have been raised first, scripture says those of us who are still alive will also experience the same bodily transformation and ascend to reunite with Jesus Christ and our loved ones in the sky.

That day will be the mother of all celebrations as Jesus takes us all with Him to heaven to be with Him forever. That is why Paul concludes that section in verse 18 by saying, “…therefore encourage each other with these words.”

Now, remember I said at the beginning that this was going to be a two part blog post? I said that because we have a lot to cover that I don’t want to rush it all into one post. In the next blog post, we will continue in our discussion about the rapture and how believers who are still living (that’s YOU) will experience that miraculous event.

Then in the coming weeks, we will talk about the antichrist, his arrival and influence on the world; we will talk about heaven and rewards, what to expect, who goes, and life will be life; and then will talk about hell and the really bad news of those who end up there.

So that is where we are headed; for today, however, just as the apostle Paul ended in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 where he says, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”, I want to encourage you pastors who are shepherding persecuted communities.

The LORD sees the agony and trials you and your congregation are going through. He is not blind to your pain. And even if He doesn’t rescue you in the midst of your suffering, understand that there have been throughout history other brothers and sisters in Christ in big cities and small villages who have suffered what you are facing – SO, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Two, understand that on the day Christ returns in the rapture or on the day you take your last breath in this life and go to Him in heaven, you will receive a welcome celebration and reward unlike any you have ever known. The men and women and children that you wept for because they were killed in your presence will embrace you in their beautiful glorified bodies and you will all realize that Jesus Christ was worth laying down your life for because of His great love for you!

So, do not be discouraged. Continue to faithful shepherd the flock that has been entrusted to you so that “when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” “[For] no eye has seen, [and] no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him…”

May God bless you as you serve His Church.