THE RAPTURE By David Buck (Early 2011)

THE RAPTURE

The rapture of the church, is the moment in which all Christians who are living at the time of Christ’s return will be “caught up” to be with the Lord. You may think based on your interpretation of scripture, that the rapture is a well understood event that is concrete in definition. However, this view is very controversial amongst both scholars and believers. Based on differing interpretations of the scriptures that speak of the rapture, there are many different viewpoints of both the time and substance of this future event. The dispensational premillennialist view is that; the rapture will occur just before the Great Tribulation, and then seven years will pass before Christ makes His return to earth. The historical premillennialist view is that the rapture will occur just after the Great Tribulation and then immediately after Christ will return to earth. In addition to these views there are also views that reject a rapture of the church altogether, such as the amillennialist view and the postmillennialist view.

It is because of all of the controversy surrounding this topic, that I have made the decision to write about my findings surrounding the many viewpoints of this event. I will start by introducing those groups who do not believe that there will be any sort of rapture of the church. Then I will report my findings of the groups that do believe in a rapture. After reading this research paper, my hopes are that you will have a good sense of the different views surrounding this event, as well as have enough knowledge about the event to make a decision as to what viewpoint you support.

CHRISTIANS WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE RAPTURE

There is an incredible amount of scripture in the Bible that provides the believer with many details surrounding the end times and the events that will lead up to them. However, even with these scriptures in hand, there are still differing views among scholars as to the meaning of these scriptures regarding the second coming of Christ. The three most popular views regarding Christ’s second coming are known as premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. It is important to develop a basic understanding of these views as the amillennialist and postmillennialist views dismiss any possibility of a rapture of the church.

Amillennialism

Amillennialism is the belief that Christ will at some point return to earth. Amillennialists do not believe in a literal 1,000 year reign by Christ on earth, instead they believe that the millennium is symbolic of Jesus’ reign in the lives of His people from the beginning of the church until His second coming. Additionally, this group does not believe that Christ will rapture believers prior to the millennium. Those who hold this view believe that Satan’s power on earth has been restrained since A.D. 30 when Christ triumphantly rose from the dead. They also believe that the persecution of Christians (tribulation) will not occur until Christ returns, as will the expansion of God’s kingdom (the millennium). According to this view, at the second coming of Christ, He will immediately defeat the powers of evil, resurrect all people (both saved and unsaved), judge them, and then deliver them to their eternal destinies (Heaven or Hell).

Amillennialists break the book of Revelation into seven sections which they believe to represent the entire time between Christ’s first and second coming. They view the book as apocalyptic language which means that they view the numbers in Revelation as representing concepts, not literal statistics. In addition they look at the book mostly in a historical context.

There are some scriptures that could possibly support amillennialism. Their argument is, that there are support for the use of the number 1,000 figuratively found in scriptures such as in Psalm 50:10, 90:4,105:8, and 2 Peter 3:8. There is also support for the resurrection of the saved and unsaved simultaneously after the second coming of Christ in Daniel 12:2-3 and John 5:28-29. In addition, there is more support of the saints occupying the earth during the tribulation in Revelation 13:7.

The amillennialist view became popular in the fifth century and remains widespread throughout the church today. Many believe that Augustine of Hippo was the first amillennialist. This view has been supported by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and J.I. Packer.

Postmillennialism

Postmillennialism is the belief that the second coming of Christ is to occur after the millennium. Those who hold to this view do not believe that Christ will rapture believers prior to the millennial period. They also do not believe in a literal 1,000year millennium, instead they believe that the millennium is a long period of time when most of the world will submit to Jesus Christ through the preaching of the Gospel. In addition, they believe that during this time, Christ will rule the earth through His Spirit and His Church. They do not believe that Christ will be physically present on the earth during this time. Postmillennialists also believe that during the millennium, Satan will have no power over the earth, and evil world systems and regimes will collapse. They believe that immediately after the millennium period is over the second coming of Christ, the final conflict between good and evil, the defeat of Satan, the physical resurrection of all people, and the final judgment will occur all together.

There are some scriptures that seem to support postmillennialism. Matthew 24:14 and Mark 13:10 support their belief that every ethnic group will receive the gospel before the second coming of Christ. Their belief that the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of all people, both saved and unsaved, occurring at the same time is supported in Daniel 12:2-3 and John 5:28-29.

The postmillennialist view emerged around 1200 A.D. and became popular in the in the 1800’s. It remains widespread throughout the church today although it has lost popularity. This view has been supported by Jonathan Edwards, B.B. Warfield, and R.C. Sproul.

CHRISTIANS WHO DO BELIEVE IN THE RAPTURE

Now that you have been presented with the groups that do not believe that there will be a future rapture of the church, I would like to focus on the groups that do believe that the church will be raptured. These groups both fall under the premillennialist viewpoint and are known as dispensational premillennialism and historic premillennialism. Premillennialism is the belief that the millennium is an actual future event in which Christ will return before the millennium (1,000 year reign on earth).

Dispensational Premillennialism

Dispensational premillennialists believe that Christ will return to earth after a 7 year tribulation and will reign on earth for a 1,000 year period as described in Revelation 20:4-6. Those who hold this view also believe that the rapture and the second coming of Christ are two separate events. They believe that the rapture comes before the great tribulation, and that the second coming occurs afterwards. They also believe that there will be 7 years of tribulation, natural disasters, war on earth, and that many (post rapture) followers of Christ will suffer great persecution during this time.

Dispensational premillennialists interpret the book of Revelation literally. They believe that all of the references to Israel in Revelation refer to the nation of Israel. They also believe that during the Great Tribulation many Jews will turn to Christ and that God will give the nation of Israel the land that He promised them in Genesis 15:18 where He said “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates”.

The views held by dispensational premillennialists can be backed up by scripture. A pre-tribulation rapture is scripturally supported by 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and Revelation 3:10, and is also supported because there is no specific mention of the church anywhere between Revelation 4 and 19.

The dispensational premillennialist view emerged in the 1800’s and remains very popular today. This view is supported by many modern day scholars such as John MacArthur, Charles Ryrie, Charles Stanley, and Norman Geisler.

Historic Premillennialism

Historic premillennialists believe that Christians will remain on the earth during the great tribulation. At this time the church will be purified because the false believers will be rooted out by the great persecution that will take place. They believe that Christ will return after the Great Tribulation, yet before the millennium and at that time, the rapture of the church will occur.

Historic premillennialists attempt to balance symbolic and literal interpretations of Revelation, emphasizing both what the book meant to first century readers and how it might apply for people’s lives today. They believe that the church has replaced the nation of Israel as God’s covenant people and also that most of the references to Israel in Revelation actually refer symbolically to the church. Therefore, they do not believe that Israel will inherit the land and blessings that God had promised them in Genesis 15:18. Instead they believe that God’s promises were conditional, based on their obedience and because of Israel’s persistent disobedience toward God, He will no longer recognize His covenant with them.

Historic premillennialists use scriptures such as Revelation 2:22-23 and Revelation 13:17 to support a post-tribulation rapture. They also use many Old Testament scriptures such as Genesis 22:18, 1 Chronicles 33:8, Isaiah 1:19-20, and Jeremiah 7:6-7 to support their view that God’s promises to Israel were conditional. They use Matthew 19:28-29 and Romans 9:6-8 to show support for the use of Israel to refer to Christians in the New Testament.

The historic premillennialist view appears to be the earliest view of the end times among Christians who lived just after the apostles. Many of the early church fathers held to this view including Lactantius (240-320), Irenaeus (130-200), and Justin Martyr (100-165). Modern supporters of this view include David Dockery, John Warwick Montgomery, George Beasley-Murray, Robert Gundry, and George E. Ladd.

WHAT IS THE RAPTURE?

The rapture of the church is a phrase that is used by premillennialists to refer to the church being united with Christ at His second coming (from Lat. Rapio, “caught up”). This teaching is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, which says:
“For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

WHEN WILL THE RAPTURE TAKE PLACE?

Now that you have an idea of what the rapture is and what groups support it, lets take a look at the different views of when exactly it will take place. There are three main views within the premillennialist viewpoint that make different arguments as to when the church will be raptured. These three groups are known as pre-tribulationist, mid-tribulationist, and post-tribulationist.

Pre-tribulation Rapture
The Pre-Tribulation Rapture viewpoint is the view that is widely taught among Dispensational premillennialists. Those who hold to this view believe that Christians will be “caught up” or removed from the earth to be with Christ before the seven years of the Great Tribulation. This group believes that the rapture of the church occurs in Revelation 4:1 when Jesus says: “Come up here”. Another belief associated with this view is that the rapture will take place just prior to the seventieth week of Daniels vision (Dan. 9). Some of the scriptures used in support of this view include 1 Thessalonians 4-5, Revelation 3:10, Daniel 9-12, Matthew 24-25, and Revelation 4-18.

Mid-tribulation
The Mid-Tribulation Rapture viewpoint is the belief that the tribulation is divided into two halves. The first half is thought to be the first three and a half years in which the world is under the wrath of man and all Christians are present. The second half is said to be the second three and a half years in which the world is under the wrath of God and all Christians are absent. Therefore, the rapture of the church would take place after the first three and a half years of tribulation but prior to the second three and a half years. This view is supported by scriptures such as Daniel 7:25, 9:27, 11, 12:7, and also Revelation 12:14.

Post-tribulation
The Post-Tribulation Rapture is the view that is widely taught among Historic Premillennialists. Those who hold to this view believe that Christ will come back for His church after a period of tribulation on earth. Post-Tribulationists also believe that the rapture will take place at the same time as the second coming of Christ. This view is supported by scriptures such as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. This view is the only premillennial view that teaches that there is only one single future coming of Christ. Both Pre-Tribulationists and Mid-tribualtionists believe that the Christian will be removed from the earth during the time of God’s wrath, but the Post-Tribulationists believe that the Christian will not be removed from the earth during the wrath of God, but rather they believe that they will be present on earth during it.

CONCLUSION

As you can see after reading this paper, there is very much controversy and disagreement surrounding the event of the rapture of the church. From my studies, it is clear to me that the reason for all of the division on this topic is based upon the way in which Christians view scripture. By that I mean that the groups who do not believe in a rapture of the church view Revelation as non-literal, meanwhile the view that is in support of the rapture read Revelation as nothing less than a literal writing. Based on my research and teachings, it is my belief that we are to take the very word of God literally, including the book of Revelation. Therefore, I must classify myself as a premillennialist. Now that you have read this paper, which view do you support?



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