The Rapture Rupture

Hardly a month goes by without someone somewhere predicting the end of the world. For sure, we seem to be in a much darker time than we used to be;  our culture descending to new depths of depravity with each newscast we watch. And we know that dark times will precede the final end of the world. But the Bible says in Matthew 24:36 that no one will be able to predict the end of the world, period. Remember, it’s not so important to know when the train is going to leave the station, as it is to have a ticket for that last trip. If you do have a ticket, God will pick you up and make sure that you get on His heavenly train.

Let’s take a look at the erroneous way that the fundamentalist “Left Behind” series of books and movies portrays “the rapture.”  In this fictional series, the saved are “raptured” into heaven, while the unsaved are left behind to fend for themselves on earth with the Antichrist.

Left Behind Rapture

“Rapture” is Latin for “caught up.” It basically comes from one particular verse in the Bible, namely, 1 Thessalonians 4:17:

“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. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

The  rapture in the “Left Behind” series is portrayed as a mysterious disappearance of “saved” people, who leave their clothes behind here on earth. Cars that were driven by the saved are left unmanned. The folks left behind are in a quandary as to what has happened. A great tribulation then comes upon the earth, as the Antichrist makes his appearance. The ones left behind then get a second chance at salvation, if they can withstand the forces of the world-uniting Antichrist. Then, after seven years (2,556 days) of tribulation, Jesus returns yet again to defeat the Antichrist.

“Left Behind” Is Unbiblical

None of this, except for the overall premise of a rapture, is biblical. Why? Well for starters, the Bible says in Revelation 1:7:

“Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him. Yes. Amen”

In the “Left Behind” series, no eye sees Jesus. Everyone left behind is clueless as to what is going on. It’s plain that if they had seen Jesus, they would know what was going on.

The second problem with this series is that there are two “second comings” of Jesus. Once when the people mysteriously disappear, and then again when Jesus returns and defeats the Antichrist. The Bible speaks of one and only one coming of Jesus Christ, not two. In 1 Thessalonians 4:15, it says the following:

“Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.”

Notice that St. Paul says “THE coming”, not “A Coming”.There is one and only one second coming of Jesus. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that people will mysteriously disappear and leave their clothes behind. That is all made up fiction by the authors of the “Left Behind” series.

The third problem is that the people raptured in the “Left Behind” series sans clothes are not raptured on the last day of earth. In the novels, there are seven more years left for the Antichrist to wreak havoc on the earth. We know from John 6:54 that the dead will be raised on the last day:

“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

And we also know from Paul that the rapture will take place (loudly!) after the dead are raised. It says in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17:

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, 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. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

One Thousand Year Reign of Christ

What of the thousand year reign of Christ on earth? It is mentioned in Revelation 20:4:

“Then I saw thrones; those who sat on them were entrusted with judgment. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

Well, we know from the pen of Peter that “a thousand years is as a day to the Lord, and a day is like a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8). For the record, Jesus Christ told us in scripture that “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” so His reign has already started, some 2000 years ago! St. John may have been trying to convey that Christ will reign for a very long time (eternity) by using the phrase “a thousand years,” just like we might say, “I told you a thousand times,” when we may have only told someone 4 or 5 times.

The Days of Noah

What about the very premise of being “left behind?” The bible says in Matthew 24:37 – 41:

“For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be [also] at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.” 

Notice how the word “behind” is not in the Bible; it just talks about people being “left.” In the days of Noah, the saved were left on earth, Noah and his family. The unsaved were taken from this earth, and presumably didn’t make it to heaven. In fact, in Luke 17:37, when His disciples ask Jesus where the ones will be taken to, Jesus says, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather,” and this would indicate a place of death for those taken, rather than a place of salvation, because vultures devour the dead. Therefore, if the end of the world is similar to those days, as the  Bible says, being left will mean that you will still be here on earth in order to be raptured later on. The ones taken will be like the flood victims in Noah’s time, and die. Somehow, the “Left Behind” authors got this exactly backwards.

The Cloud Comes to Earth

One of the really big assumptions in the “Left Behind” series is that the saved will rise up to meet Jesus in the clouds, and then they and Jesus will return to heaven to await the tribulation and the final judgment. But that isn’t biblical either. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus will do a U-turn back into heaven at the rapture. Rather, the Bible says that Jesus and his kingdom will descend to earth and become the new kingdom (Revelation 21:2). And the bible also says that we will be judged as well on that day, the last day, in John 12:48:

“Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day”

So go ahead and read the “Left Behind” series if you must, but remember, hardly any of it is biblical. The learned and educated religious people in the Bible didn’t comprehend the first coming of Christ, and just so, a lot of learned and educated religious people today don’t understand the Second Coming of Christ any better than the Pharisees and the Sadducees did the first time He appeared on earth. But the fictional authors of the “Left Behind” series sure make a lot of money off of the ignorant by selling books about fictional events concerning the rapture.

The Biblical Rapture

So will the Rapture happen? YES, but it will be a one time event, on the last day of earthly existence, after the dead have been raised first, and it will be heard and witnessed by all. At that time, Christ will judge us all as He sets up a new heaven and a new earth. In the days of ancient Rome, a conquering hero, on his return, was met out of town by his followers, and escorted triumphantly back into the city. This is exactly how the Second Coming will occur – We, the living followers of Christ, will rise up to meet Him in the air and escort Him back to earth, as sons and daughters of His Kingdom.

And when will it happen? That is really not important to us, or God would have revealed it to us in His Word. No one knows when it will happen, and if anyone says that he knows, he is both a liar and a fraud. What I would recommend to everyone is to do what the Bible says to do in regards to both faith and works – Have faith in Christ, forgive everyone, obey all of His commands, love God totally and your neighbor as yourself, and bear lots of good fruit by doing His work on earth, like it says in Colossians 1:10 and Matthew 25:31-46.  That way, when the time comes, you will be ready to ascend into heaven. And when you see the dead rise out of their graves and ascend into heaven, then and only then can you be assured that the Second Coming of Christ is underway!