But what about the rapture?

First understand that the word "rapture" doesn't appear in scripture.  In 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Paul writes, "Then we who are alive and remain 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." The emphasized phrase "caught up" is the source of this teaching which needs considerable rethinking.

The Greek word here is harpazo simply means to take by force. At its root is the idea of taking as one's own. It appears numerous times in scripture and always has this idea. 

The other critical words that need to be considered in this context are "clouds" and "air". We'll deal with cloud comings in a separate piece, but for now understand that it does not mean physical clouds in the heavens. The word for air (aer) refers to the air in which we move and live, not the sky above or the heavens.

Have you seen a rapture yet? No? Where did we get the teaching?

The Latin translation for harpazo is rapture (rap-tur-eh). We'll spare you the details, but the idea of a rapture appears to have been introduced by a Jesuit priest.

At this point, what you really need to know about the rapture is what Christ had to say about believers being removed from the world:

"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." (John 17:15)

© Copyright 2003 ~ Jim Wade