The Rapture

I Thessalonians 4:16-17

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

The term "rapture" is derived from the Latin word raptus, which means "caught away" or "caught up." This Latin word is equivalent to the Greek haipazo, translated as "caught up" in I Thessalonians 4:17. This event, described here and in I Corinthians 15, refers to the catching up of the church from the earth to meet the Lord in the air. It involves only the faithful of Christ's churches.

The Rapture

1. Just prior to the rapture, as Christ is descending from heaven for His church, the resurrection of the "dead in Christ" will occur (1 Thessalonians 4:16). This is not the same resurrection found in Revelation 20:4, for the latter is an event occurring after Christ returns to earth, destroys the wicked, and binds Satan (Revelation 19:11-20:3). The resurrection in Revelation 20:4 relates to the martyred dead of the tribulation and possibly to Old Testament saints (Revelation 20:6).
   
   
2. As the dead in Christ are raised, living believers will be transfigured; their bodies will put on immortality (I Corinthians 15:51,53). Their transformation win happen in a very short time, "in the twinkling of an eye" (I Corinthians 15:52).
   
   
3. Both the resurrected believers and the transfigured believers will be "caught up together" to meet Christ in the air, that is, in the atmosphere between earth and heaven (I Thessalonians 4:17).
   
   
   1. They will be visibly united with Christ (I Thessalonians 4:16-17), taken to His Father's house in heaven (John 14:2-3), and united with loved ones who have died (I Thessalonians 4:13-18).
      
      
   2. They will be removed from all distress (II Corinthians 5:2,4; Philemon 3:21), from all persecution and oppression (Revelation 3:10), from the entire sphere of sin and from death (I Corinthians 15:51-57); the rapture delivers them from "the wrath to come' (I Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9), that is, from the great tribulation.
      
      
4. The hope that our Savior will soon return to take us out of the world to "ever be with the Lord" (I Thessalonians 4:17) is the blessed hope of all the redeemed (Titus 2:13). It is a major source of comfort for suffering believers (I Thessalonians 4:17-18; I Thessalonians 5:10).
   
   
5. Paul uses "we" in I Thessalonians 4:17 because he knows the Lord's return was something that could have happened in his own lifetime, and he communicates this same anticipation to the Thessalonians. The Bible insists on a continual waiting with eagerness for the return of our Lord. Believers today must be ever watchful and hopeful for Christ's return to take them out of this world and unto Himself (Romans 13:11; 1 Corinthians 7:29; I Corinthians 10:11; I Corinthians 15:51-52; Philemon 4:5).
   
   

After The Rapture

1. The portion of the professing church that fails to abstain from evil and is unfaithful to Christ will be left behind at the rapture (Matthew 25:1; Luke 12:45). They will remain as part of the apostate church (Revelation 17:1), subject to God's wrath.
   Also see the Bible Study The Age Of The AntiChrist .
   
   
2. Following the rapture is the day of the Lord, a time that brings tribulation and wrath to the ungodly (I Thessalonians 5:2-10; I Thessalonians 5:2). That will be followed by the second stage of Christ's coming, when He comes to destroy the ungodly and to reign on earth (Matthew 24:42,44).