You’ve
seen the slogans on bumper stickers: “In
case of the rapture this vehicle will be unmanned…The rapture: the only way to
fly.” The concept of the rapture is
on the lips and in the thoughts of many people today. Proponents of the dispensational view have
boldly and widely preached it. Many have
come to accept it as being true. Hal
Lindsey, author of The Late, Great Planet
Earth, described the scene associated with the rapture in these words: “There I was, driving down the freeway and
all of a sudden the place went crazy…cars going in all directions and not one
of them had a driver. I mean it was
wild! I think we’ve got an invasion from
outer space.” Richard DeHaan,
another proponent of the rapture, described it as a bewildering scene of people
who suddenly disappeared without warning.
He said these individuals were snatched (or raptured) by Jesus from
earth into heaven.
Dr. Robert
Strong provides a concise statement of the rapture doctrine: “By the rapture is meant the sudden and
possibly secret coming of Christ in the air to snatch away from the earth the
resurrected bodies of those who had died in faith, and with them the living
saints.” It is believed that the
saints will be raptured for seven years while sinners on earth experience a
period of tribulation after which Jesus will come with His raptured saints and
establish an earthly kingdom over which He will reign for one thousand
years. There are several reasons why the
doctrine known as the rapture should be rejected.
The Bible does not teach that Christ’s second
coming will be in secret. The secret coming
of Christ is a major tenet of rapture proponents. The Bible declares that when Jesus comes
again “every eye shall see him” (Rev.
1:7). Rather than a secretive event, His
second coming is described as a “revelation”
and an appearing (2 Thess. 1:7; Heb. 9:28).
The Bible teaches that Christ’s return will
be accompanied by audible phenomena. The
trumpet of God shall sound (1 Cor. 15:52), the voice of Jesus will be heard,
along with the voice of the archangel (1 Thess. 4:16), and the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise (2 Pet. 3:10).
The Bible teaches that Christ’s return will
initiate the general resurrection in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come forth
(Jn. 5:28-29). His coming will be marked
by the resurrection of both
the Christian and the non-Christian at the same time (Acts 24:15). Rapture advocates proclaim that the
resurrection of the just and unjust will be separated by a period of seven
years.
The Bible teaches that the preaching of the
gospel would continue until the end of time (Matt. 28:19-20). This could not occur if the rapture doctrine
is true.
At Christ’s return the earth and everything
in it will be destroyed (2 Pet. 3:10).
There will be no earth for a so-called tribulation period to occur. Neither will there be an earth left upon
which Jesus could reign for a thousand years.
At Christ’s return the Judgment will occur (Matt.
25:31-33). Everyone will be changed from
possessing mortality to immortality (1 Cor. 15:51-53). Both the living and dead saints and sinners
will be rewarded according to their deeds (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 2:6). The non-Christian will be consigned to hell
while the child of God will be welcomed into heaven (Matt. 25:34, 41).
The
doctrine of the rapture is the result of man’s vivid imagination. There is simply no biblical support for the
teaching known as the rapture.
