What about the rapture?
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Searching the Scriptures
David A. Bass, Rockford Church of Christ
The idea of a “rapture” is not taught in the Bible! Some people teach that Jesus is going to secretly return to the earth and take all righteous people, both the living and the dead, to heaven where they will live for seven years. I cannot find this teaching anywhere in my Bible. What does the Bible say?
Jesus’ return will be seen by everyone. Revelation 1:7 reads, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”
“Every eye will see Him!” That does not sound like Jesus’ return will be a secret. Everyone, the righteous and the wicked, will see Him, even the Roman soldier who put a spear through His side.
Jesus’ return will not only be seen by everyone, but everyone will also hear His arrival. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first” (I Thessalonians 4:16).
Notice, when Jesus returns there will be “a shout, the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.” That sounds pretty noisy to me. This doesn’t sound like a secret return.
Jesus’ return will bring about the total destruction of the heavens and the earth. II Peter 3:10 reads, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
The destruction of “the heavens and the earth” will occur with a “great noise.” This will take place after we have departed this earth with Jesus. None of this could take place secretly.
In John 5:28-29 Jesus said, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
Contrary to what some teach today, there will only be one resurrection that will take place when Jesus returns. The scriptures do not teach that there will be two resurrections a thousand years apart. Read Acts 24:15, “I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.”
The Bible says that there will be one resurrection “of the just and the unjust.”
The Bible does not teach the “human doctrine” of a secret return of Jesus to take the righteous to heaven for seven years, nor anything about a “secret return of Jesus.”
Dear friends, let’s speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent. Search the Scriptures!
If you would like to study the Bible please contact us at dejenk51@gmail.com or mail your request to: Rockford Church of Christ; 8997 U.S. Hwy. 231; Rockford, AL 35136.
