Will There Be Two Raptures?

Biblegems #226

Question: I have heard that some think there will be two raptures, a pre-tribulation & a post-tribulation. What is your understanding of that?

There will be only one Rapture of the Church. Here’s why.

What the Rapture Is

The Rapture refers to an event the Bible speaks of where the followers of Jesus, dead and alive, will be “caught up” to “meet the Lord in the air,” and from then on “be with the Lord forever” (1Thess. 4:17). That is the moment when, “in the twinkling of an eye,” we will be transformed and receive our glorified, resurrection bodies (1Cor. 15:52).

When The Rapture Takes Place

The two passages referred to above, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, contain the key information about the timing of the Rapture that the rest of Scripture agrees with.

• The Rapture Takes Place At Jesus’ Return (i.e., the Second Coming):

         1Thess. 4:14 God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  

In other words, when Jesus Returns He will be accompanied by His followers who have already died and gone to heaven. At the same time, Jesus’ followers who are still alive on the earth at His Return will be “caught up together with them in the clouds (i.e., ‘raptured’) to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess 4:17).

• The Rapture and Second Coming take place at “the last trumpet:”

         1Thess. 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

The Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus are inseparable. They are each part of the same event, and that event occurs only once, at “the last trumpet:”  

1Cor. 15:51b-52 …we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 

This “last trumpet” is mentioned in both passages as a key to the timing of the Rapture and Second Coming of Jesus. It refers to the Old Testament prophecies in which a warning is given to the peoples of the earth that the Lord is about to pour out His wrath. The “last trumpet” announces “the Day of the Lord” the prophets foretold:

         Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming.

Both 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians place the Rapture and Second Coming “at the last trumpet” (1Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16). Since there is only one “last trumpet,” there is also only one Second Coming and only one Rapture.

And here is the really good news in all of this: those who are “caught up” to meet the Lord in the at His Second Coming will not experience the judgment of God’s wrath on the Day of the Lord.

         1Thes. 5:9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The “Shortened” Last Days, Part 2

Biblegems #220

Question: If the Bible predicts a 3 1/2 year tribulation then how can Jesus say the days will be shortened? Wouldn't that mean less than 3 1/2 years, thus nullifying the prophecy?

This is a great question, and it helps us dive deeper into God’s revealed Word concerning His timetable for the Lord’s Return. We will see how prophecy is not only fulfilled but also brought into sharper focus. Let’s take a look at the key events concluding The Last Days:

The Last Days conclude with a 7-year period known as Daniel’s 70^th Week (See Dan. 11:36-45; 12:1-2, 11-12). This 7-year period is then divided into three major segments.

Jesus described the first 31/2 years of this 7-year period as “the beginning of birth pains”—or “beginning of sorrows” (KJV)—(Matt. 24:5-8; Rev. 6:1-8). Following this comes “The Great Tribulation” (Matth 24:21). Concluding the third segment of this 7-year period is “the Day of the Lord,” also called the Day of God’s Wrath (Joel 1:15).

Let’s break this down a little more for clarity.

The term “the Day of the Lord” in Scripture always refers to God’s judgment and wrath upon rebellious, unrepentant mankind (Rev. 6:16-17; Is. 2:19). It is never used as a synonym for the Tribulation. It is described in the book of Revelation with the opening of the 7^th seal (Rev. 6:17). The Bible also teaches that a great cosmic upheaval will take place immediately before the Day of the Lord (Joel 2:11, 30-3), at the opening of the 6^th seal (Rev. 6:12-14).

Jesus taught that the Day of the Lord takes place at “the end of the age” (Matt. 24:14)—i.e., with the opening of the 7^th seal—and that the Rapture of the church also takes place at “the end of the age” (Matt. 13:39-40; 28:20). In fact, Jesus taught that the Day of the Lord begins the “same day” the rapture of the Church takes place (Lk. 17:26-30). That places these events in the final days of the 7-year period of Daniel’s 70^th Week.

This is why Paul writes that believers will not experience God’s wrath on the Day of the Lord:

         1Thess. 5:2 …for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. …9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s clear then that the onset of the Day of the Lord takes place somewhere in the final days of the last 31/2 years of Daniel’s 70^th Week. The only thing “shortened,” according to Jesus, is the Great Tribulation itself, not the final 31/2 years of Daniel’s prophecy.

The Rapture and the Unsaved Dead

Biblegems #175

Question: If the dead in Christ rise first and those believers living at the time are caught up to join them in the sky (1 Thess. 4:16-17), what happens to the unsaved dead?  Do they stay buried, or join ones left behind on earth?

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 is the classic New Testament passage describing the return of Jesus Christ and the rapture of the church. It is in these two verses where we learn that those who already died as believers in Jesus will receive their resurrection bodies at the moment of Christ’s physical return to earth, immediately followed by believers still living on the earth who likewise receive their resurrection bodies—people who will never experience death. This is what the church has called the “rapture.”

This climactic event in God’s timetable of the redemption of mankind triggers four more critical events that conclude God’s grand plan:

1) The outpouring of God’s Wrath, where Satan and the Antichrist

are defeated and the earth is laid waste (Rev. 11:18; Rev. 19:19-20).

2) The reign of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem for one thousand years (the Millennium), during which the earth is restored and its survivors live in peace, health and under the righteous judgment of Christ:

Rev. 20:4-5 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.

3) The temporary release of Satan, who instigates mankind’s final rebellion against God in a massive attack against Jesus’ seat of government in Jerusalem. Satan is defeated forever (Rev. 20:3, 10).

4) The Final Judgment (also called the Great White Throne Judgment), where all who have lived and died without Christ are bodily resurrected and condemned to an eternity in Hell (Rev. 20:11-15).

The Bible teaches that the souls of those who die without Christ spend their existence in Hades (Old Testament: Sheol) until the Final Judgment. Their bodies, of course, as with believers, decay until they are resurrected. For believers, the resurrection occurs at Christ’s return. For nonbelievers, their resurrection occurs at the Final Judgment following the millennial reign of Christ. Then, at last, death and Hades are both destroyed in Hell, “the Lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14) and God creates “a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…” (Rev. 21:1).

It is important to remember that all of mankind is condemned. It is not Jesus who condemns us but our own sinful condition. God wants no human being to suffer the torment of Hell (2Pet. 3:9).

         John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

The Two Witnesses

Biblegems #130

Question: Who are the two witnesses in Revelation, and what is the time frame of their ministry?

The Time Frame

These witnesses will prophesy in Jerusalem for 42 months, or 1,260 days, which equals 31/2 years (Rev. 11:2-3). The temple in Jerusalem has been rebuilt (Rev. 11:1-2), and Gentiles, not Jews, have control of the city (Rev. 11:2). These witnesses prophesy during the reign of the Antichrist, who is responsible for killing them (Rev. 11:7).

A new international holiday is declared, celebrating the death of these two martyrs. Following the 31/2 days when their bodies are left in the street, a severe earthquake kills 7 thousand people in Jerusalem, and this marks the end of “the second woe” (Rev. 11:14). The third “woe” describes the blowing of the seventh Trumpet and the beginning of the Day of the Lord’s Wrath upon the Antichrist and the rebellious  nations of the earth (Rev. 11:15-19; 19:11-21). The death of the witnesses and the Rapture of the Church take place before God’s wrath is poured out (Rev. 19:1-10).

The Witnesses

A “witness” is someone who can speak authoritatively from firsthand experience. The last OT prophet, Malachi, heard firsthand from the Lord concerning one of these two future witnesses:

         Mal. 4:5-6 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

The Jewish people take this prophecy with such seriousness that every year at Passover a chair is left empty in case Elijah shows, anticipating the arrival of the Messiah.

It seems that God is telling us that during the latter part of the Great Tribulation God will send two witnesses to bring thousands of Jewish people to repentance and faith in Jesus. One of these prophets will have “power to shut up the sky,” which points to the ministry of Elijah:

1Kings 17:1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

Many Jews will recognize this coming of Elijah as the fulfillment of prophecy announcing the imminent appearing of the Messiah.

These witnesses will also be given “power to turn the waters into blood,” which points to the ministry of Moses:

         Ex. 7:20  Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood.

These two witnesses are not some reincarnated appearance of Elijah and Moses. Rather, they are two prophets who will come on the scene during the worst of the Tribulation Period, just before the Rapture of the Church and the Day of the Lord’s Wrath, who will function in the Holy Spirit, exercising power like that of Elijah and Moses.

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