The Rapture
Martin Canell
One of the main teachings in New Testament is that someday in the future Jesus will return and judge the living and the dead (ex. read Matthew 25:31-46). There are many events of the return of Jesus Christ discussed in scripture and we are exploring these events during our study of Revelation. One of these events is what some call the rapture. The word rapture is not in our English Bibles. However, it is a word derived from the Latin verb “rapere” found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 of the Latin translation of the Bible. This Latin verb is translated from the same Greek verb (the original language of the New Testament) our English Bibles translate as “caught up”. Changed from the verb to a noun, the word rapture has become the name for the event and the doctrine.
The rapture has five parts according to scripture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-55):
Jesus will descend from heaven into the air & clouds.
Dead believers will be resurrected.
Alive believers will be “caught up” to meet Jesus and the resurrected believers.
Together they will be transformed into the likeness of Jesus.
Together they will be with Jesus for all eternity.
The rapture is not the only event of Jesus’ return, but when someone uses the word rapture it most often speaks to this event and to the doctrine of the rapture… (continued)