The Rapture in a Nutshell

 

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There are at least three scriptures and possibly four scriptures that can be cited to justify the concept of an event called The Rapture. The Rapture is an event which would see the Christians removed from the Earth before a period of judgement known as the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21).

As mentioned in the scripture reprinted above, the apostle Paul stated that God has not destined us for wrath for as is mentioned earlier in that passage, we are the Sons of Light and of day and we do not belong in the darkness. Hence it can be implied that the Church will not undergo the time of testing the occurs in the Great Tribulation or the wrath of God.

The second scripture is Matthew 24: 36-41 “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so, will the coming of the Son of Man be. At that time there will be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.”

The event of the Rapture described in the scripture above seems to be different to the Second Coming of Jesus described in the book of Revelation. With this event no one knows when Jesus will come but with Revelation event, we know that Jesus returns directly at the end of the Tribulation period.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed.”

So, in our time we have only to listen to the rantings of Klaus Schwab to know that there is a great time of unrest about to descend on the World. One way or another, there is going to be a rapid depopulation of the Earth. According to Schwab it will be via whatever means necessary to save the planet and his elite will rule the Earth for generations to come in a utopian paradise of enlightened New Age folk. Unfortunately, Schwab hasn’t read the part of the book of Revelation which describes what happens to the followers of the Beast (Revelation 14:9-11).

Now prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation the Holy Spirit or “He Who Now Restrains,” as he is called in the scripture above is removed. When he is removed the Church needs to be removed as well because otherwise the Christians would be left behind without the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Church therefore must be Raptured before the Great Tribulation or cease to be Christian. So, it stands to reason the Church will not see the wrath of God because the Holy Spirit is removed so that the Great Tribulation can occur.

Revelation 7:1-4 “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, holding the seal of the living God; and he called out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.”

The final scripture that fits the puzzle that explains the Rapture. The 144000 from the Twelve Tribes of Israel who are sealed of God. They are the Jews who believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and their personal Saviour. They are the evangelists of the Great Tribulation and along with the Three Angels of Revelation chapter 14 they take the gospel to all the Earth.

The reason that they are from Israel and are entrusted with the purpose of proclaiming the gospel in the Tribulation time? Because the Church has been raptured. Those who deny the Rapture simply do not understand the consequences of it not coming to pass. It simply must happen to make the scriptures make sense.