Characteristics of the Rapture

1. It will be sudden! 2. It will be unexpected! 3. It will be surprising! 4. We should be alert!

Jesus said, “No man knows the day or the hour” so we should live so as to “be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew14:44). Only a pretribulation rapture preserves an imminent (“at any moment”) return of Christ. Throughout the ages, Christians have understood the rapture to be imminent. Nothing could be a better motivator to holy living than knowing that Jesus could come as any moment. In fact, He may come before you are finished reading this.

Also, Jesus will come in a cloud and take His believers back to heaven, where He has prepared a place for them. There will be an exodus of believers that will leave non-believers on earth alone. Jesus will not meet His non-believers in a battle and He will not establish a reign on earth. Remember the Second Coming of Jesus is one event that occurs in two parts. The Scriptures that provide these characteristics have already been presented herein. This is just a summary of what to expect and what will not happen at the rapture.

The 7,000 Year Theory of Mankind

The 7,000 Year Theory is one of the oldest theories dating from the earliest days of the Church. It begins with God creating the heavens and the earth in six days and resting on the seventh. It should be noted that God does not spell out upon which “day” was the first day in terms of days of the week as we know them. The theory states that God will deal with mankind for six of His days (6,000 of our years) and rest on the seventh day (the1,000-year Millennium). It also assumes that all the days of the week are of equal length. Knowing three other Scripture verses will help in understanding: 1) 2 Peter 3:8 teaches one day with the Lord is 1,000 years, 2) Hebrews 4:4-11 presents the Millennium as a day of rest, and 3) Revelation 20:1-9 gives us the idea of a 1,000-year Millennium.

According to the Jewish calendar (which has today’s year 360 days –not 365), 3,760 years after Creation the Christian Era begin (1 AD on our calendar). That is almost four of God’s days. Since its beginning, the Christian Era has lasted almost 2,000 years or two more of God’s days. This means mankind is approaching the seventh God-day (the Millennium). But before the Millennium occurs two things must take place- the Rapture and the Tribulation Period.

As we are now in the 21^st Century and a new millennium, there is a sense of change in the air with mounting anticipation about the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Today, Messianic expectations are rampant among Jews in Israel, Predictions of the Rapture and the Second Coming are widespread among Christians, and doomsday prophecies are flourishing among cults. As a reminder in Matthew 24:44, Jesus said: “No man knows the day or the hour,” so we should live so as to “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect”.
Some Rapture Background/History

Critics of the Pretribulation rapture view often refer to its lack of historical support. These critic types have argued that it was invented by John Darby in the mid-1800s and was never mentioned before that. These arguments generally reason that because this teaching is less than 100 years old, it cannot be biblical, or Christians would have held to this view many years earlier. What this reasoning fails to completely understand is that biblical truth must be determined by the clear teaching of Scripture, not how that teaching has been perceived throughout history. This reasoning seems to completely ignore the way Scripture is determined to be in the Bible. However, a substantial amount of Scripture evidence reveals a belief in a Pretribulational rapture long before John Darby. The earliest documents of the ancient church (including the New Testament cannon) reflect a clear premillennialism. Pretribulationists point to the early church’s clear belief in imminence as evidence that Pretribulationism was held by at least a few from the earliest times.

Clearly early views of the church’s theology were underdeveloped and sometimes contradictory, containing a base out of which would develop various and diverse theological viewpoints. Finding clear Pretribulationism spelled out in the early church fathers is difficult, but some Pretribulational elements are clear. When systematized with their other prophetic views, these elements contradict posttribulationism, and support Pretribulationism. For an example, the apostolic fathers clearly taught the Pretribulational features of imminence. So an examination of the early church fathers reveals that they were predominantly Premillennialists or chiliasts. I found at least eight listed writings from 100 AD to 330 AD. That supported these views. While the early church fathers expected the church to be suffering and persecuted when the Lord returns, they also believed in the imminent return of Christ, which is a central feature of Pretribulational thought.

Expressions of imminence abound in the apostolic fathers. Clement of Rome (90-100 AD), Ignatius of Antioch (98-117), The Didache (100-160), The Epistle of Barnabas (117-138), and The Shepherd of Hermas (96-150) all speak of imminence. In fact, The Shepherd of Hermas speaks of escaping the Tribulation. So in the end, one cannot find a clear statement of patristic eachatology in the early church regarding the rapture. However, the argument that Pretribulation is not valid only because of the lack of historical support in the early church is certainly NOT true. What we can conclude from the early church fathers is:

1. They expected a literal coming of Christ followed by a literal 1000-year kingdom.
2. They believed in the imminent coming of Christ with occasional Pretribulational inferences.
3. They were being persecuted by the Roman government but did not equate this with the future Tribulation wrath.

1. It will be sudden! 2. It will be unexpected! 3. It will be surprising! 4. We should be alert!

Jesus said, “No man knows the day or the hour” so we should live so as to “be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew14:44). Only a pretribulation rapture preserves an imminent (“at any moment”) return of Christ. Throughout the ages, Christians have understood the rapture to be imminent. Nothing could be a better motivator to holy living than knowing that Jesus could come as any moment. In fact, He may come before you are finished reading this.

Also, Jesus will come in a cloud and take His believers back to heaven, where He has prepared a place for them. There will be an exodus of believers that will leave non-believers on earth alone. Jesus will not meet His non-believers in a battle and He will not establish a reign on earth. Remember the Second Coming of Jesus is one event that occurs in two parts. The Scriptures that provide these characteristics have already been presented herein. This is just a summary of what to expect and what will not happen at the rapture.

The 7,000 Year Theory of Mankind

The 7,000 Year Theory is one of the oldest theories dating from the earliest days of the Church. It begins with God creating the heavens and the earth in six days and resting on the seventh. It should be noted that God does not spell out upon which “day” was the first day in terms of days of the week as we know them. The theory states that God will deal with mankind for six of His days (6,000 of our years) and rest on the seventh day (the1,000-year Millennium). It also assumes that all the days of the week are of equal length. Knowing three other Scripture verses will help in understanding: 1) 2 Peter 3:8 teaches one day with the Lord is 1,000 years, 2) Hebrews 4:4-11 presents the Millennium as a day of rest, and 3) Revelation 20:1-9 gives us the idea of a 1,000-year Millennium.

According to the Jewish calendar (which has today’s year 360 days –not 365), 3,760 years after Creation the Christian Era begin (1 AD on our calendar). That is almost four of God’s days. Since its beginning, the Christian Era has lasted almost 2,000 years or two more of God’s days. This means mankind is approaching the seventh God-day (the Millennium). But before the Millennium occurs two things must take place- the Rapture and the Tribulation Period.

As we are now in the 21^st Century and a new millennium, there is a sense of change in the air with mounting anticipation about the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Today, Messianic expectations are rampant among Jews in Israel, Predictions of the Rapture and the Second Coming are widespread among Christians, and doomsday prophecies are flourishing among cults. As a reminder in Matthew 24:44, Jesus said: “No man knows the day or the hour,” so we should live so as to “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect”.
Some Rapture Background/History

Critics of the Pretribulation rapture view often refer to its lack of historical support. These critic types have argued that it was invented by John Darby in the mid-1800s and was never mentioned before that. These arguments generally reason that because this teaching is less than 100 years old, it cannot be biblical, or Christians would have held to this view many years earlier. What this reasoning fails to completely understand is that biblical truth must be determined by the clear teaching of Scripture, not how that teaching has been perceived throughout history. This reasoning seems to completely ignore the way Scripture is determined to be in the Bible. However, a substantial amount of Scripture evidence reveals a belief in a Pretribulational rapture long before John Darby. The earliest documents of the ancient church (including the New Testament cannon) reflect a clear premillennialism. Pretribulationists point to the early church’s clear belief in imminence as evidence that Pretribulationism was held by at least a few from the earliest times.

Clearly early views of the church’s theology were underdeveloped and sometimes contradictory, containing a base out of which would develop various and diverse theological viewpoints. Finding clear Pretribulationism spelled out in the early church fathers is difficult, but some Pretribulational elements are clear. When systematized with their other prophetic views, these elements contradict posttribulationism, and support Pretribulationism. For an example, the apostolic fathers clearly taught the Pretribulational features of imminence. So an examination of the early church fathers reveals that they were predominantly Premillennialists or chiliasts. I found at least eight listed writings from 100 AD to 330 AD. That supported these views. While the early church fathers expected the church to be suffering and persecuted when the Lord returns, they also believed in the imminent return of Christ, which is a central feature of Pretribulational thought.

Expressions of imminence abound in the apostolic fathers. Clement of Rome (90-100 AD), Ignatius of Antioch (98-117), The Didache (100-160), The Epistle of Barnabas (117-138), and The Shepherd of Hermas (96-150) all speak of imminence. In fact, The Shepherd of Hermas speaks of escaping the Tribulation. So in the end, one cannot find a clear statement of patristic eachatology in the early church regarding the rapture. However, the argument that Pretribulation is not valid only because of the lack of historical support in the early church is certainly NOT true. What we can conclude from the early church fathers is:

1. They expected a literal coming of Christ followed by a literal 1000-year kingdom.
2. They believed in the imminent coming of Christ with occasional Pretribulational inferences.
3. They were being persecuted by the Roman government but did not equate this with the future Tribulation wrath.