Comparison of the Rapture and the Return

There are at least eight significant contrasts or differences in looking at 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 when compared to Matthew 24-25- Christ’s glorious appearing. These differences clearly indicate that the rapture occurs at a significantly different time from Christ’s glorious appearing.

1. At the glorious appearing, Christ comes to earth to dwell and reign (Matthew 25:31-32); while at the rapture, Christ comes in the air and returns to heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
2. At the glorious appearing, angels gather the believers (elect) (Matthew 14:31); while at the rapture, Christ gathers His own (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
3. At the glorious appearing, Christ comes to judge (Matthew 25:31-46); while at the rapture Christ comes to reward (1Thessalonians 4:17).
4. At the glorious appearing, resurrection is not mentioned; while at the rapture, resurrection is prominent (1Thessalonians 4:15-16).
5. At the rapture, believers depart the earth (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17); while at the glorious appearing, unbelievers are taken away from the earth (Matthew 24:37-41).
6. At the rapture, unbelievers remain on earth; while at the glorious appearing, believers remain on earth- after following Christ to earth (Matthew 25:34; Revelation 19:11-18).
7. Christ’s kingdom on earth is not mentioned at the rapture; while at the glorious appearing, Christ has come to set up His kingdom (Matthew 25:31-34; Revelations 20 –the Millennium).
8. A the rapture, believers will receive glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-57); while at the glorious appearing, survivors will not receive glorified bodies. It further states that “We will not all sleep, but we will be changed- in a flash, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”. Clearly specifying the Rapture, which is definitely different from Revelation 19:11-18 that states that all saints (believers) will follow Jesus to Earth when He returns to stay.

We are to Spared from the Wrath!

The church is to be spared from the wrath. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians1:10 that we should “wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

The church is not appointed to wrath. According to 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Once again, the context of this passage shows it is referring to the rapture. Because the Tribulation specifically involves God’s wrath, and because Christians are not appointed to His wrath. The church must be raptured out of the way before Tribulation begins.

If the church is raptured at the end or just before the Tribulation, no one will be left to populate the millennium. Just prior to the beginning of the millennium, all sinners (those would reject Jesus as savior) will be cast in to hell according to Matthew 25:46 and Revelation chapter 19-20. Should the rapture occur at the end, or near the end, of the Tribulation, all Christians would be taken from the earth as well, leaving no one on earth with a natural body to repopulate the planet during the millennium. The “righteous” (the sheep” who enter the millennium are the saints who survive the Tribulation- those who were unsaved at the time of the rapture but became believers during the Tribulation due to the 144,000 and the “two trees” likely Moses and Elijah. Many of these saints will be martyred during this time and return with Jesus as described in Revelation 19:11-18. , but those who survive the Tribulation will also repopulate the earth during the Millennium. For this to occur, the rapture must take place prior to the Tribulation instead of at the end or during.

Jesus’ Promise of Deliverance

There is much in the book of Revelation that tells us about the rapture. In Revelation 3:10 Jesus tells John, “I will keep you from (Greek, ek, “out of”) the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world”. This is telling all of us that it is Jesus’ intention and promise to keep the church out of the Tribulation period.

And to continue what Revelation indicates about the situation concerning the Rapture and the follow-up to Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I will also will keep you from the hour of trial which is about to come upon the whole world…”- we see more about the conditions and timing in chapters 9, 11, 12, 1nd 13.

1. Rev. 9:20 “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by those plagues (from the introduction of the sixth angel), did not “repent of the works of their hands …” This is stating that the “rest of mankind” left on earth at this time were not believers.
2. Rev. 11:2-3 “… they will tread underfoot the holy city for forty two months”. “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophecy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth”. This Scripture introduced the Two Witnesses after 9:20 states there are not believers left on earth. The Two Witnesses will have God’s authority to proclaim the gospel for 1260 days (42 months) after the rest of mankind on earth are non-believers (9:20).
3. Rev. 12:6 “Then the woman (Israel) fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. “ This further confirms the 3 and one half years left in the Tribulation. Many even conclude these 1260 days are after the Two Witnesses spend their 1260 days on earth witnessing- thus the total is the full 7 years of the Tribulation. Their “death” and coming back to life (11:11- breath of life from God) came after their 1260 days but before 12:6 where Israel has their 1260 days prior to the end of the Tribulation. This seems yet another case for the Rapture’s occurrence prior to the start of the full 7 years of Tribulation.
4. Rev. 13:5 The Beast from the Sea was given “… authority to act for forty two months was given to him.” This is another clear indication that the Beast did not appear until after the Two Witnesses had spent their 3 and a half years with their witnessing (11:3) and we are told in 13:5 that the Beast spent a full three and half years on earth before the Tribulation ends.

Then in chapter 14, the 144,000 who were sealed, appeared on Mount Zion, to witness and helped to prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus. This signals the doom for the those Worshipers of the Beast.

The Greek preposition ek admittedly has the basic idea of emergence. But this is not always so. Two notable examples are a Corinthian 1:10 and 1 Thessalonians 1:10.  In the Corinthian passage, Paul rehearses his recue from death by God. Paul did not emerge from death, but rather was rescued from the potential danger of death. 1 Thessalonian 1:10 is even more convincing, where Paul states that Jesus is rescuing believers out of the wrath to come. The idea is not emergence out of, but rather protection from entrance into divine wrath.

So if Revelation 3:10 means immunity or protection within as other positions insist, then several contradictions result. First, if protection in Revelation 3:10 is limited to protection from God’s wrath only and not Satan’s, then Revelation 3:10 denies our Lord’s request in John 17:15). Second, if Revelation 3:10 means total immunity then of what worth is the promise of Revelation 6:9-11 and 7:14, where martyrs abound?

Revelation 3:14-20 describes the First Century church in Laodicea and Jesus has nothing good to say about this church. It is the only one of the seven churches described in Revelation that Jesus has no good words for – it is lukewarm! This church also represents the church that will be on earth when the rapture occurs.  Hebrews 1:1-2 says that God will speak to us by His Son in the last days. So here Jesus told John to write that He will speak to the church at the time of rapture. This was and will be a conceited, compromising, and Christ-less church. Revelation 3:20 states that Jesus stands at the door and knocks, asking that to have the door opened so He may come in. Jesus is on the outside looking in; it does not say for anyone to come in to Jesus.

Many times this 3:20 passage is used for salvation, and while that is okay, the real purpose of this verse clearly seems to be that just prior to the rapture the church will be without Christ inside. This signals the rapture so the believers will no longer be in the growing secular world.

 

Luke 18:15 states that when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?  Revelation 3:18 tells the Laodicea church the need for the prescription for helping  Spiritual poverty This church thought they had wealth and no need for anything else; they were neither cold or hot.   Isaiah 55:1 says to come and “buy” needs without money in heaven, which indicates the state of spiritual poverty of the church. While Jesus stated that “no man will know the timing” of the rapture or His second coming, the state of our world seems to indicate that the church is nearing the state of the Laodicea church.

As we read Revelation chapters 3 and 4, there seems strong indication that the church leaves the earth after the events in chapter 3 and at the beginning of chapter 4. As stated previously, the church is not mentioned to be on the earth after chapter 3 of Revelation. This is an indication that the Church Age (another name is the Christian Era) has ended. In Revelation chapters 4 through 19 there is silence concerning the “church” as it relates to being on the earth. Yet the word “church” appears 19 times in the first 3 chapters of Revelation.

The church appears in heaven at least twice. First, the 24 elders in Revelation 4-5 symbolize the church in heaven. Second, the phrase “you saints and apostles and prophets” in Revelation 18:10 clearly refers to the church in heaven. Also, Revelation 19 pictures the church (bride of Christ) in heaven prior to her (the church) triumphal return behind Christ. Pretribulation rapture best accounts- and likely the only account that can be supported with Scripture- for the church being in heaven in these texts at this time.

The Holy Spirit is here to protect believers during the Church Age, but Revelation 4:1 says that John comes to heaven in the Spirit. Several other times in the book of Revelation the Holy Spirit is talked about as being in Heaven. This is signaling that when the believers are gone from earth, so is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the restrainer and protector and He is no longer on earth to protect Christians due to the rapture of all believers. The seven angels sent to the earth in Revelation chapters 6 through 19 to execute God’s judgment on the earth clearly had no Holy Spirit to protect those on earth. Those left on earth were non-believers and had no Holy Spirit in their hearts.

However, there are yet other issues in Revelation, especially when compared to other Scripture passages that support pretribulation rapture.

First, compare the phrase “…the things which must take place after this” which is recorded in Revelation 1:19 and 4:1. The same phrase links these two verses and this is what will happen after the church (Christians) are in heaven- or the Rapture.

Second, Revelation 4:1 mentions “…the first voice” and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 indicates that “the Lord descends with a voice”. This ties 4:1 to the rapture verse of 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Third, in the same two verses there is another link with “the Trumpet”, where Revelation 4:1 says …”the trumpet” and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 states “…with trumpet of God”.

Fourth, in Revelation 4:2 it states …”a change” and the rapture verse in 1 Corinthians 15:52-53 it says “… we shall be changed”.

Fifth, Romans 8:2 it says there is “no condemnation” referring to believers. So this seems to be a promise that relates to Revelation 3:10 already spelled previously.

Finally, in making an observation of two different verses in Revelation we see a real difference in how “doors” are opened. In 4:1 the “door” to heaven is opened and someone (John) goes up- signaling the rapture. In 19:11 the “door” is opened and Christ comes down- telling us of the true coming of Christ to reign.  So the “door” is opened twice in Revelation with very different results and purposes.

Revelation chapters 1-3 are about events on earth. Chapters 4 and 5 relate to the times and events in Heaven after the Rapture- but before the Tribulation begins!!! We are not told how long this period will be. Some believe it may be about 3 years, but it needs to be long enough for the Anti-Christ to “accomplish” some drastic things before the Tribulation is set into motion. Revelation 6:7-8 is described by John as he looked and there before him was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. Then Revelation 6:17 seems to be the start of the Tribulation, “For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” There is that word again “wrath”, which several Scripture verses already specified herein indicate believers will be spared from the “wrath”.