Rapture: What does the Bible teach about the secret rapture?

The word rapture does not appear in the Bible but is a term frequently used to mean the Second Coming of Jesus. Let's first begin by looking at some Bible texts:

1. John 14:1-3. Jesus promised He would return.

2. Acts 1:9-11. Angels confirmed His promise and testified to its truthfulness.

3. Revelation 1:7. When Jesus returns every eye shall see Him.

4. Matthew 24:27. His return shall be like lightning flashing across the sky.

5. I Thessalonians 4:16-17. It will be an audible event. The righteous dead will be resurrected and along with the righteous living caught up in the sky.

6. I Corinthians 15:51-54. God will clothe His people with immortality.

7. Matthew 16:27. His return shall be a glorious event. He comes with His reward.

8. Revelation 6:14-17. The unrighteous wicked fear His coming and cry for the rocks to fall upon them.

9. Matthew 13:37-43. The evil are purged out of His kingdom by fire and the righteous saved through all eternity.

10. Isaiah 25:9. The righteous are delighted to see Him come. They joyfully exclaim “Lo, this is our God…”

11. Revelation 19:11-16. As King of Kings leading the armies of heaven, He returns as triumphant Lord.

12. Titus 2:13. His coming is called the “Blessed Hope” of a lost mankind.

13. Revelation 22:11-12; 17-20. Jesus' final invitation to prepare for His soon return.

Isn't Jesus coming secretly? Doesn't the Bible say, “There will be two in the field, one taken and one left” (Matthew 24:40)?

The Bible makes it abundantly plain that Jesus' coming is not a secret event (Revelation 1:7; Psalm 50:3; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; Matthew 24:27). When the Bible speaks of those being left, it does not say they will be left alive on earth. The extended passage in Luke 17:26-37 describes the event in detail. In Noah's day there were two classes, “one taken (saved), one left (destroyed by the flood)(verse 27). In Lot's day there were two classes, (one taken out of the city and saved, one left in the city and consumed by the fire). It will be similar when Jesus comes (Luke 17:30-37). One class will be taken to heaven with Jesus and the other class will be destroyed. In Luke 17:37, the question is raised, “Where, Lord? Where are these people left.” The Bible answer is plain, “Whithersoever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” Revelation 19:11-18 clarifies the point that the wicked are destroyed when Jesus comes, (see also II Thessalonians 1:7-9,2:8).

Doesn't the Bible teach Jesus is coming as a thief (I Thessalonians 5:2)?

Each Bible reference to Jesus coming as a thief, is in reference to the unexpected time of Jesus' coming, not the manner of His coming. He comes quickly as a thief, unexpectedly as a thief, but in glorious splendor as lightning in triumphant glory (see Matthew 24:42-44, I Thessalonians 5:1-5, Matthew 24:27).

Do God's people live through the coming tribulation or are they raptured before the tribulation?

The experiences of ancient Israel were examples given by God for His people living at the close of time. Just as Israel was delivered from Egyptian bondage after the plagues, so God's church will be protected through the plagues and be delivered from the hand of the oppressor (I Corinthians 10:11; Psalm 91; 46). Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego entered the flames when they refused to yield to the universal death decree of Babylon's King. In those flames God miraculously delivered them. Their death-defying faith faced the flames (Daniel 3:16-28). He comes as a thief after the plagues (Revelation 16:15). What sense would it make to declare “Behold I come as a thief after six plagues are already poured out” if He had already come as a thief before they were poured out? Revelation 15:8 emphatically declares “No man can enter the (heavenly) Temple until the plagues are completed. II Thessalonians 2:1-3 makes it plain that the anti-christ is revealed before Jesus comes and is destroyed by the brightness of His coming (II Thessalonians 2:8).

Does the Bible teach that the righteous receive their reward when they are raptured at the beginning of a seven-year tribulation but the unrighteous are destroyed at the end of the seven-year tribulation?

The parables of Jesus make it plain that the Second Coming of Jesus is a divine climatic event—men and women are either saved or lost. There is no seven-year period to reconsider our lives. Now is the day of salvation (II Corinthians 6:2). In Matthew 13:30. both wheat and tares (the righteous and wicked) grow together until the harvest. The righteous are saved and the unrighteous lost. In the parable of the unfaithful servant, there is no second chance. The unfaithful are lost when the Lord of the household comes unexpectedly (Matthew 24:44-51). In the parable of the sheep and goats, men and women are either saved or lost when Jesus comes (Matthew 25:31-46).