‘RAPTURE’
I cannot remember vividly if the Bible used the word
RAPTURE in any way. Or better still I cannot remember ever seen the word
Rapture in the Bible. I stand to be corrected. Though the word itself
depicts the taken to heaven of the saints when Christ comes the second
time. I am totally in agreement with the definition adduced to the word
RAPTURE. Normally the word - bearing in mind the magnitude of what it
stands for – should be seen in the same category in the Bible as words
like judgement, righteousness, salvation, faith, sin, love, law, grace,
mercy etc.
Having said that the word RAPTURE is not a biblical
word, the meaning people attributed to it is a major future event in the
bible. Therefore, I am going to discuss RAPTURE from the context of it
meaning.
The book of Daniel in the Old Testament and the book of
Revelation in the New Testament made significant analysis of powers,
gospel, visions, judgements, new Jerusalem, Heaven, beast, dragon, the
woman, testimony of Jesus Christ, horses of different colours, fire etc.
all those aforementioned above are related to Christ Second coming.
Before
I go deep into the integrity of how the second coming will unfold, I
need to reiterate that many films and movies have acted RAPTURE. I have
watched some of these movies but they are quite contrary to the process
that is involved in the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
general believe is that people will be in twos, in threes and in groups
and the saint will just disappear while the unjust will be left behind.
It is quite true that the bible says two people will be walking
together, one will be taken, and the other will not. I perfectly agree
with that, but the scenario goes beyond that. Matt24:37-41 say 37 ‘For
as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38
For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the
ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all
away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be
in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be
grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left’.
Going by
what Christ says, His coming the second time will not be, until the
gospel has been preached to the whole world as witness Matt 24: 14 ‘And
this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world
as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come’. Christ also
says (Matt24;36) “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not
even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Many
self-acclaimed seers have predicted in the past the time and day that
Christ would be coming. To my great surprised many Christians fell for
this, and sold or gave away their belongings. Brethren where is your
bible? Matt 24:23-27 ‘Then if anyone says to you, ‘look, here is the
Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christ and
false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to
lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you
beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’
do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not
believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as
far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man’. This is
exactly where I disagree with peoples’ theory of RAPTURE where is it
believed that only the saved that are raptured will see Christ coming.
As lighting cannot be hiding, so also His coming. All eyes will see Him
but only the saints would be able to stand while the unjust would be
running to the rock and be asking the rocks to fall on them.
Christ
second coming (RAPTURE AS PEOPLE TERMED IT) as explained in the book of
Revelation is in total agreement with how Christ Himself described it
in the book of Matt 24. At His second coming, there will be four (4)
different groups of people on earth: the living righteous; the righteous
dead; the living unjust and the unjust dead. Before I continue can I
quickly mention that Christ Second coming and His judgement will not
happen simultaneously? According to the book of revelation chapter 20;
judgement will come after the 1000years reign of the righteous with
Christ in heaven.
Back to the Rapture stuff, at the Second coming
of Christ, a loud trumpet shall sound, Christ shall appear in the cloud
on a white horse, at the sound of this trumpet, the dead in Christ
shall rise and will be cut up with Christ after which the living
righteous will be cut up with Him as well. According to the book of
Matthew account, all eyes shall see him both of the just and the wicked.
Christ’s feet will not touch the earth at the second coming until the
earth is cleanse of all it unrighteousness. Both the dead and living
righteous will go to heaven with him for 1000 years. Rev 20:4 ‘Then I
saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to
judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded
for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had
not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on
their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with
Christ for a thousand years.
The unjust dead will remain in
their tomb until the end of the 1000years Rev 20:5. 5 ‘The rest of the
dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is
the first resurrection’. The living unjust will still be alive but will
not have the opportunity of repenting anymore because by then Christ
would have pronounced that let the righteous remain righteous and let
the unjust remain unjust. No more chance to repent at this time. Satan
will be bounded and throw into the bottomless pit for the 1000years and
will be made inactive. ‘Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and
Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit,
and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the
nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he
must be released for a little while’; Rev 20:1-3.
After the
1000years, Satan will be released for a while Rev 20: 7-8 ‘And when the
thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and
will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the
earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like
the sand of the sea. The book will be opened and both the unjust dead
and the unjust living will be judged according to the book of life. He
whose name is not found in the book of life will be judged to eternal
destruction (second death). It simply means that even the unjust dead
will be resurrected to face judgement, Act 24:15 15 ‘having a hope in
God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a
resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
Satan will gather all
the wicked ones in an attempt to take the New Jerusalem but will not
succeed. There is the misconception that those who will not make it to
heaven for the 1000years but are still living can be saved by
sacrificing their own blood. Brethren, this is a false and wrong
teaching. There is nowhere in the entire bible where such was mentioned.
Judgement is another topic for another time, God bless.
