Bible Question: I am Baptist and I have been taught that when you die, you go to Heaven or Hell. My sister-in-law says that everyone goes at Rapture. Does the bible support the soul leaving your body and going straight to Heaven or Hell? |
Bible Answer: Hi Shellpie, As a Baptist, I would guess that you have heard the three parables in the 25th chapter of Matthew. Jesus is teaching His disciples in this 'farewell trilogy' that the date and time of His return is not the issue. What IS important is how we will conduct ourselves up until that time. (One good pastime would be to read and study His Word) So we can look to the 20th chapter of Revelation for God's disclosure on whether everyone will be gone at the rapture. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. (Rev 20:1-3) So This is by all accounts, after the rapture. And, it says that the devil must be released for a short time, when the thousand years are over and verse 8 tells us the reason: he is to go out and deceive the nations. My understanding is that there are believers in the world after the rapture, and the devil must be turned loose in order to try to deceive them. son |