Subject: when will the rapture take place |
Bible Note: Hi Jeff, Here are some thoughts for your consideration. The doctrine of Imminence teaches that there are no prophecies remaining to be fulfilled before the rapture. Is this taught in the Bible? What about imminence 100 years ago? Teachings during this past century declared the rapture imminent, although we know now that it was not. But imminence aside, there is the teaching of expectation. Some Pre-wrath and Post-trib proponents tell us that the early church did not teach an “any-moment” rapture. But look again at I Thessalonian 4:17 “Then we who remain alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to a meeting with the Lord in the air” and I Corinthians 15 “and we shall all be changed.” Paul, writing these verses, shows expectation, each time including himself as alive and remaining. “The dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” “Then we who are alive and remain…” LITV 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 “But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need for it to be written. For you yourselves know accurately that the day of the Lord, as a thief in the night, so it comes. For when they say, Peace and safety! Then suddenly destruction comes upon them, like the travail to the one having babe in womb, and not at all shall they escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, that the Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of day; we are not of night, nor of darkness. So then, we should not sleep, as the rest also do, but we should watch and be sober.” --- All the pronouns are first and second person, with the exception of the ones upon whom sudden destruction falls. They are third person plural. Paul clearly thought of himself as one who would be raptured. These verses are written with the underlying assumption that the Day of the Lord would come in their lifetimes. “the Day should not overtake you as a thief”. “We should watch”. 2 Peter 3:10-14 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with rushing sound, and having burned the elements will be dissolved, and earth and the works in it will be burned up. Then all these being about to be dissolved, of what sort ought you to be in holy behavior and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the Day of God, through which the heavens having been set afire will be dissolved; and burning, the elements will melt? But according to His promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Because of this, beloved, looking for these things, be diligent, spotless, and without blemish, to be found in peace by Him.” “Looking for and hastening the coming of the Day of God” – picture yourself at the train station, leaning off the platform, looking down the track, saying under your breath “come on, come on!” Peter also teaches expectation, telling us we should be looking for and hastening (to urge, speed, or eagerly await) the coming of the Day of God. Do we look for something we don’t expect to see? Matthew 24:42 “Watch, then, for you do not know in what hour your Lord comes.” Matthew 25:13 “Therefore, watch, for you do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes.” Mark 13:32-37 “Watch! Be wakeful, and pray. For you do not know when the time is. . . . then you watch, for you do not know when the lord of the house is coming. . . that he may not come suddenly and find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all. Watch!” Revelation 16:15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief.” We watch for Jesus, not knowing when He comes. Jesus says over and over to watch because we don’t know when He is coming, and we are to be found ready. Jesus wants us ready at all times, telling us that He could come back at any time, that we should expect Him at any moment. Are we wrong to expect Him at any moment? We know Jesus is coming. We are to watch for Him. Are there prophecies to be fulfilled first? Whether or not you believe the rapture to be imminent depends entirely on where you place it in referrence to other prophecies. If you believe that the rapture will occur following the the abomination of desolation, or revealing of the antichrist, then the rapture is not imminent. It can’t happen until these other events have taken place. The basic idea of expectancy implies imminence, in that if my understanding of end-times prophecy were that a particular prophecy or group of prophecies had to happen before the rapture, I would not be expecting Jesus ‘at any moment’. I would be looking intead for the fulfullment of that prophecy. There will be no imminency, and neither will there be expectancy. You will not be expecting the rapture, you will be expecting other things first. Love in Christ, Mark |