What is
the Rapture?
The
word Rapture is not mention in the Bible.
But the Bible tells us that all believers since the birth of the church
in Acts 2 both dead and living will
someday disappear instantly. Why? The purpose is so believers will avoid the
horrifying disasters that will occur during the Tribulation – things like
earthquakes, fire, and all kinds of natural disasters like the chaos referred to
in Revelation 6-18.
Jesus
will descend with a shout and the trumpet of God will sound. Believers will immediately meet Him in the
air and be taken into heaven to be with Jesus.
Unbelievers will remain on the earth to experience God’s wrath. This will happen before the Tribulation
breaks out all over the world.
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud
command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and
the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” – 1 Thess. 4:16-17. This sounds like Jesus is coming back then,
but He is not coming back at this time.
As Jesus sits on the right hand of the throne of God, He will get up off
the throne and initiate the Rapture just at the right time. He Himself will draw believers into heaven.
The
dead believers will rise first, while the unbelievers will remain in their
graves until judgment. The believers’
spirits are already in heaven, but as their bodies rise they will be united
with their spirits. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will
rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” – 1 Cor. 15:52.
The
Rapture can happen at any time. There
are no events that must occur before the Rapture. Are you prepared for the Rapture?
Once
believers are in heaven they will be rewarded according to what they have done
on the earth. This is called the
Judgment Seat of the Christ. (2 Cor.
5:10; Rom 14:10). Another event
called Marriage Supper of the Lamb (2
Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:6-8) will occur later to celebrate the fellowship with
Jesus in heaven.
What is
the difference between the Rapture and the Jesus’ Second Coming?
The
Rapture occurs first. Then as in the
book of Revelation at Jesus’ Second
Coming, Jesus will return with all the saints (all those who were Raptured). The Rapture will be witnessed by believers
only, but the Jesus’ Second Coming will be witnessed by all people. “Behold, He is coming
with clouds, and every eye will see Him: even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of earth will mourn
because of Him.” – Rev. 1:7.
Christ’s
Second Coming will happen 7 years after the Rapture. His coming will be at the end of the 7 year
Tribulation. When He returns the Old
Testament saints will be resurrected, which marks the end of the Tribulation. The
Tribulation will usher in the Millennium.
What is
the Tribulation?
The
Tribulation is the 7 year period described in Revelation 11-18. During the
first 3 ½ years life on earth will get worse.
The second 3 ½ years is known as the Great Tribulation when God’s anger
against the wicked will be the greatest.
The Antichrist will be empowered and will be the center of evil. It will be a time of great deception by the
Antichrist. It will be a time of
devastation, disease, disasters, death, and many false prophets who will deceive
many people. There will be greed,
immorality and all kinds of wickedness.
During this time there will be those who will come to believe and be
saved, but many will not believe.
There
will be natural disasters that occur. These
are found in the book of Revelation. The sun will turn black, the moon will turn
red, and there will be great earthquakes. The stars will fall from the
sky. Mountains and islands will
move. The oceans will become blood. The water will become poisoned. This will be a time of great suffering and
persecution. During this time more than
half of the world’s population will die.
Who is
this Antichrist?
He is
the person who is against Christ. There have
been many so-called antichrists, but this Antichrist will be “The Antichrist”. He will be controlled by Satan. He will be the most powerful dictator who persecutes,
tortures and kills God’s people. He will
promise world peace and security. People
will flock to him and do anything he asks.
The book of Daniel calls him
the prince that shall come, a fierce king and a master of intrigue, and a
despicable man. (Dan. 8:23; 9:21; 11:21). In 2
Thessalonians he is referred as the one who brings destruction, the lawless
one, the evil man. (1 Thess. 2:3,8,9). In Revelation
he is referred as the beast. (Rev. 13:1). He will set himself up as god. All people will worship him. (Rev. 13:8).
Helping
the Antichrist is the false prophet.
Satan attempts to be like god and presents himself as a false trinity
which Satan is god, the Antichrist poses as the Messiah and the false prophet
is like the Holy Spirit. (Rev. 13).
What is
the Millennium?
At the
end of the Tribulation Christ will return as He promised, which is called the
Second Coming. He will bring with Him
all the believers who were Raptured. The
Antichrist and his armies will wage war against Him. This is called the Battle of Armageddon. (Rev. 14:20; 19:15). But we know who wins – God of course. The Antichrist and the false prophet will be
captured and thrown into the Lake of Fire.
Christ
will bind Satan for 1,000 years then Satan can no longer deceive the
people. Christ will set up His 1,000
year reign on earth called the Millennium.
He will rule over the earth as King of the New Jerusalem. All the believers will rule with Him. There will be 1,000 years of peace. During this time all the believers who
survived the Tribulation will of course have earthly bodies. They will continue to marry and have
children, and their descendants will need salvation.
When
the 1,000 years is over, Satan will be released for a short time to go out and
deceive those who were born during the 1,000 year kingdom. Some of these people will be influenced by
Satan and choose to reject Jesus as the Messiah. Then Satan will be stopped by God and thrown
into the Lake of Fire. All those who has
ever died, from the beginning of creation and throughout all of history, and
has not trusted God’s provision as the atonement for his sins, will be
resurrected and stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment. They too, will be thrown into the Lake of
Fire as their final judgment.
What
are the New Jerusalem, New Heaven, and the New Earth?
God
will destroy the old creation (earth) that has been corrupted by sin and
replace it with a New Heaven and a New Earth that is pure and holy and will stand
forever. The capital will be the New
Jerusalem. There will be no need for the
light of the sun and the moon, because Jesus Himself is its light (Rev. 21:23). All believers throughout history will live in
God’s eternal kingdom and will serve Him forever and ever. (2 Peter 3:3-13; Rev. 21-22; Isaiah 65:17;
66:22; Matt. 24:35)
Living
on this New Earth will be the Old Testament Saints, believers who died and were
raptured, believers who did not die and were raptured, believers who came to
faith and died as martyrs during the Tribulation called Tribulation Saints,
survivors of the Tribulation with earthly bodies, the remnant of Israel who
were saved at the return of Christ, and the Gentiles who came to faith during
the Tribulation and survived until Christ’s return.
All
believers who returned with Jesus and those resurrected to life have been given
new bodies. They will serve the
Messiah. They will be both Jew and
Gentile.
Now you
know the future. If you don’t have a
relationship with Jesus, will you consider it now? Turn to
God in prayer and confess your sins and ask Him to forgive you. Believe in Him now before it’s too late. See more on “How to be saved” at the bottom
of this page.
Wow! I know there is a lot to take in and I’ve
only touched on this topic. To dive into
this in more detail, you must read your Bible.
See Daniel 7; 8; 9; Matthew 24; 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18, 2 Thessalonians 2; Revelation.
Thanks
for stopping by my site. Have a blessed
day. See you next time.
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