“A Life Without Rapture”

Monday, June 29, 2020

     I have an enormous fear of the Rapture and the return of Jesus.  It all started when I was, like, five years old.  My grandfather was an Assemblies of God pastor, and they showed a film about the Rapture (meant for adults) one Sunday night.  It was shot in the 70's.  This was, like, in 1988 or so... but I have had nightmares and feared it since then.  Now I find myself watching the news constantly and cherishing my time with my family.  I am seriously tortured.  I try to live a good life.  I pray everyday.  I am not much of a reader, but I try to read God’s word; I recently bought a devotional Bible to ignite my reading more.  I try and tithe 10%.  My only hang-up is that I cuss sometimes, but I am convicted of that.  I just want to make sure all my ducks are in a row, so I can make it to heaven, and I want to share with my family.  It's so hard to talk about these things with others.  It seems they don't understand.  Hopefully, someone can help me onto the right path.

Sincerely,
Tortured

Dear Tortured,

You don’t need to worry about the Rapture or some sort of apocalyptic tribulation following it because those events aren’t in the Bible.  They may make for a riveting movie to scare people, but it isn’t from the Bible.  On the other hand, you are right to want to prepare for heaven!  We’ll talk a little bit about preparing for the Judgment Day after explaining the Rapture.

The word ‘rapture’ means ‘caught up’ in Latin.  The term ‘rapture’ is used to describe an event that many think will take place right before the days of tribulation in Revelation.  The problem with this theory is that it is wrong.  There will be a time when all christians will be caught up into the air to be with Christ – the end of time (1 Thess 4:14-18).  The book of Revelation doesn’t describe events in the future; it describes events in the past.  The book of Revelation deals with problems that the church was to “shortly” see come to pass (Rev 1:1).

Furthermore, the tribulation taught by many denominations is based off of a misinterpretation of Matthew chapter twenty-four.  Matt 24 is dealing with the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Jewish temple that would happen in 70 AD.  If we carefully pay attention to the context, Jesus is talking about the Jewish temple’s destruction, not a worldwide trial thousands of years in the future (Matt 24:1-2).  Jesus specifically said that the tribulation would occur within that generation’s lifetime (Matt 24:34).

There will be a day when all the faithful are caught up to meet Christ in the heavens.  The day He returns (Acts 1:11), all mankind will be judged at the same time (Jhn 5:28-29).  In that great day (Jude 1:6), the whole world will be burned up with fire (2 Pet 3:10-12).  There will be no post-tribulation, pre-tribulation, semi-tribulation, etc.; there will only be the great Day of Judgment (2 Pet 3:7, 1 Jn 4:17).  There are five things the Bible says you must do to be saved and prepare for that great day.  Read “Five Steps To Salvation” and then email us back if we can help you find a faithful church that will teach the truth and help you get to heaven.

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