Is the word "rapture" in the Bible?
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Asked September 16 2013
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Della Wells
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Jeff Hammond
There are a number of theological concepts in the Bible without a specific word to explain the concept. That doesn't make it unbiblical but is part of what Prov.25:2 tells us that it is the glory of God to conceal a matter but it is the honor of kings to search it out. So we have the word "rapture" to explain the concept of bring "caught up" to meet the Lord in the air in 1 Thes.4:14-17. To explain the phenomenon of God appearing in human form, e.g. Gen.18:1-2 is expressed in the word "theophany" To explain the concept of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as three divine Persons in One - there is the word "Trinity". To explain Christ's command to taker the Gospel to the nations we have the term "Great Commission". To explain the miracle of God becoming human through the virgin birth we have the term "incarnation" etc. So it is a normal theological exercise to take biblical truth and summarize it in a concise term.
Jennifer Rothnie
Supporter
No, the word rapture is not in the Bible (in english, latin, or greek). In English translations, what some people refer to as the rapture is one specific use of the term "caught up/Caught away" in I Thess 4:17. The english word 'rapture' derives from the first person plural passive of the latin "rapio/rapere" (drag off, snatch, seize, carry off) which is "Rapiemur" in the Latin Vulgate translation. [The english word 'rape' also derives from rapio/rapere, so you can see how even rapiemur is not equivalent to 'rapture']. This latin word, which was used in the Latin Vulgate translation in I Thess 4:17, is itself translated from the greek "arpagēsometha", the second future passive indicative of "harpazo", which means to catch/sieze/carry away/snatch/obtain by robbery. A good way to picture this word is to imagine a king forceably taking his spoils of war. As such, "rapture" is an English word with a couple of degrees of separation from the original Greek, and it is not used in the Bible itself. Greek 'harpazo', Latin 'rapere', English 'to seize by force/snatch up': This "seizing" does not imply a specific set of locations, nor does the word define who is doing the seizing, why, or to whom. The context and surrounding words/details must be relied on for that, so it varies by verse. (II Cor 12:12, Matt 12:29, Acts 8:39, Rev 12:5, John 10:28, Acts 23:10). Harpazo does, however, refer to an open and overt display of force, and focuses on the sudden, forceful, and decisive action of the one doing the seizing. *** The English word "rapture" generally refers not to the translation of harpazo, but rather to specific theories regarding that set of locations, people, or purpose referred to in I Thess 4:17. One modern, popular theory is that Christ in I Thess 4:17 is secretly returning for his church to take them away before the tribulation begins. However, these are just theories/interpretations of men - and their merit must be determined from other scriptures. The use of the word harpazo itself only shows that the events occurring in I Thess 4:16-17 (Christ coming on the clouds, us meeting Him) will be sudden, public, and via force and might (in this instance, by the might of Christ).
Hairy Animals
The word rapture never appears in the Bible. My Bible has a short reference section in the end. If I open it to "rapture", I get the following verses: 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Study the first for a moment: 1 Corinthians 15:51-57. If it is read on its own, it seems quite possible that this passage is talking about the rapture. This is what happens when you read a verse (or a few verses) out of context. You can make the Bible prove anything. If you put those verses back into the context and read the passages surrounding them, you will see that this has nothing to do with the rapture. It is talking about how, at the last trumpet, the dead shall be raised and we will all be changed. Our mortal body will be cast away and we will put on a new, incorruptible body. This has nothing to do with the rapture. Let's look at the second reference: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. This is talking about the same thing as in 1 Corinthians 15:51-57. I've seen plenty of other verses like this. None of them are about the rapture. They are all about how Jesus will come down and we will be changed. Rapture is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. I do not know where people got the idea that there will be a rapture. I strongly believe there is no pre-tribulation rapture. This is just my personal opinion. It's your choice to decide.
Author Comans
Yes, the word 'Rapturo' (English: Rapture) was in the Latin Vulgate, which was the official translation of the church for several hundred years. Translated by Jerome from AD 382 - AD 405, It remained the principle translation of the church into the 16th Century.
Bruce Lyon
Is the word "rapture" in the Bible? The answer is no. Jesus isn't going to come as a drive by pick up to take all those who going to be resurrected and return to heaven. In fact he is only coming one time and that is when at the 7th Trumpet all those who have a part in the 1st Resurrection will rise up to meet the lord Jesus in the air and then go with him to Mt. Sinai and celebrate the marriage of the Lamb. At that time all those who have been resurrected will be immortal men and women and protect those who have fled to the mountain for safety. Then we will proceed from Mt. Sinai and take the same route Moses took to the Jordan defeating various armies and rebellious people along the say. We will after crossing the Jordan river go up to Jerusalem where Jesus will take his place on the throne of David at Zion. We will then go to the vally of Megiddo and defeat all the armies that have gathered to fight against the Messiah Jesus. After the armies have been defeated then will begin the 1,000 year rule of Jesus on this earth with all those who have been resurrected given responsible positions in the Theocratic Government that will rule over all the nation on this earth. So not only do people not go to heaven when they die, but when they are resurrected they only go as high as the clouds to meet the lord Jesus who will with them return immediately to this earth at Mt. Sinai. So says the scripture. The so-called rapture that many think will take place before the coming Tribulation will not happen and when it does not many will realize that they have been lied to and fall away at that time. There is only one second coming of the lord Jesus and that will take place at the end of the age, at the end of the Tribulation period and before God's Wrath is poured out on this earth. Read the following from my blog: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2510908428700826886#editor/target=post;postID=8087971774011297240;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname Also: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2510908428700826886#editor/target=post;postID=5888309880454320796;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname
James Fromberg
My advice is to turn around and go back and get off the rapture road. It doesn't appear in the bible and is being used today to create a false doctrine with many dead ends. Gods word should be clear and simple, remember He is our Father - John 14:26. Revelation was written to the seven churches of that time period. Please read Rev. 1:1,3,4,7 Rev. 3:11 and Rev. 22: 6, 7, 10, 12, 20. Now ask yourself when John wrote these letters to the seven churches and they read them, did they say "Oh well it's a good letter but it doesn't mean anything to us, it's for some future generation maybe 2000 years from now, or who knows how long". No it was written to our Christian brothers and sisters for encouragement knowing that the time was at hand for God to revenge His saints - Please read Matt 23:26-38 and Luke 21:17-33 Notice in in verse 36 of Matthew 23 Jesus says to His Disciples THIS GENERATION - NOT SOME FUTURE GENERATION - Verse 38 Your house is left unto you desolate! And in Luke 21:20 When you see Jerusalem compassed/surrounded with armies (that would be the roman armies that destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70) then know that the desolation is near! And finally verse 22 of Luke chapter 21 - For these be the days of vengeance, that ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN MAY BE FULFILLED! The key to understanding the book of Revelation is simple - First ask yourself what did it mean to the people of that TIME, when each church read the letter it meant something TO THEM. It was a letter of encouragement hope and love to a people who were facing persecution. It is a message of the avenging arm of God upon a apostate people (the old system covenant) who killed His Son - Please read Mark 12:1-9. And second don't throw out the most important rule that we follow when studying the bible LET SCRIPTURE INTERRUPT SCRIPTURE! Revelation can be understood by reading it thru the lens of the old testament. The New Testament is in the Old concealed, The Old Testament is in the New Testament REVEALED! Revelation starts by saying in verse 1 He showed His servant the THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS - And ends in Chapter 22:12,13 "BEHOLD, I AM COMING QUICKLY." "YES, I AM COMING QUICKLY." Revelation must first be understood from a First Century perspective! Revelation is simply a story of destroying the old covenant and ushering in the new covenant Hebrew 8:13 - There are spiritual truths in Revelation for us today but the main subject is the destruction of Jerusalem that took place in AD 70
Richard Golko
There is so much confusion on this subject of "the rapture" that a short comment such as mine cannot cover the entire subject. What everyone seems to be missing here is "the secret held for ages and generations" that was revealed to the apostle Paul. This secret, revealed in Ephesians 1:10 concerns a future time period (the "dispensation of the fullness of times") when Christ will head up all things in heaven and on earth. The first stage of Christ asserting his headship is in the Christian Church of which those who believe in Christ are members. In the 3rd chapter of Ephesians, Paul reveals "a secret within The Secret" and that is "the administration of the secret" of which Paul was made the dispenser. This administration of the secret is the first stage of Christ becoming Head over all. We Christians are the firstfruits of his harvest. The administration of the secret is a period of time spanning from the time the secret was revealed to the return of Christ FOR his church. Notice the differences between scriptures when you read them. There is a verse that talks about Christ coming WITH his church. For him to come WITH his church, he first has to come FOR his church. We in this Christian Church which is the body of Christ, are one with the Lord. We are his body. We were saved by grace through faith, and even faith is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:1-8). The reason you believe is because God granted you that grace to believe. If we realized that our salvation is totally dependent on what Christ did, and not on anything we do, much error would be foregone in Christian teachings. Being saved by grace through faith, we have been "saved from the wrath to come." That's an absolute. Just as God loaded the Ark with 8 people he chose by His grace before the flood waters came, God will send Jesus to collect his own prior to the unfolding of the events detailed in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Praise God for his grace! If you carefully read the book we call "Revelation" then you will see the Christian church of grace is not in the book at all. It's absent. The 7 letters to the 7 churches are all based on the law. Read them carefully. In the Christian church we are part of, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile. In the churches described in the Revelation, people are claiming they are Jews to gain supremacy and they are rebuked for it. Believers are warned of the second death which Christians in our church are definitively saved from. There is no way the words used in the 7 epistles to the churches in the Revelation can coincide with and not contradict with the truth taught in the Pauline epistles. The Pauline epistles are specifically written to people in the time period in which we live, the "administration of the secret." For more information on the churches in the Revelation period, see E.W. Bullinger's Preface to his work on Revelation. It's masterful. He lists some 49 reasons why the church we are part of is nowhere in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. God saves us by taking us out before the Revelation even unfolds. We meet our Lord "in the air" which is different than his return to earth for Israel, which is "to the earth." Notice things that are different in the Pauline epistles from those scriptures that talk about Christ's return in the gospels. The "secret administration" was NOT revealed in the gospels. It was revealed to Paul way after the resurrection of our Lord. Those who are saved by God's choice [God chose us in him from before the foundation of the earth", Ephesians 1:3] in our period of time shouldn't be gathered out, or more literally, "snatched away" before the period of "Jacob's trouble." Jacob's trouble is God's wrath poured out on the earth. We have been saved from wrath. We have no part in the wrath of God.
James Kraft
I believe the bible clearly lays out there will be a rapture or catching away of the body of Christ at the end of the church age, and before the 7 year period given. I Revelation as the great tribulation. First Corinthians 15:51-53 and First Thessalonians 4:13-18. Notice in verse it is the trump, not trumpet. And it says we will go to meet Him in the clouds. He does not come back to the earth. John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on Him Since Jesus has already taken the wrath of God for us, we will not go through the time of Jacobs trouble. The tribulation. All those who have believed on Jesus as the only way of heaven, have His Holy Sprit in them, Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, (He paid our sin debt in full) in whom also AFTER ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of Promise. Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit in whom ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Born again, born of God. Second Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, the foundation of God is sure, having this seal, (The Holy Spirit) the Lord knoweth them that are His. The day of redemption for the church is the rapture. The bible clearly says that anyone who takes the mark of he beast during the tribulation can not be saved and will go to hell. If a born again believer were able in a weak moment to take the mark of the beast, God would have to send His own Spirit to hell. That can not happen. We are in the church age where one only has to believe on the name of the Son of God to be saved. That means we believe that we will be saved by what He did for us plus nothing. That salvation now is a free gift to all who believe Jesus paid our sin debt in full and we can never be condemned again. John 3:18 Romans 11:6 It is all grace, what Jesus did for us, not works what we do or do not do. We can not earn heaven. We can only be saved by faith alone in Christ alone and it happens the minute we believe the gospel. John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent me, that ALL that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. The catching up of he body of Christ the church. There will be people saved during the tribulation, Revelation 7. There will be 12,000 from each tribe of Israel, and so many others no man can count. But they are not saved by faith alone, but by faith plus not taking the mark of the beast. They will have to persevere to the end to be saved. Most will be beheaded for their faith and not worshipping the beast. I for one am looking forward to meeting the Lord in the clouds. Is it necessary to believe in the rapture to be saved? No. But many believers who do not believe it will be very surprised when they are changed in the twinkling of an eye and go to meet the Lord in the air. At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus comes back to the earth and we will come with Him. Then He will set up His kingdom on earth for a 1,000 years.
Jack Gutknecht
The word Rapture does not appear in the Bible. It comes from the Latin word rapare which means "seize", "snatch" or "take away.". The term Rapture is used to refer to the faithful believers being taken up to meet Christ in the air as described in this passage written by the apostle Paul. Rapture according to NAVE has 4 references in the Bible: 2 Cor. 12:4; 1 Thess. 4:17; Jude 23; Rev. 12:5. The English word comes from a Latin word, rapio, which means to seize or snatch in relation to an ecstasy of spirit or the actual removal from one place to another. In other words, it means to be carried away in spirit or in the body. The Rapture of the church means the carrying away of the church from earth to heaven. The Greek word from which this term “rapture” is derived appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, translated “caught up.” The Latin translation of this verse used the word rapturo. The Greek word it translates is harpazo, which means to snatch or take away. Elsewhere it is used to describe how the Spirit caught up Philip near Gaza and brought him to Caesarea (Acts 8:39) and to describe Paul’s experience of being caught up into the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2-4). Thus there can be no doubt that the word is used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 to indicate the actual removal of people from earth to heaven. Though it has been used differently in the past, the term is now often used by certain believers to distinguish this particular event from the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Earth mentioned in Second Thessalonians, Gospel of Matthew, First Corinthians, and Revelation, usually viewing it as preceding the Second Coming and followed by a thousand year millennial kingdom. Adherents of this perspective are sometimes referred to as premillennial dispensationalists, but among them, there are differing viewpoints about the exact timing of the event.
Derrol PORTER
The word Bible is not in the Bible. But like rapture from Latin, we find our word Bible comes from the Greek word BIBLOS, which means book. Matthew 1:1, uses the word in the Greek translation. There are many words we commonly use to teach God's Word that have come into the church that are not found in manuscripts; however that doesn't make them incorrect.
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