Bible Truth FAQs
WHAT THE "RAPTURE" IS
We often hear of things that are to take place in the "rapture," or when the "rapture" comes. The idea of a "rapture" is associated with pre-millennialism, the theory of a literal thousand-year reign on earth. The word "rapture" has no Biblical reference except perhaps in the literal meaning of the word.
"Rapture" means a joyous carrying away in body or spirit. It is a transporting, a removal from one place to another. Appropriate use of its meaning in connection with Christ's return at the end of the world is found in I Thess. 4:17, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
The mysterious-sounding "rapture" is really no mystery at all. Also, the literal thousand-year reign on earth can never occur in view of plain scriptures, such as I Thess. 4:16-17, II Cor. 15:24-26, and II Pet. 3:10. We had better discard false theories on the second coming of Christ and pay more attention to plain, literal Bible passages.
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