Are You Rapture Ready? Part I

Since the late 1960s, the Rapture has emerged as the second most anticipated end-time event by many Christians behind the return of Jesus Christ.

What is the Rapture? It is Christ's prophetic end time rescue of His true church from the world to heaven just prior to a time that the bible identifies as the Apocalypse.

What is the Apocalypse? It is an historical time-period where God will pour out His wrath across the world for its chronic rebellion against Him.

Who will be taken up in the Rapture? Only those who are truly born-again in Christ. That means that only those who have truly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and believe in His Resurrection from the dead, will be taken.

The rest--those who believe they are Christians because they were baptized as infants or because they belong to a church--will be left behind to suffer the consequences.

Though there are those who still deny the Rapture despite the abundant biblical evidence that predicts it, the question that begs to be asked is this: Just when is it going to take place?

Many folks believe that the Rapture is going to take place seven years prior to the return of Christ? What's so significant about those seven years? The Bible identifies that seven year period as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation periods that will be divided into two 3-1/2 year sections. (Daniel 9:27, Revelation 7:14)

Where is the Rapture mentioned in the Bible? The apostle Paul mentioned it in two of his epistles during his travels to the gentile world. In his first letter to the Corinthian church, he wrote this: "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep (die), but we will be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)

In his first epistle to the church in Thessalonica, Paul wrote this: "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 clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

But when? Seven years prior to the Lord's return? Pre-tribulation Rapture proponents claim that the church will be removed from the world just prior to the appearance of the dreaded Antichrist, who will rule the world with an iron fist in the last days.

Does the Bible reveal a pre-tribulation Rapture? No, it doesn't. Then what does the Bible predict? And why do so many people believe that they are going to be spared the Tribulation and Great Tribulation periods?

We'll answer those questions in part two.