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Why the Rapture isn’t Biblical… And Why it Matters
Patheos ^ | June 4, 2014 | Kurt Williams

Posted on 07/23/2019 5:26:09 AM PDT by Cronos

I grew up in church culture. Most of what I recall from those early childhood and teenage years bring memories of good things. People genuinely taught me that loving Jesus matters more than anything else in the world. The world, after all, is corrupt and the place we truly long for is far, far away – heaven. So we are to love Jesus and hate the world.

Now, this is not hatred toward the people on earth. I did not grow up in a church culture that taught that we ought to tell outsiders how much they suck, but that this “world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through.”

World and physicality = bad.
Jesus and spiritual bliss in a distant heaven = goal of the game.

This distinction came with a subset of beliefs about the destiny of God’s world. Eventually this planet would be destroyed and we Christians would “fly away” to heaven at the rapture of the church. Certain Christians understood the timing of the rapture as it corresponds to the book of Revelation differently than others, but no one ever denied the imminent return of Jesus to evacuate the church out of earth.

What I’ve come to realize is that the church of my youth probably had the rapture all wrong. You see, the Bible flows from Creation (Gen 1-2) to Renewed Creation (Rev 21-22). This is the narrative of Scripture. Nothing in the text (if read in its proper context) alludes to the actual complete destruction of the planet. This world’s worth to the Creator runs deep and because of this, the world as a whole ought to be intrinsically valuable to us.

Physical/earthly realities such as social injustice, violence, hunger, preventable sickness, and the destruction of nature are invitations to the church of Jesus to get our hands dirty and proclaim that this world matters (even in its broken state)! Christ will complete creation upon his return, uniting heaven and earth for the life of the age to come!

The famous “rapture” passage is found in 1 Thessalonians 4.15-17 and reads:

According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 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.

This passage, when placed in the larger context of the chapter, is answering questions that Christians in Thessalonica had concerning death. What has happened to our loved ones who have died before the return of Christ to earth? What is theirs and our ultimate destiny? Paul’s answer: bodily resurrection at the return of Christ to earth! Not an escape into the sky [see appendix below!].

In this passage, Paul borrows two specific images from the Old Testament that would have been familiar to Jewish converts and Gentiles who were familiarizing themselves with the Hebrew tradition. The first of these that Paul employs in the text has to do with Moses who comes down from Mount Sinai with the Law with the great blast of the trumpet.

The second image is taken from Daniel chapter 7 where the “one like the son of man” (or “human being” or “The Human One”) and the community he represents is vindicated over the enemies of the people of God. Clouds here symbolize the power and authoritative judgement of God about the rescue of his people. This idea now seems to be applied to Christians who are facing various forms of persecution.

Finally, there is a third image in the text that comes from outside of the canonical context. This is the image of an emperor who visits a city. The people of that region would have gone out to meet him to usher him into their home in a royal procession out in the open air. This, Paul seems to apply to the church who will usher in their King into the new creation.***

Rapture, as it is popularly understood, is nowhere to be found in this “rapture” passage. Christ will return to resurrect, to purge, to heal, and to establish the eternal kingdom of God on this earth. Heaven and earth will unite like a bride and husband – for all eternity. That’s it.

The Bible teaches that when Christ comes back, it will be Good News! “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’” (Revelation 21.4). Surely we cannot erase judgment from the picture, but the hope is that those in Christ will be raised to eternal life and everything that is wrong with this world will be made right.

This world renewed is going to be our home for eternity, and we have the opportunity to reflect that future in our present. Rapture invites us to escape this world: the last thing that Jesus would have ever taught! “On earth as in heaven” is what he said, not “in heaven away from the earth!” Our world’s future is hopeful. Let’s tell that story and not the escapist narratives that many of us grew up with.

[Kurt Note: This article is an adaptation from various pieces that are part of my “rapture” category.]

—————————————————————————————————

APPENDIX

Word Study, 1 Thessalonians 4.17 (Warning: a bit more technical!)

Below is a Word Study that I did based on 1 Thessalonians 4.17. What is interesting to me is how it reinforced my belief that the “rapture” as it is popularly understood (Jesus secretly returns to extract believers from earth to heaven for eternity) is completely unwarranted. If you choose to follow the logic below, you will know why 🙂

1. Word Identification

The word underlying “air” in 1 Thessalonians 4.17 is the Greek word “ἀήρ” (Strong’s: #109).

2. Frequency and Distribution

The usage of ἀήρ in the New Testament by verse:

Acts 22:23

…εἰς τὸν ἀέρ
…dust into the air,

1Co 9:26

…ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων·
…one that beateth the air:

1Co 14:9

…γὰρ εἰς ἀέρα λαλοῦντες.
…shall speak into the air.

Eph 2:2

…ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος τοῦ πνεύματος…
…power of the air, the spirit that…

1Th 4:17

…κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα καὶ οὕτως…
…the Lord in the air: and so shall…

Rev 9:2

…καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ ἐκ τοῦ…
…sun and the air were darkened by…

Rev 16:17

…ἐπὶ τὸν ἀέρα καὶ ἐξῆλθεν…
…vial into the air; and there came…

3. Meaning

1) the air, particularly the lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air 2)the atmospheric region[1]

After surveying the above seven occurrences, it is clear that the definition is simply the area of unseen space in our atmosphere. Below, the meaning in its various usages are explained:

ήρ (aēr, 109), ἀέρος, , (ἄημι, ἄω, [cf. ἄνεμος, init.]), the air (particularly the lower and denser, as distinguished from the higher and rarer ὁ αἰθήρ, cf. Hom. Il. 14, 288), the atmospheric region: Acts xxii. 23; 1 Th. iv. 17; Rev. ix. 2, xvi. 17; ὁ ἄρχων τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος in Eph. ii. 2 signifies “the ruler of the powers (spirits, see ἐξουσία 4 c. ββ.) in the air”, i. e. the devil, the prince of the demons that according to Jewish opinion fill the realm of air (cf. Mey. ad loc.; [B. D. Am. ed. s. v. Air; Stuart in Bib. Sacr. for 1843, p. 139 sq.]). Sometimes indeed, ἀήρ denotes a hazy, obscure atmosphere (Hom. Il. 17, 644; 3, 381; 5, 356, etc.; Polyb. 18, 3, 7), but is nowhere quite equiv. to σκότος,— the sense which many injudiciously assign it in Eph. 1. c. ἀέρα δέρειν (cf. verberat ictibus auras, Verg. Aen. 5, 377, of pugilists who miss their aim) i. e. to contend in vain, 1 Co. ix. 26; εἰς ἀέρα λαλεῖν (verba ventis profundere, Lucr. 4, 929 (932)) “to speak into the air” i. e. without effect, used of those who speak what is not understood by the hearers, 1 Co. xiv. 9.*[2]

Although ἀήρ is not a word that is frequent in the New Testament, it is interesting to note that there is only one other word that is translated into English as “air.” The Greek οὐρανός has a different meaning when used as “air” than ἀήρ. Rather than referring to the “lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air,” it means:

1. the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it

  1. a. the universe, the world
  2. b. the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced
  3. c. the sidereal or starry heavens

2. the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings[3]

It seems that the difference between these two words will prove to be significant. The word in the 1 Thessalonians text indicates the “air” of the “lower” region as opposed to the “heavens” as οὐρανός can also be translated (heavens – 24x, heavenly – 1, heaven – 218). In other words, Paul had an option to use either of the words to talk about the “air” but he chose to use the word that refers mostly to the lower atmospheric region.

4. Meaning in Context

In the context of 1 Thessalonians 4.17, Paul is answering questions regarding the blessed Christian hope. What happens to Christ-followers who die before the return of the Messiah? Are they gone forever? And what about those of us who are waiting for this day? What are we to look forward to? In answer to these kinds of questions Paul describes the coming of Jesus as a moment of resurrection. Because Jesus died and rose again, his followers will someday be like him. They will have bodies that are restored to the image of Christ who is the image of God.

Paul in this passage uses mixed metaphors to communicating the reality of the final resurrection. He employs imagery from the Old Testament as well as from Roman royalty. Christ will appear in such a way that it will be like Moses when he descended down from the Mountain of Sinai. He will come with the “clouds” meaning that he will come with the power / authority of heaven like the “son of Man” in Daniel 7. When this happens all followers of Jesus will be gathered around their King and will usher him into the new heavens and new earth.

Unfortunately, the present passage of Scripture has been interpreted in several different ways; mostly indicating that the return of Christ will be a rapturous moment when God will snatch believers away from this evil world to meet him in the “air” (up in heaven) for eternity. There are several problems with this approach (too numerous to look at for this word study). The current word study exposes one of the fallacies in this interpretive scheme.

Had the Apostle wanted to communicate that Christ coming downward to take us upward was the goal of the 2nd coming, he could have chosen to use a word like οὐρανός. This word, which is interpreted as “air” on some occasions (as indicated above), would have given the impression that going to meet Christ in the “air” was a upward heavenly route. However, what this word study has discovered is that the word Paul chose to use was one that indicates the lower part of the atmosphere. Paul had a grammatical choice to make, and clearly he did not want to misguide his first century audience by making them think that being “with the Lord forever” actually meant going to heaven, away from the creation project. So, in order to keep his metaphorical devices in place without giving the wrong impression, he chose to use ἀήρ to indicate that he was not talking about escaping this world; but rather being part of its redemptive process. If the alternative word had been selected, Paul would have given us the opportunity to affirm cosmological dualism.

5. Verification

There is no dispute of how ἀήρ is to be translated from Greek into English among the translations. In every version that was checked (ESV, KJV, NIV, and TNIV) this word is translated as “air.”

After consulting the “Easton Bible Dictionary” we find that this word study’s findings about the meaning of the word ἀήρ is consistent and verified. It states: “The atmosphere, as opposed to the higher regions of the sky (1Th_4:17; Rev_9:2; Rev_16:17).”[4] This is also confirmed by the UBS Greek Dictionary: “air; ethereal region above the earth, space.”[5]


FOOTNOTES

***N. T. Wright, “Farewell to Rapture,” Biblical Review (August 2001). http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_BR_Farewell_Rapture.htm (accessed October, 2009).

[1]http://www.biblestudytools.com/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=109&version=nas

[2] http://www.greekbiblestudy.org/gnt/greekWordStudy.do?id=100095&greek=false

[3] http://www.biblestudytools.com/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=3772&version=nas

[4] See: Easton Bible Dictionary. Available Online at: http://refbible.com/a/air.htm

[5] The Greek New Testament With Greek-English Dictionary by B. Aland (Editor), K. Aland (Editor), J. Karavidopoulos (Editor), B. M. Metzger (Editor), C. M. Martini (Editor)



TOPICS: General Discusssion
KEYWORDS: biblestudy; rapture; rapturebiblestudy
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To: Safrguns

Yes


261 posted on 07/24/2019 6:58:48 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: LeonardFMason; SkyPilot; Roman_War_Criminal; null and void; metmom; Mom MD; 444Flyer; Lera; ...
[The Bride will have been raptured]

Correct. This is from Patheos a place where "authors" have enjoyed this sort of thing: (I just ran across them accidentally or perhaps not accidentally - heh)

"LOL Jesus, go home, you’re drunk"

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rolltodisbelieve/2017/10/10/dissection-of-a-soulwinner/lol-jesus-go-home-youre-drunk/
262 posted on 07/24/2019 7:05:24 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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In the Last Days, mockers shall come with their mocking:


263 posted on 07/24/2019 7:06:45 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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With the author's name attached to the image:


264 posted on 07/24/2019 7:08:24 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: SaveFerris
Darn, I just copied and sent that Jesus knocking pic to some family before I saw the drunk reference on it !!!!!😬😔😧
265 posted on 07/24/2019 7:18:35 PM PDT by TianaHighrider (God bless our men with the bravery to be men.)
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To: TianaHighrider

Might want to send a follow-up! :)


266 posted on 07/24/2019 7:22:03 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: Cronos
Just was part of "no more" do you not understand? And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. (Revelation 18:21) And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; (Revelation 18:22) And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. (Revelation 18:23)..

The book of the Apocalypse is the foretelling of the destruction of Jerusalem. ..Yes, Jerusalem was destroyed - as clearly stated by Josephus...What part of "no more" and "desert" do you not understand?

What part? The part that "no more" says again, just how does your that correspond to the "no more/any more" "not at all" predictions?

267 posted on 07/24/2019 7:44:44 PM PDT by daniel1212 ( Trust the risen Lord Jesus to save you as a damned and destitute sinner + be baptized + follow Him)
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To: Cronos
Revelation 17:1 is clearly just as the rest of the book of the Apocalypse talking of the city of Jerusalem. Firstly note that the harlot is separate from the beast -- so it can't be that Rome was both the harlot and the beast. This is also evident in the words off the High priests at Christ's trial John 19:15 "We have no king but Caesar" This is also very very clear about Rev 17:1 which references Jeremiah 51:13 which says that Babylon sits by many waters. This is how John is linking Jerusalem as the new Babylon. I bypassed this before but I find that absurd. Jeremiah 51:13 is speaking about Babylon which sits by many waters, as is Rev 17:1, and thus it cannot be Jerusalem
268 posted on 07/24/2019 7:44:51 PM PDT by daniel1212 ( Trust the risen Lord Jesus to save you as a damned and destitute sinner + be baptized + follow Him)
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To: SaveFerris
Laf. Yep.sent a couple follow ups. Got only good feedback. 👍😁
269 posted on 07/24/2019 7:46:20 PM PDT by TianaHighrider (God bless our men with the bravery to be men.)
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To: Cronos
Ignore the last post which I am not going to get into.

The cultic sophistry is taking it literally - which is the root form of your cults like the Jehovah's witnesses or the Adventists The book of the Apocalypse is filled from start to end with imagery, specifically meant to be allegorical. the 6, 7, 1000 are not literal but allegorial

Actually cults like the Jehovah's witnesses (supper in Revelation referring to their Bible study) the or the Adventists much do as you do, allegorizing what is literal (including literal eternal torment, and engaging in laborious extensive attempts to explain away what is most easily explained as yet future.

However, I usually do not get into debating prophecy (or deeply in the study of it) , though i strongly hold that (what is left of latter-day) Israel will turn to the Lord, after the fullness of the gentiles be entered in, by the mercy and grace of God, and the consummation of all things awaits this.

What matters most is salvific Truth and morals, and one can be saved while holding to the preterist or partial preterist or futurist view. So unless you want to provide the requested list of all the prophecies in the NT that you do not see fulfilled, then I am going to move on from this debate.

270 posted on 07/24/2019 7:46:49 PM PDT by daniel1212 ( Trust the risen Lord Jesus to save you as a damned and destitute sinner + be baptized + follow Him)
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To: ravenwolf

You said...” I also know that telling some one else that may be taken for pride”

Oh I don’t think so....as said Jesus wants us to know we are ‘secure’ in Him and that certainly should be shared with others. He “sealed” us by His Spirit and promised never to leave or forsake us. So either that is true or He’s lying.


271 posted on 07/24/2019 8:55:16 PM PDT by caww
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To: Safrguns
There are actually two mass raptures which take place... one prior to the tribulation period, and one at the end.

Yep, the first for those in Christ, the second for all the other souls - Judgement Day for those sleeping who did not know Him (each judged according to what they had done), and gnashing of teeth for those who thought they were in Christ but really weren't.

Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.

272 posted on 07/24/2019 9:26:50 PM PDT by amorphous
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To: caww

I still believe what I said as Jesus resists the proud.
the tax collector and the pharicee remember.


273 posted on 07/24/2019 10:57:12 PM PDT by ravenwolf (I)
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To: daniel1212
As I said - it references Jeremiah 51 --> the image of Apocalypse 8:8-9 with the image of the mountain being cast into the sea is another image of the judgement of Jerusalem.

This is in accordance with Jesus' own prophecy in Matthew 24 about the judgement on Jerusalem.

As in Daniel, gentile nations are symbolized by beasts -- so the harlot that sits upon the beast is Jerusalem that sits upon the Roman Empire -- and the beast then eats the harlot, which is Jerusalem being rendered and destroyed by the Roman Empire

in fact, JEremiah 51 is the link to Rev 8-10 - john places the second trumpet with a reference to the burning mountain, the fifth trumpet (plague of locusts that appear 'like horses' Rev 9:27 as Jeremiah 51:27 describes 'horses like bristling locusts'.
John describes the fall of Jerusalem, the new (in those days) Babylon, in terms of JEremiah's vision of the fall of the first Babylon.

Like the first Babylon, in the 1st century Jerusalem had turned against God's people

274 posted on 07/25/2019 12:25:46 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: daniel1212
A further linkage is between the fall of Jerusalem, the new (in the 1st century) Babylon as described in the book of the Apocalypse 18 to old Babylon's fall in Jeremiah 50-51

Ap 18:2 "It has become a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird" to Jer 51:37 "And Babylon will become a heap of ruins, the haunt of jackals"

Ap 18:3 to Jer 51:6

Ap 18:20 to Jer 51:48

Babylon destroyed the earthly temple; Jerusalem of the 1st century destroyed the true Temple - Jesus (John 2:22 "21 But he spoke of the temple of his body.)

And I repeat this is clear in the imagery of the harlot-city (Jerusalem) first riding the beast (the Roman Empire) and then being devoured by the beast (the sack of Jerusalem AD 69)

275 posted on 07/25/2019 12:30:30 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: daniel1212
What part of "no more" do you not understand? It's not "forever" --> no more in 70 AD was music heard in Jerusalem, because it was destroyed by the 10th Legion.

That the physical city was later rebuilt is a different matter -- the prophecy is that no more craftsmen in them after the destruction, not forever.

276 posted on 07/25/2019 12:31:55 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: Iscool
Revelations is allegorical

Matthew is a Gospel, a separate book

2 Peter is an epistle - a separate book

Hosea 6:2 as you clearly show yourself says 2 days in your opinion is 2000.

The bible is made of 73 separate books. The book of the Apocalypse uses numbers as symbolic - hence the repeated usage of 7 (completeness), 6 (incompleteness), 1000 (a long period) -- these are not literal.

277 posted on 07/25/2019 12:35:25 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: ravenwolf
Never the less it is called the holy Roman empire, it was not me that named it.

And yet the very term was not used until the 13th century.

Until that point it was plain and simple "the (western) Roman Empire"

You cannot link the HRE to anything in revelation because it was in no means the supreme world power - it was far weaker than the Ummayad, Abbassid, Fatimid Caliphates and the Ottomans and for a long time weaker than the Roman Empire (what we call the Byzantines

I repeat once more

The Holy Roman Empire, even at its peak ruled over less than a quarter of all Christians.

The HRE didn't include the Ancient Church of the East, the Assyrian Church, which in 900 formed fully 33% of all Christians and stretched from Mongolia to India to Ctesiphon.

the HRE didn't include the Orthodox who were in the Roman Empire or the Bulgarian Empire or under Islamic rule

The HRE didn't include the Copts or the Armenians or the Syriacs

the HRE didn't even include all Western Christians - even at its peak there were the Christians of Iberia, of Italia, of Poland, Hungary, England, Ireland, Scandanavia.

In what way could the HRE play any part in the kingdom of God in your opinion?

you still haven't answered how and what way

278 posted on 07/25/2019 12:39:14 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: ravenwolf
If any one reads scripture they can plainly see that revelation covers at least two thousand years. -- sigh, it doesn't - the number 1000 is not a literal in the book of the Apocalypse 1000 - it signifies a long period
279 posted on 07/25/2019 12:42:14 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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To: ravenwolf

The four beasts in Daniel is about
1 The Babylonian Empire
2.The Achaemenid Empire
3.The Macedonian empire
4.The Roman Empire

your story of the 7 kings as 7 empire (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, persia, greece and rome) fails in multiple ways
1.it is specifically mentioned as kings
2. there was never an Egyptian Empire ruling over Jerusalem — the Egyptians at the most had Judae as a vassal state.
3. it is clearly mentioned that the 7th king will be short-reigned —> your false hypothesis of this being the Holy Roman Empire fails as even in the shortest period (when it was named) it was the HRE from the 13th century to 1806 - 600 years.


280 posted on 07/25/2019 12:46:54 AM PDT by Cronos (Re-elect President Trump 2020!)
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