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I Thes 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.”

caught up = HARPAZO

This word derivation is used twelve other times in the KJV New Testament. Most of these uses have to do with the physical taking away of someone or something from another. Never do they disappear from sight.

Two other times this word is used it implies that the person at hand has disappeared from sight, however, neither time is either of the people actually shot off into outer space - never to return.

Example 1: Philip meets the eunuch and is HARPOZA’d out of sight, but really walks on earth in the Gaza strip afterwards. Proof text:

Acts 8: 39-40. “And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip , that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. BUT PHILIP WAS FOUND AT AZOTUS: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.”

Example 2: Paul speaks about the experience of being HARPAZO’d, but he is not sure if it is in the flesh or out of the flesh. Proof text:

II Cor 12: 3,4 “And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth ;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”

Suffice it to say, Paul continues on afterwards to complete his missionary journeys ON EARTH.

Therefore, using Scripture as our basis, it would be aberrant and sloppy to assign a shooting-off-into-outer-space type definition to the word HARPAZO in II Thes 4: 17.

Certainly, I would not be so careless as to REVERSE Jesus Christ for the Devil, just to satisfy my dogmatic apetite over it.

I advise all to proceed with the same caution because the Cross is at sake. In essence, Dispensationalism is a denial of Christ’s atonement.

Beside, Jesus Himself said:

John 17: 15 “I pray NOT that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”

Jesus’ prayer is still in effect for us today. No rapture. No escape.

I’m going to take compfort in His prayer.

In Christ Blessings, Amen.

Wow - you really some instruction in the Bible. The Greek harpazo, as it is used in the 1 Thessalonians passage to describe the Rapture, is unmistakable and inarguable in it's meaning. Here are some articles that will help you to understand this major, God-give doctrine:

Rapture References
Why the Tribulation
Why The Rapture Before The Great Tribulation; Nine Powerful Reasons
Present Tribulation vs. Future Tribulation
Seven Reasons Why the Rapture Cannot Come After the Tribulation
Why I Believe the Pre-Tribulation Rapture

That should get you started. There is absolutely no Scripture anywhere that supports a post-trib Rapture and those who insist on clinging to this error have to deny a lot of what God has written to continue to believe in this delusion.

Be careful about rejecting Biblical truth.

So very true Iggles. God makes clear throughout the entire Bible that believers are sanctified and protected from tribulations but we are not removed. Look at the children of Israel during the plagues of Pharoah’s time. The children were never affected. Same for when he killed the firstborn of Eygpt. He didn’t remove the first born of Israel, he just passed over them. Same for in the time of Ezekiel where He says to have the scribe mark the forheads of those that ‘sigh and cry’ over the abominations and God will not harm them. He doesn’t remove them. He protects us during tribulations and He will remove us from the WRATH which is the destruction of the earth. This happens at the end of time, not 7 yrs before.