Why the Rapture isn’t Biblical… And Why it Matters

Patheos ^ | June 4, 2014 | Kurt Williams

[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

• Roman Historical Narrative (1x, Acts – 1)
• Pauline Letter (4x, 1Cor – 2, Eph – 1, 1Thes – 1)
• Apocalyptic (2x, Rev – 2)

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:

ἀήρ (aēr, 109), ἀέρος, ὁ, (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 2^nd 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)

[Cronos]

And the 7 kings is clearly, clearly written in Apocalypse 17-9-10 "The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman is seated; they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come and when he comes he must remain a little while

This 7 kings over which Jerusalem sat were clearly, clearly the first 7 imperators of the Julian dynasty 1. Julius C
2. Augustus
3. Tiberius
4. Caligula
5. Claudius
6. Nero
7. Galba

Galba ruled for 6 months -- clearly "he must remain a little while"

The 7 "world empires" you speak of again ignore the fact that Egypt was never a "world empire" - at the most it had vassal states in the Levant -- this is in contrast to Assyria, Babylonia, the Achaemenids, Macedonia, Rome, Mongolia, Umayyads, the British Empire, the Tang, the Mauryas, the Moghuls, the French, the Spanish, etc. etc. - your theory fails in the light of biblical matters and historical

[Cronos]

1 Corinthians 15 - don't excerpt, read the whole chapter - it

17 And if Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your sins.

18 Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished.

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep:

21 For by a man came death, and by a man the resurrection of the dead.

22 And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

23 But every one in his own order: the firstfruits Christ, then they that are of Christ, who have believed in his coming.

- nothing of your 2000 years

Hosea talks of 2 days - you are interpreting that to 2000 years? Why not 20? Why not 200? heck, why not 20,000 years?

And Apocalypse uses numbers as symbols - haven't you realized that? 6,7,1000 are repeated and used symbolically throughout that book

[Cronos]

Finally you say "The thousand years had to be before and or during the holy Roman empire even though the empire itself belonged to Satan there were 14400 of God’s people in it during the thousand years and they were alive." - so many, many biblical and historical errors

The HRE belonged to Satan - you mean the same Empire that spread Christianity to the Scandanavians, to the Slavs etc.? You consider it belonging to Satan as it was the Empire that protected Christendom from the Saracen armies?

Or do you think the Ummayads, Fatimids and Abbasids were of your god?

[Cronos]

Finally you say " there were 14400 of God’s people in it during the thousand years and they were alive." - so many, many biblical and historical errors

Just 144,000 Christians in 600 years - what are you thinking? That the rest were not Christian in your opinion here living in the comfort of a Christian country in the 21st century?

[Cronos]

You can not ignore two thousand years of history.

You need to read 2000 years of history and realize that the HRE was not the pivotal empire in any way, not even to the larger Christendom

I suggest you read - perhaps start with The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died

you got a closer case for 1000 years in the Assyrian Church than in the HRE

2000 years since Christ died saw

• 0 - 300 --> the Roman Empire expands, the Parthians take over from the Seleucids, then fall in their turn to the Sassanids, the Guptas conquer northern india, the Cholas southern India
• 300-700: the Tang rule China and Xinjiang, the Sassanids conquer Egypt and much of Turkey before falling to Hieracles and then both fall to the Ummayads. The Franks and Visigoths fight and take over parts of the Western Roman Empire. The Roman Empire itself continues centered in Constantinople
• 700-1000: the Bulgarian Empire arises, so does the Frankish, Kushan, Ghaznavid, Fatimid, etc. empires
• 1000-1400: the rise of gokturks, uighurs, Song, Mongol, Mamluk, Seljuk empires, the continuation of the Roman Empire in Constantinople, the Holy Roman Empire formed, the rise of France and England as separate empires, the Kalmar union uniting Scandanavia, the rise of the Polish kingdom, the Hungarian empire, the Kievan confederation
• 1400-1700: Mughals, Ming, Manchu,Spain, France, Portugal, Mali etc. etc. empires

Ok, you get the point - your sweep of history forgets nearly all of those other powers - you don't even take into account the ummayad, abbasid, Fatimid, Mamluk and Ottoman rule over Jerusalem

[Cronos]

Something you're not taking into consideration is that the destruction of second temple Israel may actually be a shadow of the end of the gentiles/church period, much like the Exodus was a shadow of the Crucifixion. I have no doubt that we've not yet reached the terminus of this age, but are very close.

It isn't as Christ promised nothing would prevail against his people

[ravenwolf]

Yes, lots of things happened but Rome is still called the holy Roman empire
and is the seventh beast in both Daniel and revelation.

But none of this matters or it should not matter to you
if you believe the destruction of Jerusalem covers revelation.
No point in any discussion.

[ravenwolf]

All I did was put the Scriptures down if they cramp
your style then you need to give God hell about it.

[ravenwolf]

I can see your understanding is based on something that has nothing
to do with the word of God, but I can see that you almost admitted
that there is more after the destruction of Jerusalem.

All I did was to write down the scriptures so if you want try
to discredit them just have at it, I tried to be agreeable to you
even though I detest some one writing a bunch of hog wash and then
going to the word changing game to try to prove their point.

The scriptures has already been translated by real professionals we do
not need a johney come lately to retranslate them for us.

[ravenwolf]

I ask you in earnest if you believed the destruction
of Jerusalem covered revelation but you ignored it
which is not the position a sincere person would take..

So please take your gobble de goop some where else.

[Cronos]

you asked me if revelation was fulfilled.

now you ask "if it covered" -- to which I replied that the book of the Apocalypse covers the destruction of Jerusalem, but the destruction of Jerusalem does not cover the second resurrection.

Now answer my question -- In what way could the HRE play any part in the kingdom of God in your opinion?

[Cronos]

your understanding is not based on the word of God - that’s because the HRE isn’t in the book of the Apocalypse — you haven’t yet in any way explained how a mix of states set up in the 900s and ending 1806 (incidentally, less than 1000 years) is in any way related to the book of the Apocalypse - especially considering that hte HRE was not a global power and was never anywhere near Jerusalem

[Cronos]

lots of things happened but Rome is still called the holy Roman empire

What are you talking about? The Holy Roman Empire formally died in 1806 -- don't you even know that?

[Cronos]

and the seventh beast in revelation -- have you even read the Bible? The book of the apocalypse mentions 7 kings and hills, not beasts

It mentions a beast that consumes the harlot - as the harlot first rode it -- that is Jerusalem that first rode the Roman Empire, then was consumed by it

[Cronos]

The book of the Apocalypse of St John covers the destruction of Old Jerusalem (the new babylon, the harlot-city) with the replacing of it by the New Jerusalem, the New Temple - Christ

Revelation 21 talks of the establishment of Christ's Church -- 2 And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

23 And the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, to shine in it. For the glory of God hath enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof.

24 And the nations shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honour into it.

You need to believe Christ's words that His kingdom is not of the world, that Jerusalem will be destroyed and that He will establish His kingdom with Himself as the Temple - namely the kingdom of Christ, Christianity.

[Cronos]

You can not ignore two thousand years of history.

I can see your understanding is based on something that has nothing to do with the word of God,

Then you say that this "The thousand years had to be before and or during the holy Roman empire even though the empire itself belonged to Satan there were 14400 of God’s people in it during the thousand years and they were alive. is scripture - sorry, it isn't - it's scripturally and historically wrong.

You take excerpts from scripture that don't even refer to 2000 years and you interpret 2 days as 2000 years, so why not 20 years or 200?

[Elsie]

“first person plural future passive indicative” in this instance.

And I thought English was tough!

[Elsie]

Except that Jesus isn’t going to DO anything to you.

Read John 3:18

[Elsie]

...riding the beast...

[Elsie]

And Apocalypse uses numbers as symbols - haven't you realized that?

At least a million times, I've told people here, not to exaggerate.