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.]

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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]

One of the most recent was the prediction that Jesus would come again in glory Saturday, May 21, 2011.

Didn’t happen — like all the Rapture fantasies they keep changing the dates when it fails.

[Cronos]

I did - and Amos chapter 9:9-15

9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this.

13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

is about the return from Babylon -- haven't you read the "that they may possess the remnant of Edom" -- you do realize that John Hyracanus, the Jewish king then conquered and assimilated the Edomites with the Jews?

That the Edomites, then called Idumeans, were assimilated and one of their own, Herod, became King of the Jews later? And that the Edomites were destroyed as a nation after the Bar kochkba revolt and became completely subsumed into modern Jewish (and Christian) identities?

[Cronos]

And amos 9 - In Acts 15:15–17, James interprets this passage in a messianic sense.

The words of the prophets agree with this, as is written:

16 ‘After this I shall returnh and rebuild the fallen hut of David; from its ruins I shall rebuild it and raise it up again,

17 so that the rest of humanity may seek out the Lord, even all the Gentiles on whom my name is invoked. Thus says the Lord who accomplishes these things,

The fallen hut of David: the Davidic kingdom, which included what later became the divided Northern and Southern Kingdoms. All nations claimed in my name: lit., “all nations over whom my name has been pronounced.”

how can you deny the very books of the Bible in that interpretation?

God restored the peoples as promised in Amos 9 - that's what the return from Babylonian exile was about

[Cronos]

And you first said ‘\which other nation has been restored after being dispersed” - I gave you two. you can add Mangaloreans as well, but they don’t have a state today.

[Cronos]

The Church does not replace Israel - rather as Christ came to fulfill the Law, Christianity is the fulfilment of God’s promises in the OT to the chosen people.

[Just mythoughts]

What I posted was not a map of "allotments" but of the neo-Assyrian Empire at its peak To the north of Assyria was Urartu - which studiously kept its independence and it also controlled the entrance to the Caucasus. This is very, very clear that the Assyrians didn't exile the northern tribes to the Caucasus but they sent them to northern Iraq or maybe southern Iraq That's the point -- Europeans have no genes from the Israelites, but those people merged with the other Semites

You are sadly mistaken. Unless or until the DNA of Jacob is tested it is fanciful and deceptive to make claims NOT confirmed. I showed you what the Heavenly Father had Moses pen, and what that name 'the Adam' literally means... And further, that word 'ruddy' used repeatedly to describe David. All of which goes to the point to the 'key of David'. Sleep on.

[Just mythoughts]

Next, you bring up Samuel 12 "ruddy" - Ruddy can mean red -- have you seen any native Iraqis or Syrians? There are many blondes and red heads there -- The ancient Israelites would probably have looked an in-between shade much like modern day Arabs given that the Israelites were of Middle Eastern origin, with the forefather Abraham being from Ur (in Iraq) and given genetic similarities between Jews and Arabs. I would be careful with textual proofs of skin color, either way, given that much of these texts are poetic, and colors can sometimes be invoked in reference to purity or in reference to destruction / desolation; to use such texts for such a purpose, you should be very sure that it is using color in a literal way. In terms of textual evidence, the Mishnah is very explicit about describing the skin color of Jews at the time as being like “boxwood”, which is consistent with the in-between Middle Eastern complexion. Ruddy does not mean white. It means red, as in redboned or light skinned, or even mahogany.

'Ruddy' means to show 'blood in the face', as in turning 'red faced' when blushing. What do you think all this bashing of 'whites' these days stems from... some in the scheme of things know darn well what they are doing. NOW, let me emphasis that 'caucasians' are NOT a 'super race'... One only need spend a few minutes in the WORD and find out what the Heavenly Father has to say about the 'children'... The Heavenly Father got so fed up with the House of Israel, He divorced them ... and part of their punishment was they would no longer know who they are. IT IS WRITTEN.

[Cronos]

Not really -- there are lots of DNA studies on people of Jewish heritage today. And since this includes Levites, it's not exclusively Judeans

The semitic genetic make-up is quite distinct from the European

The make-up of Assyrians - i.e. northern Iraqis match closely to that of the Jews

And historically we have adequate information from 700 BC of the Zagros and Kartveli highlands that there was no movement of peoples through there

So,

1. Genetically the people of northern Iraq are related to modern Jews -- while Europeans aren't

2. Historically the Assyrian Empire never spread to the Caucasus mountains leave alone to the continent of Europe

3. archaeologically there is no movement of Semitic peoples to the north and east of Iraq

Net-net, Europeans aren't the lost tribes

[Cronos]

The Heavenly father said "ruddy" which means RED - not white nor pink - it's a sign of blood - human beings have blood, which is life. That's what it means that Adam had life

Adam (אדם) shares its root with אדמה (ʼadamà), meaning soil.

[Just mythoughts]

And btw, that Adam thing is linguistically nonsense - you have red-faced people among Syrians, Iraqis etc The word Adam does have more than one meaning. For instance, 120 in the same Concordance means “a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.):–X another, + hypocrite, + common sort, X low, man (mean, of low degree), person.” Meaning 121 of Adam taken from the same Concordance means “name of the first man, also of a place in Palestine.” The word Adam is also the root word for the color “red” and for the word “soil” or “earth”. This makes perfect sense since the Scriptures tell us that God created a human (remember not a “man” but a “human”) from the dust of the ground. - red is the colour of blood Adam was not a white European And similarly the northern Israelites would be light brown - like modern day Syrians/Iraqis

All of the 'meanings' of that word 'the Adam' fit him to a T. Might want to did a bit deeper and find out exactly how that word Adam was given too Moses.... What seems to be overlooked, is how closely the Heavenly Father monitored the bloodline to Christ. That is what the Old Testament is about HIS story, generation to generation and how many times attempts were made to destroy that line. I was raised to 'believe' the Garden Party took place in an apple orchard ... shocked, I tell you when I read for myself what was Written, and not one word about an 'apple orchard', but, instead the party took place in a 'fig' grove...

I take seriously the command : Deuteronomy 4:2 “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you”. and

Repeated again in Revelation 22:18-19 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

It is nearly impossible to find a 'church' that keeps that commandment.

[Cronos]

Ditto for David - ruddy

All the people living in the Levant, have a similar complexion to Jews.

King David would have looked kinda like

This would be similar to many Syrians today

[Just mythoughts]

True - genetically neither Europeans nor native Americans are descendents of Israelites. The "Lost Tribes" didn't end up in Europe, they assimilated with other semitic peoples in Iraq/Syria

The only way you can declare 'genetically' anything about who is or is not of Jacob/Israel, is to have the DNA of Jacob... Deception is at a critical Mass.

[Cronos]

The way you can declare is by checking with KNOWN descendents of Jacob -- the Jews, who consist of people whose ancestors were from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin and Levi and probably a sprinkling of others.

The northern tribes were their cousin so would have the same genetic markers.

net-net, if a "people" are close genetically to Jews, they have a better chance of being a descendent of a lost tribe than people who are far genetically from Jews

Europeans are far genetically from Jews - as are sub-Saharan Africans.

So an average Bantu-speaker from the Democratic republic of Congo is about as far genetically from being a lost tribe person as a person of purely English or Scottish heritage --> to simplify that, a Scot/Englishman is as much a lost-tribe Israelite as a Congolese person

[Cronos]

Yes, ruddy - of the earth.

So this is probably how Adam may have looked

[Cronos]

It wasn't an apple - apples are from Central Asia. A Fig or pomegranate would be possible or indeed anything else

And Revelation 22:18-19 talks about "this book" namely the Book of the Revelation of St. John --> don't you realize that the Bible is made up of 73 books ending with the book of the Apocalypse?

[Cronos]

It wasn't an apple - apples are from Central Asia. A Fig or pomegranate would be possible or indeed anything else

And Revelation 22:18-19 talks about "this book" namely the Book of the Revelation of St. John --> don't you realize that the Bible is made up of 73 books ending with the book of the Apocalypse?

And Deuteronomy talks about the Law -- specifically as in Deuteronomy.

sheesh, don't add to the book of revelation and don't add to the Law

[Just mythoughts]

There is a reason, a purpose, why that word ‘ruddy’ was specifically attributed to David. Then follow by the reminder in Revelation to the ‘key of David’. The image you present does not look anything like what words were used to describe ‘young’ David.

[Just mythoughts]

You are not familiar with the ‘travels’ of Jeremiah are you?

[Just mythoughts]

The Old Testament was fixed (Ezra/Nehemiah) before Christ took His flesh journey... where in Christ declared Mark 13:23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

This was long before any jot or tittle of the New Testament, ever got placed on plant fibers, animal skins, or chiseled in stone.

Paul penned
1 Corinthians 10:11 11Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

The Old Testament is our script ... It is being repeated...

[Just mythoughts]

Psalms 40:7
7Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

Hebrews 10:7 7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Too few care one wit about the ‘will of God’, they spend their lifetime making up new traditions. But hey, that is what the Lord's Day (thousand years/millennium) will be to set all those wayward souls straight.