Rapture

Paul told the Ephesians he was "made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace" (Eph 3:7) "to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God" (:9). He said to the Thessalonians that "God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus" (1Th 4:14) and that those who are alive "shall not precede those who have fallen asleep" (:15). Isaiah prophesied, "Your dead will live; their corpses will rise . . . and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits" (Isa 26:19). "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt" (Da 12:2). Paul told the Corinthians he would "prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord" (2Co 5:8). God will "bring with Him" (1Th 4:14) those who have died and "the dead in Christ shall rise first" (:16). But if they are with the Lord in heaven having previously died then how could they be brought along by being raised from the grave? Peter referred to Paul "in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand" (2Pe 3:16). Then Paul said "we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds" (1Th 4:17). Jesus had told them "'In My Father's house are many dwelling places . . . [and] I go to prepare a place for you'" (Jn 14:2). We will "meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1Th 4:17). This implies that we have been transported to heaven.

Paul said "I tell you a mystery . . . [which is] we will all be changed" (1Co 15:51). He refers to "the coming of the Lord . . . [where] the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout" (1Th 4:15-16). He describes it as "the day of the Lord [which] will come just like a thief in the night" (5:2). "Whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him" (:10). Does this refer to living together before "the coming" (4:15) also? In his second letter Paul asks, "Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?" (2Th 2:5). The Thessalonians had "received the word in much tribulation" (1Th 1:6) and wondered if the Great Tribulation had begun and they had missed being "caught up." Paul advised not "to be disturbed . . . to the effect that the day of the Lord has come" (2Th 2:2). He explained "let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed" (:3). Furthermore, "the Lord will slay [him] with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming" (:8). Many refer to this coming as "the rapture." The "son of destruction" (:3) is the ringleader for the Tribulation, but it is argued that "God has not destined us for wrath" (1Th 5:9), so by being "caught up" we avoid experiencing it. However, if the antichrist is destroyed at the Coming (which is when the rapture occurs) we would have had to have been present during that tribulation waiting for the Coming when Christ would bring the lawless one "to an end" (2Th 2:8). In Paul's letters "some things [are] hard to understand" (2Pe 3:16).