The Rapture theory and the Bible
This topic has disturbed and confused untold millions of Christians in the modern religious world. A large number of Christians have been exposed to the “dispensationalist” or “futurist” interpretation of prophecy either by the movie theater, books of fiction, or preachers who thought they were well meaning.
According to this view, the coming of Jesus occurs in two separate events. First, He comes secretly to take the church or His people to heaven, and then seven years later, He will come again with an open demonstration of power and glory. In between these two events, the antichrist comes to power and a great tribulation takes place.
The truth is the Bible in no place speaks of two separate comings of Jesus. By the way, the word “rapture” is not found anywhere in the Bible and is a complete fabrication of theologians. Not a single instance of it is found.
Here is what we do find in scripture: Christ’s coming, the resurrection, and the catching up of the saints to meet Jesus in the air, they all take place at the same time-at the end of the world. Otherwise Jesus would have been telling an untruth, which it is impossible for Him to do by saying, “Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world.” Matt. 28:20
The theory of the rapture also contradicts Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares of Matthew 13:24-30 or Christ’s promise to the righteous who have died prior to His coming in John 6:40. And if Jesus is calling this the “last day” then the text that those who believe the rapture theory use 1 Thess. 4:16-17 has to be referring to the “last day,” not some day 7 years prior to the “last day.” Especially since it states that it is the “last trump.”
Here are additional texts pointing to the “last day” or “last trump.”