A Study in Eschatology
What Is The Rapture?
A biblical examination of the Church's blessed hope, its distinction from the Second Advent, and its comfort for believers today.
Introduction to Eschatology
Eschatology is a big word meaning the study of the end times. There are different aspects within Eschatology such as the Rapture and the Second Advent. Many believers don't spend much time studying these doctrines because different views on subjects like the Rapture often cause division among believers.
Many get the doctrine of the Rapture and the Second Advent confused as being the same event, but Scripture describes them as two different events. Although there are different views regarding Eschatological events, these doctrines are important to study simply because they are found in God's Word — and as believers, it is our responsibility to study them.
Historical Background
Acts 17 tells us about the establishment of the church in Thessalonica. Paul and Silas traveled there on Paul's second missionary journey, preaching the Gospel in a Jewish synagogue where some were persuaded (Acts 17:4). Those who did not believe drove them out of the city (Acts 17:1–13). One of the reasons Paul wrote to the Thessalonians was to encourage and comfort them in their walk with the Lord.
It's significant that Paul was teaching new believers about the doctrine of the Rapture (1 Thess. 1:10; 4:3; 5:23). It is an important doctrine even for new believers, and it is meant to be a comfort to us as believers in Christ.
Different From The Second Advent
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, Paul talks about the Rapture of the church. The word rapture comes from the Latin Rapturo, which translates into Greek as Harpazo — meaning "caught up" in English.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:17
| Aspect | The Rapture | The Second Advent |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Before the Tribulation (1 Thess. 4:13–17) | After the 7-year Tribulation (Zech. 14:4) |
| Direction | Jesus comes for His Church | Jesus comes with His Church (Rev. 19:14) |
| Purpose | God's rescue plan for the Church | God's rescue plan for Israel (Matt. 23:37–39) |
| Result | Church taken out of harm's way | Evil destroyed; Millennial Kingdom established |
| Location | Believers caught up in the air | Christ's feet on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4) |
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."
Matthew 23:37–39
On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley…
Zechariah 14:4
Important & Comforting
Paul taught the doctrine of the Rapture to brand new believers in the Thessalonian church — it was designed to be comforting, not a point of division. The Second Advent involves Jesus coming back to judge a Christ-rejecting world; the Rapture is a rescue operation for the believer's heart.
Key Verse
"Therefore comfort one another with these words." — 1 Thessalonians 4:18
Reunion
Paul tells us the Rapture will take place in the twinkling of an eye — an instantaneous event. Believers will be reunited with family, friends, and fellow believers in Christ. As believers, we should be longing for this glorious event.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
1 Corinthians 15:51–52
The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
Resurrection
At the Rapture, all believers will receive new bodies — the body God intended before sin. The body we have now is temporary and worn; we must have a resurrected body to spend eternity with God.
We ourselves groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved… But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:23–25
Imminency
The Rapture is imminent — it can take place at any moment and is the next event on God's prophetic timeline (1 Thess. 4:13–18). Paul used first-person plural language when referencing it, indicating he anticipated participating in it himself.
You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.
James 5:8
Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
1 Corinthians 15:51–52
Timeline of the Rapture
…to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians 1:10
- 1
In the Song of Solomon, Jesus calls His Bride to "rise up…and come away" (Song of Sol. 2:10). The setting is May (Pentecost), and the "beloved" is a Gentile Bride (Song of Sol. 1:5).
- 2
Some expositors have confused the Angel's trumpet (Matt. 24:31; Rev. 11:15) with God's trump (1 Thess. 4:16; Rev. 4:1–2), incorrectly placing the Rapture at the Feast of Trumpets.
- 3
"The last trump" is not a literal trumpet — it is God's voice speaking as a trumpet, sounding like both thunder and a trumpet (Rev. 4:1–2; John 12:29; Job 37:1–5).
- 4
When this trump sounds, a voice calls the sheep home (John 10:3–4). No such call occurs after the seventh Trumpet in Revelation 11 — those voices announce Christ's earthly reign (Dan. 2:35, 44–45).
- 5
A "great voice" calls someone up just before the seventh angel blows (Rev. 4:1: "Come up hither"). At the end of Daniel's Seventieth Week, Moses and Elijah are caught up in a Post-tribulation Rapture distinct from the Church's.