RAPTURE
Before the tribulation (Revelation 6–19), Jesus will return and take Christians out of the world by first giving us new bodies that will never die (1 Corinthians 15:51–53), and then bring us to heaven (John 14:1–4); this is called the rapture. The word “rapture” is not in the Bible, but it is called being “caught up.” “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15–18). “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
The worst is yet to come. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (Matthew 24:21–22).
But we escape! We are “caught up together with them in the clouds…Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:17–18). All of these signs given above are during the tribulation, and those who are saved during the tribulation are from after the church age. The church is not mentioned in Matthew chapter 24, but Israel is. In verse 15 it says, “Stand in the holy place,” which is the temple. In verse 16 “Judaea” was to flee, not any other country. In verse 20 believers of that time are to pray that their flight be not on the “sabbath day.” How could Christ forget Sunday, or churches? Because we will be raptured before the tribulation period.
In the book of Revelation, the tribulation takes place between chapter 6 and chapter 19. The church is not mentioned during that time, but Israel is mentioned several times. Did Christ forget his bride, the church? No. For there is one time the church is mentioned during the great tribulation (Revelation 6–19), but it is not on earth where the tribulation will be but in heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb. In the Bible the “Lamb” represents Christ (John 1:36), and His “wife” is the church (Ephesians 5:31–32).
Revelation 19:1 takes place “in heaven,” and then in verse 7, His servants rejoice and say, “For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” Then in verse 11: “And I saw heaven opened,” for Christ and the armies of heaven are preparing to leave and come back visibly to earth to destroy the Antichrist and his armies at the battle of Armageddon (vv. 14–21; see ARMAGEDDON). So the marriage of the Lamb with His bride is not only taking place in heaven but during the time of the great tribulation here on earth. That is one reason the rapture is called the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13)—because we will miss all the suffering of the tribulation. After the great tribulation will be the millennial reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:1–15; see MILLENNIUM), and then the beginning of eternity (see
FINAL STATE), during which will have a “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).
The tribulation will last for seven years, and most believe the last three and a half years are called the “great” tribulation (Matthew 24:21), though this name also appears to be used for other times (Revelation 2:22, 7:14).
*I am not setting any date for our Lord’s return.
Christians will be taken out of this world, “caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17), and those left behind will face the worst time this world has ever known. Things on this earth will not get better, but worse. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1). “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world” (Matthew 24:21). The Antichrist will make his mark necessary to “buy or sell” (See MARK OF THE BEAST, 666). But thankfully, we, the believers, will be taken out of this world first, before the tribulation.
The rapture of the Christian believers marks the end of the church age and the beginning of the tribulation. Now is the time to be saved, before the awful time of persecution of the Antichrist. And after the rapture, there will be people who will be saved during the tribulation (Revelation 7:9–14), not by the church age believers, who are mostly Gentiles, but by the “hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (v. 4; see also vv. 3–8). It plainly says they will be Jews, not Gentiles, so any church or person who claims to be of this group would first have to prove he is of Jewish descent. God will be working with the Hebrew nation again to win people to Himself, because the church will be gone. The great tribulation is called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” in Jeremiah 30:7 (“Jacob” is Israel). It is not the trouble of the church; we won’t be here.
Christ gave the examples of Lot and Noah: “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” This was given for the end time, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37–39). And as both Noah and Lot were removed before God’s judgment fell, so in the future Christians will be raptured before the tribulation.
Those who teach that the rapture will take place in the middle (mid-trib), or at the end of the seven-year great tribulation (post-trib), are in effect saying, “We have more time to get right with God,” “You have got three and a half more years,” or “You still have seven more years to repent.” Christ gave a parable to tell us to be always “ready” and watching, so as not to be living in sin and unprepared to face Him (Luke 12:38–47). The Bible said in this passage that “if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch” (v. 38). The idea was He could come back at any time (pre-trib). But those who say Christ will not come back till the middle of the great tribulation, or at the end, are saying that Christ cannot come back now, but He must wait until halfway through the tribulation or after all seven years of it. The devil likes people to think they have lots of time, so they will not clean up their lives. But the lost person who believes Christ may come back today or tonight is afraid of being left behind, and many people have been brought to Christ because of His eminent return. This passage in Luke 12:38–47 makes it clear that when a “servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming” that this servant will not be ready, but sinning against Him (v. 45). In effect, people who believe Christ will come back at either the end or middle of the tribulation are saying, “My lord delayeth his coming.”
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping” (Mark 13:32–36). Again, people who believe Christ will come back in the middle or the end of the tribulation are saying, “Jesus cannot come back ‘at even,’” but Jesus said they “know not when the master of the house cometh,” so “Take ye heed, watch and pray.”
Those with mid-trib or post-trib beliefs will both use the verse in 1 Corinthians 15:52, where it says that the rapture will happen “at the last trump,” with mid-trib saying it is the last of the seven trumpets in the middle of the tribulation and post-trib saying it is the trumpet at the end of the tribulation (Matthew 24:29–31). But it could just be a trumpet marking the end of the church age. Revelation 4:1 marks the end of the church age and the beginning of the tribulation. And here there is a type of the rapture of the apostle John with the sound of a trumpet. “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” And at the rapture it is called the “trump of God,” whereas the seven trumpets in the middle of the tribulation are all sounded by angles.
When speaking of the church age and the rapture, the Bible says, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath” (1 Thessalonians 5:9; see also 4:16–5:11). But the tribulation is the time of God’s wrath, including the first part of it, “For the great day of his wrath is come” (Revelation 6:17). The seal judgments of chapter 6 cannot be extended into the middle of the tribulation as some try, for the seventh seal opens up into the trumpet judgments (Revelation 7:1–2), and the seventh trumpet is in Revelation 11:15, which is in the middle of the tribulation (v. 2). This would also mean that the “great multitude” who die in chapter 7 takes place before the middle of the tribulation.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:1–9, which is just after the reference to the rapture in chapter 4:13–18, it tells us when this will take place. It is helpful to remember that in this passage the pronouns “ye,” “yourselves,” “us,” “you” or the terms “brethren,” “children of light,” and “children of the day,” are ALL in reference to the saved, but the pronouns “them,” “they” and “others” are in all in reference to the lost. In verses 1–2 it says, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Then in verse 3 it says, “For when they [the lost] shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them [the lost], as travail upon a woman with child; and they [the lost] shall not escape.” “They” (the lost) will believe they have finally solved the problem between Israel and her Arab neighbors. For the “peace and safety,” proclaimed by the lost, would be the seven-year peace treaty of Daniel 9:27, but that is when the great tribulation will start, for “then sudden destruction cometh upon them” (the lost). The lost will enter the great tribulation: “They [the lost] shall not escape.” But we will escape for we are “caught up” at the rapture; the very next verse says, “But ye [saved], brethren [saved], are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you [saved] as a thief.” We, the believers of the church age, will be gone; the saved of the great tribulation will be those who are saved during that time period, after the church age (see END TIMES).
REDEMPTION
Strong’s has “a releasing effected by payment of ransom.” “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). It has the meaning of a slave who was bought at an auction and then released to freedom. And this redemption lasts forever, “having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:12; see ETERNAL LIFE).
REFORMED THEOLOGY (see PREDESTINATION)
REINCARNATION
This subject of reincarnation is not taught in the Scriptures, but instead the Bible teaches the resurrection from the dead (see RESURRECTION; see 1 Corinthians 15:12–23). “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27), we do not die multiple times but “once,” and then “judgment” comes afterward. Who wants to keep coming back here to this sin-cursed earth? It’s been “fun,” but once on earth is enough.
There are countries with a higher population per square mile than the country of India, but they are not having the hunger problems that India has. In India there are over 200 million “sacred cows” (not to mention other farm animals), and because of the belief in reincarnation the people will not eat them. But the cows eat, not only grass but also grain, and more than a human would.
Before the tribulation (Revelation 6–19), Jesus will return and take Christians out of the world by first giving us new bodies that will never die (1 Corinthians 15:51–53), and then bring us to heaven (John 14:1–4); this is called the rapture. The word “rapture” is not in the Bible, but it is called being “caught up.” “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15–18). “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
The worst is yet to come. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (Matthew 24:21–22).
But we escape! We are “caught up together with them in the clouds…Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:17–18). All of these signs given above are during the tribulation, and those who are saved during the tribulation are from after the church age. The church is not mentioned in Matthew chapter 24, but Israel is. In verse 15 it says, “Stand in the holy place,” which is the temple. In verse 16 “Judaea” was to flee, not any other country. In verse 20 believers of that time are to pray that their flight be not on the “sabbath day.” How could Christ forget Sunday, or churches? Because we will be raptured before the tribulation period.
In the book of Revelation, the tribulation takes place between chapter 6 and chapter 19. The church is not mentioned during that time, but Israel is mentioned several times. Did Christ forget his bride, the church? No. For there is one time the church is mentioned during the great tribulation (Revelation 6–19), but it is not on earth where the tribulation will be but in heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb. In the Bible the “Lamb” represents Christ (John 1:36), and His “wife” is the church (Ephesians 5:31–32).
Revelation 19:1 takes place “in heaven,” and then in verse 7, His servants rejoice and say, “For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” Then in verse 11: “And I saw heaven opened,” for Christ and the armies of heaven are preparing to leave and come back visibly to earth to destroy the Antichrist and his armies at the battle of Armageddon (vv. 14–21; see ARMAGEDDON). So the marriage of the Lamb with His bride is not only taking place in heaven but during the time of the great tribulation here on earth. That is one reason the rapture is called the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13)—because we will miss all the suffering of the tribulation. After the great tribulation will be the millennial reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:1–15; see MILLENNIUM), and then the beginning of eternity (see
FINAL STATE), during which will have a “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).
The tribulation will last for seven years, and most believe the last three and a half years are called the “great” tribulation (Matthew 24:21), though this name also appears to be used for other times (Revelation 2:22, 7:14).
*I am not setting any date for our Lord’s return.
Christians will be taken out of this world, “caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17), and those left behind will face the worst time this world has ever known. Things on this earth will not get better, but worse. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1). “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world” (Matthew 24:21). The Antichrist will make his mark necessary to “buy or sell” (See MARK OF THE BEAST, 666). But thankfully, we, the believers, will be taken out of this world first, before the tribulation.
The rapture of the Christian believers marks the end of the church age and the beginning of the tribulation. Now is the time to be saved, before the awful time of persecution of the Antichrist. And after the rapture, there will be people who will be saved during the tribulation (Revelation 7:9–14), not by the church age believers, who are mostly Gentiles, but by the “hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (v. 4; see also vv. 3–8). It plainly says they will be Jews, not Gentiles, so any church or person who claims to be of this group would first have to prove he is of Jewish descent. God will be working with the Hebrew nation again to win people to Himself, because the church will be gone. The great tribulation is called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” in Jeremiah 30:7 (“Jacob” is Israel). It is not the trouble of the church; we won’t be here.
Christ gave the examples of Lot and Noah: “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” This was given for the end time, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37–39). And as both Noah and Lot were removed before God’s judgment fell, so in the future Christians will be raptured before the tribulation.
Those who teach that the rapture will take place in the middle (mid-trib), or at the end of the seven-year great tribulation (post-trib), are in effect saying, “We have more time to get right with God,” “You have got three and a half more years,” or “You still have seven more years to repent.” Christ gave a parable to tell us to be always “ready” and watching, so as not to be living in sin and unprepared to face Him (Luke 12:38–47). The Bible said in this passage that “if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch” (v. 38). The idea was He could come back at any time (pre-trib). But those who say Christ will not come back till the middle of the great tribulation, or at the end, are saying that Christ cannot come back now, but He must wait until halfway through the tribulation or after all seven years of it. The devil likes people to think they have lots of time, so they will not clean up their lives. But the lost person who believes Christ may come back today or tonight is afraid of being left behind, and many people have been brought to Christ because of His eminent return. This passage in Luke 12:38–47 makes it clear that when a “servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming” that this servant will not be ready, but sinning against Him (v. 45). In effect, people who believe Christ will come back at either the end or middle of the tribulation are saying, “My lord delayeth his coming.”
“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping” (Mark 13:32–36). Again, people who believe Christ will come back in the middle or the end of the tribulation are saying, “Jesus cannot come back ‘at even,’” but Jesus said they “know not when the master of the house cometh,” so “Take ye heed, watch and pray.”
Those with mid-trib or post-trib beliefs will both use the verse in 1 Corinthians 15:52, where it says that the rapture will happen “at the last trump,” with mid-trib saying it is the last of the seven trumpets in the middle of the tribulation and post-trib saying it is the trumpet at the end of the tribulation (Matthew 24:29–31). But it could just be a trumpet marking the end of the church age. Revelation 4:1 marks the end of the church age and the beginning of the tribulation. And here there is a type of the rapture of the apostle John with the sound of a trumpet. “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” And at the rapture it is called the “trump of God,” whereas the seven trumpets in the middle of the tribulation are all sounded by angles.
When speaking of the church age and the rapture, the Bible says, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath” (1 Thessalonians 5:9; see also 4:16–5:11). But the tribulation is the time of God’s wrath, including the first part of it, “For the great day of his wrath is come” (Revelation 6:17). The seal judgments of chapter 6 cannot be extended into the middle of the tribulation as some try, for the seventh seal opens up into the trumpet judgments (Revelation 7:1–2), and the seventh trumpet is in Revelation 11:15, which is in the middle of the tribulation (v. 2). This would also mean that the “great multitude” who die in chapter 7 takes place before the middle of the tribulation.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:1–9, which is just after the reference to the rapture in chapter 4:13–18, it tells us when this will take place. It is helpful to remember that in this passage the pronouns “ye,” “yourselves,” “us,” “you” or the terms “brethren,” “children of light,” and “children of the day,” are ALL in reference to the saved, but the pronouns “them,” “they” and “others” are in all in reference to the lost. In verses 1–2 it says, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” Then in verse 3 it says, “For when they [the lost] shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them [the lost], as travail upon a woman with child; and they [the lost] shall not escape.” “They” (the lost) will believe they have finally solved the problem between Israel and her Arab neighbors. For the “peace and safety,” proclaimed by the lost, would be the seven-year peace treaty of Daniel 9:27, but that is when the great tribulation will start, for “then sudden destruction cometh upon them” (the lost). The lost will enter the great tribulation: “They [the lost] shall not escape.” But we will escape for we are “caught up” at the rapture; the very next verse says, “But ye [saved], brethren [saved], are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you [saved] as a thief.” We, the believers of the church age, will be gone; the saved of the great tribulation will be those who are saved during that time period, after the church age (see END TIMES).
REDEMPTION
Strong’s has “a releasing effected by payment of ransom.” “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7). It has the meaning of a slave who was bought at an auction and then released to freedom. And this redemption lasts forever, “having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:12; see ETERNAL LIFE).
REFORMED THEOLOGY (see PREDESTINATION)
REINCARNATION
This subject of reincarnation is not taught in the Scriptures, but instead the Bible teaches the resurrection from the dead (see RESURRECTION; see 1 Corinthians 15:12–23). “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27), we do not die multiple times but “once,” and then “judgment” comes afterward. Who wants to keep coming back here to this sin-cursed earth? It’s been “fun,” but once on earth is enough.
There are countries with a higher population per square mile than the country of India, but they are not having the hunger problems that India has. In India there are over 200 million “sacred cows” (not to mention other farm animals), and because of the belief in reincarnation the people will not eat them. But the cows eat, not only grass but also grain, and more than a human would.
