This is a study meant to be about the existence & timing of the rapture. In no way does this study intendent to test/prove one’s salvation, other scriptural writings must be studied. Neither is it to prove the exact timing of the rapture, just present the different arguments for the timing.

Does the rapture exist in the Bible?

  • Gen C5 V18 – 24, “And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”

First instance in the Bible of a rapture, taken to the presence of GOD without dying and not returning to earth.

  • 2 Kings C2 V9 – 11, “And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

Second instance in the Bible of a rapture, taken to the presence of GOD without dying and not returning to earth.

  • Isaiah C57 V1, “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.”

Possible prophecy in the Bible of a rapture, taken to the presence of GOD without dying.

  • John C5 V21 and 25, “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” And “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.”
  • 1 Corith C15 V51 – 54, “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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Paul explains for the first time in history, (shew you a mystery), how the dead in CHRIST(believers in Paul’s gospel –   1 Cor C15 V 1 – 4) first will get their glorified eternal bodies, then the living will get their glorified eternal bodies.

  • 1 Thes C4 V13 – 18, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Paul explains again this time to the Thessalonians how the dead in CHRIST (believers in Paul’s gospel – 1 Cor C15 V 1 – 4) first will get their glorified eternal bodies, then the living (believers in Paul’s gospel – 1 Cor C15 V 1 – 4) will get their glorified eternal bodies.

  • 2 Thes C2 V1 – 5, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?”

Paul explains to the Thessalonians that the gathering unto CHRIST (rapture) has not happened and that 2 conditions must be met before the gathering unto CHRIST, 1. falling away first 2. that the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (Dan C9 V27)

  • Rom C8 V11, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

Paul tells us that our bodies, mortal, shall become glorified, immortal by the HOLY SPIRIT.

  • Rom C8 V23, “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Paul tells us that our bodies, mortal, shall become glorified, immortal by the redemption of our bodies.

Regarding the term rapture and its use in theology the following should answer your questions. It is taken from Ryrie’s Basic Theology, Electronic Media from Parsons Technology. Our modern understanding of rapture appears to have little or no connection with the eschatological event. However, the word is properly used of that event. Rapture is a state or experience of being carried away. The English word comes from a Latin word, rapio, which means to seize or snatch in relation to an ecstasy of spirit or the actual removal from one place to another. In other words, it means to be carried away in spirit or in body. The Rapture of the church means the carrying away of the church from earth to heaven. The Greek word from this term “rapture” is derived appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, translated “caught up.” The Latin translation of this verse used the word rapturo. The Greek word it translates is harpazo, which means to snatch or take away. Elsewhere it is used to describe how the Spirit caught up Philip near Gaza and brought him to Caesarea (Acts 8:39) and to describe Paul’s experience of being caught up into the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2-4). Thus there can be no doubt that the word is used in  1 Thessalonians 4:17 to indicate the actual removal of people from earth to heaven.

Lastly, there is no place in the Bible that the word “TRINITY” appears, but true CHRISTIANS believe in the GOD the FATHER, GOD the SON & GOD the HOLY SPIRIT, three in one or the TRINITY. TRINITY is used a lot by Christians & is accurate such as is “rapture”. Also, there is no phrase Sovereignty of GOD in the bible either, but True Christians believe in the Sovereignty of GOD.

Timing of the Rapture.

Pretribulation (Pre-trib)

  • Disposition of Grace
    • Eph C3 V2, “If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:” Paul reveals the dispensation of Grace (church). Since no mention of tribulation can be found in Paul’s writings, some say the church must be removed so GOD can then deal with Israel and the unbelieving gentiles in the tribulation.
  • Isaiah C57 V1, “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.”

Possible prophecy in the Bible of a rapture, taken to the presence of GOD without dying.

  • Dan C9 V24 – 27, These are verses that tell us the prophesized 70 weeks are about Daniel’s people (Israelis) & his holy city (Jerusalem). The final week or the tribulation is about Israel & Jerusalem too, V27. No gentiles/church/body of CHRIST here. Luke C21 V5 – 36, These are parallel verses with Matt C24 explaining the lead up to and the tribulation as CHRIST is prophesying. Luke C21 V36 is of interest, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” This is possible saying that if worthy you will escape all things to come, be raptured out of and be with JESUS.
  • John C14 V1 – 3, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Some use these verses to show a pretribulation rapture, no prerequisites to the rapture.
  • 1 Thes C5 V9, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” 

The church is not appointed to wrath therefore not present during the Tribulation if it is assumed that all 7 years of the tribulation are wrath.

  • Rev C3 V10, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

Kept from the hour of temptation which pre-tribers say the hour of temptation is the tribulation.

  • Revelation Pre-tribulation believers say the church/believers are present in C1 thru C3. In C4 pre-tribulation believers take the “Come up hither” as the church/believers being raptured. Why not take C4 literally as we are supposed to take the rest of the Bible as John being taken to heaven to have the revelation given, then return to earth to write Revelation & live out the rest of his life and die. Also the church/believers do not appear in C4 through C18 and returns in C19 thus the church/believers must be out of the way during the tribulation C4 thru C18.

One site supporting the pre-trib rapture, http://christinprophecy.org/articles/why-i-believe-in-a-pre-tribulation-rapture/.

Mid-tribulation (Mid-trib)

  • 1 Cor C15 V51 –53, “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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

The above verses say that the rapture happens at the last trump.  The tribulation starts with the 1st seal in Rev C6 V1 and continues through the last seal in Rev C8 V1. Next the 1st trump sounds in Rev C8 V7 and the 7th/last trump sounds in Rev C11 V15. Continuing, the 1stvial/bowl judgement occurs in Rev C16 V2 and the last in Rev C16 V17. If the rapture happens at the last trump it cannot be pretribulation or post tribulation but mid-tribulation or during the tribulation.

  • 1 Thes C5 V9, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” 

The church is not appointed to wrath, and Rev C15 V6 – 7, C16 V1 & C21 V9 states that the last seven judgements, vials are full of the wrath of GOD/seven last plagues. This occurs after the 7 seals judgements, first 6 trumpet judgement and with the 7th trumpet, so if not appointed to wrath the church will be gone before the vial or last seven judgements – not a pre-tribulation rapture.

  • 2 Thes C2, V1 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,” V2 “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” V3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;“

V3 states that there must be a “falling away” (condition 1)  and the antichrist be revealed (condition 2) which will occur at the midpoint of the tribulation as per Daniel C9 V27, both conditions satisfied before V1 or the rapture be fulfilled. This fits with Mid-trib rapture.

Translation from Greek were “falling away” is used King James – 1611 (King James in 2 Thes C2 V3 “falling away” instead of departure)

These translations below in 2 Thes C2 V3 use departure instead of “falling away” Tyndale – 1534 (verified) Coverdale – 1535 (verified) Geneva – 1537/1608 (verified) Cramner – 1539 (Unverified) Beza – 1565 (Unverified – not in english)

Some Pre-tribulation believers say the word departure should be used instead of falling away in V3. If true then the above verses state that there should be a departure before V1, the rapture.  Departure they say is another word for rapture, so there must be a rapture before the rapture?

One site supporting the mid-trib rapture, https://www.rapturebibletruth.com/mid-tribulation-rapture.html.

 Post Tribulation (Post-trib)

  • Matt C24 V1 – 31,  “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” This chapter is CHRIST’S prophecy about the end time tribulation and HIS return to earth. Of interest is verses 29 through 31 that suggest that CHRIST will have HIS elect gather after the tribulation of those days.

Other verses related to rapture/tribulation

  • Isa C13 V9, “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Day of the LORD.
  • Isa C34 V8, “For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.” Day of the LORD is a year long. This follows as in Daniel were a week is 7 years, therefore a day is 1 year.
  • Isa C61 V2, “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;” Day of the LORD is a year long. This follows as in Daniel were a week is 7 years, therefore a day is 1 year.
  • Isa C63 V4, “For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” Day of the LORD is a year long. This follows as in Daniel were a week is 7 years, therefore a day is 1 year.
  • Zeph C1 V15 – 16, “That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.” Day of the LORD.
  • Matt C24 V21 – 22, “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: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” Day of the LORD or tribulation or wrath of GOD.
  • 1 Thes C5 V2 – 3, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” Day of the LORD or tribulation or wrath of GOD.
  • Titus C2 V13 – 14, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Some use these verses to show a pretribulation rapture, no prerequisites to the rapture. 
  • Rev C3 V10, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Referred to as JESUS’ promise to keep us from/out of the hour of temptation or tribulation.

The Rapture PDF