Tuesday, November 4, 2014
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
MILLENNIAL MYTH BUSTERS: MYTH 2: THE RAPTURE
Another prominent feature of most current Millennialism is a teaching known as the Rapture. The idea behind the Rapture is that Christ will secretly usher in His 1,000-year reign here on earth by taking believers immediately to heaven and leaving unbelievers here on earth. The teaching of the Rapture goes on to claim that once Christ's literal thousand year reign is complete, He will come a second time to finally judge the world. The above passages from 1 Thessalonians are often used to support the Millennialist understanding of the Rapture.
Once again, looking at the context of this Scripture sheds light on this mistaken teaching. The context of 1 Thessalonians 4 reveals that Paul is encouraging Christians with respect to loved ones who have died already. His message is that those who have died in Christ will not miss out on His final coming. They will rise from the dead and will, together with the living, meet the Lord when He comes. What further defeats the claim of a Millennialist Rapture is the fact that 1 Thessalonians 4 neither mentions a thousand year reign nor two separate comings of Christ.
This fits with what Jesus taught about the final day: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'" (Matthew 25:31-34).
According to the words of Christ Himself, there will be only one day of judgment, and on that day all people will be judged. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul says the same thing; he simply frames the events of that day from the believers' perspective.
Instead of looking for an unseen and secret return of Jesus, let us live each day ready for the visible Second Coming He promised -- ever ready through daily repentance and faith. For about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Matthew 24:36).
