While the word Rapture is not used in the Bible, it is taught in several portions of the New Testament.
1Thessalonians 4:16-17 says,
“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.”
For the past 2,000 years, God has been building a body of people as a bride for His Son. When this is completed, Christ will return to rapture, or airlift, the body of people from the earth.
He will then deal with those who are not taken to Heaven for a period of seven years of trouble on earth. Following that horrific period of Tribulation, God will redeem Israel and set up a promised kingdom on earth where peace and righteousness will reign.
The body of Christ (the church) will not be here during those seven years of chaos and confusion. A promise in 1Thessaloniians 5:9 states,
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” Revelation 3:10 adds, “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.”
The Rapture is called “the blessed hope” of the Christian. Titus. 2:13 says, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”
