I believe the primary purpose of the Rapture is to spare God’s children from the horrors of the seven-year Tribulation. In Revelation 3:10, Christ told the church at Philadelphia, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” Consistent with that promise, John’s vision of the Tribulation never mentions the Church’s presence on earth.

God’s promise that the dead in Christ and those alive at the time of the Rapture will be “caught up together… to meet the Lord in the air” comforted readers of that day, and it comforts us as well. Indeed, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). For believers, judgment day already happened at the cross of Calvary (John 16:11).

The Preparation of the Rapture

According to the apostle Paul, the Rapture will set in motion a series of events that will lead up to Christ’s Second Coming. “He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8). This Restrainer is the Holy Spirit who indwells the Church. Presently, the Spirit’s righteous presence on earth, working through the Church, holds back the flood of evil. Removing the Church will also remove the Holy Spirit’s restraining influence from the land and usher in the Antichrist’s reign.

Removing the Church will remove the Holy Spirit’s restraining influence from the land and usher in the Antichrist’s reign.

The Church will remain in heaven until Christ comes back to earth to receive the Kingdom prepared by His Father. Then, we will return with Him and share in His inheritance (Matthew 25:34). In Revelation, John sees God’s people as the Bride of Christ, “arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:7-8). Six verses later, John envisions Christ accompanied by “the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19:14). This glorious occasion will outshine anything in the history of the world. May the Lord find us ready and waiting!

The Perspective of the Prophets

Much of the confusion about the time between the Rapture and the Second Coming comes from the limits of the prophets’ perspective. Viewing the future as one unified picture, they did not perceive it as a series of events separated by prolonged gaps. The Old Testament prophets foresaw Christ’s coming—His earthly ministry and His Millennial reign—as the beginning and end of one event. In the same way, visions of the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming ran together in their minds.

The Roots of “Rapture”

In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, English Bible translations use phrases like “caught up” or “taken up” in place of the Greek word harpazo: “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (emphasis added). Our word “Rapture” stems from rapiemur, the Latin translation of the Greek term.

Understanding the trumpet of God could sound at any moment gives us great motivation to live with a sense of expectation and purpose.

Harpazo occurs fourteen times in the New Testament with four variations of meaning. Each of these contributes insight into our understanding of the Rapture. Harpazo can mean “to carry off by force, “to claim for oneself eagerly,” “to snatch away speedily,” or “to rescue from the danger of destruction.” This last definition suggests that the Rapture will save the Church from the seven-year Tribulation.

The Imminence of the Rapture

While God’s Word gives signs of the Second Coming, it says Jesus will return like a “thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10). In Matthew 24, Jesus describes how surprising the Rapture will be: “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (verses 36-39).

As students of the Bible, we can see signs of the Second Coming emerging, but not even Jesus and the angels know when He will return for the Church. Understanding the trumpet of God could sound at any moment gives us great motivation to live with a sense of expectation and purpose. “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)