Will There Be A Rapture?

No. God’s church will not be in a rapture from the earth to heaven.

Several scriptures shows that God’s people will be on earth during the Tribulation.

1) Matthew 24:21-22 states that if the Tribulation wasn’t shortened that no flesh would be saved. This includes the Elect.

Matthew 24:21-22

21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

22 “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

The days of The Tribulation are shortened to save the Elect. The Elect are in a place of safety here on earth.Revelation 12:14

2) Matthew 24:23-24 states that the Elect will not be deceived during the Tribulation.

Matthew 24:23-24

23 “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.”

24 “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”

3) In Matthew 24:29-31 Jesus tells us that immediately after the Tribulation , the heavenly signs will be fulfilled and then Jesus will return and gather His Elect.

Matthew 24:29-31

29 “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:”

30 “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.”

31 “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 is the resurrection and is the second appearance of Jesus Christ. His appearance will not be in secret for He shall come with the sound of a trumpet.

4) II Thessalonians 2:1-4 states that Jesus will not return until after the Son of Perdition sets himself up as God of this earth. This event is part of the Tribulation and the Elect are still here on earth.

II Thessalonians 2:1-4

1 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,”

2 “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.”

3 “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;”

4 “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.”

5) Revelation 7:1-4 states that 144,000 of God’s servants will go through the Tribulation.

Revelation 7:1-4

1 “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.”

2 “And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,”

3 “Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”

4 “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”

6) Revelation 7:9-17 states that a great multitude will come out of the tribulation.

Revelation 7:9, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;”

Revelation 7:13-14

13 “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?”

14 “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

7) Revelation 9:3-4 states that those which have the seal of God will be protected during the Tribulation.

Revelation 9:3-4

3 “And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.”

4 “And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.”

8) Revelation 12:13-14 solves the question of whether or not there is a rapture of the Church before the tribulation.

The Church will be in a place of safety when Jesus returns, the location will be here on earth.

Revelation 3:10: “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 Church is portrayed as a woman in the Bible. The whole chapter of Revelation 12 is about God’s Church.

Study Revelation 12.

The woman (Church) will go to a place of safety here on earth for three- and one-half years. Satan, the serpent, will cast water out of his mouth as a flood after the church. The earth will open her mouth and swallow up the flood which the Dragon will cast out of his mouth. This is a duality of when Moses brought the Israelite’s out of Egypt and Pharaoh sent his army after them. His army was destroyed in the Red Sea.

Revelation 12:13-16

13 “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.”

14 “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”

15 “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.”

16 “And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”

9) Revelation 12:17 states that the Dragon, Satan, will make war with the remnants of God’s Church during the Tribulation.

Revelation 12:17, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

10) Revelation 13:7-8 states that the Beast will make war with the saints and overcome them during the Tribulation.

Revelation 13:7-8

7 “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”

8 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

11) Revelation 20:4 shows God’s children being beheaded for not worshiping the Beast, neither his image, neither receiving his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands. This is the Tribulation.

Revelation 20:4

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

12) Daniel 12:1 states that at the time of trouble, the Tribulation, God’s people will be delivered.

Daniel 12:1, “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

Everyone has to die once, then the judgment.

Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

Flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God.

I Corinthians 15:50, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”

No one has ascended to heaven except Jesus.

John 3:13, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

David, a man after God’s own heart has not ascended into heaven.

Acts 2:34, “For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,”

Enoch and Elijah have not ascended into heaven. Study the letter, “Where Is Heaven and Do You Go To Heaven When You Die?”

Jesus will only return one time. The Bible does not say anywhere Jesus will return more than once.

Hebrews 9:28, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

Jesus’ return will bring about the resurrection and His return will not be secret. He shall descend with a shout and the trump of God shall sound.

I Corinthians 15:51-53 is about the Resurrection, not a rapture.

51 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,”

52 “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.”

53 “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

The Christians which are dead and the Christians which are alive will both be changed at the last trumpet. This is the resurrection.

I Thessalonians 4:14-17 is about the Resurrection, not a rapture.

14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

15 “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.”

16 “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:”

17 “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.”

The dead shall rise first and then the ones which are alive shall be changed in a twinkling of an eye. They shall all be called up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Notice the word also in verse I Thessalonians 4:14. This word shows that the dead in Christ shall also come with Jesus along with those that are alive when He returns.

The Lord will bring all His saints with Him to the Mount of Olives and they will be with Him always.

Zechariah 14:4-5

4 “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”

5 “And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.”

Jesus will bring all of the saints with Him at the same time to the Mount of Olives.

I Corinthians 15:51-53 and I Thessalonians 4:13-17 are both speaking of the Resurrection.

Every eye will see Jesus when He returns.

Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

When Jesus returns the Elect become spirit beings like Jesus.

I John 3:2: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

You will have to have eternal life to be in the kingdom of God. Hebrews 11:13, 39-40 shows that all of God’s people of the Old Testament and the New Testament receive eternal life at the same time (in the resurrection).

Hebrews 11:13, 39-40

13 “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

39 “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:”

40 “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

Jesus tells us not to let anyone lure us out of our place of safety.

Jesus has told His disciples this before and He is telling them again.

During the tribulation do not let false prophets lure you out of your place of safety. If you leave the place of safety it will be at your own risk.

Matthew 24:21-27

21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

22 “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

23 “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.”

24 “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”

25 “Behold, I have told you before.”

26 “Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.”

27 “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

John Darby, born 1801 in Westminster, London, popularized the teaching of the rapture, making five missionary trips to North America starting in 1862. Darby obtained his teachings from visions received by Margaret McDonald, who claimed to be a prophetess.

Darby’s teachings are contrary to scripture, and he attempted to explain this by teaching some scriptures are for the Church and some are for Israel.

Today the false teaching of the rapture is taught in many of the christian churches.

No physical person can be raptured to heaven.

Everyone has to die, and all Christians put on immortality at the same time, at the resurrection.

I Corinthians 15:50-53.

Hebrews 11:13, 39-40.

Some churches believe and teach that Matthew 24:37-41 pertains to a rapture. This is not true. The subject here is not about a rapture nor the resurrection. The subject is when will the Temple be destroyed and what should be the sign of His coming and the end of the world.

Matthew 24:2-3

2 “And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”

3 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

Matthew 24:37-41

37 “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

38 “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,”

39 “And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

40 “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

41 “Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

Jesus is talking about the hour of temptation which will come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Revelation 3:10, “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.”

Jesus is describing things that will happen in the days shortly before He returns.

Compare Luke 17:30-37 to Matthew 24:37-41 and remember the subject of these verses is the sign of the return of Jesus Christ and of the end of the world. (Matthew 24:1-3)

Luke 17:30-37

30 “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

31 “In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.”

32 “Remember Lot’s wife.”

33 “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.”

34 “I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.”

35 “Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

36 “Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

37 “And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.”

In Luke 17:36, Jesus says, “Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

Luke 17:37, “And they answered and said unto Him, “Where Lord?” And He said unto them, “Wheresoever the body is thither will the eagles be gathered together.”

Jesus did not answer their question directly.

Today we would say, “When you see buzzards circling together you know there is a body below.”

Jesus just told them that when you see these things come to pass you will know His return is very near. Remember the subject in these verses is the sign of the return of Jesus Christ and of the end of the world.

The word ‘eagle’ is comparing the bird’s flight as to that of an eagle. In other translations the word vulture is used instead of eagle.

In the other scriptures in the Bible where the word eagle is used it means a large bird of prey.

Eagles – Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance #105 Greek – An eagle (from the wing- like flight).

Eagles – Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance #5404 Hebrew – the eagle (or other large bird of prey).

This is the Hour of Temptation in which Jews will be tempted to deny being Jewish and Christians will be tempted to deny being Christians.

Revelation 3:10, “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.”

This will be the greatest tribulation there ever was or ever will be.

Matthew 24:21, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

Anyone who confesses to being a Jew risks being killed.

Matthew 24:9-10

9 “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”

10 “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.”

Any Christian that will not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed.

Revelation 13:15, “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

The Church will be in a place of safety during these 3 1/2 years.

Revelation 12:14, “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”

Satan intends to destroy God’s Church and all Jews.

These verses about where ‘one is taken and one is left’ is not about a rapture.

These verses are about the Hour of Temptation.

In Matthew 24:39 Jesus said, “the flood came and took them all away.” The word ‘took’ here means the people died.

In Matthew 24:40 Jesus said, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” The word ‘taken’ here means the person is killed as shown in Matthew 24:39.

No one goes to Heaven until after Jesus returns and no one goes to Hell, the second death, until after the Great White Throne Judgement.

Revelation 20:11-15

11 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.”

12 “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

13 “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.”

14 “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

15 “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”