The rapture: will there be a secret rapture?

Many believe that when Jesus returns, He will secretly approach to snatch all believers and children in a rapture to protect them. Is this biblical? 

Many Christians believe that when Jesus Christ returns this earth, He will secretly approach to snatch all believers and all children in a rapture. According to this theory, they will be taken to heaven where they will be protected during the Great Tribulation.

Although the Bible does clearly teach that there will be a Great Tribulation and that Jesus will return, the Bible does not teach that there will be a secret rapture.  

The rapture theory

This teaching is often referred to as the "rapture theory." It is a theory because it has no definitive proof. Neither Jesus nor the apostles taught that such an event will occur and, in fact, it has no biblical support. Although there is disagreement as to its exact origin, this doctrine had not been heard until the early 19th century, and it became popular when it was incorporated in the footnotes of the Scofield Annotated Bible.

Scofield's comments are with reference to 1 Thessalonians 4:17: "Then we who live, who have stayed, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to receive the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." .

The adherents to the rapture doctrine believe that it is described by the phrase "we will be taken away." A meaning of the Spanish word taken away is "to be carried in body or in spirit." However, the word rapture is not used here or anywhere else in the Scriptures. The phrase "we will be caught" is translated from a Greek word that means "to grab, pull, or take by force" ( Louw and Nida Greek- English Lexicon of the New Testament ("Oxford Greek-English Dictionary LSJ")). This is a strong word in Greek, and emphasizes that the action will be sudden and forced. It transmits the power of God by which He will resurrect those who had died. In the Vulgate Bible (Latin) the phrase "we will be raptured" is translated rapper , from which the word rapture is derived.

To see this statement in context, it is useful for us to read 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17: “Neither do we want, brothers, to ignore those who sleep, so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope. Because if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so will God bring with Jesus those who slept in him.

“Therefore we tell you this in the word of the Lord: that we who live, who will remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who slept. For the Lord himself with a command voice, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven; and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who live, those who have stayed, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to receive the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ”

The promise of a resurrection — not a rapture

Apparently these first-century Christians expected Jesus to return during his life. When some died before He returned to earth, they worried and confused. To encourage them, Paul appeals to his faith in the resurrection of Jesus and the promise of a resurrection of the faithful when He returns.

Note that this passage does not include any warning about or even a reference to the Great Tribulation at the end of the century. Paul was not warning them about keeping in mind their Christian responsibilities so that they could be among those who would be "caught up together" to "receive the Lord in the air" to escape difficult times. In fact, if the faithful are dead and in their graves, why would they need to be raptured to escape the Tribulation? As we read the full context we see that Paul reminded them of the promise of the resurrection of the faithful when Jesus returns.

Evidently, he is writing about a resurrection , not a rapture. 

Not a secret event

Another key element of the rapture theory is that it is supposed to be secret. Without any warning, faithful believers will suddenly disappear.

But note again in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17: “For the Lord himself with a command voice, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven; and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who live, those who have stayed, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to receive the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ”

With trumpets and angels declaring the return of Christ, this can hardly be the description of something done in secret.

In Matthew 24:30 Jesus says that upon his return the people of all the earth will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. In Revelation 11:15 we read that the seventh trumpet will sound and great voices in heaven will proclaim that Jesus will reign over the nations of the world for ever and ever.

These passages describe the same event: the arrival of Jesus Christ — dramatic, powerful and very visible — when He returns to take control of and reign over all nations. There is no passage that supports the teaching that He will approach the earth without actually returning, to secretly snatch the believers from heaven and then return again after the Tribulation.

Receive the Lord in the air

Does the phrase in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 mean that we will go to heaven and always be with the Lord? Note that they will receive it in “the clouds” —that is, in the atmosphere of the earth, not in the sky where God resides.

When Jesus returns, He will come to earth and reign on earth (Acts 1: 9-11; Revelation 11:15; Zechariah 14: 1-4). Those who "receive the Lord in the air" will not remain in the air with Jesus, but will come down to earth with Him. The phrase "and thus we will always be with the Lord" does not mean that they will go to heaven with Him, but it describes how it is that the resurrected saints will become with Him.  

The word translated “receive” is a Greek word that means to greet and escort a royal visitor or a government representative ( Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words [Vine: Full expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words ]). In other words, when Jesus returns, the faithful believers who had died will be resurrected and those who are still alive will be changed to spirit. They will rise together in the clouds to greet Jesus when He returns and escort him to the earth where He will begin to reign.