The Trumpet Shall Sound

Jesus was spending the last day before his crucifixion with his disciples. They were gathered around the table celebrating the Passover meal together while Jesus taught them many important things that they needed to know before His imminent departure from the earth. This is John’s record of the exchange between Jesus and His disciples at the end of the meal:

I shall not be with you very much longer. You will look for me; but I tell you now what I told the authorities, “You cannot go where I am going.” … “Where are you going, Lord?” Simon Peter asked him. “You cannot follow me now where I am going,” answered Jesus; “but later you will follow me.” … Do not be worried and upset,” he told them. “You believe in God so believe also in me. There are many mansions in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you there. I would not tell you this if it were not so. And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am.” (John 13:33, 36; 14:1-3, adapted)

The disciples could not grasp all that Jesus was saying, as they were too startled. They did not comprehend until much later what Jesus meant when He said, “I will come back and take you to myself,” as it was a mystery. In fact, in the next number of weeks, several mysteries would be imparted to them. Clarity would have to wait until the heavenly revelations would be received by Paul.

1. Mysteries

By the time the disciples received the promised Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and began to preach the gospel of salvation, several mysteries presented themselves. Most of these mysteries Jesus revealed directly to the Apostle Paul while he was in Arabia.

A major revelation given to Paul was the birth and nature of the Church (Eph. 3:10-12). It was also revealed to Paul that the Gentiles, as a part of the Church, had been made partakers of the blessing of Abraham and, thereby, were free from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13-14). Of most interest in this article is the revelation Paul received of the bodily “catching away” of the Church into heaven at some future date (1 Thess. 4:16-18). Paul’s revelation corresponded directly to the prophetic hint given by Jesus at the Last Supper. It also corresponded to the prophetic hint given by Jesus that it would be possible for believers to “escape all these things that will come to pass” in the Tribulation (Luke 21:36, NKJV). Several terms are used for this event: “caught up” (1 Thess. 4:16), “the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7), “gathering together” (2 Thess. 2:1), and “general assembly” (Heb. 12:23).

2. The “Catching Away”

Paul first wrote about the coming of the Lord for the Church in his first letter to the church at Thessaloniki that Paul had founded during his second missionary trip. The letter was a follow-up to the things Paul had taught the Thessalonians. He explains to them what will happen at the coming of Jesus for the Church:

We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thess. 4:15-17, NLT, emphasis mine)

The word for “caught up” that Paul uses here is the Greek word “harpazo,” which means to be snatched away bodily from one place to another. The word is used 17 times in the New Testament. In five usages, the passage describes the instantaneous bodily transportation of a person from one place on earth to another or from earth to heaven. In 382 CE, Jerome of Stridon was commissioned by Pope Damasus to translate the Bible into Latin. When Jerome came to 1 Thessalonians 4:16, he translated the Greek word “harpazo” into the Latin, “rapio,” which has the same meaning as in the Greek. In English, there is no single word that portrays the concept of “harpazo,” so translators transliterated the Latin word “rapio” into “rapture” in English for the purpose of Bible study and communicating clear doctrine. To transliterate a word means to make up a new word sounding similar to the original instead of translating it. Using a transliterated word in translating from another language to English is a common and legitimate practice. So, one can justifiably claim that the word “rapture” refers to the “catching away” as used by Paul.
There are several revelations about the rapture that are contained in Paul’s description in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and elsewhere:

1. The explanation of the mystery of the rapture was obtained in a face-to-face revelation from Jesus to Paul while Paul was caught up into heaven (2 Cor. 12:2).
2. In the rapture, Jesus does not come down to the earth, but remains “in the clouds.”
3. Those who have died as believers will meet Jesus ahead of those still living.
4. The rapture will begin with a commanding shout from Jesus from the clouds above the earth, then another shout from the archangel, and then a series of trumpet blasts.
5. People who died in Christ will be raised from the dead and caught up into the clouds.
6. According to 1 Corinthians 15:52, believers’ bodies will be changed into their glorified, incorruptible form in the blink of an eye during the rapture event. It is noteworthy that only the change of the body is described to take place in a flash, not the entire rapture event.
7. Believers who are alive at that time and have been changed will be caught up to meet Jesus in the clouds.
8. All believers will then be transported to heaven and live with Jesus for all eternity.
9. In addition to the revelations in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Paul teaches that the rapture will happen like a “thief in the night” for all people who have not placed their trust in Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:2). A thief sneaks into the house during the night so quietly that no one awakes until the morning, only to discover that their valuable goods are missing. By implication, unsaved people will be completely unaware of the rapture event while it happens. On the contrary, all those who trust in Jesus will be completely aware and likely even expecting the rapture to happen at that time.

3. What is the Tribulation?

Various terms referring to the Tribulation occur in the Bible—“day of the LORD” (Joel 2:31), “tribulation” (Matt. 24:21), “that day” (2 Thess. 2:3), and “wrath” (1 Thess. 5:9). Jesus described the Tribulation during his teaching about the last days:

For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. (Matt. 24:21-22 BSB)

In this passage, Jesus describes the Tribulation from the point of view of the nation of Israel, as His entire mission on earth was to Israel (Matt. 15:24). The reader can readily see that the Tribulation is the most terrible time in the entire history of the world. It will be of great relief to the reader that believers in Jesus Christ will not have to go through this period, a fact that will be expounded later in this article.

The purpose of this article is not to expound on the Tribulation; however, it is important for the reader to comprehend the context of the rapture. The Tribulation is a seven-year period that occurs immediately after the age of grace (the Church age) has ended. The “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24) is the approximately 2000-year period in history where God reaches out to the entire world to offer eternal salvation. Thereafter, God pours out His wrath on the people of the world who have insisted on rejecting Him. The main purpose is to destroy the kingdom of satan, the Antichrist, his world ruler, and all of his followers utterly so that Jesus may physically return to earth to set up his eternal kingdom. To pour out His wrath in a completely unrestrained manner, God removes the believers in Jesus Christ before that seven-year period. During the Tribulation, eventually all those who reject God are killed; however, many turn to God and are either martyred or caught up to heaven. At the end of that time, satan will be cast into the bottomless pit and bound for a thousand years and all his evil angels and evil spirits cast into the lake of fire. At this time, the world is ready for the full implementation of the Kingdom of God with Jesus reigning on earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. At the climax of the Tribulation, the ultimate objective is declared:

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15, NLT).

3.1 The End of the Tribulation: The Second Coming

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended to heaven:

[Jesus]was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

So, the prophecy by the angels makes it clear that Jesus will someday return from heaven back to the surface of the earth. In contrast to the return described here, commonly called the “second coming,” in the rapture of the church, Jesus meets believers “in the clouds.” In other words, Jesus does not return to the surface of the earth in the rapture; however, at the end of the Tribulation, Jesus returns to the surface of the earth to Jerusalem together with his heavenly armies for the final and complete destruction of satan, the Antichrist, and his armies. This second coming of Jesus to earth is often mentioned or described in both the Old and New Testaments. In a sense, it is the focus of all of history because it is initiates the final thousand-year “day” of God’s master plan of creation with the final battle of Jesus over satan and the prophesied installation of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords in His physical kingdom on earth. As far back as Enoch, God prophesied the second coming of Jesus:

Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied about these [evil] people when he said, “Look! The Lord has come with countless thousands of his holy ones. He will judge all people and convict everyone of all the ungodly things that they have done in such an ungodly way, including all the harsh things that these ungodly sinners have said about him.” (Jude 1:14-15, ISV)

Jesus also described what this time will be like:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matt. 24:29-31, ESV)

Paul reveals one more detail about the second coming: “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4, NKJ), which explains who the “countless thousands of his holy ones” are in Enoch’s prophecy and what “his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” are in Jesus’ description. Also noteworthy is that “his elect” or “holy ones” come from heaven to earth, which is the opposite direction from the rapture.

4. Allaying the Fear of the Thessalonian Church

After Paul had founded the Thessalonian church and taught them about the rapture, the church received a forged letter, as if coming from the Apostle Paul. The writer told them that the persecution and hardships they were experiencing were actually the Tribulation and that, by inference, they would have to go through the Tribulation before being taken out in the rapture (2 Thess. 2:2). A major purpose of Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonian church was to correct the wrong teaching and assuage their fears. In this letter, Paul refers to the Tribulation as “the day of the Lord” and the Antichrist as “the lawless one:”

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed. Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders. (2 Thess. 2:1-9 NASB, emphasis mine)

The word transliterated as “apostasy” is key to the correct understanding of Paul’s teaching:

1. The seven English translations before the King James (Wycliffe, Tyndale, Coverdale, Crammer, Breeches, Beza, and Geneva) translated “apostasia” as “departure.” The King James Bible was the first English translation that did not translate the word rendered as “apostasy” here, but rather transliterated it from the original Greek “apostasia.” Ever since then, virtually every Bible translation has followed suit.
2. The Greek word “apostasia” (a noun) has two possible meanings—either “defection” and “revolt” or “departure” and “disappearance.” Either the noun or verb form of “apostasia” is used seventeen times in the New Testament in several ways, and the correct meaning in the passage above could not be established by how the word is used elsewhere.
3. The word “apostasy” is preceded by the definite article “the,” making “apostasia” a one-time event which cannot mean a departure from faith in God since that is already an ongoing process throughout the church age.
4. Paul refers to what he had taught the Thessalonians before, which contradicts the false teaching that the Tribulation was to precede the rapture. He explains that believers in Jesus will be taken out of the way of God’s wrath in the Tribulation: “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:10, NASB). Jesus had already taught that His followers would be able to escape the Tribulation: “Therefore, be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:35 WEB). Lastly, Jesus reveals what will happen to the Church before the Tribulation as quoted by John: “Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you safe from the time of trouble which is coming upon the world to test all the people on earth.” (Rev. 3:10 GNT)
5. The fact that the departure must come first is presented as a parallel argument with the fact that “he who restrains” must first “be removed.” The restrainer who prevents the revelation of “that lawless one,” i.e., the Antichrist, is the Holy Spirit who operates through the church, giving it the power to bind and loose and, generally, operate in power (Matt. 18:18). When the true church is removed in the rapture, the Holy Spirit’s influence and manifestation of restraining power is removed, as well.
6. Paul’s purpose in contradicting the false teaching was not only to prevent false teaching from creeping into the church but to comfort the Thessalonian church, which was horrified at the thought of having to go through the seven-year Tribulation. They knew that it would be the most horrible time in history where they would almost certainly face martyrdom.
7. So, the most correct rendering of the passage is “for it will not come unless the departure comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed” which, as it should, matches with the parallel explanation that the church must be taken away first, since it, through the Holy Spirit, is preventing the Antichrist from coming on the scene. The departure of the Church from earth before the Tribulation also explains why the Church is not mentioned as being on earth after Chapter 3 in the book of Revelation when the judgements of the Tribulation begin on earth.

5. Our Blessed Hope

Paul teaches that our faith and expectancy of the rapture, which will spare us from the unimaginable horrors of the wrath to come in the Tribulation, should be a source of comfort (1 Thess. 4:18, 5:11). Not only is the eager anticipation of Jesus’ return in the rapture a source of comfort, but God promises a special reward to those who eagerly anticipate his return for the Church, as Paul explains:

And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. (2 Tim. 4:8, NLT)

The benefits of looking forward to the soon return of Jesus to give believers incorruptible, glorified bodies and take them to heaven also has the benefit of affecting one’s lifestyle:

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3, NLT)

6. Taken Up or Left Behind?

It is clear that only those who are born again at the time of Jesus’ return will accompany Him to heaven and obtain eternal life. Jesus Christ made eternal life abundantly plain when he said to the Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). Being “born again” is the most amazing and important experience that any person can possibly have. This occurs when a person places her or his trust completely in Jesus Christ as the giver of eternal life and Lord of all. This act requires faith—true belief, not just intellectual agreement—and a deliberate choice by means of a verbal declaration, which is, in fact, a prayer of acceptance. The words of this prayer are not an incantation, and they are not a set recipe. They are a sincere, heartfelt acceptance of eternal life as provided through Jesus Christ. Below is a model declaration prayer for the acceptance of Jesus Christ.

7. Your Participatory Response

Say this prayer to God the Father out loud in order to receive your salvation now:

Dear God, I believe that Jesus Christ took my sin upon Himself on the cross, that You raised Him from the dead, and that His blood paid for all my sins. I accept the forgiveness of all my sins and the eternal life that You have offered me. Jesus, you are now my Saviour and Lord. Father, thank-you for accepting me as your child. Amen.

For more information about eternal life, you can read the full article on eternal life at https://trueliferev.com/teaching/the-doctrine-of-eternal-life/