Rapture, is this word found in the bible? Why do Christians all around the world speak about and believe in the rapture.  Also, when does the rapture take place?  Before, during or at the end of the great tribulation.

The mysterious event known as the Rapture is most clearly represented in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, this is the event where Christians who sleep in Christ(bodies in the grave with their spirit and soul in heaven with Jesus and God) ,and Christians who are alive at His coming will receive their immortal bodies. This is where God will pull out His saints from the earth before his wrath is poured out as read in the book of Revelation.  Remember God never punishes the righteous with the wicked.  For Noah and his family were warned and saved from the flood.  Lot and his family was warned and saved from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorah.  Throughout the bible you will see that God's people always knew about His judgement before it fell and were saved from it!  The Holy Spirit in the believer is the only thing that is restraining the anti-christ from coming to power(2 Thessalonians 2:6-7). Remeber one believer in Christ has more power than Satan and every demon in hell.

 In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the English phrase "caught up" is translated from the Greek word harpazo, which means "to seize upon with force" or "to snatch up." The Latin translators of the Bible used the word "rapturo," the root of the English term "Rapture." At the Rapture, living believers will be "caught up" in the air, translated into the clouds, in a moment in time to join the Lord in the air. For we know now, if anyone dies their body stays here but there spirit and soul is with the Lord in heaven(2 Corinthians 5:8).  So if we were to die right now and have Jesus as Lord and Saviour, we shall remain in Heaven with Him.  However, if we do not have Him as Lord then we will spend an eternity without Him in hell and the Lake of Fire. The bible speaks more about death in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We also know the body is dead without the spirit(James 2:26).  Once again, the Rapture is about those who have died in the past who are believers in Christ and those who are alive at His coming who are believers in Christ receiving their immortal bodies. 

We must now see the distinction of the Rapture from the second coming of Christ. This is where there has been much confusion of teachings.  The bible says that God is not the author of confusion(1 Corinthians 14:33). So the bible will clear this up for us.  When the Rapture takes place it is to remove the Church - The Bride of Christ from the earth.  Jesus is coming once in the air for His church(all believers in Christ) ,and He comes to the earth again at the end of the great tribulation bringing His saints with Him during the battle of Armageddon to set up His Millenial Kingdom. We will know look at and compare the two comings.  First we read throughout the New Testament be ready at any time that we do not know when He is coming.  This is known as the Doctrine of Imminence and is talking about the Rapture. Mark 13:32-37 tells us to watch! He could come at anytime.  Also that Christ is coming with His saints at the second coming (1 Thessalonians 3:13 & Jude 1:14-15).  So how can He come with His saints and for His saints?  You will read many scriptures like these two and they do not contradict.  What they do is guide us to the truth of the interpretation of the scriptures.  The only way these scriptures and many more make sense is if He comes for His Saints at the Rapture, then seven years of tribulation occur, and then we come back with Him.  So we see the two comings are once in the air for His saints and then again once to the earth with His saints. I challenge you as you read the bible to keep this in mind, and what you will see is that if you do not take this view you must deny and ignore scripture as well as this is the only way numerous scriptures fit together perfectly!  We must let the bible interpret the bible.  Why would we have to watch if we know according to Daniel and other books of the bible that we have seven years of tribulation before His return?  The second coming of Christ is predicted and we are told when it will occur perfectly by the book of Revelation and other scriptures.  The Rapture will happen, then a seven year tribulation followed by the second coming of Christ.  However, there are no signs giving the exact time of the rapture.  It could even occur as your reading this.  If you are not ready for the Rapture and are not sure if you would go with Christ, and don't want to be left behind click here. 

Remember to keep looking for our blessed hope (Titus2:13) when our Lord comes with the cry of an archangel and the sound a trumpet when the dead in Christ will rise first followed by us who are alive and remain and we will be caught up in the clouds to live and be with the Lord forever more.