Clear thinking#2 - Is there a "Rapture"?
Today's devotion is of a more technical nature, but it raises a deep and important underlying issue.The idea of the Rapture has been popularised in recent times by the "Left Behind" book series which was followed by a movie starring a famous Hollywood actor.
In a nutshell, those who espouse the idea of the Rapture teach that that before the final judgement, Jesus will return to take His children to be with Him while the final chapter of earth's history plays out. This is described as a trumpet call that only Christians will hear and they will be raptured (teleported) into God's presence and those "left behind" have one last chance to turn to Christ while the apocalyptic times of Revelation: the beast, the mark of the beast and the trumpets, seals and bowls unfold. The word "rapture" implies "snatched up" and the Afrikaans phrase "wegraping" really portrays the sense of a sudden and sneaky rescue of Christians from a bad and evil world.
There are some serious problems with this idea:
- It means that Jesus actually comes three times:
- The first when He came to earth in the incarnation to die for us.
- The second is a "stealth" return that only Christians know about.
- The third is to return as Lord over all for the final judgement
There is no solid biblical support for this.
The clear expectation is that when He returns:
- every eye will see Him (Rev1:7)
- He will judge the living and the dead (2Tim4:1)
- When the trumpet sounds all the nations will see Him (Mt.24:30-31)
- When the trumpet sounds the dead will be raised (this is the time for the final judgement) (1Cor15:52) (1Thes4:15-16)
- It mis-interprets Revelation by portraying it as a step by step explanation of the final end-times (This approach was popularised by Hal Lindsey's "Late Great Planet Earth" and other books like it.) As I explained in a previous devotion, I believe that the book of Revelation is a symbolic and poetic framework that is applicable every time the church goes through suffering and persecution. This fits in with Jesus describing the end-times as a woman in labour. There are times of contraction and times of relief. Revelation is applicable every time there is a contraction. For John and the early church, the beast was Caesar and the "mark of the beast" was having to burn incense to the statue of Caesar. For Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the faithful church in Nazi Germany, the beast was Hitler and the "mark of the beast" was to become the state church, preaching state approved doctrines.
Just imagine, John coming to the persecuted church in his time saying: "I've been given this vision guys and it's very exciting but it's only about things that will happen in some 2000 years plus...!" What comfort would Revelation have given them??
- The idea of the "rapture" is unknown in the early church. It is a recent development which can be traced back to 1830 when a young Scottish woman named Margaret MacDonald had a dream about the events we now describe as the "rapture". These ideas were popularised by William Darby who was well-known preacher of the time. These ideas were taken up by Cyrus Scofield who published the "Scofield Reference Bible" which was published in the early 1900's and became a staple for American Evangelicalism.
Our mainline churches, Reformed, Anglican, Methodist and Roman Catholic do not subscribe to or teach about the rapture. But the idea is very popular among churches that have a "Dispensationalist" view of history. They believe that history is marching along a set path to the "end times" goes through various dispensations. The problem with this is that they have to keep on stretching out the dispensations - imagine if Jesus only comes in 1000 years time? The "mainline" view is that the end-times began when Jesus ascended and is an ongoing cycle of contractions and relief until one of the contractions results in His return.
For many people the idea of the rapture has floated around in church culture and has become well accepted. But we need to face facts: It has no real roots in long standing theological traditions and is actually not tenable when one does responsible Bible Study.The deep and underlying issue that concerns me about the "Rapture" idea is the "escapist mentality" that it creates. It encourages people to disengage from the problems of the world because Jesus is going to come and rescue us from all the "yucky stuff" - "He's gonna toot and I'm gonna scoot." We can't afford to be so "heavenly minded that we are of no earthly use". During this Covid19 time good Christians who could make a real practical difference through giving and service are being distracted by flights of fancy as they try to figure out if the rapture is around the corner.
(Two final technical issues:
- In the reading below, Jesus says "...this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." Matthew 24 is Jesus' discourse on the "end times" which is started off by His prediction of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70AD. It is well-accepted that this event became the signpost and signal that the church was now in the "end-times". When understood in this way then Jesus' comment makes perfect sense.
- When Jesus talks about one being "taken" and one being "left" it can as easily apply to the final judgement and is just another way of describing Jesus' parable of the separation of the "sheep and the goats". )
| "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. (Matthew24:30-41) |
