The Rapture (Part 1): Why ‘Flying Away’ Isn’t Part of God’s Plan

Preface

The Rapture theory is a topic that sparks heated debate among Christians and non-Christians alike. I’ve seen people become extremely angry when talking about not only the theory itself, but also details of when and how the rapture occurs. It’s curious to me that just the mere mention that it may not be true often elicits an instant fiery response, even from those closest to you.

This reaction is something I have a difficult time understanding because as God’s Children we’re all in this together, right? We love Jesus and look forward to His return. A passionate, even salty, debate is one thing–but this kind of rabid anger feels different. It’s the type of division among God’s children that I believe comes from the enemy. Satan thrives on manipulation and uses it to pit us against one another. As followers of Christ, we should resist this, and remember it’s not our job to try to force people to believe one way or another. God calls us to plant seeds of truth so that He can provide the miracle that causes them to grow, in His own perfect time.

Before we begin our study on the rapture, I’m going to ask you to do something that most people find difficult, including myself: whether you believe in the rapture or not, think carefully about why you believe what you do.

Why is this important? Because often times what we learn in childhood becomes so ingrained in our minds that we never stop to question it as adults. Or we falsely equate questioning what we learned from our pastor to questioning God Himself.

On top of that, we tend to seek out information that confirms what we already believe to be true, while at the same time disregarding facts that challenge those beliefs. This is a natural human (fleshly) tendency known as confirmation bias, a type of cognitive bias. If you’re interested, I encourage you to look up both terms, as understanding them can help in recognizing when this bias occurs and work toward keeping an open mind in everyday life.

To clarify, an open mind isn’t about questioning the authority of Scripture–it’s about considering the possibility that we might have been taught incorrectly. It’s also ensuring that we’re humble enough to let God’s truth correct our understanding, even if that means letting go of long-held beliefs that cannot be proven in the Word of God. If a teaching contradicts Scripture it has to be tossed out, regardless of who taught it or how strongly we believe it to be true.

If we put aside all preconceived notions and only keep what we are able to document in God’s Word, there are many things that rule out the possibility of a pre-tribulation rapture. A few of the major points to consider:

• The Bible is clear that the Antichrist will be here first, before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The rapture doctrine states the opposite. Scripture teaches us about seven trumps, with the Antichrist returning at the sixth, and Jesus at the seventh.

• God’s Word repeatedly tells us that we will all be here during the tribulation, not just one specific group of people.

We’re warned about this many times throughout the Bible. Our Heavenly Father tells us how to prepare, what to expect, and what our responsibilities will be during that period of time. However, the rapture theory teaches that only certain people are here for the tribulation.

• God’s Word teaches us that when we die, our souls immediately go back to our Father.

This is repeated often in both the Old and New Testament. Yet the rapture
theory states that people will rise up from their graves when Christ returns.

Because the rapture doctrine is so opposite to what the Bible says, many of the lessons on my site will naturally teach against it. For example, I’ve already written a study titled The Antichrist Comes First, which I encourage you to read for a more detailed discussion of that topic.

Instead of writing an in-depth lesson on the rapture theory itself, I’ll begin with an overview of the pre-tribulation rapture. Then we’ll take a close look at several key Bible verses that are commonly used to support it. Using the Strong’s Concordance, we’ll examine the original language of specific words within these verses to reveal their true meaning.

Let me give you one quick example of why that’s important. I’ve seen some Christians really stress over the following verse:

At first glance, it seems like Jesus is telling us to hate our mother, father, and even our own children. But by digging just a little deeper into the original Greek, we find that the word ‘hate’ (G3404) can also mean to ‘love less.’

Now we can understand that this verse isn’t about hating our family; it’s about loving Christ above all else. The entire meaning changes with the proper translation of just one small word.

This is the reason I feel it’s critical to study using the Strong’s Concordance along with the KJV Bible.

Let’s get started and see what we can learn from our Heavenly Father. But first, what is the rapture theory?

What is the pre-tribulation rapture?

The rapture theory, also known as the “fly-away” or “any-moment” doctrine, is the belief that Jesus will return to remove all true Christians from the world before the tribulation of the Antichrist.

There are variations within this belief, especially around the timing of the rapture. We’re not going to get into those details. Instead, I’ll give you a brief outline of the pre-tribulation Rapture view:

– Sudden Return: Jesus will return without warning. True Christians, both alive and deceased, will be “caught up” to meet Him “in the air.” They will receive their spiritual bodies at this time, which could happen at any moment. Some consider this a secret rapture because nobody will see Him come except for true Christians. Everyone else will be left behind to face the Antichrist.

– The Tribulation: Those left behind will endure a horrible seven-year period of great destruction called the tribulation. This will include intense suffering at the hands of the Antichrist and the world system he creates. Ultimately, one will have to take the mark of the beast and worship Satan in order to avoid persecution and death, but doing so means you’re going to spend eternity in Hell.

– The Second Coming: After the tribulation, Jesus will return again and bring with Him those who were raptured. This time His arrival will be visible to the entire world. He will destroy the Antichrist and bind Satan for a thousand-year reign, known as the millennium.

The pre-tribulation rapture promises true Christians that they will escape all of these hardships. It is viewed as a promise of safety for those who have accepted Christ, but God’s judgement for those who rejected Him.

Here’s the question we need to answer: is it God’s teaching or man’s tradition? Based on my own studies, I believe the rapture is not only a false teaching, but also a dangerous doctrine that will lead many people to (unintentionally) worship the Antichrist when he arrives. How? If Christians believe that the first supernatural entity to arrive is Jesus, they will likely be deceived and worship Him, believing He is God. I think the rapture primes people to do exactly that.

Okay, let’s get into God’s Word and begin by studying the verses that are most commonly associated with the rapture doctrine.

1 Thessalonians 4: What Does It Really Say About the Rapture?

Paul is writing to the members of the church he founded in Thessalonica. He doesn’t want them (or us) to be uninformed about what happens to those who ‘are asleep,’ meaning those who died.

He reassures us that we don’t need to sorrow or mourn in the same way as unbelievers who have no hope. Of course, it’s natural to be sad and miss our loved ones when they pass away, but as Christians we know that we will see them again. Our hope is in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Since we know Jesus was resurrected, we can also be sure that our loved ones who died believing in Him have risen too. They are with our Heavenly Father right now and will come back with Christ when He returns.

At first glance, it seems like Paul is teaching that those who are alive at Christ’s return cannot stop the dead from joining the Lord. But that’s not the correct meaning of this verse. To understand what’s really being said, let’s look at the word ‘prevent’ in the Strong’s Concordance:

As shown, the word ‘prevent’ actually means to ‘precede.’ So, Paul is simply saying that those who are alive when Jesus returns cannot precede the dead in meeting the Lord. Why? Because they’ve been with God since the moment they passed away (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7, 2 Corinthians 5:8).

We need to be careful with this verse. Dead people are not going to rise out of their graves. Paul already told us that those who have ‘died in Christ’ will return with Him. They couldn’t do that if they weren’t already there.

Jesus will descend from Heaven and set his feet down in the exact same location from which He ascended to Heaven: The Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11, Zechariah 14:4). When will this happen? Revelation 8:2 tells us that there are a total of seven trumps. The ‘trump of God’ in this verse is the seventh and final trump (1 Corinthians 15:52, Revelation 11:15).

Before we examine verse 17, it’s important to remember the context of 1 Thessalonians. This letter is written by Paul to members of the church in Thessalonica while he is away from them. After reading it, some of them were confused about Christ’s return and the gathering together of believers. To clear up any misunderstandings, Paul will later write them a second letter explaining that Jesus is not coming back until after the Antichrist:

This alone is in opposition to the rapture doctrine, as we’re clearly told that until there is a falling away (apostasy) and the Antichrist (Satan) sits in God’s seat in Jerusalem, (claiming to be God) Jesus will not return. Those two events must happen first.

Now let’s continue studying 1 Thessalonians 4. Paul has explained what happens to believers who have already passed away. In this next verse he is going to teach us what happens to those who are still alive when Jesus returns. Even though some parts of this passage can seem a little ambiguous because of the words cloud and air, one thing is certain: there is nothing written about a secret rapture where only believers are taken to Heaven.

In this passage those who are alive when Christ returns are changed into their spiritual bodies to join the Christians who arrive with Christ. We are all gathered together in one large “cloud” of believers.

Paul uses the word ‘cloud’ in a similar way in Hebrews:

So, why didn’t Paul just say ‘group’ or ‘multitude’? For the same reason we use figures of speech today–to create a stronger and more vivid image. Think about it, which conveys a more powerful image: “you’ve really stirred up a hornets nest” or “you’ve really caused a lot of trouble?”

I believe Paul used the word ‘cloud’ to paint a powerful picture in our minds of the vast amount of faithful believers, reunited and gathered together with Jesus.

Next let’s look at the word ‘air’ in the Strong’s Concordance:

The word ‘air’ is connected to the idea of breath. But why use ‘aer’ here instead of the Greek word ‘ouranos’ (G3772), which means the heavens or sky? To find out, we need to go back to Genesis, when God created Adam:

I believe the meaning of ‘air’ in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 refers to the ‘breath of life’ that God breathed into Adam when He formed him–the divine inspiration that placed Adam’s soul and spirit into his body. We all have that spiritual body in us as well. And upon death of the flesh or when Christ returns (whichever comes first), we instantly transition into that body (1 Corinthians 15:52).

To help us understand this transformation, Paul uses the analogy of a seed in 1 Corinthians 15:35-44. He explains that each of us has two bodies: a natural (physical) body and a spiritual (celestial) body. Just as a seed must first decay in the ground before the new life within it can spring forth, so it is with us. And what rises is not the same as what was sown–a brand new plant emerges. In the same way, our flesh bodies are sown in death, but we are raised in a different body–our perfect spiritual bodies that our souls occupy for eternity.

Paul makes it clear that in order for us to join together with Christ for eternity, we must first be in our spiritual bodies. Why? Because, as he says in 1 Corinthians 15:50, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” Our flesh bodies are temporary and serves their purpose for this dispensation of time only. Once it’s over, we will never want or need them again. We have our real bodies to look forward to.

With these thoughts in mind, looking back at 1 Thessalonians 4:17, I believe the word ‘aer’ was chosen specifically to represent our spiritual bodies, the same breath of life body that God breathed into Adam’s lungs. Let’s read it again in this context:

So, Could Paul have intended verse 17 to be understood literally? That’s certainly possible. But even if we were to meet Jesus together in the literal clouds and air, there’s no indication in Scripture that only some people would be gathered together. Or that His return would be followed by believers being taken to Heaven, while unbelievers are left behind to face the tribulation.

We’ve already seen in this study that it’s only after the tribulation that Jesus returns. Verses like 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, Matthew 24:29-31, and many others are very specific about the timing, and leave no room for a secret rapture before the tribulation.

Also, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:51 that at the moment Jesus returns all will be changed–not just Christians. This means that when the seventh trump sounds, every living person will instantly be transformed into their spiritual, incorruptible bodies–bodies that never age or perish. This marks the end of our flesh age and the beginning of the millennium.

Whether we meet Christ in the air or on the ground, nobody is going to ‘fly away’ to Heaven in an ‘any moment now’ secret rapture. We’re staying right here because Jesus is coming to us to rule and reign forever. And He’s bringing with Him a vast Christian army made up, in part, of those who have already died faithfully believing in Him. The great book of Revelation assures us that when Christ returns He’s here to stay:

It is a comfort when we understand that our loved ones who have passed away are not in the ground. It’s only their flesh body that remains and goes back to dust, but their soul is with our Heavenly Father. We will be reunited with them again. Paul reminds us to share this hope and comfort with others:

Conclusion

As we conclude this part of our study, my prayer is that you are encouraged to keep seeking the truth in God’s Word. There is always more to learn, and our Heavenly Father is ready to guide you with His love, wisdom, and understanding.

Stay tuned for part 2, where we’ll take a closer look at other verses often cited to support the rapture theory, including Matthew 24:40-41 and Luke 17:34-37. Together, we’ll let God’s Word answer a frequently asked question: If the rapture is a false teaching, then why does the Bible talk about one person being taken and another left behind?