WATCH VIDEO: What is the ‘Rapture’? Does the Bible really say all true followers of Jesus will one day suddenly disappear?

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY — Lynn and I arrived in the United States on Friday to begin a one-month speaking tour.

Our goals are simple: to help Evangelical Christians all over the country to better understand the October 7th war being waged against Israel from all directions; to better understand how the Lord is using ALL ISRAEL NEWS, ALL ARAB NEWS and The Joshua Fund to bless Israel and her neighbors in critical ways amid this brutal ongoing war; and to encourage Evangelicals to stand with us in prayer and consider making a tax-deductible donation to help these non-profit ministries stay on mission. 

That said, just before we left Israel, my colleagues and I finished producing a brand new video for our ongoing series known as “The Bible Prophecy Project.”

Despite the popularity of the series – with its millions of views – the urgency of covering and analyzing the war interrupted our ability to create new installments. But we are very honored to be getting back to explaining the purpose and power of Bible prophecy in this creative and easy-to-understand format. 

We hope you find this new video helpful. Please share it with family and friends on social media. And pastors and youth leaders, please show these videos to your congregation and especially to the young people in your care. 

Click on the video to watch or read the transcript below.

Bible prophecy describes an astonishing event that will take place in the “last days.”

Suddenly, “in the blink of an eye,” the Bible tells us that every single true, sincere, “born again” follower of Jesus Christ in the entire world is going to disappear.

That is, they are going to be “caught up” or “snatched away” from this earth and meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air in an event that Bible scholars call “the Rapture.”

Over the years, Christians have tried to capture the Rapture, this concept, in paintings and books and movies. The most famous effort was a series of novels in the 1990s and early 2000s called the Left Behind series.

The books tried to imagine and play out what it might be like when the Rapture happens, and Christians suddenly disappear from the planet, and what the effect will be on the rest of the world, on people who were not raptured but were left behind on earth, and how they might handle all the other Bible prophecies from the Book of Revelation that will come to pass following the Rapture, leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and His return to earth. 

The series was written by Dr. Tim LaHaye, one of the most famous Bible prophecy scholars of the twentieth century, and New York Times bestselling author Jerry Jenkins, and it went on to become an international phenomenon, selling more than 65 million copies.

But, of course, Christians’ understanding of the Rapture long predates the writings of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins–indeed, by two thousand years. 

This is, therefore, a prophetic scenario worthy of closer consideration.

What does the word "Rapture" mean?

Now what does the word “Rapture” actually mean?

The most famous passage describing what theologians refer to as the Rapture is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. 

The apostle Paul writes this:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

While the word “rapture” itself does not appear in modern English translations of the Bible, the concept is rooted in Scripture. 

The word itself comes from the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible. 

In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, particularly, in the Vulgate, the Greek word harpazō is translated as “rapturo,” which means “to seize, to carry off by force; to seize on, to claim for one’s self eagerly; or to snatch out or away.”

Most English translations of the Bible have, therefore, translated the word harpazō as “caught up.” 

But English-speaking Bible scholars who studied the Latin Vulgate decided the word “rapture”, based on “rapturo,” was a useful and suitable term to express the scriptural concept of believers suddenly being removed from the world.

Dr. Mark Hitchcock and Dr. Thomas Ice, two Biblical scholars, have noted that “If you happened to pick up a copy of the Latin Vulgate at a garage sale, produced by Jerome in the early 400s, you would indeed find the word Rapture….The Vulgate was the main Bible of the medieval Western church until the Reformation. It continues to this day as the primary Latin translation of the Roman Catholic church….It should not be surprising to anyone that an English word in regular use today was developed from the Latin. That word, of course, is rapture.”

How Does the Bible Describe the Rapture?

Now, how does the Bible describe the rapture? What actually happens during the rapture?

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, we find significant and important clues about the Rapture. 

Among them:

First, God does not want believers to be ignorant or “uninformed” about the last days or about the Rapture like people who “have no hope” (v. 13).

Rather, the Lord wants believers to be aware, to be ready, to be expectant even of “those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (born-again believers who have physically died) to be resurrected in the last days—indeed, “the dead in Christ will rise first”, Paul wrote. (vv. 14, 16).

The Lord also wants believers who are still alive in the last days to be aware, ready, and expectant for the fact that we will be united with the Lord Jesus Christ and with resurrected believers during the Rapture (vv. 15-16).

During the Rapture, the Lord Jesus Christ will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel of God and with the sound of the trumpet of God (v. 16).

That’s what Paul wrote to us, which means that during the Rapture, as the Lord descends from heaven, believers, people who are true born-again followers of Jesus Christ, alive at that time, will be caught up, will be snatched up from earth to meet the Lord in the air (v. 17).

Unlike the second coming of Jesus Christ, when he physically lands on the Mount of Olives and splits the Mount of Olives in two, in Jerusalem, and sets up his thousand-year reign, Jesus Christ does not come all the way down to earth during the rapture. He only comes down part way – according to the Apostle Paul – to meet us and take us to heaven, where we will remain with him until we join him, coming to earth at the Second Coming. The key, the scriptures tell us, is that “we shall always be with the Lord.” Christ will never leave nor forsake us. To the contrary, we will always be at his side, always worshiping him for who he is and what he has done for us (v. 17).

We learn more about the details of the rapture in the Apostle Paul's next chapter to the church in Thessalonica. 

Consider these verses from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11:

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

Notably, in this passage, we learn several things. We learn that The Lord isn’t going to tell us the specific time when the Rapture will occur (v. 1). Rather, the moment will be “just like a thief in the night”—that is, it will come at a time when unbelievers will be surprised because they are not paying attention (v. 2). They don't know the scriptures and they’re not looking for the rapture.

Indeed, Paul indicates that when unbelievers are saying, “Peace and safety!” then the Rapture will occur, and destruction (judgment) will follow – and all this will come upon the world “suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape” (v. 3).

Thus, while we don’t know exactly when or how the Rapture will occur, it seems to come not specifically during a time of intense “contraction” (major wars, terrorist attacks, global health pandemics, plagues, etc.), It's going to come at a time when things seem to be released, when things seem to the non-Christian world to be relatively more peaceful and safe than they had previously been (v. 3).

This means that the Rapture cannot take place during the Tribulation, because no one in their right mind could possibly describe any moment during that 7-year period of apocalyptic wars and natural disasters and persecution and Divine Judgment as a time of “peace” or “safety” (v. 3).

Paul writes that believers are not supposed to be caught off guard by the Rapture but are to remain “alert and sober” (vv. 4-8).

What’s more, the Rapture is meant to encourage believers, not discourage, not confuse, not alienate or divide. It's supposed to encourage believers. After all, Paul tells us that because we know the Rapture will occur and that the true Church will be rescued and removed from the world before the Great Tribulation begins, before the Antichrist emerges and conquers the world, because we know that as believers, we are to “encourage one another and build one another up” (v. 11) in the hope that even though terrible judgments are coming, those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ are truly born again won’t experience those things if we’ve come to Christ before the rapture happens.

Do other scriptures shed light on the Rapture?

Do other New Testament passages shed more light on the Rapture?

Absolutely.

In John 14:1-6, the Lord Jesus, in a conversation with his disciples, said this:

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.”

Now, you'll recall from the scripture that Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Here in this passage in John 14, Jesus Christ promised – Jesus the Messiah promised – to leave earth to prepare heaven for our arrival, and then He promises to come back from heaven and to get us and take us to heaven.

Therefore, we are not to worry or let our hearts be troubled, because He will eventually come and rescue His church from the troubles of this world.

In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, the Apostle Paul writes this: “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

When Paul says, “We will not all sleep,” he means that not all believers will physically die. In other words, there will be a moment in history where believers don't die physically but will all be changed. That is, all believers at that moment, while they won't physically die, they will be spiritually transformed. Now before that, some will die physically, but they will be resurrected from the dead and given new immortal bodies. That's what we know from the scriptures.

But at this moment in history, whatever that moment is, whenever the rapture is going to occur, believers will not die physically, but they will be changed in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, meaning just a blink, a split second. During the rapture, they will meet Jesus in the air and they will be given new immortal, resurrected bodies.

Examples in the Bible of People Who Were Raptured

When I think about the rapture, I'm intrigued that the Lord is actually giving us at least two examples of people who were raptured, in a sense, in the Old Testament.

In the book of Genesis, for example, we learn about a righteous servant of the Lord named Enoch. 

The Bible tells us that “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). 

That’s an interesting passage, right? Because Enoch obeyed the word of the Lord. He was living a righteous life by God's grace while living his physical life on earth. But the Lord then decides that rather than requiring Enoch to die physically before going to heaven, God would simply snatch Enoch away while he was still physically alive.

The Book of Hebrews actually confirms this interpretation: “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (Hebrews 11:5). 

Enoch was the first, but he wasn't the last. In the Book of 2 Kings, we read about the Hebrew prophet Elijah. The Lord was so pleased with Elijah that, as you’ll recall, He sent a chariot of fire to whisk the prophet away to heaven while Elijah was still physically alive and walking alongside his young protégé, Elisha. 

“As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, ‘My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan” (2 Kings 2:11-13). 

The text goes on to tell us that fifty Israelites, among the prophets, then proceeded to search for the living Elijah – or at least his dead body – for three full days, but they were unable to find him. Why? Because Elijah had not simply been moved to another location by the Lord. Elijah had not physically died. He hadn't stumbled. He wasn't wounded. Elijah had become the second person in the Bible to be raptured. 

Now, in Acts, Chapter 1, we see another type of rapture, as Jesus Himself is caught up from earth into heaven.

And after He had said these things, He [Jesus] was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11)

Can you imagine that? One moment Jesus was talking to his disciples on the Mount of Olives, right there in Jerusalem, where I get the joy of living. And the next moment Jesus was floating up to heaven through the clouds. And someday soon, true followers of Jesus will experience something very similar. That's what the Bible says.

Now, not every Christian has studied these scriptures about the rapture. Not every Christian understands them. Not every Christian believes them. Nevertheless, the Bible teaches us that every single person who has received the free gift of forgiveness and salvation through faith in Jesus the Messiah, and who is physically alive when the Lord sovereignly decides that the moment has come, they will each be caught up from the earth to meet Jesus in the air.

Are you ready?

Are you ready for such a moment?

The question is not whether the Rapture will occur. Bible prophecy tells that it will, and of this, we can be certain.

The real question is whether you will be spiritually ready to meet Jesus the Messiah face-to-face when it happens and whether you’ll be caught up in the air with him and all believers, or whether you will not be ready because you haven't come to faith in Jesus, you're not born again, and have to remain on earth to face the horrors of judgment and global chaos that are described in the prophecies of the Book of Revelation, during this period of time that Jesus called the “Great Tribulation.”… A horrible time.

Now, can you come to faith in Jesus after the rapture if you're not saved? Yes. That's something we'll talk about in a different Bible Prophecy Project video. But I want to be clear with you as we finish. If you're not 100% certain at this point in your life that your sins truly are forgiven and that your soul is saved, and that you will go to heaven, whether you face natural death or rapture, then can I encourage you to read the following verses and receive Jesus as your Messiah and Lord right now?

In John 3:3, the Lord Jesus told a religious leader who came to him seeking spiritual guidance: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

One’s physical birth into a religious family, Jesus was saying, is not enough to go to heaven. It's not enough just to be Jewish. It's not enough just to be in Israel. It's not enough to be a very religious person, even. Even a very good person. Something else has to happen on the inside of you.

And as you read the New Testament, it becomes clear that “born again” is not a term that Christians came up with. It's a biblical term, and it refers to a person who is:

1) is fully convinced that faith in Jesus as Messiah, that his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead on the third day, is the only way to be forgiven of one's sins and adopted into God's family.

2) a person who has consciously, willfully, and purposefully repented, turned away from his or her sins, and asked God through prayer to wash his or her sins away and save him through the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross, Jesus the Messiah.

In John 1:12, we learn that “as many as received Him [Jesus the Messiah], to them He gave the right to become children of God.”

I love that verse because it really talks about us becoming his children, not just his servants, but being adopted into God's family if we place our faith in Jesus. Jesus himself said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish [die and go to hell forever and ever with no way of escape] but shall have eternal life.”

In Romans 10:9-10, the Apostle Paul explains how to be born again: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Then, in 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, Paul tells us the result of being born again: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus encourages you to make this decision immediately and not to refuse him or shut him out of your life any longer. “Behold, I [Jesus] stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

Would you like to make that decision? 

You can receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord right now. 

Here is a suggested prayer that has been helpful to many people all over the world – including myself – in becoming followers of Christ and in sharing the gospel with others. The key is not so much the precise words as the attitude of your heart.

Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. Thank you for having a wonderful plan and purpose for my life. I need you today. I need you to forgive me for all of my sins.

I repent, Lord. With your help I turn away from my sins and turn to you, asking you to save me.

Thank you for dying on the cross to pay the penalty for all of my sins – past, present, and future. Thank you so much for rising again from the dead and so proving that you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life and the only way to get to The Father, the only way to get to eternal life, and heaven.

Lord Jesus, I open the door of my heart and my life, right now, to You. I receive you as my Savior and Lord and the King of my life.

Thank you, so much, for forgiving my sins and giving me the free gift of eternal life.

Please come in and change my life. Make me a new person. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. Please take control of my life and make me the kind of person that you want me to be, so that I can serve you and please you and be with you forever and ever.

Thank you so much. I love you, Lord, and I want to follow you, and in the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

If you just prayed with sincere faith in Christ’s death and resurrection – if you just invited Christ into your life– then, congratulations! You’ve just been adopted into God’s family. Welcome! 

Now, I want to encourage you to find some people who also love Jesus and are his faithful followers and tell them what you have just done. 

Allow them to rejoice with you, and ask them to help you find a good, solid, Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church, or congregation where you can begin attending. 

Buy yourself a Bible. Start reading through the New Testament, beginning with the Gospel accounts that are written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and then, of course, the writings of the Apostle Paul.

Spend time every day reading the Bible, making notes, spending time with the Lord in prayer, and taking time to apply, carefully, everything you’re learning. Don’t be a hearer only. Don’t be a reader only. Be a doer of God’s Word.

Ask the Lord specifically to give you an older, wiser follower of Jesus Christ to begin discipling you – that is, to begin teaching you the Scriptures, answering your questions, praying with you, and encouraging you how to put into practice in your life all that the Lord teaches us through the Bible.

Also, choose three people who don’t know Jesus personally yet – who are not yet “born again” – and tell them what you’ve just discovered about God’s love and forgiveness and why you chose to receive Jesus Christ into your life and to become his follower.

Answer their questions as best you can. Invite them to come to church with you. Ask if they have a Bible and if they don’t, offer to go to a bookstore and help them pick out a Bible and begin studying and reading it on their own, or studying and reading it with you.

Now is not the time to keep the miracle that has just happened in your life to yourself – go tell people! And don’t stop at three, but start with three.

Tell as many people as will listen. Tell them lovingly and gently. Don’t force it down their throats, of course. But don’t be shy. People need to know these truths, and they need to make a choice one way or the other, just like you did.

Believe me, you don’t want to be left behind when the Rapture happens. And you don’t want your family or friends or neighbors to be left behind either to the judgments of God and the horrors of Satan.

The good news is that the Scriptures tell us clearly how to be born again, how to be adopted into God’s family, how to be spiritually safe in His kingdom – in His family – indeed, how to know with absolute certainty that we’re going to spend eternity with the Lord in heaven forever and ever. 

And that, my friend, is the purpose and power of Bible prophecy.