"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 he last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality." I Corinthians 15:51-53

This week we tackle the subject of the rapture. This is an event that is clearly taught in the above passage and in I Thessalonians 4:17, “then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” I believe Paul also refers to the event that we call the rapture in I Thessalonians 2:11 when he talks about our being gathered together with the Lord.

This is a controversial topic. Many sincere believers think the rapture is so far fetched that it couldn’t really happen. Of those who do believe in the rapture, there are at least seven different interpretations of when it will take place.

As you learn in this lesson I have morphed from believing the rapture will take place before the tribulation (pre-trib) to believing the rapture will take place after the great tribulation and just before the Day of the Lord when He pours out His wrath on the Antichrist (pre-wrath).
Two compelling reasons for my shift are the Lord’s heavy emphasis in Revelation on our perseverance through trials. He emphasizes that we overcome, endure, not be shaken, hold fast, watch and be prepared. If we are going to be raptured out of here before the trouble begins, why so much emphasis on perseverance?

The second reason is that in the Olivet Discourse I believe the Lord is laying out sequential events that will precede his return. I don’t think he is jumping around but that he puts the events in the order of their occurrence. When we read the Olivet Discourse it seems to me that Matthew 24:31 clearly describes the rapture. “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, form one end of the sky to the other”. This verse is given after the verses describing the great tribulation. I believe the Lord put them in order intentionally.

• What is your reaction?

• How does this reality motivate you to live today?

• Why do you think the character quality of perseverance will be so
important for us to exemplify if the timing of our resurrection/rapture is after the great tribulation?

Rejoice + Respond
The Lord holds your future in His hands, no matter how long you live and no matter when He returns! His eye is on the sparrow and His eye is on you! Write out a prayer of thanks to Him that He is with you now and will never leave you. Your future is secure in Him. His resurrection is our first fruits, our guarantee that we, too, will be resurrected.

Read
Matthew 24:32-41
Luke 17:26-36
Luke 21:29-33
II Peter 3:1-14