The teaching of a secret rapture has gained popularity in the Christian world.
This belief teaches that Jesus will come in secret and that those who are ready for Him
will be “raptured” or caught up to Heaven, while the rest remain alive on this earth
for 1000 years with another opportunity to repent and accept Christ.
Is the teaching Biblical, or is a great deception that will cause many to be eternally lost?
Logo reveal This is Dustin with Hope Through Prophecy
– the channel that helps you understand Bible prophecy and be prepared for the soon
return of Jesus.
In this video, we will go straight to the Bible to see if this secret rapture theory
is Biblical.
First, we will consider the historical origins of this teaching.
About 500 years ago, a movement known as the Protestant Reformation swept across Europe
and changed the course of History.
The Reformation brought much-needed truth to the world, and exposed many false teachings
of the Catholic Church, even identifying it as the antichrist of Revelation – a teaching
that is grounded in Scripture and has been the consensus view of protestant Christians
for hundreds of years.
In response, the Catholic church held a counter-reformation and a Jesuit priest named Francisco Ribera
created a teaching known as Futurism.
This belief teaches that the prophecies of Revelation are mysterious events that will
all happen in the future, and that the antichrist, rather than being the Catholic church, is
some future leader that does not yet exist.
This new teaching of futurism conflicts with what Christians have always believed – that
the prophecies of Revelation are real events that have been taking place throughout history
– some having already happened, and others yet to be fulfilled.
To achieve his false teaching of futurism, Ribera separated the 70th week in the prophecy
of Daniel chapter 9 and placed it sometime in the future – a change which the Bible
never allows.
What’s more, Futurism teaches that the Messiah in the 70 week prophecy – Jesus - is actually
the antichrist To learn what the Bible really teaches about Daniel’s 70week prophecy,
click here.
Fast forward to the 1800’s, a preacher named John Darby took Ribera’s false futurism
teaching and ran with it.
He declared that a secret rapture would usher in the final 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy.
He also taught that this final week, which represented 7 literal years, would be 7 years
of tribulation.
Interestingly, while Bible does teach that there will be a tribulation, it never teaches
that it will be 7 years – not even once.
But where did Darby get this strange idea of a secret rapture?
In Scotland around 1830, a group known as the Plymouth Brethren, led by Darby and some
others, began holding prophetic conferences.
During this time, a charismatic prophetic message supposedly came from a 15-year old
Scottish girl named Margaret McDonald.
She allegedly received a vision while in a trance that Jesus would return to take just
a certain group of believers back to Heaven, while others would remain on this earth to
face the Antichrist and the tribulation.
Darby then spread this view of a pre-tribulation rapture across Europe and eventually the USA.
It gained prominence in America by it’s inclusion in the Scofield Reference Bible.
So, this is the origin of the secret rapture theory.
It was not founded in the Bible, but by a creation of a Jesuit priest which was later
modified by John Darby – perhaps based on a vision by a young lady in a trance.
In modern times, the concept of a pre-tribulation secret rapture has been revived and popularized
through the series of books and movies known as “Left Behind”.
Here is a scene from the most recent sequel of that movie:
Does the Bible teach that the return of Jesus will
be like this – a secret?
Will those who are not ready for Jesus’ return be given a second chance - as the secret
rapture belief teaches?
Friends, we must let the Bible be our authority in all matters – not the teachings and imaginations
of men.
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The Oxford languages defines rapture as “the transporting of believers to heaven at the
Second Coming of Christ.”
The Bible does in fact describe such an event.
Listen carefully to these words of Scripture and ask yourself – will this rapture be
a secret?
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
And the dead in Christ will rise first.
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.”
You will notice that Christ will return with a shout!
Even more – with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God!
Friend, do you think the voice of an archangel will be a whisper?
Do you think that the trumpet of God will be a tweet?
Not so!
They will crack through the air like waves of roaring thunder!
Even the dead will be woken from their graves!
We have learned that the return of Jesus, will be fully audible.
But will it be visible?
The Bible says: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every
eye will see Him…”
How many eyes will see Jesus when He returns – EVERY eye.
The Bible even compares Jesus’ return to lightning:
“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be.”
The return of Jesus will be audible and visible to all – NO ONE will miss it!
In fact, the Bible teaches that Jesus will return with His entire army of Holy Angels!
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He
will sit on the throne of His glory.”
While we can see that Jesus will indeed return to take His followers back to Heaven, we can
be certain that this event will NOT be a secret.
The secret rapture belief also teaches that the wicked will be left alive on this earth
after Jesus returns, and will be given a second chance.
Does the Bible support this?
Referring to the return of Jesus, the Bible declares:
“…with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.”
The Bible is clear that the wicked will be slain, or destroyed, at the second coming
Jesus.
They won’t be left alive!
“And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other
end of the earth.
They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.”
Think about this friends.
It is impossible for there to be a secret rapture.
When Jesus returns it will be fully visible and audible to all.
Everyone will either be taken to Heaven, or will be dead – there will be no one left
alive on this earth afterwards.
The Bible could not be clearer that the teaching of a pre-tribulation secret rapture is false.
I do want to say there are sincere true Christians who believe this, possibly even those who
participated in or enjoyed the Left Behind series – I do not judge their heart.
But friends, truth matters.
The secret rapture teaching is very dangerous for the following reasons:
1) A false sense of security.
The secret rapture gives believers a false sense of security because it teaches that
they will not have to endure the great tribulation.
The Bible NEVER teaches this.
God promises that He will be WITH us THROUGH tribulation.
This time period will be a test for God’s people – refining them, and preparing them
for Heaven.
In fact, a good portion of the book of Revelation describes the final events of history – including
the Mark of the Beast and the tribulation – telling us how to prepare for them.
Speaking of this last book of the Bible, God tells us that it is “The Revelation of Jesus
Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place…”
The secret rapture theory also gives people a false sense of security because it teaches
that we will have a second chance to repent after Jesus comes back.
This is a massive deception.
People who are not ready for Jesus’ return will receive the most devastating news possible
- that there is NO second chance – their opportunity has passed.
Friends, don’t let this happen to you.
The secret rapture teaching is also dangerous because it
2) Undermines other Bible truths.
For example, it misleads people about the identity of
the antichrist.
It teaches that the antichrist will be some mysterious future leader, rather then the
clear Bible truth about the antichrist which already exists.
To discover this truth, make sure to watch THIS powerful video.
The rapture theory misleads as to the role of Israel in the last days.
By falsely separating the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy, the rapture followers mistakenly
see Israel as central in last-day prophecy.
However, a proper understanding of this prophecy reveals that true Israel is made up of the
genuine followers of Christ, including people from all nationalities.
And as we have seen, the rapture doctrine deceives Christians about the tribulation,
giving the false assurance that believers will avoid that great event.
Finally, rapture believers often fail to see the importance of learning about the Mark
of the Beast and how they can avoid it – they mistakenly believe they will be raptured up
during that time.
As you can see, the secret rapture theory is not only unbiblical , but dangerous.
What about the Bible verses that, at first glance, seem to support the secret rapture?
Let’s look at them now.
The first verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:2: “For you yourselves know perfectly that
the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”
As you can see, the Bible compares Jesus’ return to a thief in the night.
Some hear this verse and conclude that Jesus will come secretly.
However, the rest of the Bible refutes this.
Jesus will come as a thief because He will come UNEXPECTEDLY, not secretly.
Just as a thief does not announce when He will come, many will be surprised and caught
off guard when Christ returns.
The Bible makes this clear: “Watch therefore, for you do not know what
hour your Lord is coming.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come,
he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Once again, when the Bible mentions that Jesus is coming as a thief in the night, it is referring
to the TIMING of His coming.
The second passage that sometimes causes confusion is Luke 17:34-35:
“ I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the
other left.
There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other left.”
Some will read these verses and assume that one group is raptured to Heaven and the others
are left alive.
They imagine airplane passengers, pilots, and babies just secretly disappearing while
the rest of the world wonders what happened - as seen in this clip from the 2014 version
of Left Behind.
But are the wicked really left alive?
We must compare scripture with scripture.
Just a few verses earlier in Luke 17, the Bible compares the time when Jesus will return
to the days of Noah: “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it
will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives,
they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came
and destroyed them all.”
The day when Jesus returns is then compared to the days of Lot:
“Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they
sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire
and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”
You will notice that God’s judgments in Lot’s day and in Noah’s day had something
in common – the wicked were destroyed – they were not left alive.
And the Bible reveals that it will be same when Jesus returns.
Jesus’ disciples wondered WHERE those who are not brought to Heaven will be:
“And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?...””
Jesus’ answer makes it’s crystal clear: “…So He said to them, “Wherever the
body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
An eagle eats carrion – or dead flesh.
When Jesus returns, the bodies of the wicked will be piled up for the birds and eagles
to feast on.
A similar verse in Revelation states, referring to Christ’s second coming:
“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to
all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper
of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh
of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all
people, free and slave, both small and great.”
Friends, the Bible couldn’t be clearer that the wicked will be destroyed at the second
coming of Jesus – not left alive like the secret rapture belief teaches.
So what are the key take-home messages for us as we are living in the last days.
Number 1 – We must be grounded in Scripture.
Many sincere Christians have been deceived by this secret rapture teaching.
In order to avoid this, and other deceptions, we must be studying our Bible.
Here on Hope Through Prophecy, we are committed to doing this very thing.
I want to help you understand your own Bible for yourself, so that you can be a victorious
Christian, ready to avoid the deceptions of Satan in these last days.
Number 2 – We must be prepared for the soon return of Christ.
Contrary, to what the secret rapture belief teaches, there will be no second chances after
Christ returns.
The time to get ready is right now.
Our choices today help decide our destiny.
Now is the day of salvation.
Let us choose to follow Jesus today!
“Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Matthew 24:44 If this is your desire, to live for Jesus
and to prepare for His soon return, just write in the comment section below:
Lord, help me to be ready.
Amen!
To learn about 3 critical end-time topics that are misunderstood by the secret rapture
theory – make sure to watch this video – Final Days: The Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast,
and the USA in Bible Prophecy.
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And remember friends to keep your eyes on Jesus – the Author and Finisher of our faith!