Astute readers of the Senses Novels series may have
noticed there is no mention of any kind of Rapture. There are a couple of
reasons for this, the most important being, in His lifetime Christ did not mention
anything of the sort.
I have tried to keep the allegories in the series focused
on the Gospels and on Revelations. The Rapture, in the way the term is used
today, isn’t talked about in any of these. The only place we find mention of
Believers being taken bodily up to be with Christ is in one of Paul’s letters:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about
those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus,
God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the
Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with
a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's
trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then
we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with
them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.
I have no doubt Paul was given some divine knowledge which
he imparted to the church of Thessalonia, but I don’t find this wisdom in the
Gospels. In fact, I can’t find it anywhere else in the Bible at all. The
closest I can find is in Matthew 24: 30-31 and Mark 13:24-27
Matthew
24: 30-31 30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then
all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on
the clouds of heaven, 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. [bolding is mine.]
Mark
13:24-27 24 “But in those days, following that distress, “ ‘the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the
sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 26 “At that time people will see
the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send
his angels and gather his elect from the
four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
Some have taken the last portion to mean the Rapture. If
so, it must happen at the END of Revelations because this is when He is
supposed to return. We need to be very careful. The Gospels state Jesus is
coming in clouds or on the clouds of heaven, not that His people will meet Him
there or be taken to Him there. The Gospels also say, when we SEE Him coming in
the clouds, the elect will be gathered together.
There is already too much debate about this doctrine.
Putting in any kind of Rapture would detract from the main point of the story,
so I have and intend to continue to leave it out. It doesn’t matter to me if
you believe in pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, post-tribulation, or no
Rapture at all. What we know for sure is, if you believe and put your trust in
Him, you will eventually have a place before the throne of God.
I hope your week is going well!
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