The Rapture Is Wrong: The Saints Don't Rise to Run Away
The Bible says the saints rise to meet Christ at His return. But they aren't snatched away to heaven. They rise in the air to perform a fitting salute to the King of Kings and then join Him, not in heaven, but on the earth. If this is different from what you have heard or believed, you need to prove what the Bible actually says!
by Cecil E. Maranville
In Part 1 last issue, we showed that the rapture wasn't taught until approximately 1,800 years after Christ began the New Testament Church!
Today's teachers of the rapture weave numerous biblical references into their narratives, but John Darby and other early rapture advocates based their belief on two verses: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
In particular, they believed the words "shall be caught up" in verse 16 conveyed the idea that Christ would snatch the saints away. Combining this with the biblical teaching that God would protect His people in the end-time Tribulation, they projected that Christ would take the saints to heaven during that period.
Doctrine must come from the Word of God, not the word of man. What does God's Word say? As Part
1 of this series explains, the Greek for this phrase conveys a sense of force and suddenness, but it doesn't suggest abduction or snatching away.
Paul was comforting members of the Church of God in Thessalonica who were grieving over believers who had died. The survivors feared that their loved ones would lose out on participating in God's glorious Kingdom. Christ inspired Paul to put in plain words the truth of the matter. Those who died didn't go to heaven. They were in their graves. But that didn't mean they would lose out on the marvelous Kingdom of God or that the believers still living would have any advantage.
