The Rapture / 1 Thessalonians 2:5-9

Horatio Spafford was a businessman in Chicago. When the great fires hit Chicago, he sent his wife and family ahead to England by ship so he could settle his business affairs and then join them. On the journey across the Atlantic, there was a terrible collision, and the boat went down. His wife survived, but all four of their daughters drowned. She sent a telegram to Horatio that simply read: “Saved alone.”

Horatio immediately boarded a ship to join his grieving wife. As they were crossing the Atlantic, the captain called him up and said, “Sir, according to our charts, this is the exact spot where the ship went down and where your daughters drowned.” Horatio Spafford stood on the bow of that boat, looked out over the water, and penned the words: “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.” To possess that kind of supernatural peace in the midst of unspeakable tragedy is profoundly powerful.

Tonight, we are going to look at a significant piece of theology. The Greek word eschatos means “last” or “end,” which gives us the term eschatology—the study of end times. Within that study, I want to unpack one of the most fascinating and frequently debated topics: the catching away of the church, commonly called the rapture.

If you are new to our church, you might wonder why we are tackling this. By definition, we are an equipping church. Our mission as pastors is to equip you to know your Bible, interact thoughtfully with your faith, and articulate what you believe. Let’s be honest: our culture is infatuated with the end times. From Hollywood thrillers to television specials to bestselling book series like Left Behind, people are captivated by prophetic themes. So tonight, let’s open God’s Word and examine what Scripture really teaches about the rapture.

Understanding the Perspectives

Before we dive in, let me offer an important disclaimer. Great, godly men and women who possess far more intellectual horsepower than I do hold differing views on the timing of the rapture. This is not a fundamental test of orthodoxy; if you disagree on the deity of Jesus Christ, we have a serious gospel issue, but if you disagree on the timing of the rapture, we are still brothers and sisters in Christ. However, it is an important biblical topic worthy of careful study, and I want to lay out why I hold to a pre-tribulation view.

If you open your concordance and search for the English word “rapture,” you won’t find it. But that doesn’t mean the doctrine isn’t in Scripture. You won’t find the word “Trinity” in a concordance either, yet Scripture clearly reveals God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you were reading the Latin Vulgate, you would find the word rapiemur, which translates the Greek verb harpazo—meaning “to catch up” or “to snatch away.” That is where our English term rapture comes from.

When we look at the seven-year tribulation period outlined in Daniel 9 and Revelation, there are three primary views regarding the timing of the church’s catching away:

1. Post-Tribulation: The view that believers will endure the entire seven-year tribulation and be caught up to meet Christ in the air at His second coming in Revelation 19, immediately returning with Him to earth.
2. Mid-Tribulation: The view that the church is caught away at the midpoint of the seven years, right before the intense outpouring of the Great Tribulation.
3. Pre-Tribulation: The view that the church is caught up to be with Christ before the seven-year tribulation begins. The covenant is made, the tribulation focuses on Israel and the unbelieving world, and then Christ returns with His church in Revelation 19 to establish His millennial reign.

Let’s turn to Scripture to see the biblical foundation for this event.

The Mystery and Comfort of the Catching Away

In 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul reveals a profound truth concerning believers.

1 Corinthians 15:51-57 (NASB)

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. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ’DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. ‘O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul explains that our perishable, earthly bodies will be transformed in an instant into imperishable, resurrected bodies. Aren’t you glad that your physical body right now isn’t as good as it gets? One day, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be radically changed.

Paul addresses this same hope when writing to the believers in Thessalonica, who were grieving and worried that their deceased loved ones would miss the glorious return of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NASB)

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.

Notice the pastoral tone here. Paul says that for a believer, death is described as falling asleep—an immediate transition from this life into eternity with the Lord. The dead in Christ will rise first, and then those who are alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Paul concludes by saying, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” This doctrine was given not to create division or fear, but to anchor our hearts in comfort and hope.

Daniel’s Prophetic Timeline

To understand how the rapture fits into the broader scope of prophecy, we have to look back at the Old Testament foundation in Daniel 9. Daniel was studying the scrolls of Jeremiah and recognized that Israel’s seventy-year Babylonian captivity was drawing to a close. As Daniel poured out his heart in prayer, God dispatched the angel Gabriel with a breathtaking prophetic revelation that went far beyond the return from Babylon.

Daniel 9:24-27 (NASB)

’Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy [place]. ’So you are to know and discern [that] from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince [there will be] seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. ’Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end [will come] with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. ‘And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations [will come] one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.’

God revealed a timeline of “seventy sevens”—seventy weeks of years, totaling 490 prophetic years decreed for the Jewish people and the holy city of Jerusalem. Gabriel explained that from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince would be 69 weeks of years (483 prophetic years). History records that on March 14, 445 BC, King Artaxerxes gave the official decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2). Exactly 173,880 days later—accounting for 360-day prophetic years—Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the triumphal entry, hailed as the Messiah.

Daniel prophesied that after the 69 weeks, the Messiah would be “cut off” (crucified) and have nothing, and that a prince would come whose people would destroy the city and sanctuary. In AD 70, Titus and the Roman legions fulfilled this by destroying Jerusalem and the Temple. But that leaves a final, 70th week—a seven-year period—yet to be fulfilled. We are living in a prophetic parenthesis, the Church Age, between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel.

The Restrainer and the Removal of the Church

Why hasn’t the final seven-year period begun? Why hasn’t the Antichrist made his covenant with Israel? Paul answers this in 2 Thessalonians.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 (NASB)

Let no one in any way deceive you, for [it will not come] unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains [will do so] until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

Paul explains that the man of lawlessness cannot be revealed until the “restrainer” is taken out of the way. Throughout history, various theories have been offered regarding the identity of this restrainer: the Roman Empire, human government, Satan himself, or the institutional church. But human government and religious institutions have never been able to hold back true evil.

The only power capable of restraining worldwide lawlessness is God the Holy Spirit. And where does the Holy Spirit dwell in this present age? Inside individual believers who make up the body of Christ. When the Holy Spirit’s unique, indwelling ministry in the church is caught away in the rapture, the restraint is lifted, and the man of lawlessness is unveiled.

Why the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Matters

Several key biblical principles support this understanding:

1. A Literal Hermeneutic: When we allow Scripture to say what it means naturally, the chronological flow points clearly to the removal of the church before the tribulation begins.
2. The Distinction Between Israel and the Church: In Ephesians 3 and Colossians 1, Paul describes the church as a “mystery” unrevealed in the Old Testament. The 70th week of Daniel is specifically decreed for Daniel’s people (Israel) and his holy city (Jerusalem).
3. The Jewish Character of the Tribulation: The tribulation is described in Scripture as “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7). In Revelation 6–19, the imagery is distinctly Jewish—featuring the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel, two sackcloth-clad witnesses, and the temple.
4. The Population of the Millennial Kingdom: In Revelation 20, mortal human beings enter the millennial kingdom in physical bodies, having come to faith during the tribulation. If all believers were transformed at a post-tribulation rapture and all unbelievers judged at Christ’s return, there would be no mortal believers left to repopulate the earth during the Millennium.
5. Deliverance from Wrath: The tribulation is defined as the outpouring of divine wrath. Yet Romans 5:9 and 1 Thessalonians 5:9 assure believers that Christ is our propitiation—He bore God’s wrath in full on our behalf, delivering us from the wrath to come.

The Urgency of Imminence

Why is this topic so crucial for us today? First, it gives us unwavering clarity and peace. When a brother or sister in Christ passes away, we do not grieve as those who have no hope. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Second, it reminds us of the doctrine of imminence: Jesus Christ could return at any moment. There is no unfulfilled prophecy that must occur before the trumpet sounds and the Lord catches His bride away. The prophetic stage is set, the players are in position, and the very next event on God’s redemptive calendar is the catching away of His church.

We live in a culture where people continually procrastinate, assuming they have unlimited time. But Scripture calls us to live with open eyes, pure hearts, and urgent purpose.

1 Corinthians 15:52 (NASB)

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.

That is the blessed hope of the church. As we look ahead to the coming weeks and study the unfolding judgments of Revelation, may the certainty of Christ’s return anchor your soul in perfect peace.