Lesson 1 Overview

Is the Rapture of Christians Really in the Bible? with Dr. Andy Woods

This lesson opens a new series on the doctrine of the rapture of the church. Dr. Woods explains that the study will answer two questions, what the rapture is and when it happens, and he begins the “what” question by developing ten truths about the rapture from two passages: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. Use this overview to review the key points after watching the full video.

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The Rapture Under Attack

Dr. Woods notes that the pre-tribulation rapture, the belief that the church will be taken to heaven before the tribulation begins, is vigorously attacked today, to the point that many are convinced it is not biblical. His goal for the series is to show that it is. He starts with the “what” question before moving to the “when” question, and he promises that “when” will address the timing debate rather than set a date.

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Truth One: The Rapture Is an Important Doctrine

Some dismiss the rapture as a minor “C-level” doctrine, or say they are “pan-millennialists” who assume it will all “pan out” in the end. Dr. Woods disagrees. He points out that the Apostle Paul taught the rapture to brand-new believers at Thessalonica, only months after founding the church, and placed it right alongside cardinal doctrines like conversion (1 Thessalonians 1:9), the Holy Spirit (1:5 and 10), and progressive sanctification (4:3 and 5:23). Since no one calls those doctrines unimportant, he argues, the rapture should not be treated as unimportant either.

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Truth Two: The Rapture Is Distinct From the Second Advent

Dr. Woods teaches that the return of Christ comes in two phases: the rapture first, then the bodily second advent at the end of the tribulation, when Christ’s feet touch the Mount of Olives. He argues this is clear once a person pays attention to the details rather than using what he calls the “ram, jam, and cram method” of forcing every return passage into one event.

He draws an analogy from Isaiah. Isaiah 53 shows the Messiah as a suffering servant and Isaiah 9:6-7 shows Him as a reigning king. These are not two Messiahs but two comings of the same Christ. Applying the same logic to second-coming passages, he lists differences between the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15) and the second advent (Revelation 19). At the rapture, Christ comes in the air and His feet never touch the earth; at the second advent, His feet touch the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4). At the rapture He comes for His saints; at the second advent He comes with His saints. The rapture is a comfort; the second advent is violent judgment. The rapture affects only believers; the second advent affects believers and unbelievers. The rapture is essentially invisible to the world (only the church is caught up, seen only as missing people); the second advent is visible to every eye (Revelation 1:7). The rapture is announced by an archangel; the second advent involves countless angels. The rapture is a resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:51); the second advent involves no such resurrection. The rapture rescues the church from the coming wrath; the second advent rescues Israel from the beast (tied to Matthew 23:37-39, where Israel will not see Christ again until she welcomes Him as Messiah). He notes some lists identify 50 or 100 such differences, and that these passages cannot describe the same event.

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Truth Three: The Rapture Is the Catching Away of Living Believers

From 1 Thessalonians 4:17, living believers “will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” The phrase “caught up” translates the Greek word harpazo, meaning to be seized or snatched by force (the English word “harpoon” comes from it), picturing the Lord catching His people away to Himself.

Dr. Woods answers the common objection that “the word rapture is not in the Bible.” He responds that the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible either, yet the concept is clearly taught, and a name is simply a convenient label for a biblical idea. He then explains where the word “rapture” comes from. In the fourth century, Jerome translated the Bible into Latin (the Latin Vulgate, made for the common person, from which we get “vulgar” meaning common or earthy). When Jerome reached harpazo he rendered it with the Latin raperi, from which the English word “rapture” derives. So while the exact word is not in the Greek, the concept plainly is.