Pre-Trib? Post-Trib? Mid-Trib? WHAT Rapture?

by Christian Rabbi Mark S Moos


Wow, talk about "damnable heresies" that distract and divide Christians as Peter warned us - isn't the "Rapture" an entirely imaginary event that Paul himself corrected the Thessalonians' view of in his Second letter to them, specifically in Chapter 2?

The Blessed Hope is NOT the "Rapture." What is it then?

You have to be ready - of course - for the HOPE is that those who DIE before He RETURNS are not lost. There is no need to be ready for imaginary events, and that would include the "Rapture." Please consider this discussion of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and beyond. I am a Christian Rabbi and I've studied this topic for more years than most theologians.

The problem with torturing these two verses into a case for a "rapture" is that they are almost always taken out of context in MORE than one way. The most obvious of these is that we're coming in at the END of the discussion which starts several verses earlier:

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." 1 Thessalonians 4:13

This is the verse that describes WHICH PEOPLE are the "hopeless." IT IS NOT US, it is those who think dying before Christ returns disqualifies THEM. So, the "comfort" we give to others is about DEATH and the RESURRECTION - not about an imaginary event with no other scriptural support.

The second egregious mistake is in the way that Paul uses certain words. We're trying to read in English; the only instance of "raptura" (in the Vulgate) is in Latin. Paul wrote in Greek. When "clouds" is not used as a meteorological reference, it always refers to a "host," particularly of Heaven. In Hebrews 12:1, he specifically refers to a "cloud" of believers (ironically enough, this verse is one of only three uses of the word "race" in the KJV as well).

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, …" Hebrews 12:1

The other translation that is suspect is the word "air." If the choice of interpretation is "air," we dwell in Heaven forever. THIS IS CONTRADICTED by other scripture. If the choice of interpretation is "spirit," all falls into place. The parable of the Wheat and Tares is true; we are all harvested and judged at once. This also confirms the passage in 1 Corinthians that COULD NOT be true if there is such a thing as the "rapture":

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

There is no need for a rapture - WE REMAIN as 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ACTUALLY says. There is plenty of hope and comfort - the hope here was expressly given to those who will "sleep" before Yahshua returns, not the living. Any other way to read it has no foundation in scripture. Please stop listening to heresy! If I'm wrong about the "rapture," no harm, no foul. I'm saved. If YOU'RE wrong about the "rapture," you run the risk of being fooled by the Antichrist, who comes BEFORE the tribulation, which must kill half the population before Armageddon and the return of Christ can even be a possibility. Imminent Rapture? Fat chance. There is NO evidence. There is NO need.

"But I would not have you to be IGNORANT, brethren, concerning them which are ASLEEP, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have NO HOPE. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also WHICH SLEEP in Jesus will God BRING WITH HIM [crowd=cloud]. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and REMAIN unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are ASLEEP. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the [LAST] trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and REMAIN shall be caught up together with them in the CROWDS, to meet the Lord in the SPIRIT: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 [emphasis added]

The "blessed hope" is all about what happens when Christians die. Remember, Paul was talking about "those who are asleep." The entire concept of imminency comes from that —none of us can know the time of our death. The "escape" happens merely by dying in belief. Just as Lot and Noah's family escaped God's wrath without going anywhere, we don't either. An entire city and the entire world were destroyed. This time, it won't be water, but we know HALF the population will perish by war (giant hailstones too, anyone?), famine, pestilence and ultimately the wrath of His coming, with our progenitors. None of those methods are universal, but on the contrary highly selective ways to die.

My own hope is that those caught in false teaching and heretical "churches" see the light. Notice I didn't depend on any commentators here. If you think you have a case, Sola Scriptura, please. I didn't study this topic for decades for nothing.

Other perspectives to consider:

Belief in Evolution - evidence can easily be misinterpreted in light of beliefs

Belief in Santa Claus - origins of belief vs. promulgation of the belief

Heresies are easy to embrace - early indoctrination - ease of being fooled vs. difficulty being told you are

Pascal's Wager and belief in imaginary events - what are the costs of being wrong

Don't add to or remove from the Bible - promoting false teaching is fatal