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Meaning of "Rapture"
What follows is a summary
discussion of a very important event in Bible prophecy. The Appendix goes into more detail for the benefit of the serious
student.
"Rapture" comes from the words "caught up" in I Thessalonians 4:17. In the Greek the word is harpazo - "to
seize upon by force", "to snatch up." The Latin translators used the word rapturo. Some people claim that "rapture" is not
a Biblical term. This is untrue, unless they want to say that "God" and "Jesus" are not Biblical Terms. Almost all words in
our English Bible are translations of Greek or Hebrew expressions, and are, therefore, not in the Bible in the form we know
them. "God" is a proper and meaningful translation of certain words in the original languages, and "Jesus" is a good translation
for us of His name (Yeshua, "Joshua," "The Lord Saves," in Hebrew). In the same way, the English word "rapture" which means
"to be caught up" is an excellent translation for the Greek harpazo
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From Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia
The
rapture ("harpazo" in Greek) is the event in certain systems of Christian eschatology (the study of the end times) in which
it is stated that all born-again Christians will be taken from Earth into Heaven by Jesus Christ. While almost all forms of
Christianity believe that those who are saved will have eternal life, the term "rapture" is usually applied specifically to
the event in which all Christians on Earth are simultaneously transported by some manner of physical bodily ascension to join
Christ. Everyone else on Earth will be left to wonder where they went. The concept has been popularized recently by proponents
of the dispensationalist or futurist interpretations of scripture. According to these theories, current world events indicate
that the fulfillment of prophecies of the end times is imminent.
The timing of when the rapture will take place is
a key point often discussed and debated between denominations and individuals who accept the notion. The most common is that
the rapture will take place immediately prior to or during the great tribulation, a seven-year period preceding the second
coming of Christ. Others propose that the rapture will take place after the events of the tribulation, as Christ comes to
Earth to establish a kingdom here, taking over rulership of the world.
An alternative viewpoint is that Jesus will
return when all on Earth have come to worship Him as their savior.[citation needed]
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