PEOPLE ARE MISSING!!!
The word Rapture isn’t mentioned in the Bible. The term Rapture comes from the phrase “caught up” mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
At the “Rapture” God will suddenly meet His children “in the air” (sky) and take His children home to be with Him. In order to become a child of God you need to accept Jesus death on the cross as payment for the sins you have committed. This is a free gift from God.
To people on the earth who are left behind it will look like these folks simply vanished. Their clothes may be left behind but the people will be gone. The Bible tells us that the rapture will happen in a “twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52)
1 Corinthians 15:52 King James Version (KJV) 52 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.
PEOPLE, LOTS OF PEOPLE!! ARE MISSING!!! WHERE DID THEY GO??
The word rapture means to be “caught up” or taken away suddenly. The rapture refers to the sudden removal of people on the earth that are “saved“. The Bible tells us along with the people on earth who are “caught up” there will be the dead “saved” people that will come up from their graves to meet Jesus in the clouds. It says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 that the dead in Christ shall rise first. (see below scripture)
In the twinkling of an eye, true Christians on earth will suddenly be transformed out of our human bodies. These Christians will rise up into the air to join their saved loved ones that died before. Both will meet Jesus in the air.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
NOTE People that remain on the earth after the rapture happens ARE NOT TRUE born-again children of God!! This is important to remember. Some people may say it wasn’t the rapture that happened, because if it was, then a certain person would be gone. Some prominent “religious” people may be left behind at the rapture because they are deceiving the world into thinking they are God’s children. But if they are still here when the rapture happens then they did NOT know God. When the rapture happens ALL born again believers will be gone.
Day and hour of the rapture
No one knows the day or hour of the rapture. Only God the Father knows when the rapture will happen.
Matthew 24:32-37 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
The event of the rapture, when it happens will be quick and folks will not be expecting it.
Matthew 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
1 Corinthians 15:52
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.
The rapture will happen in a twinkling of an eye. When the rapture happens it will look like people have disappeared from the earth during their regular daily activities. Take a look at Matthew 24:40-42 below. It may be that the rapture will happen during a busy work day in America. This will cause more devastation because people will be involved in activities that may be dangerous when believers are taken away.
Some people that disappear will be in positions of responsibility and when they are taken in the rapture their position will be suddenly empty. This is important, especially if that person is a pilot or responsible for lots of people. Many unsaved people will die in the moment the rapture happens because they happen to be on a plane etc that was being piloted by a child of God.
Matthew 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
1 Corinthians 15:51
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In 1 Corinthians 15:51 above, the word “sleep” means to “die”. Some people will not die. If you are a child of God and are alive at the time of the rapture then you will not die. You will be changed to incorruptible and taken to heaven in a twinkling of an eye.
Take a look below at 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
“Asleep” means those that have died before the rapture. While they were living these people gave their life to Christ.
1 Thessalonians 4 13 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. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 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. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 tells us that at the rapture a trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ will rise first to meet Jesus in the air. This means that the people that put their faith in Jesus Christ but have died before the rapture will come out of their graves and will go to meet Jesus in the clouds first.
I’m not sure if the trumpet will be heard by all people on the earth. It may just be heard by those taken to heaven in the rapture.
After the dead in Christ arise to meet Jesus in the air, then the people that put their faith in Jesus but are living on earth will go to meet Jesus in the clouds. This means in a twinkling of an eye people will suddenly disappear. These missing people will be those that accepted Christ’s payment for their sins. You can do this by giving your life to Christ.
Look below at 1 Thessalonians 5:2. The rapture will come like a thief in the night. A thief doesn’t let you know when he’s coming.
1 Thessalonians 5:2
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
The Rapture talked about in the book of Revelation
In the book of Revelation, chapter 4 verse 1, a man named John heard a trumpet sound and then was told to come up hither. This was a vision that John had a long time ago but it’s actually telling us today about what will happen as soon as the rapture takes place. John, in his vision was taken to heaven in the rapture. Then John was shown a vision of what will take place during the tribulation. This writing from John is called the book of Revelation in the Bible.
Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
The rapture is described in Revelation 4:1 above as a door opened in heaven.
“Hereafter” seems to be what will happen as soon as the church age ends. The church age is the time between the Holy Spirit’s arrival at Pentecost and the time of the rapture. The church age ends at the time of the rapture because God’s children, the “church” is taken to heaven in the rapture before the tribulation begins. When a person receives God’s gift of eternal life through Christ’s death on the cross the Holy Spirit comes to live within that person. If you accept Christ’s gift then you may not “feel” anything at first but as you talk to God and develop a relationship with Him you will start to feel a presence in you that the Holy Spirit is guiding you. When the rapture happens and all of God’s children are taken off the earth there will be no more Holy Spirit on the earth until God sends the Holy Spirit back in the “two witnesses” during the tribulation.
After the rapture happens there will be a short period of time and then the Tribulation will begin. The Tribulation is the time when God releases His judgment on the earth. It will start with the signing of a document. Keep your eyes open for this if you are reading this after the rapture has happened.
Revelation 3:10 is a promise for believers (Christians) that we not have to go through the tribulation. The word “hour” in Greek means “any definite time, point of time, moment, not necessarily 60 minutes. In this case it’s talking about the seven year tribulation that will happen sometime after the rapture of the church.
Revelation 3:10
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
Do you want to ask Jesus to come into your heart right now and save you from eternal death? Even if the rapture has happened, you can still ask Jesus to save you from eternal death. It’s easy to do. Click here to find out more.
As soon as the Rapture happens the Holy Spirit is taken out of the world and the “wicked” (antichrist) will be revealed
Let’s talk about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells God’s people here on earth. If God’s people are taken from the world at the rapture, then the Holy Spirit will be taken from the earth also.
Take a look at 2 Thessalonians 2:7-9. This verse is kind of hard to understand but it’s talking about the Holy Spirit and how He “lets” His Spirit work in the believers on the earth.
2 Thessalonians 2:7
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Before the rapture, iniquity (another word for iniquity is sin) is present on the earth but the Holy Spirit is still “letting” the work of Christ be done.
When the rapture happens the Holy Spirit will be “taken out of the way” as it says in 2 Thessalonians 2:7.
As soon as the Holy Spirit is taken from the earth then an evil person that the Bible calls the “antichrist” will be revealed. It tells us this in 2 Thessalonians 2:8. The wicked one that will be revealed after the rapture will be the antichrist. You have to keep your eyes open for the antichrist.
Here’s some Bible verses about the antichrist
The antichrist will have his power during the tribulation. Right now if he is alive, and I believe he is, then his power is being held back by the Holy Spirit’s presence on the earth.
Remember, the Holy Spirit lives within “believers in Christ”, those people that have accepted Christ payment for their sins.
The removal of the church of believers at the rapture will remove the Holy Spirit from the earth and will allow the antichrist to be revealed. The antichrist cannot begin to act until the Holy Spirit is removed at the rapture.
This doesn’t mean that the antichrist is not here on earth yet. It’s probable that he is alive at this very moment. It is also possible that we could have an idea of who he is.
But Christians won’t know for sure who the antichrist is because the antichrist will NOT be revealed, (or be obviously exposed to those who are looking for him), until after the rapture.
2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Remember, we do not know when the rapture will take place. Only God the Father knows when this will happen. But we can notice signs that lead up to the time when Christ may come back for His bride, the church.
Review:
The people that will be taken to heaven in the rapture are people that accepted God’s payment for their sins before the rapture happened. You can still accept God’s gift of salvation after the rapture. Please read this to see how.
God is holy. Because of sin, people are not holy. Sinful people have to pay for their sins. The payment for sin is eternal separation from God, eternal death. BUT, God found a way to restore sinful people back to Him. Jesus came and died on the cross to pay the debt for our sins.
Jesus died for you so you don’t have to be eternally separated from God in Hell. All you have to do is accept it by praying and asking God to forgive you of your sins, repent of your sins then ask Jesus to come into your life to save you. HE WILL! There are some scripture verses and a sample prayer that you can pray at the end of this article.
**Repent: Literally, to change one’s mind. The Greek and Hebrew words that are translated as repent can either mean a simple change of mind or a realization of sin with the accompanying resolve to reform.
Daniel 8 may be talking about the rapture in the vision of the he-goat and ram
I think it may be The rapture described in the vision of the Ram and the Goat as when the he-goat’s kingdom gets broken. It’s my hypothesis that The “he-goat” represent the United States and the vision represents America’s fight on terrorism. thoughts??
Daniel 8:8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
Daniel 8:22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
Daniel 11:4 And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those.
The he-goat becomes strong and then gets broken. I think it’s possible that broken my be talking about the effects of the rapture on the United States.
If their are a lot of born again believers in the U.S. then it will be floundering after the rapture.
Those that were not saved and taken in the rapture may be killed by random accidents that happen when the true Christians are abruptly taken out of this world.
If the rapture happens during the middle of an active day in the United States then more accidents will happen in the U.S.
Wait a minute. Did you know that Daniel actually got physically sick while he was seeing and writing the visions that he had? Look at Daniel 8:27. Don’t let Satan physically or emotionally attack you while you are studying God’s Word. Be sure and pray periodically and ask that God protect you and open your heart as you study.
Daniel 8:27 And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.
Catastrophe!
Think back to September 11, 2001 when Islamic terrorists attacked the world as they attacked the World Trade Center. Planes exploded into the World Trade Center and a plane went down in Pennsylvania and one crashed into the Pentagon.
Now compare September 11, 2001 to what will happen at the rapture.
If a Christian pilot and co-pilot were piloting a plane and they were suddenly taken away in the rapture it would be inevitable that the plane will crash. Crashes will be happening to planes, cars, buses, trains, anywhere a Christian is in charge.
All kinds of catastrophes and accidents will be happening.
The first thing that people will think is that we are being attacked by terrorists again. Multiply the impact of September 11, 2001 by a thousand or more to understand what will be taking place on earth as soon as the rapture happens.
There will be looting and all kinds of crimes taking place.
The Holy Spirit will be gone and Satan will begin to take over.
International insecurity, confusion and world chaos will all happen to the world when the rapture takes place.
At any time you can accept Christ’s gift and immediately have a relationship with God and go to heaven when you die. If you accept Christ’s gift and the rapture happens before you die then you will go to heaven at the rapture with all the other believers. If the rapture has already happened then you will go to heaven when you die during the tribulation. Or if you survive the seven year tribulation then you will go into Millennium. We’ll talk about this later and give you scripture references.
People will be in shock when they find out that some of the people that they cared about and loved have disappeared.
At the same time there will be those people that will only be thinking of themselves and what they can gain from the missing people.
There will be crimes everywhere and not enough police force.
Perhaps lots of governmental leadership will be gone either in the rapture or killed in various accidents that happened.
Shock, terror, and helplessness, will take over the people on the earth.
The Continuity of Operations Plan refers to the preparations and institutions maintained by the Government of the United States, providing survival of government operations in the case of catastrophic events.
Martial law will probably take effect in the United States.
Martial Law: the body of law imposed by the military over civilian affairs (usually in time of war or civil crisis); overrides civil law
HOW WILL THE RAPTURE BE EXPLAINED BY THOSE THAT ARE LEFT BEHIND?
It’s possible that the rapture will be blamed on a bio-terrorist attack or even climate change or possible COVID-19. There’s been a lot in the news lately about the increased threat of bio-terrorism. Governments may blame the disappearances on reactions to chemicals or some type of rare disease caused by bio-terrorism.
These things are NOT the reason that people are missing.
People will have disappeared because God has taken his children to heaven to be with him while he releases judgment on the earth for seven tribulation years.
This was prophesied in the Bible many years ago.
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and chapter 5.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 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. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 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.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
Turn your life over to Him now so you won’t have to go through the tribulation.
SIDE KICK: More verses about the rapture in the Bible: Matthew 24:36-44, 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, II Thessalonians 2, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Luke 21:34-36
SIDE KICK: Jesus comes back two times. During the rapture he comes in the air as a thief in the night. At the second coming he comes back to earth and his feet touch the earth and every eye will see Him.
Thief in the night: 2 Peter 3:10 King James Version (KJV) 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Every eye shall see him: Revelation 1:7 King James Version (KJV) 7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
This can be confusing. God will come as a thief in the night at the rapture and then every eye will see him at his appearing after the 7 year tribulation.
