“What is the difference between the Rapture of the Church and Christ’s Second Coming?” When we hear these two events mentioned in End-Time Studies, we have trouble distinguishing the differences? Thanks.
Question (2 of 3): “What is the difference between the Rapture of the Church and Christ’s Second Coming?” When we hear these two events mentioned in End-Time Studies, we have trouble distinguishing the differences? Thanks.
A: You are correct: a whole lot of misunderstanding comes from people who mean well, but constantly confuse their audience, when explaining the difference between these two phrases – end time events.
The thing that I share with congregations when I’m teaching the Book of Revelation as 1 of the 16 seminar, that’re offered each year, is that the Rapture is sign-less: the church came in as a mystery and it leave the same way – a ‘snatching away’ – when no man thinketh. However, when we talk about the signs that signal the return of our Lord, it’s His ultimate return to earth, with all His saints, and all eyes shall behold Him, as prophesied by the Apostle John in Revelation 1:7, “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.”
With many end-time text, in the Bible, there are times that I too have to acknowledge that the Rapture and the Second coming of Christ are often confusing and difficult to determine whether the verse is referring to one or the other; but, when studying Bible prophecy, it is very important to differentiate between the two terms.
One of the most noted verses of Scripture that identifies the Rapture of the Church (or removal of “ALL Believers” from the earth), is found in 1Thessalonians 4:13-18, “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. 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 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 clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
When the Bible talks about the Second coming of Christ, it is making reference to, Jesus returning to earth to defeat the ‘unholy trinity,’ whereby Satan imitates God, the Antichrist imitates Son, and the False Prophet imitates the Holy Spirit. First, He will destroy the Antichrist and False Prophet, then cast them into the Lake of Fire, as expressed in Revelation 19:11-20, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” [Note: Keep in mind that the rider of the White horse of Revelation 6:2 is the Antichrist, because he has a bow with no arrow, which represents false peace – first 3-1/2 years of the Tribulation Period. Revelation 19:11 White horse rider is Christ, Himself.]
In my conclusion, think of the two events this way:
The Rapture of the Church occurs before the Tribulation Period and at Christ’s Second Coming, “all Believers” return with Him to earth. The Rapture of the Church is the removal of all Believers from the earth – deliverance, according to 1Thessalonians Chapters 4 & 5; and the Christ’s Second Coming is the removal of all unbelievers – judgment, according to St. Matthew Chapter 24.
Thank God for separating the two major events, because, if they were the same event, then, the imminent return of Christ that sacred Scripture speaks so graciously to, would not occur, as anticipated; and mid-tribulationist, post-tribulationist, and Preterist would all have the church (which God promised to keep from His wrath in 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.”) going through the Tribulation Period.