Should We Be "Enraptured" with The Rapture? Part 2: The Letters of Paul & Revelation
Continuing adventures in reading eschatology texts responsibly...
In the prior post in this series I introduced the problem of proof-texting that appears to be much of the basis for belief in a pre-Tribulation rapture of Christians. That post set some important background for the topic and also reviewed texts from the Gospels that are often appealed to in support of the idea. In this post I will work through some other major texts, this time from the letters of Paul and the book of Revelation.
1 Thessalonians 4:17
Another text that appears frequently is Paul's remarks on the return of Jesus in 1 Thessalonians. The text clearly references believers "being caught up in the air" and therefore tends to be read in light of rapture belief. As with other texts, the context of Paul's remarks is key. And so here is some of the surrounding context, again quoted from the NRSVue:
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.,* 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, NRSVue
The temporal ordering of this event is very important. Paul stresses that Christians alive at the return of Jesus "will not precede" those who have already died. He reiterates this point by stating that "the dead in Christ will rise first". This is a reference to the bodily resurrection and not a sort of spiritual status or secret event in the heavenly realm.
Paul uses the important temporal phrase "after that" to describe what will happen to believers still alive at the time of the second coming. Whatever actually will happen to living believers will happen after the bodily resurrection of dead believers. Then the fully assembled church will go up "together" in the clouds to meet Jesus as he descends. And then we will all be with him forever.
There is a cultural background assumed in the text that is not apparent to many modern readers. In ancient times there was an event known as a parousia in which a royal figure was to visit a given city. Shortly before his visit, the herald would approach the city and blast a trumpet to get everyone's attention. He would then announce the arrival of the king. Following this, the city folk would exit the city walls and line up to welcome him. The king would approach and enter the city, followed by the city folk, and then the gates would be shut.
When this background is recognized, it is easy to see that Paul is using a common political metaphor to describe the return of Jesus. There is a trumpet call, an arriving king, a greeting along the way, and then the people are with the king. The sequence of events is the same, we just have the added step to account for deceased believers and the recognition that Jesus comes from heaven.
So what we have here is not the idea of people being whisked away to heaven while other folks languish on the earth for several years of torment. This event will occur just after the resurrection. This is actually the exact same sequence referenced at 1 Corinthians 15:51-52:
Look, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:51–52, NRSVue
The sequence described by Paul here is as follows: The “last trumpet” will sound, signaling the end of the age. Then the dead will be raised into imperishable resurrection bodies. And those who were still living at the end of the age will be transformed into the same. Notice that once again there is no mention of an intermediate period in which living believers are taken away from the earth to escape a period of suffering. The events described are instantaneous.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
The second text from 1 Thessalonians that pops up often concerning the rapture occurs in the fifth chapter. Chapter 5 verse 9 is often read by rapture adherents as suggesting that believers will be spared the wrath of the tribulation period (by being taken up into heaven). As usual, this reading does not make sense if the text is read in its wider context. It only "makes sense" if read with the assumption that it is talking about the rapture, but then the reader is engaging in circular reasoning. Here is the text as it appears in the wider context of 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11:
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. 6 So, then, let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober, 7 for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:1–11, NRSVue
Paul mentions at the outlet that this section concerns "the day of the Lord". This phrase recurs in the Old Testament prophets and in the New Testament, where it is used as a shorthand for God's time of judgment. In the New Testament it exclusively refers to the return of Jesus, resurrection of all, and the final judgment. It does not refer to an earlier visitation, spiritual rapture, or any other event preceding the arrival of God's kingdom in its fullness. As elsewhere in the New Testament, this event will occur swiftly and unexpectedly. Its timing cannot be calculated by consulting charts, astrology, or Bible codes.
Following a series of ethical statements about "readiness", Paul arrives at the verse in question. My understanding is that folks who see the rapture in this text view suffer wrath as a reference to earthly sufferings during the tribulation period. But that reading does not work for several reasons:
Suffer wrath in this instance is too brief of a statement to read the entire theology of a final tribulation (complete with a pre-tribulation rapture of the faithful) prior to the return of Jesus into the text. It is counterintuitive to assume that Paul alludes to that specific belief (rather than viewing God's wrath in general) via such a short phrase.
Wrath is contrasted in this verse with salvation. Paul does not offer a contrast between suffering and being snatched up into the clouds. He specifically mentions salvation which in Paul's thinking does not mean a pre-trib rapture to escape earthly torment. If you survey his writings as a whole, it becomes clear that when Paul refers to salvation he means the entire complex that extends from initial reception of the gospel message through to the resurrected body and eternal fellowship with God (a point alluded to in the point about "living together" with God in the following verse).
Contextual Concern: The contrast between salvation and wrath suggests that if Paul means a particular manifestation of God's wrath, it must be one that warrants the contrast. The most plausible explanation (assuming that he does not mean wrath in general, although that is probably assumed) is that Paul is referring to God's wrath in the form of eternal judgment. That is the opposite of what salvation refers to. This option also fits in with the wider context of the verse, as Paul's references to "the day of the Lord" should indicate to the reader that he has the final judgment in mind.
In light of these points, I see no reason as to why wrath must specifically refer to the tribulation and therefore salvation refer to the rapture. Such a reading rests on uncharacteristic uses of multiple terms that are prevalent in Paul's writings. It is certainly possible to read these verses as if they teach the rapture ideology, but that is only possible if you already hold the belief that the rapture is a prominent point in the passage. Alternate explanations work better in the immediate textual context and also cohere with Paul's regular usage of key terms in the passage.
Revelation 3:10
The letters to the seven churches in Revelation are compelling bits of prose prior to the trippy apocalyptic imagery that makes up the remainder of the book. Thus, it is no wonder that they are among the more popular passages in the book for preaching, devotions, etc.
One line in one of these letters is frequently trotted out in support of the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture. Here is the full "letter" addressed to that church, with the line in question emphasized:
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of the Holy One, the True One,
who has the key of David,
who opens and no one will shut,
who shuts and no one opens:
8 “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door that no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word of endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one takes away your crown. 12 If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Revelation 3:7–13, NRSVue
One of the most unfortunate tendencies among modern readers is to assume that every text is speaking directly to them and their times rather than to a distinct original audience. It is important to note that this "letter" was addressed to late-first-century Christians living in Philadelphia in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). It was these historical believers to whom John/Jesus conveyed the message of this letter, which would have been read aloud in their gatherings. The letter is not addressed to a specific church age, denomination, region of the world, or temperament. Twenty first century American Evangelicals are not "the church in Philadelphia" (even those who live in a certain city in Pennsylvania).
The letter commends these Christians for their faithfulness to Jesus in the face of persecution from their fellow Jews and from others who put social pressure on them to deny their savior. It is on the basis of this specific historical faithfulness that Jesus promises deliverance to the community in Philadelphia.
These points are important because they indicate that the text must have some sort of direct fulfillment in the lives of the original community to which they were addressed. It cannot have a meaning that is only fulfilled in the far distant future, otherwise the text would be completely meaningless to the first readers.
In order for the letter to be internally consistent, it is a requirement that the referenced trial be something that was expected to occur within the lived experience of the Christians who withstood social pressure and persecution in first century Philadelphia. It cannot refer to an end-time tribulation during the twenty-first century from which twenty-first century believers living on the other side of the globe would be delivered via the rapture.
In addition, the text does not actually advocate for the removal of believers from the earth to heaven, as the rapture is commonly explained. The sole detail in the text is that the Philadelphians would be "kept from the hour of trial". This could imply protection in the midst of suffering, exemption from suffering for their entire area, or any number of means by which they were to be preserved. The idea that this text speaks about the modern idea of the rapture requires bringing an entire developed theological concept and inserting it into a text that is vague on the details.
As an aside, it is also worth questioning those who insist that the text refers to our own near-future about how the rest of the letter applies. The evidence of how evangelicals (particularly in the United States where rapture theology is most widespread) have responded to changing social values does not point favorably towards the idea of "enduring patiently" with persecution or suffering that would warrant future deliverance.
Revelation 4:1
For some odd reason this text pops up often enough in the discussion despite having no real relation to the topic. Contextually this verse marks the beginning of John's "guided tour" of the heavenly realm and observation of earthly events from the heavenly vantage point. It is not a discussion of an end-times event for the church as a whole. Here is the verse:
After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne!
Revelation 4:1–2, NRSVue
I suppose the connection between a trumpet-like voice and the phrase "come up here" could be read by some as alluding to a rapture-like event, but it certainly does not refer to a future, end-times, large-scale whisking away of all genuine believers from the surface of the earth. This text only refers to something that "happened" to John. Moreover, John made apparent at the start of the book of Revelation that the contents of the book reflect a spiritual vision (Revelation 1:10). Whatever can be said about what exactly John experienced, it cannot be convincingly argued that his experience was exactly the same as modern rapture theory suggests. Certainly this verse should not be viewed as an attempt to lay out a doctrine.
In the next post in this series I will provide an overview of some major trends in New Testament eschatology, in an effort to demonstrate how overwhelming majority of "end times" passages paint a very particular picture of the return of Jesus that does not mention the idea of a pre-Tribulation rapture.