[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Is the Rapture in the Bible?

Many Christians passionately believe in the hope of the Rapture—the belief that before the terrors of the Great Tribulation descend upon the world, Christians around the globe will suddenly and mysteriously vanish, “raptured away” by Christ, as they are taken up into heaven to wait out the terrible events of that prophesied time of devastation and destruction. Meanwhile, those “left behind” must face the forces of the Antichrist and the Beast of Revelation and all the suffering that those years will bring until Jesus Christ returns to finally settle the score.

Millions of people worldwide look forward to the Rapture as the culmination of their hopes and dreams.

Now for those who believe in a Rapture, I can’t blame them for wanting it to come soon. The world around us is showing so many signs that indicate Christ’s return is drawing near—and before that return, the worldwide trial of the Great Tribulation. For many, the Rapture represents the pinnacle of their hopes and dreams finally coming true.

But the larger question is this:

• Does the Bible teach a Rapture in the first place?
• If so, how can you prove it?
• If not, is there no protection for Christians during the Tribulation?

Today, you and I are going to discover the answers together in our own Bibles.

What Is the Rapture?

First, what is the Rapture?

You’ve probably heard the scenario where Christian airline pilots blink away in an instant, leaving commercial jetliners to crash pilotless into the ground, while those who remain wonder what happened to their absent friends.

You might recall this scenario popularized in Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins popular Left Behind book series and movies. This notion of a sudden and secret Rapture is the source of bumper stickers, announcing “Warning: In case of Rapture, this vehicle will be unmanned.”

But where does this idea come from?

Believers often point to 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17. Let’s read there what the Apostle Paul wrote to believers in Thessalonica.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).

Christians caught up into the air to be with Christ—those who believe in the Rapture say this is exactly the event they are talking about. In fact, when the Greek of this passage was translated into Latin, the word chosen to translate “we shall be caught up” was rapiemur—from the Latin word rapere—from which the name of the belief takes its name: the “Rapture.”

Is a Secret Rapture Coming?

But is a secret rapture—being taken away to Christ in Heaven while the world descends into the Great Tribulation years before Jesus’ return as King of Kings—is that what is being described here?

If you read the passage already believing it is the Rapture, that’s probably all you can see.

But that’s where we need to be careful. God doesn’t want us inserting our beliefs into the Bible or interpreting the Bible through our beliefs. He wants us taking our beliefs from the Bible—believing in what He reveals in its pages.

No matter how deeply we believe something, that doesn’t make it the truth. The night He was betrayed, Jesus prayed to His Father and asked concerning His followers:

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

We let God’s word teach us what’s true, we’re doing what He asks of us. And that takes careful reading, studying, and diligence.

Paul explained this to the young evangelist Timothy.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

So let’s do that together.

Biblical Answers to 3 Questions About the Rapture

Let’s not assume the Rapture is true—instead, let’s take three questions to the Bible and let God’s word answer them for us:

1. Will Christians vanish around the world mysteriously and without explanation?
2. Will Christians be caught up into the air years before Jesus returns to rule?
3. Will Christians spend the years of the Great Tribulation protected in heaven?

The Bible answers each of these questions clearly and explicitly. We’ll display the verses on the screen, but you can always write them down and look them up later yourself in your own Bible. At Tomorrow’s World, we don’t want you to just take our word for it. We want you to check up on us—and we want you to learn to check up on other teachers as well, because there are a lot of preachers and teachers out there who mean well, but they are simply not telling you the truth.

1 Thessalonians 4 Explained

So does the Bible teach that years before Jesus returns in visible glory to rule the world, Christians all over the world will vanish into thin air and secretly be caught up into heaven, where they will be protected during the years of Great Tribulation?

Let’s begin by examining more closely the passage many Rapture enthusiasts refer to in 1 Thessalonians 4.

This time, let’s begin earlier in verse 13 and get more context. Here’s what Paul writes to the first-century Thessalonians.

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17).

Notice the important details in this passage that too many ignore. We aren’t just talking about Christians flying up into the air. Paul says that this is the time of the resurrection at Jesus’ return—the moment when faithful Christians who have died—or as he says, those “who are asleep”—are resurrected back to life again. They will be resurrected first, and then joined in the air by those who are still alive at Christ’s return. Also note how this return is described in verse 16.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Does this event sound like a “secret rapture”—some sort of quiet, secret action on Christ’s behalf? Or a secret return that only Christians are aware of?

Personally, I don’t think so—it sounds more like a very loud, very public announcement.

But here’s the thing: My opinions don’t count. Your opinions don’t count. What counts is God’s word. So let’s look further in God’s word for more details. Is there any other passage that describes this event?

And yes, in fact, there are. Paul, the same one who wrote this to the Thessalonians, also wrote about it to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15.

Let’s read there, starting in verse 50.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:50–53).

Notice, those who are alive at Christ’s coming are transformed in glory just like the resurrected saints. The order is exactly the same as in 1 Thessalonians. The dead are raised in glory first, followed immediately by the transformation of the living into glory, as well.

And is this done quietly? No.

End-Time Events Before the Second Coming of Christ

Again just as we saw earlier, this happens with the sound of a mighty trumpet. Look at the passage again. It happens:

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52).

Notice too an important new detail: Paul says, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”

God doesn’t inspire such details for no reason.

This trumpet that is blown at the resurrection of the dead elect, and the glorification of the living to join them, is described as the last trumpet. A last trumpet implies a sequence of trumpets, with preliminary trumpets that precede this event.

And does the Bible describe a sequence of end-time trumpets? Yes, it does in the book of Revelation.

7 Seals of Revelation Begin | 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Revelation chapter 6 records a vision Jesus Christ gave to His Apostle John concerning the end-times. It begins by showing Jesus, the Lamb of God, breaking open the first four of the seven prophetic seals of Revelation in verses 1 through 8.

Those seals describe the famous four horsemen of the apocalypse, symbolizing religious deception, great warfare, worldwide famine, and global pestilence and disease that will come upon the world to an extent never before seen in human history.

Speaking of these symbolic horsemen, Revelation 6:8 says:

Power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

Seal 5: The Great Tribulation

After the devastation of these horsemen, the breaking of the prophetic fifth seal follows, describing a great martyrdom of true Christians (Revelation 6:9–11). In Matthew 24:21, Jesus describes this time, saying:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

This is the Great Tribulation—years of suffering so horrific that it will surpass every era of human suffering that has ever been or ever will be.

Seal 6: Heavenly Signs

After two-and-a-half years of the Great Tribulation, Revelation reveals that the sixth seal is opened, and terrifying heavenly signs take place: miraculous, cosmic signs in earth and heavens—a great earthquake, the sun darkened, the moon red as blood, the stars falling from the sky, and every mountain and island on earth shaken out of its place.

These signs announce that God the Father and Jesus Christ are about to personally intervene in world affairs and begin the Day of the Lord’s vengeance on earth. That time is described by the prophet Isaiah as:

The day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion (Isaiah 34:8).

Seal 7: The Day of the Lord Begins | 7 Trumpets

This year-long period of the Day of the Lord begins when the seventh seal of Revelation is opened, described in Revelation 8:1–2.

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

There it is. Paul described the time of collecting the saints as a time of trumpet-blowing angels.

He also describes the same scene as the dead being raised and glorified first, then joined by the glorified living followers of Christ, meeting Him in the air—and then adds that this event, this meeting with Christ, takes place at the last trumpet of a sequence of trumpets.

And here we see when that sequence of trumpets begins—after the four horsemen of Revelation, after the two-and-one-half years of the Great Tribulation, and then after the great heavenly signs announcing the year-long Day of the Lord, then the sequence of angelic trumpets begins.

Joel 2:11 calls the Day of the Lord “great and very terrible” for a reason. It represents the unleashing of God’s wrath on an unrepentant mankind. And yet, these terrors are only the first six of the seven trumpets.

“And the dead in Christ shall rise first” at the 7^th Trumpet

The seventh trumpet—the last trump that Paul wrote of—is described in Revelation 11:15.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.”

Paul says it is at this trump—the seventh and last trump, declaring the authority of Jesus and the Kingdom of God over all the world—that the dead in Christ are raised to glory and joined by the living as they meet Christ together in the air, to become His bride and to participate alongside Him in the vanquishing of His enemies and the initiation of His rule in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus Christ Himself personally described this moment to His disciples in Matthew 24:29–31.

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Why the Rapture Is Not Biblical

Now be honest with yourself: Does this sound anything at all like a secret Rapture? All of these descriptions are consistent: Tribulation, heavenly signs, the trumpet blast, the revealing of Christ to the world, and the resurrection, gathering, and glorifying of true Christians, the Children of God.

No, people will not simply vanish without a trace into thin air, taken to heaven before the Tribulation, leaving their loved ones wondering what has happened. Every eye will see and every ear will hear. The rising of the saints at the last trump, described by Paul to the Thessalonians, is no secret rapture at all. It is the resurrection and glorification of believers at the return of Christ.

• Will Christians vanish around the world mysteriously and without explanation?

The Bible’s answer is a resounding no. The “catching up” Paul describes takes place at the visible return of Christ, with the last worldwide trumpet blast of an angel—an event all eyes will see and all ears will hear.

• Next: Will Christians be caught up into the air years before Jesus returns to rule?

Again, the Bible says No. The event takes place at the very LAST trumpet blast, announcing the beginning of Jesus’ reign—not years before.

But what of the last question:

• Will Christians spend the years of the Great Tribulation protected in heaven?

Again, the Bible says the saints meet Jesus Christ in the air years after the Tribulation has begun, at the last trumpet. So, the answer to this question is no. The Rapture belief fails on all counts.

God’s Protection for Some Christians

Yet the Bible does teach that some followers of Jesus Christ, but not all, will be protected during the Tribulation. And the place of that protection is not in heaven. Let’s open God’s word to read the details.

In Revelation 12, we read of the Church in the end-times, symbolized by a woman, persecuted by Satan the Devil, symbolized by a dragon-like serpent. Let’s start in verse 14.

But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent (Revelation 12:14).

The “time, times, and half a time” here is a total of three-and-a-half years: two-and-one-half years of Great Tribulation before the year-long Day of the Lord.

So we see the Church protected from the Devil, but note—not in heaven. The place of her protection is described as “the wilderness.” And you can search every other verse of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and you will never find heaven described as a “wilderness.” It is used, however, to describe places here on earth.

Now where on earth, you might ask. The Bible does not make this clear, though it gives some hints.

Let’s be honest—if we knew where it was, most of us would be buying tickets and keeping them current. But God reserves such details to Himself, to be revealed to His faithful servants when the time comes.

But you have to know where God is working and where His true Church is. There are tens of thousands of churches and denominations, so how could you know?

Watch this next video giving five identifying signs of the true Church that Jesus built. He said that many would come in His name but would teach deceptive and false doctrines. But He also said He would build His Church and it would never fail. This means it’s still around today. Use the biblical signs in this next video to find out for yourself.