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- R - Rapture.
Jesus Christ's return to Earth's atmosphere to retrieve the Church,
His bride, from Earth and take His bride back to heaven
to be with Him always. This event is presented in John
14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and a number of
other passages. The word rapture
is never found in Scripture. The term comes from the Latin
Vulgate translation of the Greek word harpadzo,
"caught up" (1
Thess. 4:17). See a more extensive treatment of the Rapture.
Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
In this view, the Rapture is presumed to take place prior to the Great
Tribulation, a time of unprecedented trouble that is to
befall the entire
earth. There are several reasons why a
pre-tribulation rapture is more likely
than a mid-tribulation rapture or a post-tribulation
rapture. 1) A
pre-tribulation rapture fits in best with the prophetic time-table for
God’s
dealings with Israel as outlined in Daniel
9:24-27. The pre-tribulation Rapture
of the Church to Heaven paves the way
for God to conclude His dealing with the Church in this era and resume
His
dealings with Israel. 2) A
pre-tribulation Rapture model best explains the “imminency” feature of
the
rapture. Imminency
is the view of the
rapture presented in Scripture, that it could occur at any time. The doctrine of imminency
is derived from
observations that certain passages which discuss Christ’s return do not
present
any intervening signs which must take place prior to His return (John
14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).
Other passages which discuss the Second Coming of
Christ present
multiple signs that must be fulfilled before His arrival (Zech.
14:1-4; Matt. 24; Rev. 6-19). 3) A
pre-tribulation Rapture best fits an orderly exposition of the events
outlined
in 1
Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 and 2 Thessalonians 1-2. 4) A
pre-tribulation Rapture best explains the exemption of the Philadelphia
church
from the hour of testing which is about to come on the whole world (Rev.
3:10). 5) A pre-tribulation Rapture best explains the call John to come up to heaven after having received the messages to the seven churches and the entire Church Age. His movement to heaven, described in Rev. 4-5, symbolizes the Church’s call to heaven prior to the Tribulation period, discussed in great detail in Rev. 6-18. See a more extensive treatment of the (Pre-Tribulation) Rapture. Mid-Tribulation
Rapture: In this view, Jesus returns for
His Church at the middle of the Tribulation.
This view mixes up God’s working with the Church and His subsequent
working with Israel. Post-Tribulation Rapture. This view teaches that the Church will go through the Tribulation. Like the mid-tribulation view, this view mixes up God’s working with the Church and His subsequent working with Israel. It also flies in the face of Scriptures which teach that the Church is exempt from God’s judgment of the world. Historic Premillennialism espouses a Post-Tribulation Rapture. Regathering of Israel. God's drawing of expatriate Jewish people from all over the world back to Israel, there to repent for having forsaken Him, to place their faith in Jesus as their Messiah, and joyfully to take part, with hearts softened by the Spirit of God, in Jesus' Kingdom (Psa. 107:1-3; Isa. 11:11-16; 27:12-13; 43:1-7; 49:20-22; 60:4-9; Ezek. 36:22-28; 37:1-14; 37:15-28; Zech. 10:6-12). The present-day Aliyah is but a pre-cursor to the prophesied Regathering, because the vast majority of Israelis reject Jesus as their Messiah. One day this will change dramatically (Zech. 12:10-13:1). Replacement Theology. The
theological view of Amillennialism that the Church has permanently replaced or fulfilled
Israel as the sphere of God's blessing and redemptive program. In
the view of “Replacement Theology,” the present nation of Israel has little or no meaningful
relationship to end-time events since, in their view, the Church has replaced
Israel.
Another term for "Replacement Theology" is "Supersessionism,"
which holds that the Church has superseded Israel. It is difficult to
read Paul's apologia for Israel in Romans 9-11 and make any sense out of it if, in fact, the Church has permanently superseded Israel. If Replacement Theology is true, countless passages like Isaiah 2:1-4; Isa. 11; Isa. 60; Ezekiel 40-48; and Zechariah 12-14 cannot be taken at face value – they mean something other than what the readers in that day would have taken them to mean. Clearly God's covenant with Abraham and his physical descendants through Isaac and Jacob in the land as a permanent possession is an eternal covenant. The neglect or misinterpretation of these fundamental truths cannot abort the eternal commitment of God. See also Supersessionism. For an extensive treatment of Supersessionism, or Replacement Theology, see Michael J. Vlach, Supersessionism Articles. If you have difficulty locating a file, please contact the Web Master. Updated July 13, 2010 Background and Button Image Credit |
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