Bible Studies

INTRODUCTION

The subject of Bible prophecy is intriguing, especially in light of developing events in the Middle East and other parts of the world. While no one suggests that it is easy to understand where every little piece of the prophetic jigsaw should be placed, it is important to be familiar with the main events and where they fit in. The event that will trigger the others is what we call The Rapture. Subsequent to that there will be on earth The Great Tribulation (Mt 24.21). At the end of the Great Tribulation there will be "the coming of the Son of Man" (Mt 24.37). We call this The Appearing in Glory, when the Lord Jesus will return right down to the earth. He will then establish His kingdom in this world for a thousand years (Rev 20.1-6). Hence we call that last period of human history The Millennium.

It has often been stated that the word rapture is never found in the Bible, but though the word is not there, the fact of it is. The dictionary defines it as, a seizing and carrying away. This concept is conveyed in the words "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4.17, where we are told that at the coming of the Lord Jesus living believers will caught up to meet Him. So it is legitimate to call what takes place at His coming, the Rapture.

THE RAPTURE PROMISED - John 14.1-3

In the upper room, the Lord Jesus promised that He would return to take His own people to be with Himself. When He said, "I will come again", the tense of the verb He used indicates a brief time between His going and His coming, and so we speak of the imminence of the return of the Lord Jesus, that is, the fact that he could come at any moment. New Testament believers expected Him to return imminently, as seen from the following references. Please take time to check them. Romans 13.11-14; Philippians 3.20-21; 1 Thessalonians 1.9-10; Hebrews 10.37; James 5.8; 1 Peter 4.7; 1 John 2.18; Jude v.21. Our expectation is, "Perhaps today!".

THE RAPTURE PREDICTED - 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18

This is the passage which gives the greatest detail about the Rapture. Its main purpose was to enlighten the believers regarding the status of their friends who had died (v.13). Paul is careful to stress that while the truth he was unfolding was new, he was stating it "by the word of the Lord" (v.15), that is, it had been revealed to him by the Lord Himself. We learn a number of things:

* The Lord will descend from heaven to the air. At the Appearing in Glory, He will come right down to the earth (Zech 14.4).

* "Sleeping" saints will be resurrected before the living are raptured. The resurrection of Christ is the guarantee of their resurrection (v.14).

* Living saints will be "caught up together" with raised ones, the word together implying reunion (v.17).

* All of them will "meet the Lord", and the meeting place will be "in the air".

THE RAPTURE PICTURED - Hebrews 11.5

The experience of Enoch whereby he went to heaven without dying is a picture of the Rapture. The word "translated" is used to describe what happened to him. It simply means a "change", or "removal". His brief history is in Genesis 5.21-24. Check the ages of those mentioned and discover that while Adam was the first man to die naturally, before another man had died Enoch had been taken to heaven without dying at all. As early as that, God was showing that it was possible to go to heaven without dying. Enoch is a foreshadowing of saints who will be raptured at the coming of the Lord. While waiting, be like Enoch, and have this testimony, "He pleased God".

PASSAGES TO STUDY AND QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

1 Read 1 Thessalonians 1.9-10, and 5.9-10 to see that believers of this church age will be taken to heaven before the "wrath" of the Great Tribulation comes. Jesus is our deliverer from it, and God has appointed us to salvation from it.

2 Read Revelation 19.11-21 to discover details of the Lord's appearing in glory. Note down the various names of the Lord Jesus from v.11 to v.16.

3 Look at John 14.1-3 again. In that context how does the Lord describe the purpose of His coming?

4 Reference has been made to Romans 13.11-14. Read v.11 again. You have been taught that you received salvation when you believed, and so you did (Ephesians 2.8). There are various aspects of salvation, and the verse in Romans refers to the future aspect when we will be saved from the very presence of sin at the Lord's coming. Using a concordance, find a verse which speaks about "salvation ready to be revealed in the last time".

5 In 1 Thessalonians 4, sleep is an illustration of death. This does not mean that the soul sleeps, for see Luke 23.43; Acts 7.59; 2 Corinthians 5.8; Philippians 1.23. Of whom did the Lord Jesus say, "Our friend ------- sleepeth", and of whom does it say in Acts that, "he fell asleep"?

6 Read 1 Corinthians 15.22-23. Note again that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus guarantees the believer's resurrection at His coming. The same chapter shows that not every believer will die, but "we shall all be changed". How long will it take to effect this change? (The answer is in the passage.)

7 Read 1 John 3.1-3. What should be the practical outcome of the fact that we have the hope of being like Christ?

8 1 Thessalonians 4 refers to us meeting the Lord. Read Genesis 24.61-67 to see a picture of that meeting. Who were the two people who met?

9 We refer to Enoch as antediluvian, that is, he lived before the flood. He was "translated" before the flood came, a picture of the fact that believers will be raptured before the Great Tribulation. Where is he called "the seventh from Adam"? (Use a concordance.)

10 Read 2 Timothy 3.1-5. Can you see the features of "the last days" in the world today? If so, does it not indicate that "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh"?