The RAPTURE and The Twinkling of an Eye

What is the rapture?

The rapture is a Christian belief about the end times which teaches that both living and dead believers will ascend into heaven to meet Jesus Christ at the Second Coming.

The word is derived from Middle French rapture, via the Medieval Latin raptura (seizure, kidnapping), which derives from the Latin raptus (a carrying off).

The word itself is nowhere to be found in the Bible. It is based on the Bible phrase, "...shall be CAUGHT UP together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air..." which is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 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.

Is the rapture going to happen in the twinkling of an eye?

Majority, if not all, of the pre-tribulation rapture camp (those who hold that the rapture will happen before the 7 year tribulation) teach that this gathering in the clouds of the believers will happen instantaneously. They believe that in just a twinkling of an eye all the dead and alive believers of Christ will be gathered secretly together in the clouds at Jesus Christ's second coming for the Church.

Their proof text for the aforementioned claim is found in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. Let us closely examine this claim by rightly dividing the Word of Truth. But before we will do that let us first define a few terms in Christian theology:

glorification- the final stage of God's salvation for mankind where sin is completely removed from the lives of the Christian believers. The believers at this point will be given an incorruptible body which is identical in characteristics of the Lord's resurrected body.

resurrection- the act of rising from the dead. It is the integration of the dead body and the coming back of its soul and spirit.

rapture- the caught up or the gathering together in the clouds of the believers to meet the Lord in His second coming.

At this point, let us read and rightly divide the following verses:

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

✅WHAT IS THE MYSTERY?

👉👉We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,👈👈

✅WHEN ARE WE ALL GOING TO BE CHANGED?

👉👉In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:👈👈

✅HOW THE CHANGE WOULD TAKE PLACE?

👉👉for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.👈👈

The text says in verse 51, "...but we shall all be changed." The word all there obviously refers to ALL BELIEVERS in Christ- both dead and alive believers. He said that not all of us will die but certainly all of us will be changed. Change from what? Change from corruptible bodies to incorruptible ones. Paul call that phenomenon a mystery. And according to Christian theology, the changing of the body from corruptible to incorruptible is called glorification.

So, the mystery there is the glorification of the bodies of both dead and alive believers and not the catching up of believers in the clouds (rapture).

The text further explains that the said changing of the bodies of both dead and alive believers of Christ from corruptible to incorruptible will happen in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye at the last trump.

So, what will really happen in a twinkling of an eye is that the dead shall be raised or shall be resurrected. So there comes the resurrection. But that resurrection is not the same of that of Lazarus and the damsel where both were risen up with just a temporal body. The resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:52 comes with glorification. The dead there are raised incorruptible. Meaning to say, they were given a glorified body too- a body that is identical to that of the Lord. Hence, the dead believers will experience two things during that time:

1) they will be raised (RESURRECTION- integration of the body and the coming back of the soul and the spirit to their body)

2) raised with an incorruptible body (GLORIFICATION- the changing of the corruptible body into incorruptible)

And then on that same moment, the living believers too will be changed into an incorruptible ones. Therefore, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye at the last trump the resurrection and the glorification will simultaneously occur.

So, when we say resurrection at the last trump, it is already inclusive of glorification. And both will happen in a twinkling of an eye. But the resurrection is not the one referred to as the mystery in those verses. The mystery is GLORIFICATON.

Now, let us go to 1 Thess. 4:16-17

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and

✅WHAT WILL HAPPEN FIRST AT THE LAST TRUMP?

👉the dead in Christ shall rise first:👈

(REMEMBER THAT THE RISING OR RESURRECTION OF BELIEVERS GOES WITH THE GLORIFICATION OF BOTH DEAD AND ALIVE BELIEVERS. THOSE PHENOMENA WILL HAPPEN IN A TWINKLING OF AN EYE.)

✅WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER THE RISING OF DEAD BELIEVERS(with GLORIFICATION OF ALIVE BELIEVERS)?

👉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.👈

The words "first" and "then" in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 obviously suggest a sequence of events. It simply means that the events mentioned will not happen at the same time. It means that the resurrection will happen FIRST and THEN the caught up will follow after it. If the resurrection goes together with glorification as evident in 1 Corinthians 15, then the right sequence is:

✅1st (RESURRECTION & GLORIFICATION) these two will happen in a twinkling of an eye (1 Cor.15:51-52).

✅2nd (CAUGHT UP)

Hence, the caught up (the rapture) is NOT the one referred to as mystery and it is not going to happen in a twinkling of an eye too as claimed by the majority. It will happen AFTER the twinkling of an eye instead. The "caught up" is popularly known as the RAPTURE of the believers or "the gathering together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."