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the cardinal rapture
passage | table of contents
I will begin
our study in 1 Thes.
4:13-18,
a selection from the Apostle Paul's first letter to the church in
Thessolonica. The reason I start here is simple: this important
passage gives us the very definition of the rapture,
and includes an overview of what takes place at the event. Most every scholar agrees on this much
(Note
3).
Here's the passage from the New International Version (NIV):
"Brothers,
we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep,
or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We
believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe
that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep
in him. According to the Lord's own word (Note
4), we tell
you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming
of
the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have
fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down
from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice
of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that,
we who are still alive and are left will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Therefore encourage each other with these words."
I've highlighted words
or phrases that are of particular importance to this
study. The reason being that these phrases are used over
and over again in other passages also relating to the rapture.
Taking note of them helps us recognise when other passages are
discussing the same event.
The Coming of the Lord: Paul
uses this particular phrase when talking
about the rapture and our being 'caught up' to meet Jesus
(as in the verses above). The Greek word translated 'coming'
here is parousia
(Note
5).
So when Paul talks about the parousia,
or 'the coming of the Lord',
by his own definition he includes the rapture event in that. This is an
important
note for our study. The parousia INCLUDES the rapture event.
in
summary:
1)
As defined by Paul, the following occur at the coming (parousia)
of the Lord :
- The Lord Himself comes
down from heaven with a loud comand (NKVJ =
"shout")
- Jesus' decent is
accompanied by the voice of the archangel
(Note
6)
- Jesus' decent is
also accompanied by the trumpet call
of God
- The
dead in Christ rise first
- Then we who are alive and remain (Note
7) will be caught up together with them (the
dead in Christ) to meet the Lord in the air (Note
8) .
2) The parousia
(or coming of the Lord), as defined by Paul above, includes the
event we call the rapture. When I refer to the "parousia"
in this study, remember that I'm talking about the series of
events noted above, including the rapture.
Are you following me so
far? If you, based upon this passage, understand how the
phrase "Coming of the Lord" (as defined by the
apostle Paul) includes the rapture event, then continue
on. If you don't quite see that yet, spend some more time studying it. These concepts
are the basic foundation for the direction this study is heading.
 next: the day, the coming, the gathering 
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