No Rapture Before the Good Antichrist Appears

It is frequently claimed by advocates of the Secret Rapture Theory that the Christian Church will be spared the awful tribulations of the Antichrist foretold in the Book of Revelation. Certain Christians are expecting to be removed from the world prior to the Advent of the Antichrist.

Thus, it would be impossible for Christians to know the identity of the Antichrist prior to the Rapture.

The primary passage used in support of the Rapture Theory is 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17, which reads:

"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive
"CAUGHT UP"

The term here rendered "caught up" is supposed to be a description of the Rapture. It is a translation of the Greek word "harpazo", which is used in the New Testament only thirteen times. According to Strong's Concordance, it means:

"1) to seize, carry off by force; 2) to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly; or 3) to snatch out or away".

Paul uses "harpazo" in 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4, where he writes:

"I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up [harpazo] to the third heaven. . . . How that he was caught up [harpazo] into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter".

As used here, "harpazo" cannot mean Secret Rapture. It is apparent that this man was alive ON EARTH. He was able to relate an account of his experience to Paul; yet, Paul says that the man was "caught up to the third heaven". This man was not bodily removed from the earth. Rather, he was given an ECSTATIC EXPERIENCE, perhaps a vision, which evidently gave the illusion of being out of the body.

On the other hand, we read:

"And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up [harpazo] unto God, and [to] his throne" (Revelation 12:5).

This verse refers to one of the Ascensions of Jesus. Which, I do not know. According to the John 20, on Resurrection morning . . .

[11] Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
[12] And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
[13] And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
[14] And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
[15] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
[16] Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
[17] Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Eight days later, Jesus appeared to His disciples, "the doors being shut" (verse 26). He was manually touched by Thomas (verse 27). Evidently, in the interim of these eight days, Jesus had ascended to the Father and returned in a bodily form that is literal substance, yet able to pass through the confines of a closed room. "After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias", according to John 21:1. This was the third time that Jesus showed Himself to his disciples after He arose from the dead (verse 14).

Lastly, we are told by Luke in Acts 1:

[1] The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
[2] Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
[3] To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
[4] And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
[5] For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
[6] When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
[7] And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
[8] But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
[9] And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
[10] And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
[11] Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

From these accounts, we may safely conclude that Jesus' own experience of "harpazo" was neither secret, nor mystical, as in a visionary experience. Jesus was seen and heard and thus witnessed by numerous others.

Second Corinthians 12:2, 4 does not support the experience of "harpazo" as a bodily removal from the earth, yet Revelation 12:5 does. We are told that the Man Child was taken up into heaven. Since the evidence is not consistent, we must not assume that "harpazo" is a term that was not meant to mean "rapture" as in Secret Rapture.

The intended meaning of "harpazo" becomes clearer upon examination of verses 5 and 6 of Philippians 2, which reads, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God". The Greek word for "robbery" is "harpagmos", and importantly, it stems from "harpazo". "Harpagmos" means "1) the act of seizing, robbery; 2) a thing seized or to be seized; a) booty to deem anything a prize; or b) a thing to be seized upon or to be held fast, retained".

The idea of "harpazo", then, is of laying hold of something (or someone) that belongs to one. This interpretation is consistent with meaning of the epistles, whose context we will now turn.

PURPOSE OF EPISTLES TO THESSALONIANS

Paul drafted the two epistles to the Thessalonians in response to a practical spiritual crisis in the local church at Thessalonica in Asia Minor (our modern Greece). Paul founded this church on one of his evangelistic tours, so the welfare of these believers would be especially concerning to him.

Regarding Thessalonica, Wikipedia states, "The city was founded circa 315 BC by Cassander, the King of Macedon . . . , on or near the site of the ancient town of Therma and twenty six other local villages. He named it after his wife Thessalonica, the sister of Alexander the Great. She gained her name from her father, Philip II of Macedon, to commemorate her birth on the day of his gaining a victory (Gr. Nike) over the Phocians, who were defeated with the help of Thessalian horsemen, the best in Greece at that time. Thessaloniki means the "victory of Thessalians" (where Thessalians derives from Thessaly which means thesi alos, i.e. "a land that was sea"). Thessaloniki developed rapidly and as early as the 2nd century BC the first walls were built, forming a large square. It was, as all the other contemporary Greek cities, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Macedon, with its own parliament where the King was represented and could interfere in the city's domestic affairs." (-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thessalonica)

These epistles were written against the backdrop of the common belief that the return of Jesus Christ was imminent. Certain Christians at Thessalonica held mistaken notions about the return of Christ:

1. The Second Advent of Jesus Christ was "at hand" and would occur sooner than later; or He had already returned; and/or

2. Believers were lost to the Kingdom who had died before the Second Advent.

Paul desired to clear up these misunderstandings in his letters. By the time Paul drafted 2 Thessalonians, the church in Thessalonica still had some misconceptions of the Day of the Lord. They possibly thought it had come already so they stopped working, which Paul rebuked.

Paul advised that Jesus had not yet returned, but that He would come again, AFTER AND NOT BEFORE the Antichrist manifests himself. This is a central message of the book of Second Thessalonians. "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:2).

[When the Antichrist does reveal himself, what role should Christians assume toward him? Christians are not called upon to worship the Antichrist in the place of their Savior, Jesus Christ. However, Christians are obligated to submit to and assist the Antichrist. See my article, "'They worshipped the Dragon' (Revelation 14:4)". The authority for this obligation comes from Jesus Christ Himself.]

Further, Paul uses "harpoza" in First Thessalonians to reassure those believers who had succumbed to the discouraging belief that those who had died while waiting for the Second Advent would somehow be forgotten or lost. Christ "seizes" those who are His own, irrespective of whether they are dead or alive.

SUMMARY

While there is comfort in being removed from the tribulations of the Antichrist, unfortunately it is a misplaced comfort.

It is evident that 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 does not support the modern notion of a Secret Rapture. Instead, Paul affirms the doctrine of the Resurrection and assures believers that the dead in Christ are secure because Jesus loses none who belong to Him, those whom He will claim upon His return.

Lastly, because there is no biblical foundation for a belief in the Secret Rapture, it follows that there is no requisite for a Rapture to occur before the identity of the Antichrist can be known.