An Examination of the “Rapture” Doctrine

Note to Reader: In this teaching, YHWH is used to refer to the LORD God, Creator.  And Yahushua is used for His Son, who is the LORD God manifested in the flesh, as Messiah and Savior.  Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture references are taken from the 2009 version of The Scriptures by the Institute for Scripture Research.  

Written by G.R. (October 30, 2020)

The Rapture (as believed today) is a Christian doctrine.  The word rapture comes from the Latin word ‘rapio,’ which means ‘to be carried away in body or spirit.’  The theory is related to the return of Jesus.  The anticipation is that when Jesus returns, He will meet His followers who are alive at His coming in the sky.  The theory continues with the idea that Jesus will bring them to Heaven with Him at that time.  There are differing opinions about when the rapture could take place.  Some believe the rapture will occur before the Tribulation, some in the middle of the Tribulation, and some after.  The rapture is a common doctrine in which many people have placed their hope.  However, is it true according to Scripture?

In this study, we will examine the Rapture doctrine from a Hebraic Perspective.  I will use the name Yahushua instead of Jesus to evaluate this doctrine.  We will take a look at what is true and what is false about this belief according to the Scriptures.

What is True About the Rapture Doctrine?

The Rapture doctrine includes the idea that the righteous people will be taken away from the presence of the wrong.

All over the Scriptures, YHWH clearly shows that He makes a distinction between those who follow Him and those who don’t follow Him.  He desires to remove His people from evil in the Day of Judgment.

Isaiah 57:1-2 The righteous one has perished, and no one takes it to heart.  And kind men are taken away, while no one understands that the righteous one is taken away from the presence of evil, he enters into peace.  They who walk in integrity rest on their beds.

When YHWH removes the righteous, the wrong will not take it to heart.  They will continue living their lives as normal.  Isaiah 57 goes on to talk about how angry YHWH is with these people and describes the destruction coming to them after the righteous have been separated.  During this time, the righteous people will be in a place of peace, but the wrong will be experiencing chaos.

Isaiah 57:21 “There is no peace,” said my Elohim, “for the wrong.”

The doctrine also includes the idea that the wrong will experience tribulation, while the righteous will be preserved and rescued.

2 Peter 2:4-9 For if Elohim (God) did not spare the messengers who sinned, but sent them to Tartaros, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be kept for judgment, and did not spare the world of old, but preserved Noaḥ, a proclaimer of righteousness, and seven others, bringing in the flood on the world of the wicked, and having reduced to ashes the cities of Seḏom and Amorah condemned them to destruction – having made them an example to those who afterward would live wickedly, and rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the indecent behavior of the lawless (for day after day that righteous man, dwelling among them, tortured his righteous being by seeing and hearing their lawless works), then יהוה knows how to rescue the reverent ones from trial and to keep the unrighteous unto the day of judgment, to be punished.

Noah was a man living during a time when YHWH wanted to destroy the Earth.  Lot was a man living in a specific city that YHWH destined for destruction.  In both situations, YHWH provided a way for these righteous people to escape His wrath.  He took them away from the presence of the wrong before pouring out His destruction.  These men experienced YHWH’s salvation while remaining on Earth.  Noah and Lot needed to be obedient to His plan of salvation to be saved.

YHWH doesn’t plan massive destruction without giving a way for His people to be spared. The Rapture Theory is correct in that it embraces the concept of YHWH providing a way of salvation for His people during a time of judgment.

The Rapture doctrine suggests that the righteous will have a special encounter with Yahushua apart from the wrong.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 For this we say to you by the word of the Master, that we, the living who are left over at the coming of the Master shall in no way go before those who are asleep. Because the Master Himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of a chief messenger, and with the trumpet of Elohim, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first.  Then we, the living who are left over, shall be caught away together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air – and so we shall always be with the Master.  So, then, encourage one another with these words.

This passage is very encouraging for all those who believe in Yahushua.  However, many things are often misunderstood.  In the context of this passage, Yahushua would have already come and destroyed the nations.  At this point, He is setting up His earthly Kingdom and taking His people to reign with Him.

1 Thessalonians 4:15 says, “We the living who are left over at the coming of the Master” because only a very small percentage of the population of people will be left over or kept alive at this time.  The passage reveals that many people will die during the Tribulation, but there will be a remnant that remains.

To further understand this concept, see Jeremiah 30:10-11 in context, which shows that YHWH will make a COMPLETE END of ALL nations.   Isaiah chapter 24 prophesies the WHOLE EARTH being utterly destroyed by fire at the time of Messiah’s Return and very “few men shall be left”.

The people who die during the Tribulation will be buried in the ground, not breathing, waiting to be resurrected.  The people who are left over after the Tribulation will be on the Earth breathing in the air.  The apostle Paul said that we will meet the Master and the resurrected people “in the air.”

A lot of people imagine that we will literally be taken to the sky to meet Yahushua in the clouds.  However, I would like to suggest a different interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4:15.  A Hebraic understanding of the Scriptures is important to interpret this passage. This differs from a Greek understanding.  The Hebraic understanding is ‘down to Earth’ and concrete; a Greek understanding is more abstract.  Even though the book of 1 Thessalonians might have been written in the Greek language, it was written by someone who was a Hebrew and thought like a Hebrew.

During the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt, YHWH’s Presence took on the form of a ‘cloud,’ and He led His people by it (Exodus 13:21-22).  The cloud continually hovered over the Tabernacle, which is where YHWH appeared to meet with the priest (Exodus 40:38).  YHWH wanted to dwell with the Israelites by meeting with them in a real, specific place.  I believe that Paul used the word ‘cloud’ in Thessalonians to refer to how Yahushua will dwell with us.  His thousand-year kingdom will occur on the Earth, not in heaven!  A prophecy in Isaiah shows that YHWH’s presence will once again take on the form of a cloud during the millennial kingdom on Earth.

Isaiah 4:4-6 When יהוה has washed away the filth of the daughters of Tsiyon, and rinsed away the blood of Yerushalayim from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then יהוה shall create above every dwelling place of Mount Tsiyon, and above her gatherings, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night, for over all the esteem shall be a covering, and a booth for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.

Here we see another time when ‘cloud’ is used to describe YHWH’s presence dwelling with us after the Earth is cleansed and destroyed by fire.  In the same way that the cloud never left the Israelites, Yahushua’s Presence will never again be taken from us.  From this point on, we will always be with the Master!

What is False About the Rapture Doctrine?

The belief that the Tribulation will only be experienced by people who do not know YHWH is false.

The Bible says that YHWH’s people will experience Tribulation and a remnant will be saved from it.

Jeremiah 30:5-7 “For this is what יהוה said, ‘We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. ‘Ask now, and see if a man is giving birth.  Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labour, and all faces turned pale? ‘Oh! For great is that day, there is none like it.  And it is the time of Yaʽaqoḇ’s distress, but he shall be saved out of it.

The context of this passage is in the End Days when YHWH gathers His people.  Jacob is the House of Israel.  YHWH’s people who are dispersed throughout the nations of the Earth.  The Tribulation is not just for unrighteous people!  The prophets foretold that there will be a time when YHWH’s people experience major distress.  This is the beginning of the Tribulation, and it will bring forth YHWH’s people gathering unto Him in the safe place.

The belief that the righteous people will be spared from the wrath to come no matter where they are on Earth is false. 

It is true that belief in Yahushua will give a person eternal life.  However, being spared from death during the Tribulation is another form of salvation, and the Bible teaches that YHWH’s people must gather in a specific place to attain it, just like Noah had to enter the ark to obtain salvation from the rest of the world.  These people will have the blessing of encountering Yahushua and His glory at His return!

Psalm 7:7 And let the congregation of the peoples gather about You; and over them return on high.

YHWH’s people will not gather together unless they’re all in some sort of uncomfortable place where they don’t want to be anymore.  YHWH will allow His people to experience the beginning of the Tribulation.  This will cause them to cry out to Him, and in return, He will show them the place of protection.  Again, the way He will show them is through His Word.  We believe the Bible shows that the place of safety is in Jordan.

Zephaniah 2:1-3 Gather together, gather together, O nation without shame, before the decree is born – the day shall pass on like chaff – before the burning wrath of יהוה comes upon you, before the day of wrath of יהוה comes upon you! Seek יהוה, all you meek ones of the earth, who have done His right-ruling. Seek righteousness, seek meekness, if so be that you are hidden in the day of wrath of יהוה.

Before I move on, I will first address an important question.  Who is this “nation without shame”?  I propose that it is NOT a single modern nation on Earth.  No modern nation on Earth is even close to being righteous.  If it were already a functioning nation then there would be no need for them to gather together.  Instead, the shameless nation is an accumulation of YHWH’s people who come from all nations around the world and gather together in a single safe place.  This shameless nation is made of a group of meek and righteous people who are seeking YHWH in the End Days and become the Bride of Yahushua. YHWH commands these people to “gather together” before His judgment and wrath.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2  As to the coming of our Master יהושע Messiah and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as if the day of יהוה has come.

Paul and the people He was writing to knew about this “gathering together” because they also studied the prophets.  So, they were familiar with the command to gather before Yahushua’s return.

If Yahushua was going to take us to heaven, no matter where we are on the Earth, then He would not command us to gather together, but he does!  We can’t just think that we’ll be spared from YHWH’s wrath no matter where we are or what we’re doing on Earth.  We have to follow His Word.  In the Zephaniah 2 passage above, He says to gather so we are hidden in the day of His wrath!  If we don’t, then YHWH’s judgment on the nations will come upon us.

 

It would seem foolish to believe in deliverance from End Days destruction without doing anything to initiate or prepare for that deliverance.  Proverbs 22:3 says, “A clever (or prudent) one foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple go on and are punished.”

Another place in Scripture where YHWH commands His people to come out of the nations is Revelation 18.

Revelation 18:4-5 And I heard another voice from the heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. “Because her sins have piled up to reach the heaven, and Elohim has remembered her unrighteousnesses.”

The specific place in this passage that YHWH is commanding His people to leave is Babylon.  Revelation 18 gives a description of the horrible destruction YHWH is planning for this place.  When Babylon falls, other nations will be affected because Babylon made many other countries rich and had a tremendous influence over the world.  YHWH warns His people to come out of the places He intends to destroy because if they don’t, they will share in the sins and punishment of that nation.

So, if we are told to come out of Babylon and gather together, where are we to gather?  YHWH’s Word tells us there’s a place of salvation for Yahushua’s believers on the Earth.  We will be kept safe from the Anti-messiah in this chosen place.

Daniel 11:41 and shall enter the Splendid Land, and many shall stumble, but these escape from his hand: Eḏom, and Mo’aḇ, and the chief of the sons of Ammon.

Daniel 11:21-45 talks about the Anti-messiah.  It explains how he will exalt himself as a god and deceive many people with flatteries.  He will attempt to take over the world; the only people who will escape his works are those in Edom and Moab along with the chief sons of Amman.  Edom is located in the southern part of the country of Jordan; Moab is also in Jordan just north of Edom; and Amman is the capital city of Jordan.

The belief that Yahushua will physically be with His people during the destruction of the nations is false.

Isaiah 63:1-3 Who is this coming from Eḏom, with garments of glowing colours from Botsrah, who is robed in splendour, striding forward in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.  Why is there red on Your raiment, and Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?  I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples, no one was with Me.  And I trod them down in My displeasure, and I trampled them in My wrath. Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have defiled all My raiment.

Isaiah 63:4-6 For a day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. And I looked, but there was none helping, and I was astonished that there was none upholding.  So My own arm saved for Me, and My wrath upheld Me.  And I trod down peoples in My displeasure, and made them drunk in My wrath, and brought down their strength to earth.”

In this passage, YHWH’s people are already gathered.  Yahushua comes to His gathered people and talks to them after doing some destruction.  His people are asking Him “Why is there red on your garments?” because they don’t know what He was doing.  They weren’t present with Him.

Yahushua will be the one destroying the nations!  He won’t be in heaven with His people.  A remnant of His people will be together in a safe place, but Yahushua will go out to destroy the nations alone.  None of His people will be with Him.  When Yahushua looks over the nations of the Earth and sees no one ‘helping’ or ‘upholding’ His righteousness anymore, He will then bring down the strength of the nations.

Notice that Yahushua comes from Edom which is in the country of Jordan.  After His people are gathered in this place, Yahushua comes to Edom to bring them into secret chambers where they’ll be hidden while He finishes pouring out wrath on the World.

Isaiah 26:20-21 Go, my people, enter your rooms, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little while, until the displeasure is past. For look, יהוה is coming out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their crookedness. And the earth shall disclose her blood, and no longer cover her slain.

We need to seek YHWH as to the location of these ‘inner rooms.’  From Scripture, we learn that people will need to come out of the nations and gather together in the safe place in Edom in order for them to enter into the inner rooms.

YHWH will punish the Earth!  His people who follow His instructions for salvation will be hidden and protected.  They will not physically be with Him until He destroys the nations.  The righteous people hidden in the chambers will experience amazing grace and compassion from YHWH.  This is the way they will respond:

Isaiah 63:7 “Let me recount the kindnesses of יהוה and the praises of יהוה, according to all that יהוה has done for us, and the great goodness toward the house of Yisra’ĕl, which He has done for them according to His compassion, and according to His many kindnesses.”

The people left alive, who experienced YHWH’s kindness, will then come out of the safe place of protection.

The belief that the righteous will not inhabit the Earth after the Tribulation is false.

The righteous people who remain will inherit the Earth after YHWH’s judgment.

Malachi 4:1-2 “For look, the day shall come, burning like a furnace, and all the proud, and every wrongdoer shall be stubble. And the day that shall come shall burn them up,” said יהוה of hosts, “which leaves to them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My Name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. And you shall go out and leap for joy like calves from the stall.”

At this time, the wrongdoers have been destroyed from the Earth, and those who fear YHWH will come out of their stalls like calves.  This is a figure of speech to explain the joy in which YHWH’s people will come out of the hidden place of protection.  They are rejoicing because it’s time for them to inherit the Earth with Yahushua as their King!

Psalm 37:10 Yet a little while and the wrong is no more; and you shall look on his place, but it is not.  But the meek ones shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in plenty of peace.

Who Stays and Who Is Taken?

Two places in Scripture that people have thought to be a reference to the Rapture are Matthew 24 and Luke 17.  The context of these passages are when Yahushua was telling his disciples what was going to take place before His return and at the end of the age.

Matthew 24:40-41  “Then two shall be in the field, the one is taken and the one is left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left”.

Luke 17:34-46  “I say to you, in that night there shall be two in one bed, the one shall be taken and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together, the one shall be taken and the other shall be left. Two shall be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other shall be left.”

It is often understood that the ones who are “taken” are the people who are raptured and brought to Heaven, while the ones who are “left” are the people who were not raptured.   In order to understand what Yahushua was saying, let’s look at the context in Matthew.

Matthew 34:37-41  “And as the days of Noaḥ, so also shall the coming of the Son of Aḏam be. For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noaḥ entered into the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also shall the coming of the Son of Aḏam be. Then two shall be in the field, the one is taken and the one is left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Master is coming.”

Notice that in the quote above, Yahushua said that the flood “took them all away”.  We know that the people who were not in the ark were killed in the flood, so “taken” here would mean killed.  Noah and his family, those who willfully entered the ark, are the ones who were “left” and survived.  The same thing is likely true of what Yahushua said about the End Days destruction.  This would mean the ones “taken” are the ones killed in the Tribulation, while the ones “left” are the survivors.  This interpretation would NOT give any support to the Rapture Doctrine.

The Bride of Yahushua Will Be Saved

Yahushua said that in the time of the Great Distress, the days will be shortened for the sake of the chosen ones.

Matthew 24:21-22  “For then there shall be great distress, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the sake of the chosen ones those days shall be shortened.

Who are the “chosen ones” and what does it mean that the days will be shortened for their sake?  I propose that the chosen ones are the remnant, the Bride of Messiah, who gather together in the wilderness to prepare for their Bridegroom, Yahushua.  Notice that in Revelation 12 a certain people group, called “the woman”, is brought to a place of nourishment for three and a half years.

Revelation 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by Elohim, to be nourished there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

Revelation 12:14  And the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, to fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.

This place of nourishment is likely the same as the “inner rooms” in the Isaiah 26 passage above.  To be taken to this place, the Bride must gather in the wilderness, in the safe place in Edom.  Edom is NOT the final destination for the Bride, but rather a gathering place that’s kept safe for a time until YHWH brings them elsewhere.  The woman is nourished and protected in a special place for three and a half years.  This means that the days of the Tribulation/ Great Distree will be “shortened”  for the chosen ones because they will be protected and will not have to experience all of it.  So, the woman is brought to this place somewhere during the Tribulation.  This will all be so that YHWH will keep a remnant alive, His chosen ones whom He has called and predestined for His salvation and mercy!

Summary

In summary and in contrast to the Rapture doctrine, YHWH’s people will experience distress while they’re scattered throughout the world. They will come out and gather in a safe place in Jordan (known as the Sheepfold).  Yahushua will appear to His gathered people and bring them into secret chambers.  He will destroy the nations.  Yahushua will then come back to His people, and His followers will come out of the chambers to inherit the Earth and reign with Him in peace.

As we near the days when all these things happen, it is important to study the Scriptures to attain understanding.  There are many theories and doctrines out there, and they should be tested according to the Scripture.  Although the Tribulation is a dreadful time, I know YHWH has a plan of salvation for His people, and we will meet with Yahushua in a special way in the safe place.

YHWH is unveiling mysteries to His people about all that the Scripture teaches concerning what is going to happen!

Daniel 12:3-4 “And those who have insight shall shine like the brightness of the expanse, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. “But you, Dani’ĕl, hide the words, and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall diligently search and knowledge shall increase.”

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