WHY I DON’T PREACH ABOUT THE RAPTURE

Steve McCall
Preaching Minister
Palm Desert, CA

Several years ago, when I was preaching in Kingman, Arizona, an older gentleman began visiting our services. He was a kind and friendly man who always had Bible questions or comments after the sermon. From his demeanor and the depth of his conversations, I could tell he had spent much time in the word of God. After about six months of him attending our services on a regular basis, he approached me at the backdoor of the auditorium, and he said, “I have never heard you preach on the rapture.” He was correct, he had never heard me preach on the rapture, and neither has anyone else. So, let me answer the question, “Why don’t you preach the rapture?”

The simplest answer is because the Bible does not teach the rapture as man understands it. Most who believe in the rapture believe that Jesus is going to just take His faithful followers who are still living when He returns and leave the unfaithful to continue living on this earth. Matthew 24:40, 41 seems to support this theory, 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Standing alone, this passage might lead one to believe that life goes on, less the faithful. The teaching elsewhere in the Bible makes it clear that life will not go on as usual.

Even earlier, just before this passage, Jesus compares His Second Coming to the Great Flood. The first comparison to the Second Coming and the flood is: it will be a surprise to mankind. Peter describes Noah as “a preacher of righteousness”(II Peter 2:5). So, we can safely assume that Noah was warning people about God’s impending judgment. They obviously failed to listen. People are warned today about the Second Coming of Jesus, yet continue in their evil ways, just like in the times of Noah. The second comparison, and one usually overlooked, is the fact that flood destroyed everything not in the ark. When Jesus comes back to claim His own, the world will once again be destroyed, this time by fire. Look at the inspired words of Peter in II Peter 3:10– 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Again, we see the element of surprise, as a thief does not announce his intentions. We see that all on the earth will be destroyed, not merely left behind.

There is no indication HERE that there will be any noticeable time lapse between the final trumpet sound and the destruction of the world. Paul illustrates just how quickly the Second Coming and the destruction of evil will be in his first letter to the Thessalonians. He first describes the calling of the faithful. First the dead then those who are still alive in I Thessalonians 4:16, 17–16 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. 17 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. Then he goes on to describe what happens to those who are left, I Thessalonians 5:3-3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. Notice the destruction comes suddenly. There will be no time for wondering where the person beside you might have gone. Paul makes it abundantly clear that there will be no escape from the destruction.

In Revelation 14:14-20, John describes the harvest of earth as he witnessed it in his vision while in exile on Patmos. As John describes this scene, there again is no indication of time lapse between the gathering of the faithful and unfaithful. Notice the text. 14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man” with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. 17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia. The literary style used in other places in Revelation usually indicates if there is a time period by using terms of time such as days or years. We also need to remember that Revelation was written using terms that only the audience for which it was intended could fully understand and not his captors. John used literary devices used in Hebrew literature such as numbers, symbols and colors that had specific meaning to the Hebrews. When we attempt to interpret these numbers, symbols, and colors in a literal sense, we miss the original meaning of the text and misunderstand what it really says.

The rapture, as taught by those who believe in it, also calls for a third return of Jesus. He came once into the world, born of Mary, to bear the sins of the world and take them to the cross. He will appear a second time to take the saints to their heavenly home. There is no mention in the scriptures of Jesus returning after that. The Hebrew writer states it plainly in Hebrews 9:28–28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. There is no indication that Jesus is going to return more than one more time in order to receive those who might repent after seeing the faithful  taken to heaven.

Jesus Himself refutes the idea of the rapture as taught by men in Matthew 13. Jesus tells the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30–24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. 

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”  The parable seems straightforward and plain, however, later, the disciples ask Jesus to explain the parable to them. Jesus does in Matthew 13:37-43–37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. We see no one being left behind in this passage. The wicked are destroyed and the righteous are brought into the kingdom of God!

There have many volumes published on the idea of the rapture. They all come under great scrutiny by teachers of truth and their flaws are glaring when put side by side with the truth of God. I have always stated that one can teach anything from the Bible when they try to teach from one or two verses and fail to reveal the context. It is easy to see where the idea of the rapture might originate in scripture by merely looking at one passage (Matthew 24:40, 41). Even at that, there is so much that has to be inferred that it stretches the imagination. Going from “one will be taken and one will be left” to the idea that life goes on and Jesus is going to set up an earthly kingdom for a literal thousand years is a leap that denies so many other scriptures. Jesus doesn’t need to set up an earthly kingdom as He is already the King of kings!

So, back to the original statement “Why I don’t preach about the rapture,” simply because it is a man-made teaching and not from God.

Feel free to comment the author/editor below!

UNDERSTANDING REVELATION 20

The binding of Satan is the preface to the vision the apostle John saw at the beginning of Revelation 20.  Let’s review the verses and relate them where applicable to the millennium kingdom.

First of all, Jesus was sending the saints out to preach the gospel of the Kingdom to the world (Matthew 28:16+ RSV), and subsequently, the two witnesses would follow (Revelation 11:1+ RSV).  Jesus tells the disciples (Matthew 24:14 KJV):

And the gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

How is Jesus going to arrange this when Satan is out there opposing the saints?  This is where the binding of Satan is required, and we are told by John in his vision in Revelation 20:1-3 RSV:

And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain. V2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, V3 and threw him into the bottomless pit (Abyss) and shut It and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more: till the thousand years were ended.  After that, he must be loosed for a little while.

Please note that Satan was only partially bound, as he was bound to keep him from interfering with the preaching of the gospel.  This was confirmed by 1 Peter 5:8 KJV:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your advisory the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.

John’s vision was of heaven.  Satan was partially bound for a thousand years.  After that, he must be loosed for a little while.  Revelation 20:4-6 RSV continues:

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed.  Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. V5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.  V6 Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The souls that John saw were in heaven.  They had mortally died and then spiritually gone on to heaven and were reigning with Christ a thousand years.  These are the souls who had experienced the first resurrection.  The physical death has no power over them, having already died.

In chapter 20, the word thousand is used six times.  Because of its frequent use, the literalist maintains it is used that often to impress the reader that it means a literal thousand years.  That is not necessarily the purpose.  It could well be to draw the reader’s attention to another literal use, which we will further explain.

Revelation 21:25 is telling us about heaven and states there is no time there.  It is a physical surety that a day must have an evening and a morning (Genesis 1:3+; Daniel 8:14).  In heaven, you have no night.  If no night, then no day, then no means of a calendar.  So to assist our literal expositor, I am going to suggest that person might indicate a heavenly period of time by using the term “H thousand” years to express that a heavenly period of time is intended. This would indicate an unknown infinite amount of time.  Likewise, an “E thousand” would indicate an earthly amount of time, which would be a typical calendar designation.

John’s vision of the binding of Satan with a chain and key was allegoric.  How else could you allegorically bind Satan?  One thing Satan uses is sin.  How could we take Satan’s weapon of sin from him?  The good news, it has already been done.  When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and are baptized for the remission of sins, we are declared righteous, and our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus.  Satan can’t convict us in front of God.  Jesus is right there and tells God this is one of my righteous saints.  In God’s eyes, because of Jesus, we are righteous.  Satan cannot convict us.

Another milestone that was created was the date Satan was bound.  That would be AD 33 when Jesus was crucified.  Also, on that date, the tribulation started.  The binding of Satan is the preface to chapter 20 of Revelation (Ibid, Deceived).  Satan will be bound until Christ returns.

These are the dates the literalists don’t want to talk about.  Why not?   Because the binding of Satan, the beginning of the millennium, and the tribulation, are to them, each a thousand years. They all started in 33 AD.  But if you added a literal thousand to 33 AD, you would be at 1033 AD.  But Mr. Literalist says, “that can’t be.” Why not! Because the time is heavenly and can’t be equated to earthly time, and you want to use it literally.  Also, Mr. Literalist, you are telling me when Christ returns, he is going to commence his millennial kingdom.  This, I am told, will be for a thousand years in Jerusalem.  Jesus will be king and will reign with his Saints.  But wait, don’t forget you are to build a new temple.  This is going to be an interesting time, as the binding of Satan, the beginning of the millennium, and the tribulation all started in 33 AD at the crucifixion of Christ and run concurrently until Christ returns.  This will probably be “H” 100 when their quota is fulfilled.

By the way, it would help if there was supporting scripture for all these machinations.  John’s vision takes place in heaven with Jesus and his saints.  The premillennials have Jesus reigning in the alleged millennial kingdom in Jerusalem at the same time.