Thus far in my study of the rapture I’ve introduced what the rapture is as well as the 4 differing views in terms of the timing of the rapture relative to the tribulation period.
In A Rapture Study: The Tribulation and The Tribulation II, I explained that the tribulation is a period of time that’s appointed for the Jewish nation (for their salvation) and for the judgment of an unrepentant humanity. It’s due to these 2 reasons that I believe the church plays no part in this time period and is taken out before it.
In part 1 of this study, I began to make the case as to why the rapture and second coming of Christ are 2 separate and distinct events. I first took a brief look at the sequence of events in Matthew 24:29-31, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. Then I looked at the differences between the use of episynagō (to gather together) used in Matthew 23:37-39 and Matthew 24:31 and harpazō (to seize) used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
I then used this point to introduce the Jewish context that I believe is needed to better understand what exactly is going on in Matthew 24 (as a whole) and further differentiate between the rapture and the second coming of Christ.
In part 2 I’ll continue making this case as I use the glorification of the believer at the rapture, the saints’ return with Christ at his second coming, and the judgment of the goat and sheep nations at the end of the tribulation to further illustrate this. My goal isn’t to simply show why these 2 events are different but rather why they must be different. With that being said, let’s dive in.
Glorification of Believers
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 gives us a view into what else is happening during the rapture (which is also described to us in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Specifically, 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 gives us a picture of believers in Christ who have died, first being raised into incorruptible bodies and then believers who are alive are changed in the twinkling of an eye.
Both groups of believers (both dead in Christ and alive) at the rapture have their corruptible mortal bodies changed to incorruptible glorified bodies. This is a critical event as Paul explains to us why this must happen, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption,” (1 Corinthians 15:50). This important change isn’t mentioned in Matthew 24:29-31, instead we’re just told that angels are sent to gather the “elect”.
From scripture we’re clearly told that the tribulation will be so horrific, that if it isn’t cut short by Jesus himself there will be no flesh saved (Matthew 24:21-22). Verses such as Isaiah 13:12 also shows us that God will make men more rare than gold, “I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir,” (Isaiah 13:12). This is the reality of the tribulation period given to us in scripture.
By Christ’s return, the population of mankind will be largely decimated, but during the millennial reign of Christ it will rebound exponentially, “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea“, (Revelation 20:7-8).
After the tribulation follows the millennial reign of Christ. We’re told that during the millennium, glorified believers will be ruling and reigning with Christ (Revelation 20:4-6). They will be reigning over regular human beings who still have their sin nature.
We know this to be true because after the millennium is a Satanic rebellion against Christ and his saints (Revelation 20:7-9). Satan who is released at the end of the millennium for a “little while” (Revelation 20:3) will capitalize off of their frustrations and contempt which already exists within their hearts to deceive them (Revelation 20:7-10). Why is this fact important?
If the rapture and the second coming of Christ were the same event, that would mean Jewish and Gentile believers – both dead as well as those who made it to the end of the tribulation alive – will be given glorified bodies as that’s what 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 distinctly tells us.
If this is the case, then there would be no regular humans left to repopulate the earth during the millennium because all of them would have been glorified at Christ’s second coming. This is a point I believe many either miss or forget.
Jesus makes it clear to us in Matthew 22:30 that glorified human beings won’t be married and therefore wont reproduce – just like the angels in heaven, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.” This also means glorified believers will have no one to reign over during this thousand year period. This contradicts what we read in scripture which shows us that there are still flesh and blood humans with a sinful nature on the earth at this time.
Ultimately, the glorification of believers illustrates to us the necessity of the rapture occurring before the second coming of Christ. If this were to occur at any other time, key events described to us in the bible such as the re-population of the earth, ruling and reigning over humans with Christ, and the Satanic rebellion after the millennium would not be possible as all believers who enter the millennium would be glorified already.
Returning with Christ
We’ve gone over several points now to make the case that the rapture is a separate and distinct event from the second coming of Christ. One other reason that makes this true is due to the fact that at the rapture we meet Christ in the air, but at the second coming we will return to earth with him.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 makes this clear to us, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord”. Although Matthew 24 doesn’t mention the return of believers with Christ, we see this expressed to us in Revelation 19 which delves into Christ’s second coming in further detail, “And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses,” (Revelation 19:14).
Some see this passage and argue that this could only be the angels as scripture is clear that angels accompany Christ at his return – and this is true, to an extent. We see in Matthew 24:31 that Christ will send his angels upon his return to earth to gather his elect. This would necessitate the angels coming with him. This point is reiterated again in Matthew 25, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory,” (Matthew 25:31).
However, as we do more digging we see that scripture also tells us his saints will accompany him at his coming also.
- “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem…Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You.” (Zechariah 14:1-2, 5)
- “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14)
- “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'” (Jude 1:14-15)
In the above 3 verses we’re told about the Lord’s return and the judgment he will exact upon unbelievers. Zechariah 14:1 tells us this will occur at the day of the Lord. Revelation 17:14 shows us this occurs at Christ’s second coming when the Antichrist and his armies make war against him but are defeated. Jude 1:14-15 also gives us the same context of the Lord judging unbelievers at his coming. The context is the day of the Lord, Christ’s second coming, or the end of the tribulation period.
Each passage also shows us that he comes with his “saints”, those who are called “chosen, and faithful”. They are with him as he exacts this judgment. This is not speaking about angels but the believer saved through Christ’s redemptive work on the cross.
Although scripture is clear that Jesus returns with angels, we also understand that he returns with his saints as well. With this understanding, I believe it’s clear that the “armies in heaven” being described to us in Revelation 19:14 aren’t just angels but believers returning to the earth with Christ.
Because they’re just now returning with Christ to the earth, it logically follows that preceding this point, they were in heaven with the Lord. The obvious question then should be “how did they get there?” It should be clear that as these believers are now glorified and rewarded (Revelation 19:8), they would’ve been raptured beforehand.
I’ve already made a clear case that at the rapture believers will be given glorified bodies. Glorified humans won’t reproduce, however, we must note that the earth will be repopulated during the millennial reign of Christ by believers who enter into this period of time (which I will go into later). Because this is true, this necessitates a rapture prior to Christ’s return to the earth.
If this wasn’t the case, are we to believe that as Christ descends out of heaven, all believers are raptured, glorified, rewarded, mounted on horses, and ride back to earth all within the same time? They’re brought up to meet the Lord only to do what some call a “U-turn” almost immediately? I don’t believe that case can be made when we consider these differences and the previously mentioned points.
Judgment of the Goat and Sheep Nations
The final point I want to bring up is that when Jesus returns to earth, he gathers all nations at the valley of Jehoshaphat to judge the nations based on how his people – Israel – were treated during the tribulation (Joel 3:1-17, Matthew 25:31-46).
This is known as the judgment of the goat and sheep nations. A quick point to note is that in Joel 3:1, God declares “in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations,” (Joel 3:1-2).
I note these verses because it tells us at the end of the tribulation God will bring back his people. This promise from God to Israel to bring them back to their land is found in other parts of the Old Testament such as in Jeremiah 30:3.
For behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ (Jeremiah 30:3)
We can be assured that this verse is within the context of the tribulation period because a few verses later we’re given the time frame as to when God performs this, “Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it,” (Jeremiah 30:7).
In Matthew 24:31 we’re told angels are sent to gather God’s elect. I’ve shown earlier that in the Old Testament Israel is also called God’s elect. What I believe Matthew 24 is showing us isn’t a post-trib rapture but when we keep God’s promises from the Old Testament in mind as well as the larger Jewish context in Matthew 24, we see that we’re being shown the regathering of the Jews just as God promised, a point I made in the previous article as well. I plan to delve into this further in a future study.
To return to the main point, during the judgment of the goat and sheep nations Jesus will divide people based on how they treated Israel. Those who treated Israel well will enter into the millennial kingdom while those who didn’t only have eternal fire to look forward to (Matthew 25:31-46).
It’s also important to keep in mind that this judgment involves flesh and blood human beings who survived to the end of the tribulation. When we understand these points, we see that there are 2 groups of people that make it into the millennial kingdom alive after the tribulation:
- The 1/3 remnant of the Jewish nation (Zechariah 13:9, Joel 3:16)
- Believing gentiles who were judged as “sheep” in the judgment of the goat and sheep nations
It’s these 2 groups of people who gain entry into the millennial kingdom and it’s from these 2 groups in which the earth will be repopulated. It’s the offspring from these 2 groups which will still have their sin nature and later decide to rebel against Christ and his saints. Neither of the people in either group are glorified during these sequence of events.
Aside from the fact that what’s shown to us in Matthew 24 is a different series of events than 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4, we also see there’s a dilemma with the sequence of events involving the glorification of believers at the second coming.
Only a rapture before the second coming allows for there to still be humans with a sin nature to repopulate the planet during the millennium as the bible says. We also saw that at Christ’s second coming is the judgment of the goat and sheep nations which includes humans that survived till the end of the tribulation.
I believe I made a clear case as to why a plain reading of scripture does not allow for the interpretation that the rapture and second coming are one and the same event.
Such an interpretation ignores the glorification of the believer which must take place before the millennium, the judgment of the goat and sheep nations which involves flesh and blood human beings, the introduction of human beings with a sin nature (believing Jews and believing Gentiles) into the millennial kingdom and repopulate the earth, and lastly, the rebellion that takes place at the end of the millennial reign of Christ.
Other articles in this series:
- A Rapture Study
- A Rapture Study: The Tribulation
- A Rapture Study: The Tribulation II
- A Rapture Study: Rapture vs Second Coming
- A Rapture Study: One Taken, One Left
- A Rapture Study: One Taken, One Left II
- A Rapture Study: Parable of the Wheat and Tares
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