Rapture Versus Redemption

The last two blogs have explored the fascinating topic of the rapture. There are basically two passages of scripture which have been used to support the rapture: I Thessalonians 4:16-17 and Matthew 24:40-41. However, we’ve seen that these passages have been badly misunderstood. Neither one suggests that Christians will suddenly disappear, snatched away to heaven. The rapture quite simply cannot be found anywhere in the Bible.

Many Christians might also be surprised to learn that the rapture is a relatively new concept, unknown for most of church history. The rapture can be traced to a man named John Nelson Darby who developed the theory in the late 1820s. Darby was an English Irish clergyman who left the church of Ireland and founded a small denomination called the Plymouth Brethren. Darby’s views were later incorporated into the notes of the Schofield Reference Bible, published in 1909. This highly influential Bible amplified Darby’s perspective, particularly in the United States.

Belief in the rapture got a further boost in 1970, when American evangelical Hal Lindsey published a book entitled The Late Great Planet Earth. Despite heavy criticism from scholars, Lindsey’s book became a best seller and later became a movie narrated by Orson Welles.

The rapture loomed large in Hal Lindsey’s thought. So too did the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948. Lindsey was convinced that the rebirth of Israel would be followed swiftly (within one generation, which he defined as 40 years) by a number of end time events. He anticipated that the Jewish temple would be rebuilt in Jerusalem. He also believed that the Soviet Union would invade Israel and that the European Economic Community (forerunner to the European Union) would become a neo-Roman Empire, ruled by the antichrist. Lindsey predicted, or at least strongly suggested, that these earth-shattering events would occur during the 1980’s. “The decade of the 1980s,” he declared, “could very well be the last decade of history as we know it.”

In 1995, authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins published Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days. Like Hal Lindsey before them, LaHaye and Jenkins resuscitated John Nelson Darby’s ideas. As the title suggests, this book series begins with the rapture of faithful Christians whose abrupt departure leaves the world in a state of chaos. This turmoil gives the antichrist his opportunity; he comes to power as the secretary general of the United Nations.

There clearly is a huge appetite for this kind of material. Like The Late Great Planet Earth, the Left Behind books have sold millions of copies, becoming a fixture in Christian homes and church libraries alike.

Today’s church thus finds itself in a very curious position. Unquestionably, the rapture has achieved a very high profile among evangelicals. Yet the vast majority of the rapture enthusiasts remain blissfully unaware that the concept was completely absent for 18 centuries after the resurrection of our Lord. Moreover, the rapture is largely an American phenomenon. Although Darby was from the UK, his ideas primarily took root in the United States. Christians outside of America largely regard the rapture as a bizarre oddity, if they even know about it at all.

Now I hasten to add that there are many fine Christians who have embraced some kind of belief in the rapture. However, rapture theology is not harmless. I would like to address two ways that the rapture pulls our faith out of shape.

(1) The rapture strongly encourages the neglect or rejection of God’s created order. Perhaps the most common misconception in evangelical Christianity involves our eternal destiny. Vast swathes of the church believe that upon their death (or the Lord’s return) they shall be transported to heaven. Meanwhile, the created order will be abolished forever, consumed by fire. Hal Lindsey has made a distinct contribution to this muddle. The title of his tome says it all: The Late Great Planet Earth. This language clearly implies the impending destruction of the earth. Even the book’s cover shows the earth bursting into flames! The Left Behind series is no better. The subtitle reads: “A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days.” Once again, the globe is portrayed in fiery orange hues, implying the world’s impending immolation.

Yet the Biblical story does not involve God discarding his creation, but rather its rescue and redemption. Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its slavery to decay, to enjoy the freedom that comes when God’s children are glorified.” (Romans 8:19-21)

Paul here describes the entire creation, like a kid on Christmas morning, eagerly anticipating the grand moment when God will at last liberate the world from evil, injustice, violence, immorality and everything else that brings about misery and death. If Paul had been expecting the earth of explode in flames, he could hardly have made a more bizarre statement. Why would the creation be earnestly awaiting its own annihilation?

Now I am aware that some advocates of the rapture envision a scheme by which those Christians who have been taken to heaven during the rapture, eventually return to earth to reign with Christ. Nonetheless, the idea of the rapture has had the overall effect of impressing upon people’s minds the very pessimistic notion that the cosmos is doomed, headed for a fiery conflagration. This in turn produces the mistaken belief that salvation requires escaping the world’s sad fate by being evacuated to heaven.

It cannot be said too often that this scenario simply does not square with the scriptures. The story of the Bible does not end with God’s people in heaven while the earth spins off to madness. (Nor does it involve God abolishing the creation and then starting all over again.) Rather, the story concludes with the world being delivered from all the dark forces which have conspired to ruin it.

Knowing this story is vital for Christian service. It reminds us that we have been called to be God’s agents in helping to bring about the redemption of creation. The church cannot allow itself to ignore the problems which afflict the world in the misguided belief that someday God will abandon his handiwork. Following Jesus means engaging the world, confronting the evil and injustice we see all around us.

(2) The rapture promotes the mistaken belief that God’s people will escape suffering. According to the rapture crowd, the rapture itself will be followed by a period of time referred to as the tribulation. During the tribulation, God’s wrath will be poured out upon sinful humanity. Some people may come to their senses and repent during this time of distress, but many will perish. However, the overall thrust is that God’s people will be kept safe in heaven while on earth things literally go to hell.

Several points need to be made here. First, the Bible really does gives Christians every assurance that they will not have to face the awful wrath of God. As Paul famously puts it, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus the Messiah.” God’s anger will be poured out upon those human beings who obstinately cling to their wickedness and refuse God’s grace. The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of this rejection: “[They] cursed the God of heaven because of their agonies and their terrible sores. They did not repent of what they had been doing.”

The scriptures make a very clear distinction between God’s wrath and tribulation. The word tribulation comes from the Greek word thlipsis, which can also be translated as suffering or affliction. The Bible makes it very clear that God’s people must be prepared to face tribulation/suffering in general and specifically persecution because of our loyalty to Jesus. For example, in the book of Acts, we read about how Paul and Barnabus warn the church that “getting into the kingdom would mean going through considerable suffering (thlipsis.)”

The doctrine of the rapture gives Christians the false assurance that God will allow them to avoid tribulation by whisking them away to heaven. In the future, we shall more closely examine the concept of tribulation. But for now, it’s enough to acknowledge this key concept: the Bible overall, and particularly the book of Revelation, claims that Jesus achieved victory over sin and death through his own suffering and death on the cross. The book of Revelation teaches us that Christians are called to implement the victory of Jesus in the same way. For in the mysterious purposes of the creator, our own suffering and sacrifice will be crucial to bringing about the redemption of creation.