WE’RE STILL HERE (FOR NOW)

By Dr. M. R. Dowler

We’re still here. Yeah! For us in the evangelical camp who believe in the rapture of the church, the fact that we’re still here means the rapture hasn’t occurred. Why is that important? Anyone remember all the hubbub over Edgar Whisenant’s four million copy book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988? But when Jesus failed to return for His own in September 1988, Whisenant merely followed-up with his not-so-award-winning sequel, 89 Reasons Why Jesus Will Return in 1989. Or what about Harold Camping’s outlandish false claims that the end of the world would occur on October 15, 2011.

Date-setting of Christ’s return is nothing new. People have been trying to calculate when Jesus will return ever since He left. The liberal media tried to make evangelicals look foolish when Harold Camping predicted on his nationwide radio program the rapture would occur in September, 1994, and then in May, 2011, and then in September, 2011. Even popular Bible prophecy author and speaker Hal Lindsey ended up with egg on his face when he incorrectly predicted Christ would return in 1988. Pride is a dangerous sin. There is something gratifying (and dangerous) about seemingly having special insight no one else has.

Theologically speaking, the word “rapture” is not in the Bible; it is an applied word from the Latin word “rapere” found in the expression “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The rapture of the church is the source of some theological debate, usually falling within three different opinions. The pre-tribulational rapture is the most biblically sound view. Simply stated, Jesus will rapture, or catch up all believers, dead and alive in a moment of time (1 Corinthians 15:51-53; John 14:1-3) before the terrible wrath of the tribulation.

Interestingly, the mid-tribulational rapture occurs, as the name implies, in the middle of the tribulation. The post-tribulational rapture advocates believe the church must endure the entire seven-year tribulation. Evangelical theology teaches a pre-tribulational rapture for two reasons based on Christ’s relationship with the church: first, the church is not appointed to the punishment as the world during the tribulation (1 Thessalonians 5:9) and lastly, the church is not mentioned during the tribulation. The church does not reappear in scripture until Revelation 19 at the Second Coming of Christ. While we are to rejoice in the promise of His return, we are not allowed to set a date when He will arrive (Matthew 25:13). Think about it.