Articles
Word Of The Week: Rapture
The word "rapture" commonly means some kind of emotional bliss or extreme joy. But in a religious sense some use the term to speak of an anticipated return of Jesus. Of late, a man by the name of Harold Camping made a big stir by predicting the "rapture" of Jesus would occur May 21, 2011.
It didn’t happen, of course, and Mr. Camping was revealed as a false teacher. Many speak often of the rapture and believe that Jesus is coming back, not for the final judgment but to take all the saints of the church age with Him to heaven. They usually believe that many present-day signs point to this event occurring soon.
They also teach that Jesus will take His people to heaven, leave all the wicked on the earth for a seven-year period of horror known as "the tribulation." At the end of that time He will return to establish a kingdom in Jerusalem for 1,000 years.
People who believe such might be surprised to learn that the word "rapture" is not even in the Bible. What is in the Bible is "judgment," and Jesus is coming back to judge all men and then destroy all that has been created. The Bible speaks only of one coming of the Lord, the "day of the Lord" that will bring all things to an end (II Pet. 3:10-13; John 5:28-29).
Beware when men talk long and loud about words and concepts that are not even in the Bible. We must be alert to false ideas.
