Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. [1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NASB)]
When researching another devotion, I learned that a Jeopardy contestant missed this $1,000 clue: “It’s the ascension heavenward by true Christians both living & dead at Christ’s second coming.” Although the answer was the Rapture, the contestant, an Episcopal priest, remained silent. He later explained that he didn’t believe in the Rapture or hold to a literal reading of Revelation, adding that the literal reading of Revelation is a “a product of the modern era.” His words gave me pause.
In the decades I attended denominational churches, I never heard any reference to the Rapture and can’t recall ever hearing a sermon about the tribulation or Christ’s return. While I’d read bits and pieces of Revelation, it seemed so bizarre after the first three chapters that I thought the Apostle John might have imbibed in the 1st century version of LSD. It was not until I began attending more evangelical and Bible-based churches that I became familiar with both the Rapture and Revelation.
Although not found in Scripture, the word “rapture” comes from the Latin rapiõ meaning “to seize, snatch away,” which is equivalent to the Greek word harpazõ or “caught up” that is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-52. In the Rapture, dead and living believers will be caught up together to meet Jesus in the clouds to make way for God’s judgment and wrath that will be poured out on the earth during the Tribulation. Because Scripture is unclear about how and when this will occur, Paul called it a mystērion—something that only can be known through God’s revelation. Being a mystery, however, doesn’t mean something like it won’t happen.
While there is general agreement throughout the Church about the resurrection of the dead and Christ’s return, there is a diversity of thoughts about the particulars. Unlike essential doctrine in which Christians have unity (e.g. the forgiveness of sins and Christ’s deity, death, and resurrection), there’s plenty of liberty about the specifics of the end times and Christ’s return. That Episcopal priest is just one of many Christians who don’t believe in the Rapture.
My issue is with the priest’s easy dismissal of Revelation. Perhaps he’s like a mainstream pastor friend who questions whether Revelation belongs in the Bible. Even though the New Testament canon was not firmly established until 397, the book of Revelation was considered part of the Church’s holy Scriptures in the early stages of Christianity. It was listed as part of the canon around 180 AD in both Irenaeus’ Against Heresies and on the Muratorian Fragment. Church fathers like Irenaeus (bishop of Lyons), Papias (bishop of Hierapolis), Theophilus (bishop of Antioch), Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria all accepted the Apocalypse as revealed in John’s vision.
While a renewed interest in Revelation may be “a product of the modern era,” the earliest church fathers like Irenaeus and Justin Martyr took a literal view of the thousand-year reign with Christ. It was only after Constantine awarded full legal recognition and favor to the Christian church in 313 and Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 that the focus of the church changed. No longer being persecuted for their faith, Christians went from looking for their ultimate comfort in the world beyond the grave to seeking comfort in this world. As believers became more content in the here and now, they became less eager for the Apocalypse, God’s future judgment, and Jesus’ return.
While we don’t know whether the end is near or in another 2,000 years, we should look to Christ’s promised return. As the final chapter of our salvation, Revelation never should be ignored, scorned, or forgotten. It can be confusing, intimidating, and mind-boggling at times, and we’ll probably never fully understand it. Nevertheless, Revelation is worth reading; after all, it’s the only book in the Bible promising a blessing to those who read its words and do what it says!
Devotions of the Heart 