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!
As we settled into our pews in the sanctuary, people talked loudly, called out to one another, laughed raucously, visited other pews, and checked their phones even after the organist started his beautiful prelude. It wasn’t until the pastor stood at the pulpit and started speaking that they eventually quieted down and put away their phones. As I wondered what became of the awe and reverence that should accompany us into God’s house, I again thought of the time Israel brought the sacred Ark of the Covenant into battle with them. Putting aside their idolatry, consider the lack of respect given to this religious chest designed by God and representing His presence among His people.
During the time of the judges, the Israelites were at war with the Philistines. Following their loss of 4,000 men, they questioned why God had allowed their defeat but never bothered asking Him. Instead, they decided that carrying the Ark of the Covenant into battle would guarantee a future victory. Perhaps they remembered the story of Israel entering the Promised Land—how the Jordan River stopped flowing when the feet of the priests carrying the Ark touched the water and the entire nation crossed the dry riverbed into Canaan. They may have recalled Jericho’s defeat when Israel’s priests carried the Ark around the walled city for seven days and the city’s seemingly invincible walls collapsed. Maybe they thought it was the Arks’ presence that caused those miracles; in any case, they brought the Ark to their camp in Ebenezer.
The Israelites had just crossed the Jordan River and were preparing to conquer Canaan when Joshua came upon an armed man. Joshua was a stranger in a foreign land and, as Israel’s general, he may have been scrutinizing Jericho’s defenses to determine his plan of attack. I wonder if Joshua brandished his sword (while shaking in his sandals) as he queried, “Friend or foe?” The man, however, was neither ally nor adversary. Identifying himself as the commander-in-chief of the Lord’s army, his loyalty was to neither side. His allegiance was to God and the only side he was on was God’s! God wasn’t on Israel’s side any more than He was on Canaan’s. Israel, however, was on God’s side because their conquest of Jericho was part of His master plan of redemption. It was because they were on God’s side that the fortified city’s walls collapsed.
In Acts 16, we meet Timothy, the son of a Greek Gentile and a devout Jewish woman. Paul probably met him several years earlier when he preached in Lystra or Derbe. Both Timothy and his mother were Christ followers and it was from his mother that Timothy became knowledgeable in the Hebrew Scriptures. By the time Paul returned to Lystra, Timothy was a young man who was well-regarded by the churches in Lystra and neighboring Iconium. Seeing his potential, Paul asked the young man to join him on his second missionary journey. Before departing, however, Paul asked Timothy to be circumcised.
