Have you ever driven through a town with one stoplight—one of those towns you might miss if you blink?
The rapture refers to the time in the future when Christ will return to the earth and take believers to heaven with Him. Many churches teach that the rapture will happen secretly, referring to it as the “secret rapture.” Books and movies portray pilots vanishing from airline cockpits and drivers disappearing from their cars, leaving us wide-eyed imagining the resulting chaos.
Will the rapture really happen secretly? What does the Bible say? Here are five Bible reasons you won’t have to worry that you’ll blink and miss it.
1. Christ will return to earth in the same way He went up—in plain view. Soon after He was resurrected, Jesus met with a large group of His followers near Jerusalem. This meeting took place out in the open, in plain view of everyone passing by. Suddenly, Jesus’ feet left the ground as He ascended to heaven. As He did, “two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven’ ” (Acts 1:10, 11). The Bible even specifies that “every eye will see Him” (Revelation 1:7). Read also Matthew 24:27!
2. Christ will return with a shout, an angel voice, and God’s trumpet. The apostle Paul was quite specific in his description of the events of the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. The rapture being secret would be like sneaking up on someone while banging on pots and pans!
3. Graves all over the planet will break open at once. Paul continued his inspired picture of the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, reporting that “the dead in Christ will rise first.” These believers who have died will break out of their graves simultaneously all around the planet! How many graves would this be? Let’s put it this way: Recently, the
BBC published an article titled, “The world is running out of burial space.” Brace yourself for the sound of concrete breaking up all around you!
4. Everyone going to heaven will go up together. After Christ breaks believers out of their graves, “We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). That means every believer will rise off the ground and meet Christ in the air together. Among this throng of people, don’t you think there will be shouts of praise and joy? Sounds like it will be hard to miss the sight and sound of it.
5. The structure of Planet Earth will begin to melt. Peter added his description of the rapture, saying that “the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat” (2 Peter 3:12). Imagine the ear-splitting spectacle of the entire sky crackling with a roaring fire and the stunning visual image of our planet’s infrastructure melting with extreme heat!
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