We know the rapture will happen, but only God knows the appointed time. The Bible tells us that at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we’ll be gathered to him. Let’s take a look at being “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air:
15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)
The apostle Paul uses the phrase we who are alive, who are left twice, once in verse 15 and once in verse 17. In verse 15 Paul says, “We who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord.” In verse 17 Paul says, “We who are alive who are left, will be caught up together.” So, now we know that “we who are alive who are left” will be “caught up” at the “coming of the Lord.”
Now let’s look at the “coming of the Lord” in 2 Thessalonians 2. The subject is in verse 1, which is The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him. Like the phrase we who are alive, who are left in 1 Thessalonians 4, used twice for the one event, Paul does the same thing in 2 Thessalonians 2 with the word revealed. He uses this word in verse 3 and in verse 8. Let’s read the text:
1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8)
In verse 3, Paul says, “For that day will not come.” What day? The day of the Lord from verse 2, which is the subject, The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering with him. But how do we know that the day of the Lord (or Christ) is the same as “the coming of our Lord Jesus and our gathering with him”? We know from the following scripture:
so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, (Philippians 1:10; see also 2:16)
This scripture tells us to be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Now let’s compare being blameless for the day of Christ to being blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus:
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
From the two previous scriptures, it’s clear that the day of Christ and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ are the same. But what does blameless mean?
Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression. (Psalm 19:13)
Being blameless is not willfully sinning.
Some believe that the coming of the Lord from 1 Thessalonians 4:15 and the coming of the Lord from Matthew 24:30 are separate events. What about the coming of the Lord from 2 Thessalonians 2:1, in which we’re gathered to Jesus, as in Matthew 24:31? We know they’re the same because we’re not gathered to Jesus twice. Let’s look at the following scripture in which Paul says, “That day”:
when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:10)
Paul says, “When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at among all who have believed.” Faithful Christians are the ones who believe. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Paul says, “For that day shall not come.” Now we know “that day” refers to the coming of our Lord Jesus, or the day of the Lord (or Christ). Let’s look at this scripture again:
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
In this context, “that day” is referring to the day of the Lord, which is the coming of our Lord Jesus and our gathering to him. After we’re gathered to Jesus, God’s wrath begins.
In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)
Let’s continue with this ‘day’:
being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
In this scripture, the apostle Paul says, “The day of Christ Jesus.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Paul says this day won’t happen until the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness (the antichrist) is “revealed.” In verse 4, Paul goes on to say that the man of lawlessness takes his seat in the temple of God and proclaims himself to be God (see Daniel 11:36). This event could represent the desolating abomination being “set up” or “standing” in the holy place, which happens at half the week (see Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11).
So, the man of lawlessness must be revealed, sit in the temple, and proclaim himself to be God before the day of the Lord, in which the rapture happens. In 2 Thessalonians 2, we can’t take out verse 4 and make it a different event, it goes with verse 3. In Verse 8 Paul says, “And then,” the man of lawlessness is “revealed.” What happens after the man of lawlessness is “revealed” in verse 3? We have the day of the Lord, which is the coming of our Lord Jesus and our gathering to him. All we have to do is compare verses 3 and 8. The key word used is revealed. The event that happens after the man of lawlessness is “revealed” in verse 3, which is the day of the Lord (or the day of Christ), is the same event that will happen after the man of lawlessness is “revealed” in verse 8, which is the day of the Lord (or the day of Christ). Verses 3 and 8 aren’t two different events. The antichrist won’t be “revealed” twice, once in verse 3 and again in verse 8. Let’s look at verse 8 again which mentions Jesus’s coming:
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of His coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
This scripture says, “His coming”. What’s the subject again? The subject is The coming of our Lord Jesus and our gathering with him.
After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? (1 Thessalonians 2:19)
Just the same, there’s only one day of Christ (or day of the Lord). Now let’s go to 1 Corinthians concerning “his coming”:
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:23-24; see 3:13 in regard to “the Day”)
Let’s look at this scripture concerning the day of the Lord:
hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:5)
This scripture says, “Saved on the day of the Lord.” Let’s look at this scripture again:
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
This scripture is clear. The man of sin, the antichrist, will be revealed In Revelation 6, the white horse. There are three other horses. The rapture of the faithful is in Revelation 7:9. Nowhere does Scripture say that anyone will be raptured before this. Jesus Christ makes his appearing in Revelation 6:16-17, which is our blessed hope.
We’ll be gathered to Jesus on the day of Christ (or Christ Jesus), or the day of the Lord, or the day of God. We know that the day of the Lord and the day of God are the same by comparing 2 Peter 3:10 and 3:12. In verse 12, Peter tells us to hasten the coming of the day of God because we’re gathered to Jesus on that day. After this, God’s wrath begins on the world, as we read in Revelation 8. This fits with 1 Corinthians 15:23-24 in which we read earlier.
There’s only going to be one way our Lord Jesus Christ is going to return:
30 At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Matthew 24:30-31; see also Revelation 1:7)
When Jesus comes, we’ll be gathered to him. Let’s try to be found blameless and unashamed on that day.
so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen. (1 Thessalonians 3:13)
After we’re gathered to Jesus, God’s wrath will begin.
16 They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:16-17)
Let’s sum it all up by looking at the four horsemen. The 1st seal is the antichrist, the white horse. He must be revealed before Jesus appears in the 6th seal. In the 2nd seal, the rider of the red horse is not just given a sword, but a great sword. This could represent a great war, possibly nuclear war. The 3rd seal is the black horse, famine, which is probably a worldwide famine that could lead to the mark of the beast. The putrid green horse, Death, follows war and famine. We know from the 5th seal that there will be great tribulation among believers before the day of the Lord in the 6th seal. This will be great tribulation or persecution from the antichrist. The wrath of God begins in chapter 8, the 7th seal. Revelation 7 explains the rapture.
After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9)
We come out of great tribulation:
13 Then one of the elders addressed me: “These in white robes,” he asked, “who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:13-14)
Jesus delivers us and keeps us from the wrath to come, God’s wrath, the hour of trial on the world.
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10; see also Revelation 3:10)
In these last days, let’s avoid the fate of eternal hell by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and turning from evil. Let’s receive God’s promise of eternal life and do the best we can in a fallen world. Peace to everyone and may our Lord Jesus Christ return soon.
Futile World 