The Rapture: Comparing 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 with Revelation 4:1-2

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
15 "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

Revelation 4:1
1 "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."

One of the things which really excites me is teaching concerning the last days or end times. The theological term for this is eschatology, which is the study of the events which shall occur in the eschaton - the final period or age of this present world. One of the major events of the eschaton is the rapture - the catching away of the saints, both living and dead, into the presence of the Lord.
I had already decided to write my editorial on the subject of the rapture before receiving the contribution of Daniel Cox. I would recommend that you first read through his article, if you have not done so already, because it both serves as a useful introduction for this editorial, and provides an alternative opinion to my own. Although the view which shall be expressed in this article differs from that of Mr. Cox, in that I shall present a brief case for the pre-tribulation rapture, I find myself in full agreement with the rest of his article and wholeheartedly look forward to his continuing exposition of the Book of Revelation.

Thus this article should not be understood as a reply to Daniel Cox - it is just the way things have coincided. I believe that a publication such as Vanguard should be able to discuss such issues openly and freely. Two things which are sadly missing from the church today are teaching on the last days and the ability to debate in a constructive and non-divisive manner.

Daniel Cox's article serves as a good introduction for this editorial for a number of reasons, three of which I shall mention briefly. Firstly, it points out that the goal of last days teaching is to impress upon its recipients an urgency and deep desire for holiness - to be ready for the day when we are called into the Lord's presence. Secondly, Mr. Cox highlighted the idea that the rapture will only remove from the earth those who are looking and ready for it, and those who are not looking for it will have to be purged through tribulation. Although I am not dogmatic on this, it is an opinion I also adhere to. Thus I understand Revelation 7:9-17 as referring to those who, having not been raptured, are slain on account of their faith in Christ during the tribulation period. Thirdly, Mr. Cox interestingly points out that the futuristic section of the vision, the things which must be hereafter, begins in Revelation 4:1. This will also be discussed in this article.

Revelation 4:1-2

As has already been noted in this issue, it is in this verse that John's attention is shifted away from prophesying to the church of his day to the vision he receives. What actually happens in this verse is very interesting: John, whilst standing on earth, sees a door open in heaven. Then, with very specific terminology, he describes what he hears:

Revelation 4:1bc :"...and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I shew thee things which must be hereafter."

Thus John hears three things as one - or one thing made up of three component parts. [Whatever - as Christians, we should not get confused by the idea of three-in-one anyway.] The fact is that John hears the following three things:

• a voice (described as the first voice)
• a trumpet (in the sound of the voice)
• a command (to come up hither)

Following this command, to come up hither, John has the following experience:

Revelation 4:2 : "And immediately I was in the spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne."

Thus John is instantly transported through the door in heaven into the presence of God. In other words, he has his own personal rapture experience. It is interesting to note that John does not seem to have a choice in this matter - the command was given, and then it was immediately fulfilled. Now let us turn and consider 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.

In this section, the apostle Paul is minded to discuss the fate of those who died as believers. This was a new problem for the early church. They were radical in their belief in the imminent return of Jesus because a number of them witnessed His ascension and promise to return. Thus when some of the older believers began to die, quite naturally, the question was raised as to the fate of these believing dead. Paul's response, guided by the Holy Spirit, is to bring the words of comfort which we can read in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 ff.

In the process of assuring his readers of the resurrection of the righteous dead, Paul gives the following account of the future rapture:

1 Thess. 4:16-17 : "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

From this, we note the following:

• the Lord descends from heaven, but not to earth, rather to the clouds/air
• there, in the clouds, He is met by the resurrected saints and the raptured believers
• before the resurrection of the dead saints and the rapture of the believers, three very specific things are heard:

a shout
a voice (belonging to an archangel)
a trumpet (called the trump of God)

The Greek word for shout is keleusmati, and actually means "a command" or "a shout of command". Therefore, whilst we are not told what is shouted, we can be sure that it is a command. Furthermore, we also know that as a consequence of this command, the rapture occurs. [It is interesting to note that 1 Thess. 4:16 is the only place this word is used in the Bible, thus demonstrating the uniqueness of the occasion being described.] We are also told who is shouting this command - the archangel. Accompanying the archangel's command is the sound of a trumpet.
Putting the elements of John's personal rapture together with the elements of the future rapture of the church gives us the following table:

From this comparison, I would like to suggest that the command, voice and trumpet experienced by John in Revelation 4:1 is a type of the command, voice and trumpet of 1 Thess. 4:16.

I cannot think of anywhere else in scripture, except for these two places, where these three elements occur together.

The rapture of the church is nowhere described, in explicit terms, in the Book of Revelation. Only John's personal rapture is described.

Furthermore, I do not think that it is purely a coincidence that the Lord chose to rapture John in circumstances which so closely parallel Paul's description of the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:16. God could have taken John anywhere, and by any means, to show him the things which must be hereafter, but He chose to make it a near perfect type of the future rapture of the church as described by Paul.

Therefore, I would be inclined to place the rapture of the church as occurring at Revelation 4:1-2, at the beginning of John's vision proper. I would view John as a type of the church in the end times. He is removed from the earth up to heaven, from where he witnesses the tribulation of the earth and its inhabitants. Next time, we shall consider Revelation chapters 4 and 5, and examine the events which, according the model of interpretation I have suggested, follow the rapture of the church.

To people like Daniel Cox, myself and (I trust) many of our readers, the rapture of the church and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, notwithstanding the slight differences in how we understand the timing of these events, represent the blessed hope of the church [c.f. Titus 2:13].
The second advent of our Lord was the main concern of both the New Testament and the early church. It is mentioned more than 300 times in the New Testament alone. In the Bible as a whole, there are approximately eight times more verses written about the second coming of the Lord Jesus than His first coming. It was the main preoccupation of the church - from the ascension of Christ [c.f. Acts 1:11] to the end of the Book of Revelation [c.f. Revelation 22:20].

I make no apologies for stating what some may consider rather extreme - it is today's church, which seldom teaches on the second coming, seldom repeats the prayer Come Lord Jesus, seldom warns the believer of the need to be ready for the Lord, which is extreme in its divergence from the Bible. If a space-alien was to walk into some churches and listen to one year's worth of sermons (this is speaking purely hypothetically), it would probably conclude that the main emphasis of scripture is on social action, giving money to the church and several assorted methods for placating the guilt we feel because of our sin.

The church has departed from what the scriptures consider important. The chief concern of the early church, with its emphasis on the second coming, has been replaced with more temporal concerns which, although occasionally noble in intent, are distracting her from her mission - to preach the gospel, make disciples and prepare for the Lord's coming.

On many occasions, we have been mocked for our beliefs concerning the eschaton. People laugh saying "It's just a millennium frenzy", "people have been waiting for this for centuries and it hasn't happened yet", "you shouldn't look too far into these things as it is very dangerous". Brothers and sisters, let us heed the words of Peter who wrote:

2 Peter 3:3-13 : "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

We must warn people who mock because, as the parable of the ten virgins illustrates, those who are not ready when the Groom comes will be shut out. Remember, especially as we examine the Book of Revelation together over the next few editions of Vanguard, that there is a blessing promised to us who diligently seek the truths and riches contained in this book:

Revelation 1:3 : "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

We should not be afraid to venture into this book - our churches desperately need to hear what it says.

God bless, Ed.

[ Ed.Having informed Daniel Cox of my intention to write concerning the pre-tribulation rapture, I received the following letter: ]

Dear Editor

....In regard to your article expounding the pre-trib view, far from objecting, I welcome it. Feel free to present both if you choose.

We must contend for the faith delivered to us and I would contend for a pre-millenial rapture.

However I welcome lively, even passionate discussion and debate on the rapture timing, but not contention to division.

A dear old brethren man long gone to be with our Lord said once, although he fervently believed in a pre-tribulation rapture, he would rather go through the tribulation than cause division with brothers who saw things differently from him. I covet that beautiful spirit....

May God bless you and protect you from the forces that would frustrate your sincere and valuable efforts on behalf of the body of Christ.

Maranatha, Daniel.

[ Ed.Mr Cox's spirit serves as an example to us all. ]

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