The Rapture is the belief that believers will be caught up to meet Christ. The word comes from the Latin rapio, meaning to seize or carry off. It is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:17. 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. The word rapture is not in the Bible. It is a Latin translation of the Greek harpazo, meaning to catch up. The rapture is the catching up. The rapture is the meeting. The rapture is the reunion. The rapture is the rapture.

The Rapture is a controversial doctrine. It is taught by some Protestants. It is rejected by Catholics. It is rejected by Orthodox. It is rejected by many evangelicals. It is a recent doctrine. It was popularized in the 19th century. John Nelson Darby taught it. It was spread by the Scofield Reference Bible. It was popularized by the Left Behind series. It is a pre-tribulation rapture. Christ will return before the tribulation. He will rapture the church. Then the tribulation. Then the second coming. That is the dispensational view. Other views include mid-tribulation. Post-tribulation. Pre-wrath. Partial. The views vary. The rapture is the rapture.

Rapture in theology

• Pre-tribulation: before the tribulation.
• Mid-tribulation: in the middle.
• Post-tribulation: after the tribulation.
• Pre-wrath: before the wrath of God.
• Partial: only some believers.
• Post-millennial: after the millennium.
• Amillennial: not literal.

The Rapture is not the second coming. It is distinct. It is a separate event. It is a secret event. It is a sudden event. It is a signless event. Christ does not touch the earth. He meets believers in the air. He takes them to heaven. He returns with them later. That is the rapture. That is the teaching. That is the hope. That is the rapture. The rapture is a comfort. It is a hope. It is a promise. It is a reunion. It is a homecoming. It is a wedding. It is a marriage. It is the marriage of the Lamb. It is the rapture. We will be caught up. We will meet the Lord. We will be with him forever. That is the promise. That is the hope. That is the rapture.