How did Paul learn about Rapture and why did he mention it in his first epistle to the Thessalonians? How did Paul learn about Rapture and why did he mention it in his first epistle to the Thessalonians?

 

The first thing to realise is that 1 Thessalonians is the only place in the New Testament which teaches about what has come to be called “The Rapture”

This may surprise many, who will say, “But what about the two grinding at a mill? What about the people eating and drinking and giving in marriage as in the days of Noah?”

Think about it. The ones taken away unexpectedly aren’t Noah and his family: it is the people who are taken away by judgment. In the days of Noah, some were left grinding, and some could never again grind their wheat.

There is no rapture anywhere in the Bible except 1 Thessalonians.

And what does the passage actually say?

14 …we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

Jesus is bringing those who have already died.

15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

Don’t think that the people who have already died will miss out on the resurrection

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Christ will come down and the resurrection will reach those already dead even before it reaches the living.

17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

EDIT: As so many seem to miss this point, ”caught up” in this passage, (ἁρπαγησόμεθα), is translated “rapiemur” in the Vulgate. This is the root of the English word, ”rapture”. J N Darby used the Latinate word in his teaching and it has caught on as an English term for the “great catching up” in this passage.

Both the living and the newly resurrected meet Christ in the air (i.e. as he is still coming down), But we have to be careful, because we usually miss the word, ‘so” which means, “in this way or manner, thusly”.

We will not spend all eternity in the clouds. Our final destination is a new earth. So the “thusly” refers to our accompaniment of Jesus, not our location.

The accompaniment is on Jesus’ return to rule forever as King.

Paul depicts the return of our King as like the arrival of any eartly king. He comes with his entourage, When the people see him in the far distance, the townsfolk have to abandon their work and go out of the city to accompany the king to his place. The people are, in a sense, snatched (“raptured”) from whatever they are doing in order to show their respect for their ruler.

There is very little evidence for “the rapture” — a single word in a depiction of the Lord’s arrival, which much better fits the historic view that Jesus shall appear once, at the end of time, to judge the living and the dead. There is no evidence that Paul had any idea of “the rapture” as taught by J N Darby and his followers, and his purpose in 1 Thessalonians is to encourage believers who were afraid that their dead loved ones might have missed out on the resurrection at Christ’s return.