A Response: “A Biblical Guide to Revelation” — Part 3

In this series we’ve been following a free guide I downloaded titled, “A Biblical Guide to Revelation” (hereinafter, “Biblical Guide” or “Guide). In the first part, we just looked briefly at the Introduction. In Part 2, we looked at Chapter 1: Who Are the Seven Churches in Revelation. Now we’re ready to look at the next chapter.

Chapter 2: What Should We Know about the Rapture?

In this chapter, the Biblical Guide starts by noting that the term “rapture” was first used by the 19th century Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, John Nelson Darby. It’s an English translation of the Latin word rapio meaning to “seize or snatch away.”

Think about this for a moment.

The idea of the “rapture” wasn’t taught until the 19th century and it’s not found in most Christian traditions even to this day. That is to say, it’s pretty much a Western, Evangelical, Protestant doctrine. Again, there’s nothing wrong with this, per se. I’m just pointing out the stream in which this Guide swims.

The Guide then states that many people don’t like the term because it doesn’t appear in the Bible and argues that neither does the word “Trinity” but it’s still used. The Guide states that the term “rapture,” like the word “Trinity,” is a “word picture” and it describes, “… how believers will join the Lord in the air in the same way” (pg. 10). That statement is allusion to Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4.17, not any verse in Revelation.

What I find interesting about his chapter is that out of the 8 passages the Guide cites in support of the “rapture,” it only quotes one verse from Revelation! And the passage it does cite has nothing to do with the so-called “rapture” but “escaping judgement.” Here’s the text the Guide quotes from Revelation:

Revelation 3.10 (CEB):[1] Because you kept my command to endure, I will keep you safe through the time of testing that is about to come over the whole world, to test those who live on earth (emphasis added).

From this verse, the Guide supposes that Christ “keep[ing] you safe” is the “rapture.” There are several problems with this idea, though. First, the verse is in the letter written — not to us — but to the church in Philadelphia (no, not the city in Pennsylvania). Second, the events of Revelation were to “shortly take place,” as we noted previously. Verse 10 tells us that the “time of testing” was “about to come” when this letter was written and not thousands of years in the future. Christ re-emphasises this in the next verse, “I’m coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown” (verse 11; emphasis added). Third, the passage hints at, rather overtly, that the followers of Jesus in Philadelphia were being persecuted by Jewish people (who, the passage states, weren’t really Jews; verse 9). This last point ties directly into the persecution seen over and over again in the book of Acts (see 4.3-22; 5.17-42; 6.8-8.1; 9.23-24; 20.19; 23.12-14; etc.).

What does any of that have to do with the supposed “rapture?”

Absolutely nothing.

There’s nothing within that section that even hints at a supposed “snatch[ing] away” of those followers of Jesus. Furthermore, there’s nothing in that section that could possibly be extrapolated into our time or into the future.

Click here as we move on to the next chapter.

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In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

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[1] Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations and references — and scripture quotations marked (CEB) — are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible. Used by permission.