Why The Rapture and Jesus Second Coming Are Not the Same Event

The Rapture is our focus as we motor along through chapter four of First Thessalonians. On the subject of the Rapture, the humorous story is told of an old farmer who brought his family to the big city for the very first time. They had never seen buildings so tall or sights so impressive. The farmer dropped his wife off at a department store and took his son with him to the bank—the tallest of all the buildings. As they walked into the lobby, they saw something else they had never seen before. Two steel doors opened. A rather large and elderly woman walked in, and the big doors closed behind her. The dial over the door swept to the right and then back to the left. The doors opened and a beautiful young lady came walking out. The farmer was amazed. He turned to his son and said, “You wait right here. I’m going to get your mother and run her through that thing.”¹ At the Rapture, Jesus’ followers will be transformed — they will be changed — not like what happened in this funny story but changed nonetheless. We will be transformed. We will have resurrection bodies. Why The Rapture and Jesus’ Second Coming Are Not the Same Event. That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

The Rapture of the Church can occur at any moment. Are you looking for Jesus to catch you away and deliver you from the wrath to come?

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: How are you encouraging yourself in the fact that the Lord will deliver you from the wrath that is coming upon the whole earth?

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 45 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Prayer

Father God, Maker of Heaven and Earth. We worship you and honor you. Open up the eyes of our hearts. Help us to see and know your Great Plan and purpose in the consummation of the ages in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Podcast Notes

The Rapture of the Church

1 Thessalonians 4:15–18 (ESV) — 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.

Have you heard the term or the concept of the Rapture of the Church?
If you haven’t, you are not alone.
You have company — the majority of believers on Planet Earth either do not believe that there will be a rapture of the church or a catching away of believers or don’t know it exists.
if you’re in this class, this podcast is for you.
So, what is the Rapture?
When will the Rapture occur?
Can you clue me on the details?
Yes, we can, so let’s get at it.

The Rapture: Origin of the Phrase

The Greek word for ‘caught up’ is the word ‘harpazo’ which means to grab or seize suddenly, so as to remove or gain control.
It means to snatch or carry away in such a way that no resistance is offered.
What about the word ‘rapture?’
Where does that term come from?
The English word ‘rapture’ is not in the Bible but the concept is found in this word ‘caught up.’
Rapture comes from Latin.
It comes from the Latin version of the Bible called the Vulgate.
Latin was the language of Rome.
The Bible was translated into Latin.
When I was growing up as a child in the Catholic Church, that’s what I heard when they did the scripture reading – Latin.
In fact, they did the whole service in Latin up until 1964.
I was seven years old at that time and, that’s what I remember.
The Latin word for ‘caught up’ is the word ‘rapto.’
So, that’s where the word rapture originates.

Previews of the Rapture

So, this is God’s MO — His way of operating.
He likes to show previews of what’s to come.
For example, we have previews of individual people being filled with the Holy Spirit before Acts chapter two.

Luke 1:67 (ESV) — 67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

So before the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, Zechariah, a single individual, was filled.
John the Baptist, a single individual, was also filled with the Holy Spirit – Luke 1:15 tells you that.
In Acts two, the scripture tells us [Acts 2:4], they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
That promise is for you and for your children and for as many as the Lord our God shall call [Acts 2:39].
So, the same thing here with the Rapture — we have previews of it beforehand.

2 Corinthians 12:1–4 (ESV) — 1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

The word here caught up is the same Greek ‘rapture.’
How about one more passage?

Revelation 12:5 (ESV) — 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,

So, this verse is about Jesus.
Jesus is the male child caught who will rule the nations with a rod of iron — we will talk about that ‘rod of iron’ later.
This child was ‘caught up’ to God and to His Throne.
What’s this about?
It’s about the Ascension.

Acts 1:9–11 (ESV) — 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him [Jesus] out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

So Jesus experienced a rapture in His Ascension.
He was caught up in the clouds and ascended to the Throne of God.
So, Paul experienced a catching away, and Jesus experienced the same — it’s almost as if God is showing us a small sample of what’s to come.
Like a movie preview — a small excerpt.

Another Rapture Excerpt

Here’s another scriptural preview of what the Rapture is like.
It’s found in the Book of Acts.

Acts 8:26–40 (ESV) — 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”

This passage the Ethiopian Eunuch was lacking understanding of is Isaiah fifty-three verses seven and eight.
The Eunuch asks Philip this question.

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

That means that baptism was part of the message that Philip preached to the Eunuch.
You remember Jesus’ own words in Matthew twenty-eight about the Great Commission and Baptism.

Matthew 28:18–20 (ESV) — 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 [Go therefore] and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

Now here’s the part you need to know about the Rapture.

39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

Carried away — those two words are the same Greek word for rapture.
So, it’s translated caught up, carried away, snatched.

40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Azotus was somewhere around 18–20 miles north of Gaza.
So Philip was raptured twenty miles away in the blink of an eye.
He was preaching the gospel in Gaza one minute to one man and a split second later he was 20 miles away in Azotus preaching the gospel to many people there.
Well, that beats taking an Uber.
I wonder if they had Camel Ubers in the first century.
So, we have all these pictures in God’s Word pointing at the Rapture.
So, it’s not something that hasn’t happened — all of it has been on a small scale.
But, we have signs pointing to this much larger event.

The Second Coming Versus the Rapture

So, now let’s look at some Second Coming of Jesus passages and let’s compare them to the Rapture and see if they are the same or are they different.

Zechariah 14:1–4 (ESV) – 1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.

This passage references the Second Coming.
How do you know?
Check the feet!
Listen to it again.

On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.

Compare this to what we read here in First Thessalonians four.

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.

Do see that [hear that]?
In the Rapture passage, God does not come down to earth.
His feet never touch the ground.
So, the Rapture and the Second Coming are two entirely different events, and, with that thought here is the Quote of the Day.

Martin Luther said he only had two days on his calendar—today and “that day.”

For Jesus’ followers, ‘that day’ is the Rapture of the church.

More Differences Between the Second Coming and the Rapture

Here’s probably the most well-known Second Coming passage.

Revelation 19:11–20:1 (ESV) — 11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

Here’s another difference between the Rapture and the Second Coming — the armies of heaven coming with Jesus.
Jesus is out front — the armies are behind.
You don’t see any armies in First Thessalonians.

15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.

The reference here is to the Second Psalm.

Psalm 2:7–9 (ESV) — 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

The rod was the scepter of the king.
The image here is of a king who takes his scepter and smashes a piece of pottery to smithereens displaying with this action what he is going to do to his enemies.
The king is saying I have the authority to do it — I have the power to do it.
From the mouth of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords comes a sharp sword which totally pulverizes the enemies of God to pieces — that’s what ruling with a rod of iron means.
This account in Revelation continues.

He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”

The Second Coming is a total blood bath where the enemies of God are concerned.
There is nothing like this in the Rapture account — it’s a completely different deal.

19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

This Second Coming passage in Revelation shows distinct from the Rapture account we are studying today.
Note the tone of this set of verses — it’s completely different than our text in Thessalonians.
There are a ton of people who die on the day of the Second Coming.
In the Rapture passage, in Thessalonians, nobody dies.
Those who are dead in Christ go to life — they rise first.
Then, the living is caught up to be with Jesus, the Prince of Life.
In the Second Coming passage, it’s the other way around, those who are alive and breathing, the living go to death.
Rapture — go to life. Second Coming — go to death.
Here’s yet another difference between the two events.
In the Rapture passage, saved people are referenced — the letter is to a church.
In the Second Coming passage, it’s obvious those people are unsaved because they are fighting against Jesus.

Four Distinct Rapture Passages

There are four distinct rapture passages.

John 14:1–3 (ESV) — 1 Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Jesus tells us in this passage that He is leaving earth and going back to heaven — I go to prepare a place for you.
Then He says, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
That’s a reference to the Rapture — Jesus is coming personally to take you back to heaven.
Again, this happens in the air.
Jesus never comes down to earth.
That’s passage number two — passage number one is the one in First Thessalonians four that is the subject of this podcast.
Here’s number three.

1 Corinthians 15:51–54 (ESV) — 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Now, here is passage number four.
You want to read all the way down to verse ten – for time’s sake, I’m going to read the first two verses.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–2 (ESV) — 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.

So now, we have laid some groundwork so we can jump into these verses in First Thessalonians four.
Hopefully, you’ve seen that there is such a thing as the Rapture.
We’ve looked at some previews of it.
We’ve looked at the four passages that refer to it.
And, you’ve seen that the Rapture is not the same thing as the Second Coming.
In next week’s podcast, we are going to pick up right where we left off and we are going to dissect First Thessalonians four and talk about the Rapture event itself.

Now Father God, we praise you and give you all the glory for the times and seasons that are only in your hand. You know the Day and the hour of the Rapture — of our catching away unto you. What a glorious day that will be. We look forward to it — we put our hope in it as you commanded us to do. Thank You in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Why The Rapture and Jesus’ Second Coming Are Not the Same Event.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

How to Study a Book of the Bible

__________
References:

Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 296. ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Why The Rapture and Jesus Second Coming Are Not the Same Event

Podcast: Light on Life Season Ten Episode Thirty-Four

by Emery Horvath

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Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Rapture of the Church

The Rapture: Origin of the Phrase

Previews of the Rapture

Another Rapture Excerpt

The Second Coming Versus the Rapture

More Differences Between the Second Coming and the Rapture

Four Distinct Rapture Passages

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

We are currently teaching in the book of First Thessalonians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Rapture of the Church

The Rapture: Origin of the Phrase

Previews of the Rapture

Another Rapture Excerpt

The Second Coming Versus the Rapture

More Differences Between the Second Coming and the Rapture

Four Distinct Rapture Passages

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