Do you know what it’s like to be told that something you’ve been taught for your entire life is totally false? As in, today I found out that the Rapture… yeah, apparently not real. Not Biblically supported. The verse quoted that supposedly supports the rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.
It says (NIV): “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 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.” (underline mine)
This verse is the reason I believe the rapture?!? Mkay. Well, apparently “caught up” in Greek is translated as “meet” in a lot of other English translations (as in, “we will meet the Lord in the air”). Either way… the Greek word, while it does mean “meet,” it’s a special kind of “meet.” It means "to usher in.” It’s used again when some people come to “meet” Paul as he was headed to their village. They walk 40 some miles out to “meet” him. Same Greek word used. It doesn’t mean they went out, and then they all went somewhere else. No, it means they ushered him into their village. It means they wanted to be part of his parade that brought him into town. It’s used to mean that you usher in important people. You “meet” them. It doesn't mean that we meet Jesus, and he takes us away. Apparently, it just means that the second coming is just him coming down to restore the earth, and we who are left here when that happens are a part of ushering him in, a part of his parade.
So. I don’t know Greek. So I can’t tell you whether this is true or not. All I know is no one ever told me how shaky the evidence was for this whole Rapture deal. Now, I was a little suspicious when I read the Bible and didn’t exactly find much about it, but yeah. I’m not saying I believe either way. I need more resources before I make that judgment... I told so many people about the Rapture, though. oie. Just thought you might want to know another side of things so that you will be inspired to explore it more before you make a judgment as well.
