A study in the book of Revelation.
The rapture of the church is a phenomenon that some church organizations actually preach against. They do not believe that the Rapture takes place at the end of chapter 3 and before the beginning of chapter 4 in the Book of Revelation. At the time of the Rapture, believers who have died will have their bodies resurrected and, along with believers who are still living, will meet the Lord in the air. This will all occur in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. In short, the Rapture is the return of Christ in the clouds to remove all believers from the earth before the time of God’s wrath. There are some church organizations such as the United Church of God that do not believe that the rapture takes place between Chapters 3 and 4 in the Book of Revelation. According to a CBN news article, fewer and fewer pastors believe that there is a rapture that will take place prior to the Tribulation if at all. Out of 1,000 senior Protestant pastors surveyed, only a third (36 percent) believed in a pre-tribulation rapture where Christians disappear at the start of the apocalypse and those left behind suffer tribulation. Thirty-six percent of pastors say the rapture is not literal, while almost 1 in 5 believes the rapture happens after the tribulation (18 percent).
Twenty-four verses in the book of Revelation refer to the church. Twenty of the 24 verses refer to the church in the present church age. These verses can be found in chapters 1, 2, 3, 19, 21, and 22. It is important to note that there are no references to the church on the earth in chapters 4 through 18. The church is mentioned 17 times in the first three chapters of Revelation, but after John is called up to heaven at the beginning of chapter 4, he looks down on the events of the Tribulation, and the church is not mentioned or seen again until chapter 19, when she returns to the earth with her Bridegroom at His glorious appearing. The Rapture has come under attack by many. It is difficult to understand why there is such opposition by some people who call themselves Christians to the idea that the bridegroom would come for His bride prior to pouring forth His wrath. If the Church is to come through the tribulation judgments that are to come upon the earth, then, say it plainly, why do we yet hope? Why do we believe in the blessed hope that is mentioned in Titus 2:13 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;” There are so many preachers and professed Christians who are determined to dismiss this blessed hope and to attempt to persuade those of us who do believe in it and receive it to doubt what it is promising us. I cannot teach from the Book of Revelation and ignore the Rapture because the Rapture is an extremely important element in understanding what happens between chapters 3 and 4.
