It’s the most persistent lie concerning the Rapture. I have either read or heard it more times than I can count.
Though it’s been debunked countless times, a great many saints remain convinced that the doctrine of the pre-Tribulation Rapture originated with John Darby. Although they insist that no one believed in such a thing before him, it’s simply not true.
Let me be clear: If anyone tells you that this teaching originated with John Darby, they are either purposely misleading you or have themselves been the victim of someone deceiving them about the origin of our “blessed hope.”
Regardless of the timing of the Rapture, the teaching that Jesus will someday appear and catch-up both dead and living saints to meet Him in the air is biblically-based.
Scripture provides several details regarding the sequence of events that we now refer to as the “Rapture.” The late Dr. Ed Hindson, former professor at Liberty University, beloved Bible scholar, and author, put it this way:
If you disagree on the timing of the rapture, please don’t tell people, “There’s never going to be a rapture.” No, there must be a rapture or the Bible is not true. There must be a time when the archangel shouts, when the trumpet sounds, and the dead in Christ are raised and the living are caught up (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). We may differ on the timing of the rapture but not the fact of the rapture.[1]
We find references to the “Rapture” in John 14:2–3; 1 Corinthians 15:50–55; Philippians 3:20–21; Romans 8:23–25; Titus 2:11–14; and Colossians 3:4. Putting these passages together, we arrive at a series of events that comprise our “blessed hope.”
If the Bible is true, there must be a still future time when Jesus appears, raises the dead in Christ, and catches living believers up to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 1 Corinthians 15:47-55). Since the words of these texts have never reached fulfillment anytime in the past, they point to a yet future reality, which we call the Rapture. It’s the time the Lord gives us our immortal and glorified bodies, the essence of our future experience of eternal life.
Because the Bible is true, the event we now designate as the Rapture awaits a future and certain fulfillment.
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