Rapture Theories

This page is dedicated to church Rapture Theories. There are many theories pertaining to the rapture of the church and here is where I will share some of those with you. This page will be added to as I can acquire information and present it as thoroughly as possible. I may add to theories as well if I come across additional information pertaining to that particular theory.

My personal belief is that there will be a Pre-Tribulation rapture of true believers in Christ Jesus, which means those who are watching for it and are prepared for it. Some believe in multiple raptures and I will cover that here as well. So, here we go…

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I am currently working on a post which covers the belief of the rapture happening on Rosh Hashanah. I have some sites I am referring to for random input, but if you have any that you would like for me to review… please submit them in the comments here and I will look through them. Thank you for your patience.
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The first theory I will discuss here is a belief in a Pentecost Rapture. One point that I would like to point out first that I did not cover in my Pentecost Rapture post originally is that most Christians believe that Christ Jesus will need to fulfill all of the feasts of the Lord. We all know that He has already fulfilled the first 3 and have ideas on how He will fulfill the last ones in the fall… however, many believe that Pentecost has been fulfilled by Him and yet, that is NOT the case. Pentecost for the Church was done by the Holy Spirit, not Jesus. Therefore, Jesus still needs to fulfill it. This is where the Rapture (which is the next event on the prophetic time table) comes in.

Just a note… I have noticed that there is some confusion as to when Pentecost is this year (2009). Some are saying that it is on Friday, May 29, 2009. It is actually on Sunday, May 31, 2009 (though it begins at sundown on May 30th to sunset May 31st). You can see this in Leviticus 23: 15-16 . Pentecost is always the day after the Sabbath. The Sabbath is always on Saturday and the day after that is always a Sunday. I will copy two of my previous posts on this topic here.

Click here to read Part I in its entirety:

Could the rapture of the church happen on Pentecost? When is Pentecost 2008?

First of all, the true biblical holiday of Pentecost is NOT this weekend (May 17-18). Christians who are celebrating Pentecost on this weekend are basing their judgment on Easter, which they believe represents the Passover… this is not true. Easter was celebrated a month before Passover this year based on the Gregorian calendar not the Hebrew calendar. The true Passover was on April 20th not March 23rd. Therefore, Pentecost is actually June 8th… [*edit*: Date is actually June 15, 2008, please visit original post to Part I, linked above]

A Specific Time vs. A Specific Number of Believers

…The Bible also states that the festivals are a shadow of things to come, which means that they each have a prophetic fulfillment.

Colossians 2:16-17 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come;…”

Some may say that these holy days are fulfilled “for the Jewish people…” Well, the Church began on Pentecost and it includes the Gentiles… not just the Jewish people. A good way to look at it is that Pentecost could be the parentheses around the Church age between Daniel’s 69th week and the 70th week…

Pentecost History

…With this assumption, then the world (nations) would be destroyed (judged) by His wrath, a remnant of Israel (Noah) would be spared through His wrath and the Church (Enoch) would be removed before His wrath. I believe that the beginning of God’s wrath starts with the first seal in Revelation 6, but that is a topic to be covered later…

Pentecost Practices

…We may assume that these two loaves of leavened bread, which are also called the “first fruits” to the Lord, are the Church (1=Jewish believers, 2=Gentile believers). We are called the First Fruits unto the Lord. The leaven represents sin and giving it in a wave offering is a way of sanctifying it before the Lord as He did with us through Christ the Messiah. A good point to make here as well, is that this is the ONLY feast where leaven is used and so it can be viewed that this is the only feast directly dealing with the Church…

…Naomi in the role of Israel, destitute and alone; Ruth as the Church, the gentile bride; Boaz as the Kinsman Redeemer (Messiah) and the story a prediction of the relationship between the three of them. On His way to redeeming Israel, the Kinsman Redeemer takes a gentile bride, saving both from destitution.

Pentecost Future

Exodus 19:13 “…when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.”

Acts 2:1 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”

Matthew 13:30 “Let both [wheat and tares] grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into My barn.” …

Click here to read Part II in its entirety:

The Festival of Unleavened Bread

…The “firstfruits” offering was a “sheaf” [omer] of barley, the first grain ripe in Israel in the Spring of the year. There was always some of this grain ripe by Passover. This first ripe barley was gathered in from the field, and the grain was beaten out of the husks until there was an “omer” of barley. The “omer” full of the first ripe barley was then brought to the priest officiating in the Tabernacle [later in the Temple].

The Fulfillment of Firstfruits

…Now here is where the events really get interesting. For on that same first day of the week, “the morrow after the sabbath,” the Scriptures state, “many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many,” Matthew 28:52-53. Folks, these were the “firstfruits” [plural] of the resurrection, which included Christ Himself, 1 Corinthians 15:20, all of which were foreshadowed by the “omer” of barley. Glory to God! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! But let’s put it all together….

The Festival of Harvest

This Jewish Festival is known today as “Pentecost.” It is referred to in the Scriptures as “the feast of harvest,” Exodus 23:16, and also as “the feast of weeks,” Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10; 16:16; 2 Chronicles 8:13. It is the only other Jewish Festival during the course of the Jewish year where a “wave offering” taken from the barley harvest was presented to the Lord. Didn’t we just see that the “wave offering” of the barley foreshadowed the resurrection and rapture of Christ and the “firstfruits” of God’s people? Then what do you think the second “wave offering” of barley foreshadows? Well..??…

The Waving of the Loaves

…This exception was made because, just as the “omer” of barley typified the Lord and the “firstfruit” saints, these loaves also typify God’s people. In what way? Folks, true believers are now saints who were once sinners. The only people the Lord saves are sinners. The Lord doesn’t save so-called “good people” [Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23]. He only saves men and women, boys and girls, who realize and confess that they are “dead in trespasses and sins,” Ephesians 2:1; 2:8-9. Then, having believed His Word and repented, the Holy Spirit comes into the repentant believer’s body and takes up His abode, John 14:16-17. And, just as the fire in the Jewish ovens baked the leaven out of those loaves of barley bread, so the fire of God’s Holy Spirit [which was given on Pentecost] bakes the SIN out of the life of the truly repentant believer…

Ruth…..The Gentile Bride

Any serious Bible student knows that Ruth is a type of the Gentile bride of Christ, and that Boaz is a type of Christ. The entire Book of Ruth is filled with Scriptures teaching these truths. Study it for yourself…

The Samaritan Woman

…The Samaritan woman then went into the city and proclaimed, “Come, see a Man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” Folks, this is exactly what the Lord’s church has been doing the past 2,000 years; inviting the lost world to come to Christ…

Rosh Ha-Shanah

“That is the day the trumpets are blown, and the rapture is clearly associated with the blowing of a trumpet, so it must be the day the rapture will occur. Right?”

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!…

The Significance

…Folks, the Day of Pentecost this year falls June 8th, however it actually begins at sundown on June 7th in Israel. What are the significance of these dates?

On June 7, 1967 the Holy Temple Mount and the city of Jerusalem were returned to their rightful owners during the Six Day War. That is the “date” when the tender branch of the fig tree put forth leaves, Matthew 24:32. The Lord Himself said, “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors,” Matthew 24:33. June 7, 1967 is the “date” when the forty year “generation” began, Matthew 24:34. Therefore on June 7, 2007 the fortieth year arrived. However, Israel is still in the 40th year until June 7, 2008. The 41st year will begin on June 8, 2008. What day is that? It is the Day of Pentecost. Is all of this just coincidence? Or is Almighty God trying to tell His people WHEN He is coming?…

Conclusion

…The “feast of firstfruits” marked the beginning of the barley harvest, and foreshadowed the resurrection and rapture of “Christ [and] the firstfruits…,” 1 Corinthians 15:23.

The “feast of harvest” [Pentecost] marked the end of the barley harvest, and foreshadows the resurrection and rapture of all New Testament believers. Glory!

Isn’t that simple? Such a simple truth that God’s people have been stumbling right over it for centuries…

It truly is an amazing thing if we are that close to our going home to be with the Lord forever, always to be with Him. No matter how it all plays out, we know that He promised to return for His Church, He promised to prepare a place for us [John 14:2-3] there where He is and He has never let us down. He said to watch, look up and love His coming, so I urge you to do just that. Be prepared:

Luke 12:45 “But if that servant say in his hear, My Lord delayeth His coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

Luke 12:46 “The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”

Luke 12:47 “And that servant, which knew his Lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

So, prepare yourself to meet your God because whether He comes while you live or not, you will meet Him.