Greetings! Welcome back to our study of the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead. This is the second post in our study of the actual doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead. In the last post, we learned the scriptural basis for the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Dead. In this post, we’re going to look at the reason why Christians refer to the Resurrection of the Dead as the rapture. Let’s get into this!
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
Second in a Five-Part Series
By Karen Thompson
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD IS THE EVENT WE CALL THE RAPTURE
Have you made the connection yet? These verses of scripture about the resurrection of the dead are actually talking about the event we refer to as the rapture. After all, what is the rapture? It’s when those who have died shall be raised from the dead. In other words, the dead are resurrected. Let’s look at how 1st Thessalonians describes that event.
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:13–17 NKJV).
This portion of scripture uses the same language that Daniel did when he described the dead as “asleep.” Those who sleep will be resurrected in the last days. That is what Martha believed about her dead brother, Lazarus, that he would be resurrected in the last days. The resurrection of the dead talked about in Daniel 12:2 and what Martha hoped for her brother, Lazarus, is the exact same resurrection of the dead for which we present-day Christians are also waiting. We just call it the rapture.
It’s unfortunate that modern Christians started calling this event the rapture. It already had a name—the resurrection of the dead! At some point, believers in the 19th century oddly began to refer to this event as the rapture. The reason it’s odd is because the word “rapture” isn’t even found in the English translation of the Bible. So why did Christians start referring to the resurrection event as the rapture? The answer is in the Latin translation of the Bible. For centuries, Latin was the only language in which the Bible was translated, so Bible scholars frequently referred to it. In the Latin translation of the Bible, the words “caught up” in the phrase “we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together” are translated as “rapturo.” This Latin word “rapturo” is where we get the English word rapture.
For whatever reason, Bible scholars began to use the Latin word rapture for this event. And, unfortunately, it caught on. Believers began to refer to the event that the Bible calls the resurrection of the dead as the rapture. This is troublesome. Calling the resurrection event “the rapture” has warped our spiritual discernment regarding the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Here’s what I mean. When we think of this event, our emphasis is on the act of being “caught up in the air” when, instead, it should have been on the act of being resurrected from the dead. Our emphasis is on what happens to the believers who are alive, when it should be on what happens to the believers who are dead. After all, this event is called the resurrection of the dead.
“Isn’t this just splitting hairs?” you might ask.
No, not at all! Our emphasis on what happens to the living rather than what happens to the dead has caused us to not include these important verses of scripture that talk about the resurrection of the dead. This has caused our ability to rightly divide the word of truth on this subject to be hindered. As a result, we have failed to get the whole picture on this event, and we have never fully understood this very important foundational doctrine of our faith—the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.
In the posts ahead as we get into the subject, you’ll understand why this is important.
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