What does the
church of Christ teach about the rapture?
Will there be a
Rapture followed by an earthly reign of Jesus?
Followers of this
doctrine believe that there will be
an earthly millennial reign of Jesus on earth following an event where Jesus
Christ will “snatch away” his saints to heaven. This event is called the
"Rapture". Following this event, Jesus will supposedly reign on Earth for
a thousand years. The doctrine of millennialism and the rapture contradict
some very compelling Biblical scripture.
First, if the Rapture is
true, there will have to be more than one resurrection in the future separated
by a significant time period. The Bible clearly states that the
resurrection of the just and the unjust will happen in the same hour.
John 5:28-29
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is
coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have
done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.
KJV
If "all
that are in the graves" are
resurrected to their final reward in the same hour then there can be no time
span of centuries between resurrections.
Second, if the Rapture is
true, Jesus Christ will have to return to earth more than once. The Bible
clearly states that Jesus is coming back to earth once and when He does, the
earth will be removed.
Hebrews 12:26-27
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet
once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that
are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken
may remain.
KJV
Thirdly, if the Rapture is true, Jesus will return to earth, establish an
earthly kingdom and rule it from Jerusalem. If Jesus were to rule from
Jerusalem, He would violate a vow given by God to Coniah or Jeconiah, King of
Judah.
Jeremiah 22:30
30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not
prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the
throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
KJV
The key words in this
passage are "in Judah" No descendant of Jeconiah will ever sit on the
throne of David and rule from Jerusalem which was in Judah. Jesus was a
descendant of Jeconiah from both the lineage of Joseph and Mary. The
lineages of Joseph and Mary crossed paths through Zorobabel, who was the great
grandson of Jeconiah. Matthew traced the lineage of Jesus through Joseph.
Matthew 1:11-13
11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were
carried away to Babylon:
12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and
Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat
Azor;
KJV
Luke traced the lineage
of Jesus through His mother Mary and the lineage crossed paths with Joseph's.
Luke 3:27
Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of
Zorobabel , which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,
Jesus was therefore
descended from Jeconiah through both the lineage of His mother and His earthly
father. God left absolutely no doubt in anybody's mind on this, nothing
was left to speculation. Jesus was the descendant of Jeconiah 22
generations through Mary and 14 generations through Joseph.
God emphatically stated
that "no man of his [Jeconiah's]
seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in
Judah"
We know that Jesus reigns
from Heaven setting on the right hand side of God, (1
Peter 3:22). This is not in Judah. God said never again "in
Judah", which eliminates the possibility of Jesus ruling an earthly kingdom
from Jerusalem.
In the next chapter of
Jeremiah, the inspired writer prophecies the coming of Jesus and proclaims that
a king will descend from David and will reign and will execute judgment and
justice in the earth and he will be called Our Lord our righteousness, (Jeremiah
23:5-6) But Jesus can never rule from within Judah without
violating the Word of God, written by the inspired writer, Jeremiah, only 6
verses earlier. Both Joseph and Mary were related to David too. Mary
was a descendant of David through Nathan, (Luke
3:31). Joseph was a descendant of David through Solomon, (Matthew
1:6).
Many people who teach
millennialism believe that Jesus tried to set up an earthly Kingdom at the time
of His life on earth but was rejected by the Jews and crucified. The truth
is that one time the Jews tried to force Jesus to be an earthly king and He
refused to.
John 6:14-15
(14)
Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of
a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
(15)
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force,
to make him a king , he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
Those who saw Jesus
feed 5000 wanted to take Him by force and make him a king. If Jesus
had come to set up an earthly reign, certainly this would have been possible
at that time. Yet the Bible says Jesus departed from them and went
into a mountain alone.
In summary.
The rapture and the
millennial reign of Christ cannot be true if it is not 100 percent Biblically
supported and it is not. This is by no means an exhaustive look at what
scripture teaches about the kingdom of God. But it is enough when God says it
won't happen in Jerusalem, that honest Biblical students will seek further for
the truth.
added July
23, 2005
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