There is  currently an increased interest in the subject of the Rapture of the Church for a variety of reasons, especially the current developments in the Middle East.

Ever-since Israel became a nation again in 1948 people have been watching to see what would happen and whether as some expected, we would witness the fulfillment of Biblical prophesy or if nothing would happen effectively rendering the Bible as interesting but unreliable.

So what is the Rapture of the Church?

It is a major event predicted to take place at the second coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This ‘rapture’ is a physical event in which those people that are today (or were before they died if they have already passed) believers in Jesus Christ (Yashuah Ha Maschiach – the Hebrew name of Christ)
will literally be ‘taken up’ into the heavens where they will meet with their Savior prior to Him setting up His earthy Kingdom over which He will rule and reign for 1000 years. This is also described as His Millennium reign

Why is the rapture of the church such a contentious issue? There are very few believers that do not wholeheartedly believe in the event of the rapture. The Bible makes it very clear in fact that it must happen. The big bone of contention is when it will happen!

The Great Tribulation
So this is where the disconnect comes. The Bible describes in the book of Revelation this terrible time called “The Great tribulation” when God pours out His wrath upon the earth to punish the impurity of those that just refuse to hear His voice.
Some churches teach that this rapture of the church is meant to save the Christian believers from having to endure going through this terrible time that will essentially see two thirds of the earth’s population wiped out. They believe that Messiah will come and take them all out of harms way before the start of this terrible event. This perspective is usually referred to as the pre trib thinking.

Then there are those that teach that all Christians will be present for half of the 7 years of the Great tribulation. Their position is that a period of great turmoil will start. That for 3 and half years there will be severe calamities, strife, unprecedented problems culminating in the emergence of a pseudo savior, the anti-messiah (Anti-Christ) who will deceive the world into believing that He is their savior, uniting the world under one banner and bringing peace to all. These mid-trib thinkers believe that this is the point when all of the Christians are effectively lifted out to safety as all “hell breaks loose” on the earth for the final 3 and half year episode of the Tribulation.

Last and by no means least, we have the less popular position that the rapture of the church will not take place until after the 7 year period of tribulation, post trib. So all the Christian believers get to stay on earth with everyone else and suffer the trials and tribulations in the same way. When you read the convincing arguments of the ardent supporters of any of these positions, they all have merit. They all can be supported to some degree by finding scriptures that uphold their desire to be correct. It really is quite fascinating!

But what DOES God say about the rapture of the church?
I submit to you that this after all is the only definitive opinion you should be concerned about. The Lord exhorts us to “study to shew yourself approved” (2Tim 2:15)
So do not fall into the common trap of complacency and rely on another persons interpretation of the Word. In fact I was recently given a powerful teaching on the  very issue of complacency which you may find illuminating.

What do you need to know about the rapture of the church?
I personally believe that the whole issue of the churches rapture is a ‘guidepost’ if you will to an issue of even greater importance; The coming Kingdom and the part each individual will or will not play in it.
My prayer for anyone reading these words is that their interests in the rapture of the church will lead them to a wonderful and inspiring journey of discovering the truths in the Scriptures about the imminent coming Kingdom (sooner than you may think)

To find out more about the rapture of the church visit the site of Frank Atkins at http://in-amen.com