Is the Rapture Actually in the Bible? | Sam Shamoun In this reading, the New Testament never promises a secret “escape” before a future seven-year crisis; rather, 1 Thessalonians 4:17 says believers will be “caught up” (harpazō) to “meet” (apantēsis) the returning Lord in the air—a word picture from the ancient world for escorting a king back in triumph, not departing to heaven for years. The “great tribulation” Jesus describes (Matthew 24; Luke 21) is tied to the first-century siege and destruction of Jerusalem, and Daniel’s “seventieth week” is read as fulfilled in that era, not a timer waiting to start. On this view, the popular pre-trib/mid-trib timelines were largely unknown to the early church and only gained traction in the 1800s with figures like John Nelson Darby and later the Scofield Reference Bible. The call, then, is to trade speculation for context: read apocalyptic language the way Second-Temple Jews did, anchor hope in the visible return and general resurrect...
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