What's the "Rapture"?

I have heard a lot about this subject, but so far nobody managed to explain to me, what is this exactly, or if this is even suppose to be real?
Where does this myth come from?
Is it alien misinformation? What?
Can somebody please insight me a little bit about this?

It is a term used for the sudden disapperance of christians. Some believe that is will happen before the tribulation of seven years talked about in Revelations. I am a post-tribulation believer. The Bible clearly states that the dead in Christ will rise first. So, those of us who are alive and remain will see Him coming in the clouds and we will meet Him in the air.We will see it coming, there is no mystery to that. Only patience is what we need, not a timeline.

BTW, why did you choose assassin in your username?

The Rapture is a religious term coined by a small segment of the Christian population that believes "true Christians" will be elevated from Earth in order to reign with Christ upon his return. Also known as the End Times.

The Rapture is a belief that all "true Christians" will be gathered together in the air to meet Christ at his return. The primary passage used to support this idea is 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, in which Paul cites "the word of the Lord" about the return of Jesus to gather his saints.
...and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.

Link: en.wikipedia.org...

This is just a brief layman's overview. The members that follow this particular belief will be on here in no time to tell you what's what in more depth than I did.

You can also look up:

Ascension
Revelations
End Times

....for even more information. There are also slight variations on when the Rapture is said to begin.

The Rapture is based on interpretations of the Bible, precisely the New Testament, which as everyone knows, means something different to everyone that interprets it.

It comes down to you having to decide what you personally believe to be the truth. If there was one definitive answer, there wouldn't be different religious beliefs.

Originally posted by assasinforfather
The Bible clearly states that the dead in Christ will rise first.

So the dead rise when Christ returns and he takes 144,000 Christians into heaven and then what???

Oh the rest of us stay here and get eaten by the dead out of Christ? I think I have seen this movie a lot of times.

One of the best movies I ever saw was The Rapture with Mimi Rogers. Really good I thought.

The Rapture 1991

1 Thess 4:17

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever

The phrase 'caught up', is haparzo in the Greek, and 'raptus' (where rapture comes from) in the Latin, it roughly means 'taken away by force'
I guess they use the word Rapture because Haparzo doesn't sound as nice?

The Bible implicitly defines this moment as the time when all dead saints are ressurected, then those that are still living, bodies are taken to be changed into bodies suited for eternity.

There is no event that has to precede this, it was always believed by Christians that it could happen at any moment, therfore live sober minded so that you are not caught sleeping. A few of Christ's parables allude to this, Jesus speaking to the churches in the first chapters of revelation confirm this even more.

Originally posted by damwel
So the dead rise when Christ returns and he takes 144,000 Christians into heaven and then what???
Oh the rest of us stay here and get eaten by the dead out of Christ? I think I have seen this movie a lot of times.

this would appear to be disinfo.
As far as the way I read the Bible there is no maximum
limit or number used to describe how many Christians
will be included in the Rapture. It is EVERYONE who
believes in Jesus, no matter how many there is.
The only excluded ones from the rapture are the
non-believers.

It kind of sounds like Star Trek. God just beams everyone up, assuming they are "worthy."

And what of those people who admire Jesus' words and try to live by love, but have not pledged themselves to any particular religion?

And what of those Christians who claim to be examples of Christ's word, and seem to be the most loveless and discriminating people in the world?

I am hurt by how few people who love Jesus don't follow the Golden Rule.

I am not a follower of Jesus. I am not a follower in general. I am an observer and I see what I see. What I have come to understand is that all religions seem to point to some version of the Golden Rule as the most important idea to live by. If one were to find the common connector between all religions, it would be the teachings on love for your fellow man...

So why all the warfare?

And what will Jesus do with those who felt that love was far more important than religion?

reply to post by OkayToday

It kind of sounds like Star Trek. God just beams everyone up, assuming they are "worthy."

You bet.
Okay, so how do we know that the bible was not write by humans under the influence of aliens?
There's this book called "The Sacred Mushroom on the Cross" which is a Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East. This book offers explosive revelations after the translation of the "Dead Sea Scrolls". The guy who wrote it claims that the beings who produced the bible were just people under psychedelic effect, and that "Jesus" is nothing more than a representation of a mushroom.

I hope Christians do not get me wrong on this statement, I'm not Christian and I do not have a personal Messiah...but I DO love God. To me God is just Love.
I like being here, it's not my fault that my planet is mess right now, I do not enjoy the idea of someone or something "Rapture" me, without I knowing what is going on. I mean it could be aliens, next time we would open our eyes we would be in completely different planet all brainwashed again.

(I just read this I had no idea that I was so paranoid.)

Originally posted by OkayToday
It kind of sounds like Star Trek. God just beams everyone up, assuming they are "worthy."

Laff. Is Jesus REALLY going fly down from the clouds and save a few Christians? Then he will raise the dead? And then leave the rest of the not so HARD CORE Christians to get eaten by zombies? Buddhist's will probably get eaten first!

From our favorite president.

www.religionnewsblog.com...

No offense to HARD CORE (Believing world for word.) Christians. But it just seems to good to be true!

I do believe he is our savior though. But myth and reality are two different things.
The bible and the old testament are filled with myth stories that gives us morals. I believe in the morals learned from it. But come on, Jesus floating down from the clouds?

I guess since I have a hard time believing this I will be left behind for the zombies to eat!

[edit on 12-5-2010 by Theone2000]

Originally posted by camelian
And what of those people who admire Jesus' words and try to live by love, but have not pledged themselves to any particular religion?

And what of those Christians who claim to be examples of Christ's word, and seem to be the most loveless and discriminating people in the world?

I am hurt by how few people who love Jesus don't follow the Golden Rule.

I am not a follower of Jesus. I am not a follower in general. I am an observer and I see what I see. What I have come to understand is that all religions seem to point to some version of the Golden Rule as the most important idea to live by. If one were to find the common connector between all religions, it would be the teachings on love for your fellow man...

So why all the warfare?

And what will Jesus do with those who felt that love was far more important than religion?

If people took all the good out of EVERY religion and put it into one. We would have a perfect world.

reply to post by Theone2000

If people took all the good out of EVERY religion and put it into one. We would have a perfect world.

Completly agree with you, why should we ignore the best of every religion. These are all just gifts.

I like your avatar by the way.
That's from the rider wide tarot deck rite?

[edit on 12-5-2010 by _SilentAssassin_]

Originally posted by _SilentAssassin_
reply to post by Theone2000

 

If people took all the good out of EVERY religion and put it into one. We would have a perfect world.

Completly agree with you, why should we ignore the best of every religion. These are all just gifts.

I like your avatar by the way.
That's from the rider wide tarot deck rite?

[edit on 12-5-2010 by _SilentAssassin_]

Yea...Its the hermit card. Ever since my wife left me for meth, I've been a hermit! hehe, Back on subject...I wish Jesus would come down and save us! I guess he will be coming with a sword when he does.
I wonder what they mean by sword?

[edit on 12-5-2010 by Theone2000]

reply to post by Theone2000


Well I don't know if he's coming with a sword or not, I just hope if there is really beings out here willing to help us out, that they not interfere with our evolution. They may try to take away Humanity's essence. That was what I was talking about.

Originally posted by damwel

Originally posted by assasinforfather
The Bible clearly states that the dead in Christ will rise first.

So the dead rise when Christ returns and he takes 144,000 Christians into heaven and then what???

Oh the rest of us stay here and get eaten by the dead out of Christ? I think I have seen this movie a lot of times.

One of the best movies I ever saw was The Rapture with Mimi Rogers. Really good I thought.

The Rapture 1991

I would like to help with your questions. First I would like to say there are
actually three beliefs when it comes to the Rapture.One other poster
alluded to this. There are three interpretations of when the Rapture will
take place.

1. Pre-Tribulation obviously meaning that Rapture will take place before
the seven year Tribulation period.

2. Mid-Tribulation means the Rapture won't happen until the middle of
the Tribulation, or, 3 1/2 years.

3. Post-Tribulation meaning that the Rapture won't happen until after the
seven years of Tribulation.

I personally believe in a Pre-Trib time frame.

You asked about the 144,000. Let me try to explain to you what this
means. When the Rapture happens, all of the dead people who are in the
grave, throughout history, who BELIEVED in Christ, will be Raptured
first, or rise up into the clouds with Christ. Then after that, all of the
LIVING believers will go next. This will happen in the twinkling of an eye,
or as fast as you can think. Just blink your eye and you will see how fast
it will occur. This is all based on Biblical beliefs of course. If you or anyone
else is NOT a believer in Christ, then this obviously doesn't mean too much
to them. They will scoff at anything to do with Biblical prophesy, and that
is fine. I am not trying to shove my beliefs down your throat or anyone
else, I am just explaining what my beliefs are, and most Christians will
concur.

The 144,000, are NOT Raptured. There are 12,000 people from the 12
tribes of Israel. 12,000 X 12 = 144,000. These people will be Jews who
have converted to Christianity and will go to all corners of the globe to
preach the word of Christ. They will be Jewish Evangelists, or what is
normally called Messianic Jews, people that believe in the Messiah.

This will be a sort of "last chance" for the non-believers who are left on
the earth, who have to endure the seven years of mass chaos and
disease and plagues and all of the other horrible things that mankind
will have to live through during this seven years. These 144,000 will
try to get humanity to convert to Christianity, meaning putting complete
faith in Jesus, part of which is proclaiming that Jesus was crucified and
died on the cross and shed his blood so the sinners of the world can
have THEIR sins blotted out, then believe that He was buried in the tomb
and ressurected on the third day, and then believe that Jesus will return
to the earth after the seven year Tribulation and set up His millenial or
1,000 year reign on earth.

All of the people that have been Raptured, including the dead and the living
who have believed in Christ, will not have to endure any of the horrific
things that will happen on earth. The seven Seals, seven Trumpets, and
the seven Bowls or Vials, describe in detail what all of the terrible things
will be during the Tribulation period. During the seven year Tribulation, all
of the people that decide to change their mind and convert to believing in
Christ, WILL have to live here on the earth during this period, because they weren't Christians before and were not Raptured. Once a person
has converted to Christianity, they will still be on earth during this terrible
seven year period, but they will be immune to all of the bad things
happening during that time.

When the living Christians are Raptured, they will never experience
a physical death, as they will be drawn up into the clouds immediately.

The one thing that CAN happen to them though, is, they can and probably
will be martyred. In other words, the AntiChrist will kill them for believing
in Christ, instead of taking the Mark of the Beast, or 666. Without that mark,
no one will be able to sell or buy goods or have much of a so-called life at
that time. If I was one of those people that wasn't Raptured and had to
live on the earth during the seven years, I think I would choose to be
killed and be a martyr instead of being destroyed by the beast and live
in an eternal Hell afterward. There are only two choices in life as far as I
am concerned. Those are, an eternity in Heaven or an eternity in Hell.

Please, non-believers, don't attack me for what I just posted, as I clearly
described what I and millions of other Christians believe in. That's all.
You are entitled to believe in whatever it is you believe in, and I respect
that. I hope I have helped with some of your questions.

I believe Jesus died for our sins. He was the Christ. Why Jews do not believe this is beyond me.

What I'm scared of, is those in high places making it happen cause its in the bible. Wouldn't this be called christian Zionism?

[edit on 12-5-2010 by Theone2000]

reply to post by endtimer

These 144,000 will try to get humanity to convert to Christianity, meaning putting complete faith in Jesus.

So you are saying that according to Christian beliefs the ones who do not have a personal messiah, will be forever burning in hell?
That's the problem you see, I would be one of these people. To me, having a personal messianic figure, would just be evolution and spiritual death.
So I wouldn't mind to endure the seven years just to fight for my spiritual freedom I guess.
Jesus coming to the Earth to judge everyone, why is that. I never did any harm to anyone, so I would probably choose myself instead of Jesus, since my God Loves everyone unconditionally. Off course I would probably be prosecuted by Christians or worst be crucified on the cross (lol how ironic).
I'm willing to take my chances nonetheless.
Anyway just some food for thought.

reply to post by _SilentAssassin_


The Rapture is an event that a lot of Yellow Busers believe will happen will

the "End of Days" arrives.

Best way for me to describe it is what I saw on a Bumper Sticker once.

"This vehicle will become Unmanned when the Rapture arrives."