Unless we want to have two comings of the Lord, we must discard the concept of a special secret "rapture" several years in advance of the coming of the Lord. There absolutely is no basis whatever in the Scriptures, either Old Testament or New Testament, for a special secret "rapture" of the believers to avoid Antichrist and the great tribulation. The teaching of the Bible leads us to conclude that there will be only one return of the Lord, and it is not going to happen for several years.

Now, why did this idea of a special secret "rapture," an any-moment "rapture," come into being?

The idea of a special secret "rapture," a coming of the Lord separate from the historic, scriptural coming of the Lord, was developed in an effort to take the believers out of the earth before they can be harmed by Antichrist and the great tribulation.

The only reason for emphasizing a pre-tribulation, any-moment flight of the believers to Heaven, is to escape the great tribulation. The Lord Jesus told us plainly that His coming will be after the great tribulation, and so we developed another coming so we wouldn't be here during the great tribulation.

You know, you just can't make up things like this and then inject them into God's Word!

Maybe we better begin by looking at the "rapture" passage, in the fourth chapter of First Thessalonians. This passage is the basis for the idea that the Lord is coming at any moment.

According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (I Thessalonians 4:15,16—NIV)

Now, if you will examine the context of the above two verses you will find that Paul was writing to comfort the believers in Thessalonica concerning their dead relatives, telling them that Jesus would bring their loved ones with Him.

There is not one single verse in the context that presents the catching up of the saints as a means of escaping Antichrist and the great tribulation. Not one verse! Not one single verse!

Bible teachers ought to know better than to make a teaching with no basis in the Scriptures the main emphasis of their doctrine. You wouldn't believe Christian scholars, pastors, and teachers, who say they believe the Bible is God's Word, would do such a thing. But they have, and most Evangelical believers in the United States believe them. It is a shame. Its effect has not been good. The believers are not preparing themselves for the calamitous days that are ahead.

The only reason for pressing the idea of a pre-tribulation, any-moment "rapture" is to escape the great tribulation. If the Bible doesn't regard the catching up as an escape from the great tribulation, and it assuredly does not, then the catching up might as well come after the great tribulation.

To be continued.