What will the Rapture be like?

Answer 1

The truth is that we do not know. There are a number of religions that use verses in their scriptures to predict what the end of days will be. Some Christian verses, especially in the Book of Revelations, seem to predict violence and tribulation for non-believers and the triumphant return of Jesus to establish his kingdom. But there are Biblical scholars who are not sure of that, especially since Jesus said elsewhere in the New Testament that no-one can predict when the final days will occur, and only God knows what will happen.

The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) predicts that in the final days, the messiah will announce the coming of God's kingdom, at which time, there will be world peace and everyone will worship the One God together. Other scriptures from other faiths offer different pictures of what the end of time will look like; some scriptures talk of a spiritual world where believers will go-- for example, in the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, believers will be united with Krishna and no longer have to endure death and rebirth over and over.

But there are many clergy who would suggest that rather than worrying about the end times, people should try to live an ethical and compassionate life and do good in the world, after which time, the faithful will be judged according to how they lived and whether they served their God (gods) sincerely.

Answer:

You're living in them. What you see is how they are. Keep watching:

"...Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation [mental distraction, amusement, diversion], drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.

"Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:34-36 NIV).

Answer 2

A:

The 'Rapture' is a theological invention of John Nelson Darby, founder of the Plymouth Brethren, in the nineteenth-century. The concept has evolved over a period of nearly two hundred years, but is still essentially the same as originally proposed by Darby.

Barbara R. Rossing (The Rapture Exposed) says that Darby's new teaching was that Christ would return twice, first in secret to "Rapture" his church out of the world and up to heaven, then a second time after seven years of global tribulation for non-believers, to establish a Jerusalem-based kingdom on earth.

Rossing says that according to one critic, the Rapture has its origins with a young girl's vision. In 1830, in Port Glasgow, Scotland, fifteen-year-old Margaret MacDonald attended a healing service. There, she was said to have seen a vision of a two-stage return of Jesus Christ. The story of her vision was adopted and amplified by Darby. There is no good reason to believe there will ever be a Rapture or that the events portrayed by Darby will ever occur. John Nelson Darby has sunk into obscurity, apart from his followers in the Plymouth Brethren, and so should his theology.