Ok, here we go, gang…the last in our Understanding the Times series! You’re a champion for hanging in there! If you have missed previous posts, find them here:

• The Spread of Immorality
• God Wants Our Attention
• What About America?
• Israel’s Place in Bible Prophecy
• Nations in Decline and Deception on the Rise

We have considered some key signs of the last days and today we think about what’s next on God’s prophetic calendar. Though we live in unstable times, news for believers is positive! We know how the story ends, and we understand our place in it! If you’re wondering, here it is…

One of God’s greatest promises is that Jesus is preparing a place for us and will soon come to take us home!

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
~John 14:1-3

His coming in verse 3 is reference to the rapture. Rapture does not appear in the Bible but is from the Latin “rapturo.” In Greek (the original language of the New Testament), the word is harpazo, meaning “caught up” or “snatch away.”

The book of 1 Thessalonians uniquely describes the rapture in 5 different ways in 5 chapters:

1 Thessalonians 1:10 – ¹⁰ and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

The wrath to come is reference to the horrific things that will come during the Tribulation. As believers, we are delivered from the wrath of God that will come.

1 Thessalonians 2:19 – ¹⁹ For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? 

Jesus is coming, and for us who believe, we will be taken away in the rapture. That is our hope, our joy, and our crown of rejoicing!

1 Thessalonians 3:13 – ¹³ so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

We will join saints who have gone before us at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! What a reunion!

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – ¹³ But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. ¹⁴ For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. ¹⁵ For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Let’s break this passage down into manageable pieces. First, verse 13 references “fallen asleep,” which simply means dead! Their bodies sleep, but their souls live! 2 Corinthians 5:8 tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord!

Verses 15 tells us those who are dead will precede those who are alive at Jesus’ return, and verse 16 is a precious promise that the Lord Himself will come for us!

Verses 17-18 provide details of the rapture. We will be “caught up” to be with Jesus and those who precede us, in the air! “In the air” refers to a literal atmospheric sky. Imagine that trip…with no seatbelts! His coming to take us quickly gives us comfort and excitement that we share with one another!

1 Thessalonians 5:9 – ⁹ For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Another reference to being saved from wrath! That is our assurance that we will never face the wrath of the Tribulation. We are destined for salvation, and our destination is that place in the air in which we will meet our Lord and Savior!

Jesus is preparing a place for us and will soon coming to retrieve us from this sin-cursed world! What a day that will be when He takes us to be where He is! God’s Word is certain, and we can trust it fully.

Go and comfort one another with these words!