Part 7.1 - The Rapture of The Bride

The Rapture of the Bride The most popular teaching of our day states that, when Christ comes back for His Bride, all saints will be caught up in the air together with Him. There is much debate about whether this will occur before, during, or after the tribulation, but it seems pretty well agreed upon that the whole church will be included. Is this an accurate assumption? Examining the following passage of scripture may convince you otherwise.

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?"
14 And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them.
16 "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;
17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:9-17 A central part of this passage is identifying who the people are who are being described. John is pointedly asked in verse 13 by one of the elders around the throne, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?" The Father is taking pains to identify who they are because it is important to our understanding.

John doesn’t know the answer to their identity, so the elder tells him. "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Note, that as in the parable of the wedding supper, we have mention of garments here again. These people are ones who had soiled robes and needed them washed. They were once unworthy, but have washed their robes. The washing has taken place during the great tribulation. The washing has come at great cost. The statement, “they have made their garments white in the blood of the Lamb”, refers to the necessity of their also having had to go the way of the cross, even to the point of death. This is further borne out in the following passage.

10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also. Revelation 6:10-11 The condition of the wearers’ garment reflects their worthiness before God. If they have lived in an unworthy manner; a wood, hay and straw manner, before God, their robes become soiled. Note that it is a great multitude that John sees before the throne. It was also a great multitude that was found to be unprepared to attend the wedding feast of the king’s son. Few were originally chosen from among all of those called to attend. This is reflected in the words, “For many [ a multitude] are called, but few are chosen.”

All of those referred to in the above passage of scripture were given white robes. Where were those who already had white robes? They had been stolen away by the Bridegroom prior to the tribulation. They had been summoned to the wedding feast. These were ready, having wedding garments.

Many Christians are counting on God to rapture them out of this world before the time of tribulation. What many have overlooked is that Christ is coming back as a thief in the night to steal His Bride away to be with Him, and His Bride is those whose garments are white.

37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38 "For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:37-39

It is striking that the coming of the Son of Man is compared to the days of Noah. Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), and he preached his message before a day of great judgment and destruction came upon the world. Even so, Christ will come and deliver the righteous before the day of judgment, the day of God’s wrath.

Verse 39 tells us “and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” Is this not true of our day? How many Christians falsely believe that all saints will be kept from the day of evil, not understanding that it is the righteous that will be preserved from the day of testing? The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Isaiah 57:1 (NIV) The word “perish” in this verse is “abad”. According to Strong’s Hebrew/Greek Dictionary, it comes from a primitive root meaning; “properly, to wander away, i.e. lose oneself.” The word is not necessarily referring to perishing in some type of calamity. Another occurrence of this word is in the following verse.

Memory of him perishes [abad] from the earth, and he has no name abroad. Job 18:17 This verse is referring to the memory of the wicked man. How do memories perish? Not through some catastrophic event. They merely disappear as if they have ‘wandered away.’ We sometimes refer to things forgotten as having “slipped our mind.” They have momentarily disappeared. So this verse in Isaiah 57:1 could be accurately rendered in this way: The righteous disappear, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Who disappear, and who are taken away to be spared from evil? It is the righteous and the devout. These are the ones who have white robes. These are the ones who have made themselves ready and who will not be caught unprepared when the Son of Man returns. With the wicked it is not so. The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Proverbs 16:4 The passage concerning the coming of the Son of Man continues:

40 "Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.
41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
42 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
43 "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
44 "For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Matthew 24:40-44 hew-44 hew-44 Who will be taken? This passage is not saying that all Christians will be removed and only the lost remain, as some have taught. We have already read that a vast multitude of Christians will have their garments washed in the day of tribulation. The ones being removed are the Bride. She is being stolen from out of the church which is the house referred to in verse 43.

It is clear that Christ is the thief. What would Christ be interested in stealing? Certainly, it is that which is most valuable to Him. He is coming to steal away those who are waiting with expectation for His appearing. He is coming for those whose garments are spotless. He is coming for those who are passionate for Him.

What will be the impact on the church when she finds that one is taken and another is left? Those left behind will be devastated. They will have to abandon their doctrines stating that all would be taken. They will have to realize that it was because their robes were soiled; it was due to the lack of a wedding garment; it was their unworthiness that precipitated their calamity. As the five foolish virgins who failed to keep oil in their lamps, these will rush out to acquire what they lack, but it will be too late. The door will have been shut. The number of guests for the wedding feast will be complete. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 "And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
3 "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.
5 "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.
6 "But at midnight there was a shout, ’Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
7 "Then all those virgins rose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 "And the foolish said to the prudent, ’Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9 "But the prudent answered, saying, ’No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
10 "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
11 "And later the other virgins also came, saying, ’Lord, lord, open up for us.’
12 "But he answered and said, ’Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour. Matthew 25:1-13 Who are the virgins that wait for the Bridegroom? Certainly they do not represent the lost world. All of the virgins had lamps to give forth light. This is true of saints, only. However, not all of them had oil with which to light their lamps. It will be too late to remedy this when the Bridegroom appears. Over and over throughout scripture, Christians are urged to be on the alert, be awake, be ready.

Again, this does not imply loss of salvation. What is spoken of is loss of reward. Not every believer’s reward will be the same. To be included in the Bride is tremendous reward, as is being invited to attend the wedding feast. Not all will attain to this honor. Many are called, but few are chosen.

According to scripture, there will be three divisions of Christians. The Bride is those who have kept their garments clean. They have allowed the Holy Spirit to perform His work of preparation and cleansing in their lives. They have remained alert and vigilant, waiting with anticipation for the return of the Bridegroom. They are mature and have intimate knowledge of their Lord. (Intimate knowledge of Christ is a characteristic of the Bride and is lacking in those who are unprepared. The Lord spoke to the foolish virgins, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you.”) The ten virgins do not represent the Bride. They are attendants of the Bride. As attendants of the Bride, “they all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased...” (1 Corinthians 10:3). The Bride, however, remained alert and vigilant while the ten virgins all fell asleep. They failed to keep watch and be alert and they were sleeping when the Bridegroom came for the Bride.

However, among the attendants of the Bride, a distinction is made. Five were wise and were let into the wedding feast and five were foolish and were excluded. The difference was that some had extra vessels of oil for their lamps and some did not. Although oil often symbolizes the Spirit of God, I believe this oil represents the good works of the saints for this was an oil used to give light. This connection can be seen in the following passage.

14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 "Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Although all ten of the virgins had fallen asleep, some had done many good works to the glory of the Father and some had not. The foolish had vessels that were made to give forth light, but they had not ever been used for this purpose, this being typified by the lack of any oil. They were like the wicked servant that went and hid his talent in the ground until the return of his master. Not only had these foolish virgins fallen asleep, but they had no good works for men or God to see. Their vessels were essentially wasted. They had never used them for the purpose they were created for; the vessels being their bodies which are the temple of God. They were sleeping when the Bridegroom appeared. This last group will suffer complete loss of reward for Jesus will testify that He does not even know them. They will realize how great a grace they have resisted and how tremendous a reward they have forfeited. Even these will have their tears wiped away, yet there will be no remedy for their loss. They will receive reward according to their works. The wise virgins will have reward, though not of the same measure as the Bride. It is one thing to be let in to attend the wedding feast, and quite another thing to be the Bride who is being wedded. So we see in the Bride and the two groups of attendants, three separate and distinct groups of saints.

Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. Romans 11:22 The majority within the church have been taught that the rapture will occur and that all Christians will be caught up to be with the Lord at the same time. As we have seen, this is not the case. God makes a distinction between those who are worthy and those who are not.

There are some believers who do not believe in the rapture at all. They assert that to teach the catching away of God’s children is to teach escapism and to encourage believers to live loose and careless lives. This is certainly true if one teaches that all will be caught up to be with Christ when He comes as a thief in the night, whether they are righteous or wicked. It is not true if one discerns that it is only those who have made themselves ready who will be caught up and protected by the Lord.

I have heard some argue that God has never spared His children from evil before and that He would have to apologize to all of the martyrs that have gone before if He spares some of His children from the coming day of evil. What is overlooked in such arguments is that the martyrs were not killed as a result of God’s wrath. It was the wickedness of man and the rage of Satan that has killed the martyrs, not the judgment of God. The coming day of evil, however, is a judgment of God and there is tremendous scriptural support for God delivering a righteous remnant from His judgments. This was true of Noah and his family when God judged the world by a flood. Noah was found to be righteous in God’s sight and God spared he and his family from His judgment on the world.

Another instance is when God judged Sodom and Gomorrah. We are told that Lot was a righteous man (2 Peter 2:7) and God removed him from the path of His judgment prior to destroying these cities. A further example is the children of Israel prior to their deliverance from Egypt. God judged Egypt, but repeatedly He spared the children of Israel. They did not suffer the judgment of the ten plagues. I could mention Joshua and Caleb, Rahab the harlot, Elijah at the Brook Cherith, and many others whom God spared and protected from judgments that He brought upon mankind.

There is no need to apologize to the martyrs for God’s decision to spare the righteous from HIS judgments. The martyrs were not slain under HIS judgment. However, an accurate reading of the tribulation period, also called “the day of the Lord’s wrath,” reveals that it is a day of God’s judgment upon the world. God has always spared the righteous from HIS judgment. A further argument which some have used to teach against any type of catching away of God’s saints to a place of safety is derived from the scripture we have just looked at. I mention it because I have heard this argument repeated so much recently. Let’s look one more time at the scripture comparing the coming of the Son of Man to the days of Noah.

37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38 "For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 "Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.
41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
42 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Matthew 24:37-42

Many are claiming today that this passage negates a catching away of those who are righteous. The statement, “The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah” is taken to great extremes and a false interpretation is applied to the latter verses that speak of “one will be taken, and one will be left.” What is falsely derived from this is that in Noah’s day it was the wicked who were taken and the righteous who remained. It is concluded that it will also be so at the coming of the Son of Man.

Those who interpret this passage in this way state that what is being taught by our Lord is that the wicked will be removed from the Earth in upcoming days and the righteous will remain. However, a closer look at this passage reveals that Jesus was not teaching this at all. Jesus statement was that His coming again would be “just like the days of Noah.” Jesus then immediately defines what He means. In the days of Noah people were “eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” The great similarity to the day of Noah is that people will once again be caught unaware on the day of their visitation. Mankind will be pursuing pleasure and making plans as if the days of joy and mirth will continue forever unabated. It was in this type of party atmosphere that the flood of Noah’s day came suddenly upon the world. Even so, the coming of the Son of Man will come when it is not expected. Jesus makes His meaning clear by three times stating that He will come when He is not expected (verses 39, 42, 44). This is the proper understanding of His words that His coming would be “just as the days of Noah.” A clear understanding of God’s deliverance of Noah and his family, actually does not contradict a removing of the righteous from God’s judgment and wrath. Noah and his family were hidden away in a place of safety, protected from God’s judgment on the world. The rest of mankind were not removed from God’s wrath, they endured it. The righteous were taken away to a place of safety. This is made even more clear by Luke’s account of this teaching of our Lord.

26 "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days of the Son of Man:
27 they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 "It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building;
29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 "It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. Luke 17:26-30

Luke relates Jesus’ words comparing His coming to the days of Noah. Luke then adds that it is also like the days of Lot. Whereas someone can misconstrue the account of Noah to say that the wicked were the ones removed and the righteous remained, they cannot do so with the account of Lot. The scriptures clearly tell us that Lot was removed from the path of God’s judgment. The angels of God actually took Lot and his family by the hand and dragged them out of Sodom (Genesis 19:16).

Repeatedly the testimony of scripture is that God does preserve the righteous from His judgments and His wrath. "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9). Those who have not given their heart wholly over to the pursuit of God and to a desire to walk obediently before Him have somewhat to be concerned about. God would not have such careless ones to feel comfortable or complacent about their future. The righteous, however, are to be as bold as a lion (Proverbs 28:1).