The Rapture

Many protestant friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints want to know if we believe in the rapture of the "church” (Rapture: The catching away of true believers to meet Christ in the air, sometime before the Millennial era). The answer is we do...and we don't! It all depends on what version of the rapture we are talking about.

What are the views of the rapture?

Although many Protestants believe in the “rapture,” many of them view it differently amongst themselves.  (Tribulation:  The last 7 years before the 2^nd coming of Christ.)

1. Pre-tribulation View: belief that the believers of Christ will be caught up before the Great tribulation foretold in the book of Revelation.

2. Mid-tribulation View: belief that the believers will be taken after 3 1/2 years into the Great tribulation.

3. Post-tribulation View:  belief that the believers will be taken after all 7 years of the tribulation have passed.

The word “rapture” is not mentioned in the scriptures. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "caught up" found in 1 Thes 4:17. This is why the LDS people do not use the term rapture when referring to events that surround the second coming of Jesus.

But do the LDS believe in the rapture?

As LDS people we do believe that the scriptures teach true believers will be caught up to meet the Lord when he comes again. Matt 24 is the chapter where the disciples came to Jesus seeking to know when the destruction of the temple would come, the signs of Jesus coming and the end of the world (Matt 24:3). In Matt 24:21-22, Christ tells us that the elect would still be here during the great tribulation, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."

Christ then goes on to tell about his appearance right after this great tribulation and how all will see him together, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days...then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other"(Matt 24:29-31).

How will we be raptured?

The Lord informs us how the elect will be gathered from (Matt 24:40-41), "Then shall two be in the field: the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” In the gospel of Luke, Jesus explains the same scenario of two together and one taken, and the Disciples ask Jesus where the one would be taken, "And he said unto them, wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together"(Luke 17:37). It appears they will be "raptured" up to meet the Lord in the air.

Paul, talking with the Corinthians, explained a mystery relating to how our bodies would be during this rapture transition. "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed"(1 Cor 15:50-52). The last trump is related to the resurrection of the dead and the "rapture" of the church, both seem to occur at the same time. During this time those who are alive at the coming of Christ will have their mortal bodies changed. And as the dead will be resurrected to meet Christ in the air, so we that live will be changed to meet with the Saints at Christ’s coming.

Paul explains it to the Thessalonians, "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: 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: and so shall we ever be with the Lord"(1 Thes 4:15-17).

What do modern scriptures say?

Doctrine and Covenants 88:95-99 elaborates on this scene for us;"And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled; And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him. And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven- They are Christ's, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God." This makes it very clear that the LDS view of a rapture would go hand in hand with the resurrection of the dead, during the second coming of the Lord.

D&C 109:75 assures us that "when the trump shall sound for the dead, we shall be caught up in the cloud to meet (the Lord), that we may ever be with the Lord." The LDS people do believe in this incredible experience that has been called by our friends "rapture." And we don't believe that it will come before the Lord makes his appearance the second time, but that the rapture will happen at the coming of the Lord.

Would the Lord allow us to suffer wrath?

Some of those who believe in a pre-tribulation view of the rapture claim that the rapture must happen before the great tribulation because the believers are not destined to suffer wrath. A scripture that is often cited is 1 Thes 5:9, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath." This usage of 1 Thes 5:9 assumes that the wrath spoken of is the great tribulation. Upon closer examination, we find that the wrath spoken of here has nothing to do with the great tribulation. In fact, the whole verse reads "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ"(1 Thes 5:9). We see that the wrath spoken of here is a wrath covered by the atonement of Christ, ie sin and death. This can be seen by the next verse, "who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him"(1 Thes 5:10). Also look at Rom 5:8-9, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

Not only do those scriptures show that the wrath is not the great tribulation, but speaking of the great tribulation the Savior taught, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time...And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened"(Matt 24:21-22). Here the Lord tells his disciples that his elect would still be here during the tribulation.

What about the examples of saints being saved from tribulation?

Some have tried to argue that like Noah or Lot were taken out before the wrath of the Lord came upon them. So they reason that the believers of Christ would be raptured before the tribulation began. But this view goes to strengthen the LDS position, because in all these cases the saints were taken before immediate destruction came. So likewise all believers of Christ will remain until his second coming and then they will be raptured right before the immediate destruction of the wicked.

What the scriptures say about tribulation.

Nowhere in the scriptures does Christ mention a coming for his saints before that of his second coming! In Acts 14:22 Paul instructs the saints "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." The promise is not given to members of Christ’s church that they will not have to suffer tribulation but just the opposite is said.

Those who believe that the believers of Christ will for some reason be spared tribulation in this life should reread all that Christ and the New Testament church went through for the gospel’s sake. In fact, in Revelation 13:7 John foresaw the evil powers of the last days had strength "to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." In D&C 63:33-34 the Prophet Joseph saw the events of the Last days "I have sworn in my wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked, and fear shall come upon every man; And the saints also shall hardly escape; nevertheless, I, the Lord, am with them, and will come down in heaven from the presence of my Father and consume the wicked with unquenchable fire." 

In regards to the suffering of Christians, Peter tells us "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?"(1 Pet 4:16-18)

Conclusion

In short the doctrine of “rapture" is scriptural, and the LDS people do believe in it, though we do not refer to it by that term. We simply call it the second coming of Christ! The LDS people have been instructed to be self-reliant and prepared for all kinds of emergencies, not just the great tribulation. On the other hand, many of our protestant friends believe that the rapture of the "church" will occur sometime before the great tribulation or before many of its great calamities. As a result of believing that they will not endure tribulations, they are also not preparing for those tribulations. So a good question to ask yourself is: who would you rather be with when the tribulation hits the fan, someone who doesn't believe they will be here for it and who hasn't prepared… or the LDS people!?!