Surprisingly, the authors of the "Left Behind" series recently appeared on the
Lehrer News Hour. Apparently, the Rapture is pertinent to political discussion. An understanding of the evangelical basis for the Rapture illuminates recent politics. Like a lot of topics, this one benefits from critical analysis that calls into question the MSM message.
Eternal life is a very comforting thought. Even more comforting is the Rapture Doctrine, the quiet deliverance of the elect from the Great Tribulation just before the End Times. Most of the Christians who believe in the Rapture believe Jesus will quietly take them away from the world before the final period of intense tribulation culminating in the War of Armageddon.
The word "Rapture" does not appear in the Bible. But lack of word does not necessarily mean lack of concept. Is the concept of the Rapture a Biblically sound doctrine?
The most definitive passage is a lengthy answer Jesus gave to the question his disciples asked, "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matt. 24:3). Within that passage are these words, seized as comfort in an otherwise thoroughly frightening description of the Last Days,
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. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh (Matt. 24:40-44).
In this passage, Jesus compares himself to a thief. Belief in the Rapture rests on the idea that the point of the analogy is that a thief is quiet and sneaky By these lights the man in the field who is "taken" is the lucky one; likewise the woman who is "taken." The premise of the "Left Behind" books is that the elect were taken in the Rapture. A popular Billy Graham movie of the early 70's was entitled, "A Thief in the Night." The book, "The Late Great Planet Earth" published in 1970 contained the same Rapture theme. All describe Jesus coming quietly to take his own and save them from unspeakable hardships.
However, far from coming quietly, Jesus says when introducing the "thief in the night" passage,
And 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: 24:30-31). Sounds like a pretty noisy event, hardly the sneaky approach of the Rapture.
St. Peter even put the thief and the Second Coming in the same sentence,
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up (2 Peter 3:10).
In order to overcome this contradiction between a supposed quiet coming and the clearly described noisy coming, Rapture proponents posit two Second Comings, the first where Jesus stays in the sky and quietly picks up the true believers, and the second where his feet touch the ground accompanied by all the fireworks. The evident silliness of this idea bothers the them not at all. The main thrust of the thief-in-the-night analogy is that the Second Coming is unexpected, not quiet. Maybe the "left behind, " not "the taken," are the elect, chosen to survive the lightening strikes of the very dramatic Second Coming.
The message Jesus intended is that because, "...of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matt: 24:36), the elect should be ready at any moment, like an expectant mother with a packed suitcase by the door. "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments..." (Rev 16:15). The point of the thief analogy is that Jesus will come unexpectedly, not quietly, and that his people should be always at the ready.
A major segment of the Christian population has been thoroughly steeped in this doctrine for at least 35 years, in spite of the fact that such a doctrine contradicts every other passage describing the Second Coming. They cling to the Rapture doctrine because it promises that they will not suffer the truly frightening Great Tribulation. This large subset of Christians has been choosing their preferred reality for a very long time, even in conflict with the Biblical view on a subject on which they consider the Bible to be the ultimate authority. The desire for personal comfort trumps everything. It is just that this unfortunate characteristic for ignoring facts that disturb their looking glass world is now in the public spotlight as a result of the campaign and election.