God Will Come for His Family

The date 9/11 stirs a hornet’s nest of memories. Those of us who are old enough to recall the attacks of that day can do so vividly. Two planes crashing into two towers in New York, another plane ablaze in a Pennsylvania field. The Pentagon burning. Ash-covered New Yorkers running. Heroic firefighters rushing.

Flights were grounded. Work came to a standstill. The military was placed on high alert. The world, it seemed, descended into a state of chaos.

I was in my office that Tuesday. I’d barely taken a seat at my desk when Karen, my assistant, threw open the door and announced, “You need to see what is happening.” We hurried down the hall to a television. We watched in silence as the first tower tumbled, then the second.

No one knew what to think. Are we at war? Are other planes about to crash into other cities? We had no clue.

Yet, for all I didn’t know, there was one thing of which I was dead certain. So, I got busy.

I phoned Denalyn and told her my plan. She agreed. She jumped into her car. I climbed into mine. We each drove to the nearby schools where our daughters were students.

I didn’t bother with a permission request. I bypassed the administration office and walked straight to the sixth-grade classroom. The teacher saw me standing in the doorway and deduced the reason for my presence.

“Sara,” she instructed, “go with your father.” Sara grabbed her backpack and complied. Meanwhile, at a different building, Denalyn was doing the same with our two older daughters.

Within minutes we were all at home. I wanted us to be together. Something fearful was afoot and there was no way our kids would face it alone. So we kidnapped them. We snatched them away.

We harpazoed them.

Harpazo. That is the Greek word used by the apostle Paul to describe the next major event on God’s calendar.

According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up [harpazoed] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thess. 4:15–18, NIV)

The verb harpazo translates into the English seize, snatch (in Latin, rapere, from which comes the English word rapture). The word describes a most mysterious miracle, a moment in which living believers will be instantly changed into their resurrection bodies and lifted into heaven to meet Jesus. The bodies of dead believers will be resurrected and reunited with their spirits. The mortal will take on immortality. Both groups will be “caught up” to meet Christ in the air and taken into Paradise.

A breathtaking thought, don’t you agree? A generation of Christians will skip the cemetery. Modern-day Elijahs and Enochs they will be. No final breath or death. Just one moment here, the next moment there.

What I did for my daughters, God will do for his children. He will come for his family.

In the same way that Denalyn and I protected our kids from impending trouble, Jesus with harpazo us.

Envisioning the rapture reminds me of a job I had during Christmas break in college. I worked in a machine shop. One of my tasks was to sweep the floor at the end of the day. My dustpan would be littered with trash, dirt, wood-shavings, and assorted junk. The pile also included a random collection of nails, nuts, bolts, and screws. The machinists might need these. Separating the good stuff from the bad stuff was easy. Just hover a magnet over the trash. Every item that contained the same properties of the magnet would rise out of the box and attach to it. Everything else was left behind.

The rapture will have a similar effect. Jesus will appear in the sky, and all who share his nature—who house his Spirit, who have within them the presence of Christ—will be caught up by his magnetic presence to meet him in the air.

At the rapture the bodies of Christians will be raised and reconstituted to resemble the risen body of our Lord. When Jesus rose on Easter, He took on a body which was the prototype of the ones we’ll have throughout eternity.

His glorified body was like his pre-crucifixion body. He could touch and be touched. He ate and drank. Yet, he also passed through walls and appeared in various locations without any visible means of transportation. Most significantly, he ascended into Paradise.

We will do the same.

What a moment of miracles this will be! All prayers for healing will be answered. The enigma of how to interpret the carte blanche promise of Jesus will be solved. “Whatever you ask of me, I will do it for you” (John 16:23-24, paraphrased). He means exactly that. This is no over-promise. We need not explain it away or water it down. We just need to wait. It’s just a matter of time.

This calling forth includes all of God’s children who were conceived, yet never took a breath outside the womb. Miscarriages took many. Abortions took many. Christ will lay claim to them all. Are they not his creations? Does he not have power over life and death? They will live in glorified bodies.

This raptured population includes children who never reached the age of accountability. They lacked the maturity to decide for or against Christ. They are safe in his care. So are people who lacked the mental capacity to comprehend the salvation invitation. They will receive brand-new brains.

This resurrection of the righteous will occur “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52, NKJV). The Greek word used for moment is atomos, from which we get our word atom. To the degree the atom is small, this event is quick. It will happen “in the twinkling of an eye.” How long is the twinkle of an eye? It is too quick to measure. That is how long Jesus needs to collect His church.

When will the rapture take place? Some Bible students place the rapture during the tribulation, others after the tribulation. It seems best to position it prior to the years of trouble. I say this for several reasons.

First, Jesus compared this moment to the rescues of Noah and Lot (Matt. 24:37–39, Luke 17:28–37). Noah felt no raindrops. Lot felt no brimstone. In the same manner, I believe Jesus will emancipate His church, and we will not feel the evil of the Antichrist.

Second, Paul urges us to “encourage one another” (1 Thess. 4:18). How can we be encouraged if we are going to face the Antichrist and the tribulation? If such were the case, Paul would have said, “Warn one another.” But he didn’t. The rapture of the church is a reason for comfort and assurance. Yes, a bad dude is coming, but yes, the church will be leaving. Consequently, be encouraged.

After the rapture, what will happen to us? You are going to love the answer to that question. After I retrieved my daughters on 9/11, they enjoyed a day away from school and some hot chocolate. Jesus promises a wedding and a feast and the greatest reward ceremony in history.

It occurs to me how odd this teaching might sound. What a zany, whacko forecast of the future. The sudden ascension of saints. The consequential collapse of society. The appearance of a Palpatine-like leader from hell. Are you kidding me? A person would have to be insane to believe such a thought. That is the craziest thing I have ever heard.

I understand what you are saying. It sounds fantastical. Yet, before you write off the rapture, remember—this is how our God works. Did he not flood the earth? Did he not level the walls of Jericho? Did he not turn the Red Sea into a red carpet so the Hebrews could escape bondage? Plagues fell on Egypt in the days of Moses. Fire fell on Mount Carmel in the days of Elijah.

God is the God of divine interruptions. Holy surprises. Who could have imagined God living on earth? But he came. Who could’ve imagined God hanging on a cross? But he died. Who could have imagined the empty tomb? But he rose from the dead. He intervenes in mighty and miraculous ways.

He has before.

He will again.

In the meantime, keep an eye toward the sky. Live in such a way that Christ will find you faithfully looking for him. “So always be ready, because you don’t know the day your Lord will come” (Matt. 24:42 NCV).