[YTM] 33.0 Whom will Yeshua the Messiah take in the Rapture?

The Rapture is an event in which all believers in Yeshua the Messiah—both Jews and Gentiles—will be suddenly taken from Earth to Heaven, regardless of whether they are alive or deceased at the time. 1 Corinthians 15:51 emphasizes this, stating, “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,” highlighting that all believers will experience transformation. The Rapture primarily concerns the Church, or the “Body of Christ,” which consists of all who accept Messiah as Lord and Savior. This event occurs before most of the tribulation events described in Revelation, allowing God to focus on the Jewish people during this period, though salvation will continue for some both before and after the Rapture.

Revelation 4:1 provides a picture of the Church being taken up to Heaven, similar to John’s vision, where believers are removed from Earth before the Tribulation begins. The Church, often referred to as the Bride of Messiah, is absent from Revelation chapters 4–18, indicating a pre-tribulation Rapture. During this period, the Bride prepares for Messiah’s return (Revelation 19:7; 21:9). The Rapture involves a resurrection or bodily translation of believers, granting them eternal, incorruptible bodies free from death, decay, disease, and suffering. Notably, other dead righteous, including Old Testament saints and post-Rapture (left out) believers, will be resurrected after Messiah’s Next Coming, while the unsaved will face a singular resurrection at the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of the Millennium.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 is the clearest scriptural support for the Rapture, describing how the Lord will descend with a loud command, the dead in Messiah will rise first, and the living believers will then be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord. This passage affirms the imminent nature of the Rapture for living believers, a concept also echoed in John 14:2–3, where Yeshua promises to take His followers to be with Him in Heaven. Additional passages supporting the pre-tribulation Rapture include 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Revelation 3:10, and Isaiah 26:19–21, the latter depicting believers entering protective “rooms” as God’s wrath passes over Earth, paralleling the timing and nature of the Rapture.

While some prophecy experts note that the Rapture is not explicitly outlined in the Old Testament, there are precedents in the lives of Enoch and Elijah. The event functions as a reunion for deceased and living believers, addressing early concerns in the Thessalonian church regarding deceased friends and family. Moreover, the overcomers mentioned in the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2–3 will be participants, whereas the fearful, unbelieving, and sinful will not share in this event (Revelation 21:8). Importantly, Messiah’s physical return to Earth occurs only after the seven-year Tribulation, long after the Antichrist establishes a covenant with Israel.

In essence, the Rapture is a pre-tribulation event reserved for all true believers in Messiah, removing them from Earth to prepare for His eventual return, ensuring the faithful are spared from God’s wrath while uniting the living and resurrected saints in eternal fellowship with Him.