I am not sure if you have, but personally, I have come into contact with some who do not believe in the Rapture. The reason they do not believe in the Rapture, according to them, is because the Bible never uses the actual word ‘Rapture’. They are correct. The Bible, especially the English translation, never uses the word ‘Rapture’ in all of it’s sixty-six books. You simply will not find that word. For that reason this blog will aim to answer these two questions: Since the Bible does not use the word ‘rapture’, where do we get the word ‘rapture’ from? And why do we use the word ‘rapture’ to summarize Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?
First, I want to take a moment and remind you what 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
This is the text that provides us the details of the Rapture. It also gives us our definition for the Rapture: It is an event where everyone who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, both the living and the dead, will be called up from the earth to join Christ in His kingdom in heaven forever. Now, to our two questions.
Since the Bible does not use the word ‘Rapture’, where do we get the word ‘Rapture’ from?
To answer this question, turn your attention back to 1 Thessalonians 4:17 – “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” The English words “caught up” come from the original Greek word ‘harpazo’, which means to catch up or carry away or caught up. When the Greek word ‘harpazo’ is translated into Latin, as some Bible’s were in the past, the word is ‘rapio‘, which in English means rapture. So, we get the word ‘rapture’ from the Latin translation of the Greek word ‘harpazo’, which in English translates to “caught up”. Thus, the word ‘Rapture’ comes from the Latin translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Now to our final question.
Why do we use the word ‘Rapture’ to summarize Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?
You may have already figured out the answer to this question based on the answer of our previous question. But, to be clear I want to explain this anyway. The whole point of Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is to describe and explain that a day is coming when Jesus will call all those – living and dead – who have believed in Him, up to be with Him in heaven. The entire passage can be best summed up in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which is where we find the words “caught up”. Therefore, the entire passage can be correctly summed in one word ‘Rapture’, which is the Latin translation of the words “caught up”.
So, my friends, make no mistake – the Rapture is a real event, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Furthermore, the word Rapture can be found in the Bible, just not in our English translations. I pray this helps you understand where the word Rapture comes from and why we use that word to summarize 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.