Rapture: Which is Which?

by Chuck Fisher

Back in the '70s, I used to work in a Christian bookstore, when I was going to college. One of the popular trinkets at that time was a simple button with the first two arrows above on it. The bottom arrow points straight up, supposedly representing the flight of the Church at the time of the Rapture. The top arrow descends, bending at the point where the two met, and then curves, pointing back up. The two arrows were the paths that Christ and the Church were to travel at the Rapture, with Christ coming down to meet the Church in the air, and both returning to Heaven. However, I think it more likely that one Greek word used to describe this meeting in the air shows that the first set of arrows above, symbolic of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, is wrong, that the second set of arrows, showing that the Church will meet Christ in the air and return to Earth at His triumphant Second Coming, is the more accurate representation.

In this article, I would like to deal with a Greek word which, to my mind, absolutely is conclusive in demonstrating that the idea of a pre-tribulation Rapture is false, and helps us to determine that the Rapture takes place at the Second Coming of Christ, at the end of the Tribulation, and not seven years before.

Let's look at the Great Rapture Passage, found in 1 Thess. 4:13-17:

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till 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 together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

This is the passage of Scripture that is referred to in order to teach the Rapture. I do not deny that the Church will be taken into the air to meet Christ. But we do not have a time signal in this passage, telling us that this occurs seven years before Christ sets foot on the Earth. Nor do we have any indication as to where our destination is, in English. It just says that we will meet Christ in the air. It is certain that we do not stay suspended in space; we have to be going somewhere. So which is it: do we continue on into Heaven, or do we turn around and accompany Christ back to Earth? Which of the above graphics is correct? The Greek text tells us which is correct.

"After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to MEET the Lord in the air." (I Thess 4:17)

The Greek word for the word MEET is apantesis (#529, in Strong's Greek Concordance.) Apantesis is a very rarely used word in the NT, and has a precise meeting that cannot be missed, when one who has studied Greek learns how it is used. It is only used to describe one certain situation. In all three of its usages in the NT, it is used in this specific way.

The first time apantesis occurs is in Matt 25:6.

Matt. 25:6 "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to MEET (apantesis) him!'

Here, in the parable of the 10 Virgins, is the first occurence of the word, apantesis. (I believe that in the 26th Nestle's, apantesis also occurs in the first verse, as well.) The 10, not knowing when the Bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him. They know he is coming, but not when. They bring lamps, and 5 bring oil. When the cry comes that the Groom is coming, 5 are ready to meet him, and go to meet him, and accompany him back to the house of his bride. The Groom approached the house of the Bride, the virgins went out to meet him, and then returned with the Groom as he continued on his journey to the bride's home. In this event, notice that it is the virgins who turn around, not the groom. They go out to MEET (apantesis) the groom, turn around, and go back to where they came from. The groom does not turn around and go back to his home, having as his companions the five wise virgins. No, he is met by the five wise virgins, who turn around and accompany him to the house where they came from, the home of the Bride.

The second occurence of the word apantesis come in Acts 28:15.

Acts 28:15 The brothers there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to MEET (apantesis) us.

The situation is this: Paul is being sent, as a prisoner to Rome. He is under guard. Christian brothers in Rome who know of Paul hear about his imminent coming to Rome, and go out on the road of Paul's approach to meet him. When they meet Paul at the Forum, they rejoice with him, and then turn around and accompany Paul back to Rome. This is the second time MEET (apantesis) is used, and the second time that it shows those who go out to meet someone turning around and accompanying that person on their journey to his intended destination.

The only other occurence of the word apantesis is in our Rapture text, "MEET (apantesis) the Lord in the air." (1 Thess. 4:17) Does the usage of the word, apantesis, in its two previous occurences dictate how we should interpret it here? I believe that, yes, it does determine how we should see what this word means. I believe that this demonstrates that the Church will be caught up, at the end of the Great Tribulation, into the air to meet the returning Christ. We shall be changed at that moment, and then proceed with Him on His triumphant return to this Earth, to set up His Kingdom, at last.

But what of those who would say, "Sorry, but that is not enough. Your say-so doesn't make it so." True enough, I am not a Greek scholar, and do not have the gifts of Greek study behind me. However, others are Greek scholars, and one scholar, author of one of our most well-known Bible study tools gives us background into this word. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, p. 402, (Nelson, 1985) has this to say about the word apantesis:

"It is used in the papyri of a newly arriving magistrate. "It seems that the special idea of the word was the official welcome of a newly arrived dignitary) (Moulton, Greek Test. Gram. Vol. I, p. 14)"

"Papyri? What's that?" you ask.

W. Graham Scroggie, eminent twentieth century British scholar and preacher, in his foreward to Vine's, tells us of the "papyri" mentioned here. These are the Greek writings of the time of the New Testament. Many ancient Greek writings, not of the NT, have been found, and scholars have studied these writings to see what Greek words mean. Greek is, in many ways, a picture language, in which its many words convey a picture, and in non-NT writings of this time period, this word, apantesis, means the greeting of an arriving dignitary.

We see this demonstrated in the news of our day, many times over. A visiting foreign leader arrives at Dulles or Reagan airport, in Washington, D. C. President Bush goes out to meet him, and to make an official welcome to this foreign leader. After greeting each other on the airport tarmac, Bush and this dignitary then get into limosines and go back to the White House. Bush went out to meet this person, greeted him and his entourage at the airport, and then accompanied them back into D. C. He did not get on the plane and accompany this person back to his home country.

This is the meaning of the word apantesis.

The church, when Christ comes in the clouds, will rise to MEET/APANTESIS Him in the air. After meeting Him, we will be changed, then turn around and accompany Christ on His triumphal return to the earth. That is the clear meaning of the word used in 1 Thess. 4:17. There can be no other possible interpretation, given its New Testament usage, and its meaning to the Greeks who used it for these special occasions.

The famous Rapture passage itself, contains the clues to show us that the Church will not go into Heaven seven years before the return of Christ to the earth, but will instead rise to meet Him at His triumphal Second Coming, His return to Earth.