I find belief in a “rapture,” separate from the Second Coming, baffling. No verse in the Bible says anything about God removing His people from a world where political events are still taking place. Where would we expect to find evidence of a “rapture”? The Book of Revelation is the most Apocalyptic book in the Bible, so we would expect to find it there. While Revelation makes no mention of anyone being “raptured,” it does say that there are martyrs in heaven.
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls
of those who had been slain because of the word of God and
the testimony they had maintained.
They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord,
holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and
avenge our blood?”
Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were
told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow-
servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been
was completed.
Revelation 6: 9-11 NIV
Revelation tells us that martyrs in heaven are “under the altar,” under God’s protection. Further, more martyrs continue to arrive in heaven and the newcomers have the same status as all the martyrs of the past.
In Revelation 19:11-14 we find the Second Coming, the return of Jesus Christ, accompanied by a heavenly army.
Re. 19:11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white
horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he
judges and makes war.
Re. 19:12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many
crowns. He has a name written on him that no-one knows but
he himself.
Re. 19:13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the
Word of God.
Re. 19:14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white
horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
Who are these “armies of heaven”? Believers in a “rapture” assume that they are the raptured, those “taken” off the earth by God to protect them from the Tribulation. What does the scripture say?
The 144,000 are first mentioned in Revelation chapter 7. The enumeration of the 144,000 is given in verse 3 to verse 8. God’s grace is not limited to the 144,000. In verse 9 we are told that a “great multitude that no one could count, from every nation” are standing before the Throne of God.
Who are the 144,000, and the great multitude?
Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes —
who are they, and where did they come from?”
I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they
who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 7: 13-14 NIV
Both the 144,000 and the rest of the “great multitude” came “out of the great tribulation.” This certainly tells us that they did not avoid persecution, or tribulation. They went through it. They came to heaven as martyrs, or perhaps they endured persecution and died of natural causes, but they went through tribulation. The 144,000 appear again in Revelation 14.
Re. 14:1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing
on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and
his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Re. 14:2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing
waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was
like that of harpists playing their harps.
Re. 14:3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the
four living creatures and the elders. No-one could learn the
song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the
earth.
Re. 14:4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women,
for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb
wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men
and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
Revelation 14:1-4
Here we are told that the Lamb, Christ, is on Mt. Zion with with the 144,000. When the 144,000 are introduced in chapter 7, they are in heaven. Then in Chapter 14, Jesus is on Mt. Zion after the Second Coming and the 144,000 are with Him. It looks like they are the army that accompanies Jesus when He returns as Judge. Revelation 14 is preview of what happens after the return of Christ in Revelation 19.
Those who are in the “army” that returns with Jesus are not the “raptured” but martyrs and others who came out of the Tribulation.
What happens on Mt. Zion? For insights from the Old Testament, see Post 2.
