The Rapture is what many Christians believe is going to happen when God decides it's time to take his family home. There are differing views as to when during the Tribulation this will happen but ultimately all of them are one day expecting to disappear from the earth without experiencing a natural death.
The Timing: Some Christians typically believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, which means they believe that before a period of intense tribulation and suffering on Earth, true believers in Jesus Christ will be taken up to Heaven. This is seen as a way for God to spare Christians from the worst of the end-times events.The Event: The term "rapture" is often used to describe the event where Christians will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air. This belief is primarily based on passages from the Bible, such as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, which speak of believers being "caught up together...in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."
The Purpose: The purpose of the rapture, is to rescue believers from the tribulation period and to prepare for the eventual return of Christ to establish His millennial kingdom on Earth.
Resurrection: Along with the living believers, it is believed that the dead in Christ will be resurrected during the rapture, and all believers, both living and resurrected, will be transformed into their glorified, immortal bodies.
Tribulation and Second Coming: After the rapture, according to this belief, a period of tribulation will occur on Earth. This is often associated with a seven-year period, during which various end-times events will unfold. At the end of this tribulation period, Jesus will return to Earth for His second coming to establish His kingdom.
Interpretations of biblical prophecy and eschatology can vary widely among Christians, and the concept of the rapture is one example of such diversity within Christian theology, however all Christians come together on one theological point and that is belief in The Holy Trinity and that Jesus and God are one in the same. Whether we are raptured before the Tribulation or in between, the difference has little to compare against an eternity with our loving Father in Heaven.
