According to the standard Evangelical/Dispensational Rapture doctrine, the Rapture occurs before the apocalyptic events of the Book of Revelation begin to unfold.
So why is the Rapture not explicitly mentioned in Revelation, not even once?
Why would the most shocking, impactful, and monumental event (supposedly) in the Bible and in human history; an event that miraculously and suddenly removes millions of people from the earth triggering the beginning of a worldwide apocalypse, not be mentioned at all in the book of the Bible called the Apocalypse?
Yes, I’m aware of the interpretations of Revelation 4:1-2, where John is called up to heaven, supposedly being a symbolic reference to the Rapture. I’m not buying it though. That kind of handling of the Word is a perfect example of reading a preconceived notion into scripture rather than letting scripture speak for itself.
To speculate that Revelation 4:1, where John heard a voice that said, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter…” is referring to the Rapture seems to me a weak, almost desperate, argument. And the same for the ‘missing church’ argument that claims the absence of the Greek word for ‘church’, ekklesia, after Revelation chapter 3 implies a Rapture occurs somewhere between chapter 3 and 4.
The Rapture is not mentioned at all in the Book of Revelation. Why?
More to come in this ongoing series, “Rethinking The Rapture”.
Child of God, husband, father, grandfather, rabblerouser, songwriter, pot stirrer, waiting for the King.