Believing in an invisible return of Jesus, an invisible worldwide “scooping up” of believers to be taken away somewhere, followed by seven years of Hollywood apocalypse scenarios, then a third coming of Jesus, is a remarkable example of scriptural interpretive contortionism.
Where exactly does the Bible clearly and explicitly teach:
- an invisible return of Jesus,
- an invisible worldwide “scooping up” of believers to be taken away somewhere,
- seven years of apocalypse scenarios,
- then a third coming of Jesus,
as a comprehensive, clear eschatology?
You have to take each of those elements and mash them together through private interpretation, connecting dots that Scripture does not connect, and using convoluted charts and timelines to arrive at the Hal Lindsey/John Nelson Darby/Left Behind version of dispensational theology known as the Secret Rapture.
Fictional novels, ear-tickling, speculative end-time scenarios, and Hollywood treatments of Scripture shouldn’t influence our attempts to rightly divide and understand God’s Word when it comes to such important matters.
The return of Jesus Christ is a singular event, followed by the establishment of the promised Kingdom, and ultimately the eternal Kingdom. It’s simple, clear, and doesn’t require fifteen different eschatological formulas or confusing doctrines of human tradition to understand or anticipate with great hope.