Most Christians believers today think of the Rapture of the Church as being a New Testament concept or mystery that was revealed by Paul only after the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is known through various names as “the appearing” or “the blessed hope” or the “catching away” or “the gathering” or “the receiving” or “the changing” and there are several others. But does the event known as the “Rapture” appear in the Old Testament?
First, the word “rapture” is only found in the Latin Bible. English Bibles translate it as the “catching up” or the “snatching away.” In Greek, the word is “harpazo” but in the Latin it is “raptus.”
The Rapture of the Church is the event recorded in 1st Thessalonians 4:15-18 and Paul describes this future event in this manner: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”
Second, in order to identify the Rapture in Scripture it is key to understand the 70 weeks prophecy found in Daniel 9. There 69 weeks of years spanned the time from Artaxerxes’ decree to rebuild the Temple until the death of Messiah. According to Daniel 9:26, this gap between the 69th and 70th week contains the Messiah’s death, the birth of the church, Titus’ destruction of the Temple, and the great Dispersion of Israel. When we realize the church age is this gap, then we can see that the Rapture occurs before the 70th week.
Daniel describes this 70th week as the “time of distress” which is that seven-year period prior to the start of Messiah’s one thousand-year reign, saying remarkably that it starts with all believers being rescued.
“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:1-2)
The Church is always referred to as the “bride of Christ” and it is interesting to note that the prophet Isaiah spoke of the time right before the “Lord’s Indignation” (also called the Tribulation) when His people would be hidden in their bridal chamber:
“Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits. Come, my people, enter into your rooms (“chedar” in the Hebrew which means “wedding chamber”), and close your doors behind you; hide for a little while until indignation runs its course. For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth will reveal her bloodshed, and will no longer cover her slain.” (Isaiah 26:19-21)
Although the book of Zephaniah was written just prior to the Babylonian Captivity this book mentions the final “day of the Lord” more than any other book in the Old Testament as the prophet looks to the judgment and restoration of humanity in the far future. In chapter 2 he declares God’s judgment but first issues an invitation for all the “meek or humble” to be “hidden” in the day of the Lord’s anger and provides a beautiful picture of a pre-Tribulation Rapture:
“Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” (Zephaniah 2:3)
The word “hidden” is the Hebrew word “cathar” which means “to be absent, keep close, or secretly conceal.”
Finally, the prophet Micah lived during the days of Hezekiah about 750 years before the birth of Christ. He was a contemporary of Isaiah and several of his writings indicate a close association with him. He prophesied to the Jewish people declaring God’s scathing judgment upon them. You may also remember that it was Micah who foretold the birthplace of Bethlehem and the purpose of Jesus Christ found in Micah 5:2. But, Micah also looks far into the future to the Tribulation period when Israel cries, “Woe is me!” In chapter 7 and using the King James Version, he writes what appears to be an event just prior to the “day of the Lord” involving a “disappearance” that is easily overlooked in the English:
“The good man is perished out of the earth….” (Micah 7:2a)
Two things to note, first the word “good” is the Hebrew word “chasid” which elsewhere is translated as “saint.” Second, the word “perished” is a root translation of the Hebrew word “ovad” (root of “abad”-Strong’s #06) which means “to cause to disappear.” Thus, this verse may be more apt to say, “the good man (or saint) is perished (or disappeared) out of the earth…”
There are 15 Hebrew words that are used to translate “perish” in the Bible and most of them are bloody. However, the word “ovad” simply means “to disappear.”
It is interesting to note that Isaiah uses the same word “ovad” in this passage:
“The righteous perisheth (“disappears”), and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.” (Isaiah 57:1)
What makes this all the more notable is the Hebrew word for “taken away” is “asaph” which means to “hide in a place of safety” and is a common agricultural phrase describing storage of crops at final harvest.
Is it all just coincidence?
Sources for this article include Dr. Ken Johnson and J.R. Church.