Yes, There Is A Rapture.
The Matthew 25 passage, the Part 2 of the Olivet Discourse, is where Jesus describes some of the events to take place upon his Second Coming to the earth. Let’s look:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...
Therefore we read that at his coming, Jesus will have gathered to him, probably by angels, absolutely everyone remaining alive by the end of the Great Tribulation. Folks can and will argue about this and say the Great Tribulation already happened. There is the school of thought that the language regarding the events concerning the Tribulation are largely symbolic and will state that such prophetic passages are what they would call "Apocalyptic Language." We will not belabor this much here as in several other articles it has already been indicated one must commit eschatological suicide to come to such a conclusion.
The entirety of Matthew 24 is peppered overtly with over a dozen references to “the end” and the Second Coming. It is not about 70 A.D. Especially as Jesus describes this time of Great Tribulation the worst on earth before or since, and 70 A.D. was not even as bad as either World War, indicating something worse is coming. One must put a bullet of “symbolism” in the brain to even accept the Book of Revelation, and yet who gets to decide what parts are symbolic, what are not, and who determines the meaning? We will dispense with such absurdities.
Given that a straightforward read of the apocalyptic passages of Matthew and Revelation are accurate without all the doctrinal gymnastics, I want us to consider a controversy among all controversies. I don’t know that it is the Mother of All Controversies, but it’s a big one. For many, the case is not settled. For example, consider the following in Matthew 24:
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Luke 17 puts it this way:
34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
For the roughly fifty years I have known the Lord this debate has been raging. Is "one taken and one left" a passage about the Rapture? "No!" many will insist. Many insist Rapture is not in the text at all even among many who hold to a Pretribulational position (we have addressed this in other articles as well). Many insist this passage is about those taken in judgment at the Second Coming.
I am hoping to settle the argument here. Let me do so in this way. Rapture is about the beginning of the time of a seven year judgment which culminates in the back end, seven years later, with Jesus’s return where he gathers the sheep (believers on the earth at this time) and the goats (unbelievers at this time). This was our first passage above. Whether one believes in a future tribulation, rapture or not, virtually everyone seems to accept that at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, there will be a Sheep and Goats Judgment. The timing and nature between this and the Great White Throne is sometimes disputed. But for most, that this judgment in Matthew 25 takes place as described is not much in dispute.
Now look again. The gathering at his Second Coming, ALL are gathered, not some. Also note that “as in the days of Noah” (also other passages address Lot) the warning is concerning conditions at the head (the beginning) or leading up to judgment. Not in, or at the end. Life as usual is going on, then BAM! Judgment. Jesus used the word, "before."
Now allow me to pose this question:
If this passage about one taken and the other left is about Judgment (sheep and goats) then how do the sheep get there? Uber?
See the problem? In Matthew 24 we see one taken and one left. And yet, in the event described in Matthew 25, all are gathered. How can these be about the same event?
Note again, some are taken and some are left in Matthew 24. In keeping with Revelation 19 as well, Jesus will be personally separating out the Sheep to his right and the Goats to his left at the end. In the Rapture, according to the ancient Hebrew wedding tradition, there is “The Taking” where the Bridegroom leaves his father’s house to the gate (not all the way) of the Bride’s house to Take her to his father’s house where there has been a room addition to the house. Amen!
In the days of Noah and Lot, folks were going about Life As Usual, marrying and giving in marriage, working in their fields, working at the mill, elsewhere on the earth where it is night, some are sleeping. Note, Jesus even said, "before the flood." Then suddenly and by surprise, as if by a thief sneaking in to steal, some are taken. Jesus will NOT be coming like a thief at the Second Coming when he shows up with all his angelic host, on a white horse, in all his glory! That is unthief-like.
At the end of the Tribulation Week there will have been half the world’s population, at a minimum, wiped out (1/4 during the Seals and 1/3 of what is left at the Bowls). Man-sized hail has fallen, volcanos have erupted in divers places, asteroids have been pummeling the earth (and a big one called Wormwood poisons the seas), a series of great earthquakes culminate in a great one that levels the mountains and sinks the islands (sorry Hawaii). The world’s Armies are gathered for, literally, Armageddon. We are told the debris will make the sun black like sackcloth and the moon will be blood red on that terrible day. Oh! Also, ALL the water has now been turned to blood! And we are supposed to think Matthew 24 is about this time, right at the Second Coming?
Thief-like and days of Noah and Lot were about people going about life as usual, marrying, giving in marriage, working a field, asleep in bed, plowing a field. There is not likely to be anything like this, especially folks making wedding plans, by the time Christ returns. Hiding and trembling in a hole in fear, yes. Partying and clocking in at work, no way.
Therefore, one taken and one left must be Rapture, for at the end, ALL will be gathered for the Sheep and Goats Judgment. Conclusion: Two distinct events.