Hollywood tackles the End Times with “Left Behind” film. But is “The Rapture” a Biblical concept, or a fictional plot device?

Reblogged from:Joel Rosenberg´s Blog
In Uncategorized on October 5, 2014 at 12:09 pm



This weekend, Hollywood tried to tackle one of the most intriguing and controversial topics in Biblical eschatology: “The Rapture.”

A new motion picture — Left Behind — starring Nicolas Cage and based on the best-selling novel series by Dr. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins was released on more than 1,700 screens nationwide. It depicts the sudden and cataclysmic disappearance of Christ-followers in the last days of human history.

I have not seen the film, and likely won’t for several months at least given my schedule here in Israel, so I cannot review or comment on it.
But I do want to discuss the concept upon which the novels and the film are based, and several related questions. Among them:

• What exactly is “The Rapture”?
• Is “The Rapture” a Biblical concept, or merely a fictional plot device?
• What does the term mean?
• What are the implications of “The Rapture”?

While the Bible does not indicate precisely when the Rapture will happen, the Holy Scriptures do teach that all true followers of Jesus Christ will be removed from the earth prior to the beginning of the Tribulation. 

Because God has not chosen believers to suffer the wrath of the Tribulation, people who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord prior to the Rapture will thus be rescued from the worst of the persecution, wars, natural disasters, and judgments that the Book of Revelation, the book of Daniel, and other Scriptures explain will occur during the seven years leading up to the Day of the Lord. People who are not born-again believers in Christ at the moment of the Rapture will remain on the earth.

If a person honestly and genuinely repents of his or her sins and receives Christ as his or her personal Savior and Lord at any point after the Rapture — including during the Tribulation — the Bible teaches that person will without a doubt be forgiven of all sin, be regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, and be saved from ultimate judgment. This is God’s grace and mercy, and it will be available even after the Rapture, though the Bible indicates that such new believers will still have to endure the terrors that will occur on the earth during that time. Indeed, many will face martyrdom. Only those who are believers before the Rapture will be saved both spiritually and physically from the wrath to come.

Read more: Joel Rosenberg´s blog