                           Timing Of The Rapture - 1 of 5

                      WHEN IS THE RAPTURE?
 
                        By Harold Camping
                A Study of Seven Scriptural Paths
              Focusing on the timing of the Rapture
 
  Scripture texts are from the King James Version of the Bible
 
Copyright 1979 by Family Stations, Inc.
290 Hegenberger Road, Oakland, California
 
 
                            CONTENTS
 
Introduction.......................................
                                                   \
The Last Trumpet and The Rapture................... \
                                                     \___ RAP1.TXT
Sodom's Destruction and The Rapture................  /
                                                    /
The Noachin Flood and The Rapture................../
 
The Resurrection of the Dead and The Rapture............. RAP2.TXT
 
The Tribulation and The Rapture.......................... RAP3.TXT
 
The Man of Sin and The Rapture........................... RAP4.TXT
 
A Thief in the Night and The Rapture...............
                                                   \_____ RAP5.TXT
Conclusion........................................./
 
                          INTRODUCTION
 
As  never before in  history there is  an increasing preoccupation
with  the subject  of the  return of  our Lord  Jesus Christ.  The
return of  Israel to their land,  the tremendous multiplication of
knowledge,  the brilliant  success of  such a  Godless ideology as
Communism,  the  potential  for  massive  worldwide destruction by
nuclear  war, and  the rapid  increase in communication technology
(permitting the  Gospel to penetrate everywhere  in the world) are
some of the phenomena which  cause serious people to wonder if the
end of time has come very close.
 
Naturally, then, those who have placed their trust in the Bible as
the only reliable source of information concerning the future will
look to the Bible  for information concerning the  end-time events.
One of these events which  gives great comfort to the child of God
is the Rapture of the believers.  By the word "Rapture" we have in
mind that  moment in history when the believers in Christ who have
not  experienced  physical  death  will  be  changed  into   their
glorified bodies.  At that time they will be caught  up in the air
to be with Christ, even as I Thessalonians 4:17 declares:
 
    Then we  which are  alive and  remain shall  be caught up
    together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
    air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
 
A puzzling situation has developed, however, concerning the timing
of the Rapture.  Some hold  that it will be 1007 years  before the
end of the world.  Others  believe the Bible teaches that  it will
be  1003.5 years before  the end, while  still others suggest 1000
years.  Then there are  those who teach that this grand event will
occur right at the end of time.
 
One  logically  wonders,  therefore,   if  the  Biblical  teaching
concerning  the timing of the Rapture  is obscure, if the language
of the  Bible is extremely difficult to  understand, and of course
he would surely wish that he could understand the Bible clearly on
this question.  For then one could know more specifically  how the
believers will relate to the final tribulation period of which the
Bible speaks.   Moreover, a clear  understanding of the  timing of
the Rapture would greatly help in understanding many other details
relating to the end of time.
 
Wonderfully, the Bible has much  to say about the Rapture,   It is
not  an event which  is rarely alluded  to in the  Bible.  And the
timing of the Rapture in relationship to Judgment  Day and the end
of time is extrememly well documented in the  Scriptures.  We need
not have any doubt whatsoever concerning its place in the sequence
of events which relate to Christ's return.
 
In this  study we will examine seven  different sets of Scriptures
dealing with the  Rapture.  As we go through  these Scriptures, we
will  find  seven  independent  paths  which  lead  us to the same
inescapable conclusion:  The  Rapture of the believers  will occur
at the end of  time. It will take place at the  same time that our
Lord comes in Judgment to judge the world.  It  will come right at
the  time  that  the  world  is  beginning  to  collapse as God is
preparing to destroy the world by fire.
 
May  we  be  grateful  to  our  Lord for the abundance of Biblical
information He has provided on this important event.
 
Let us look together now at the first of these seven paths.
 
 
THE LAST TRUMPET AND THE RAPTURE
 
In I Corinthians 15:51-53 we read:
 
    Behold, I  show you a  mystery.  We shall  not all sleep,
    but  we  shall  all  be  changed,  in  a  moment,  in the
    twinkling of an  eye, at the last trump;  for the trumpet
    shall sound, and the dead shall  be raised incorruptible,
    and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on
    incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
 
In these verses God is discussing  the fact that not everyone will
die.   (To  fall  asleep  is  Biblical language signifying death.)
There  will  be  those  who  will  instantaneously  receive  their
resurrected bodies without first falling asleep.  This language is
clearly concerned  with the Rapture, for verse 53 speaks about the
believers receiving their immortal bodies.
 
But  then  God  tells  us  when  this event will occure.  Note the
language which declares "at the sound of the last trump."  This is
a time clue.  God is effectively saying that when the last trumpet
sounds the Rapture will occur.
 
If we follow the Biblical principle that the Bible interprets  the
Bible,  we must now search the  Bible to find language relating to
the sound  of the last trumpet.  If  such references can be found,
perhaps they will tell us when the last trumpet will sound.
 
In Revelation 11:15-18 we read:
 
    And  the  seventh  angel  sounded,  and  there were great
    voices in Heaven saying, "The  kingdoms of this world are
    become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He
    shall reign for ever and ever."  And the four and  twenty
    elders, which  sat before God  on their seats,  fell upon
    their  faces  and  worshipped  God  saying, "We give Thee
    thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art
    to come, because Thou  hast taken to Thee Thy great power
    and hast reigned.   And the nations  were angry, and  Thy
    wrath  is  come, and  the time   of the  dead, that  they
    should  be judged,  and that  Thou shouldest  give reward
    unto Thy servants, the  prophets, and to the  saints, and
    them  that fear Thy name,  small and great, and shouldest
    destroy them which destroy the earth."
 
In this passage God  gives us an outline  of the events that  will
accompany the  sounding of the  seventh or last  trumpet.  At that
time the follwing becomes a reality."
 
    a.  The time has come for the dead to be judged.
    b.  The time for the rewarding of the saints has
        come.
    c.  The time for destroying the destroyers has
        come.
 
In other  words, the sounding of the seventh trumpet is signalling
that Judgment Day has come.  It signals that the time has come for
the  believers to receive  their reward.  It  is the time that the
forces of evil are to be cast into Hell.   Therefore, the sounding
of the last trumpet must be at the end of time.   For it is at the
end of time that Judgment Day occurs, and Satan is thrown into the
lake of fire.
 
Returning now  to I Corinthians 15:51-53  we  will  recall that it
effectively declares that the Rapture of believers  is to occur at
the sound of the last trumpet.  Since we have seen from Revelation
11 that at the  sound of the seventh trumpet  Judgment Day occurs,
we can  therefore know  that the  Rapture is  a simultaneous event
with Judgment Day.
 
SODOM'S DESTRUCTION AND THE RAPTURE
 
From  I Corinthians 15:51-53  we have seen  that the Rapture is to
occur at the time Christ  returns to judge the world.  Let  us now
look at  a second  path that  helps us  to see  the timing  of the
Rapture.  In Luke 17:28-37 we read:
 
    Likewise  also, as  it was  in the  days of Lot, they did
    eat, they  drank, they  bought, they  sold, they planted,
    they  builded.  But  the same  day that  Lot went  out of
    Sodom  it  rained  fire  and  brimstone  from  heaven and
    destroyed  them all.   Even thus  shall it  be in the day
    when the  Son of man  is revealed.  In  that day he which
    shall be upon the house  top and his stuff in the house,
    let him not come down to take it away:  and he that is in
    the  field,  let  him  likewise  not turn back.  Remember
    Lot's wife.  Whosoever  shall seek to save his life shall
    lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve
    it.  I tell you, in that night there  shall be two in one
    bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
    Two shall  be grinding together; the  one shall be taken,
    and the other left.  Two  shall be in the field;  the one
    shall be taken and the other left.  And they answered and
    said  unto Him,  "Where, Lord?"   And He  said unto them,
    Wheresoever  the  body  is  thither  will  the  eagles be
    gathered together.
 
In this passage God is  using the destruction of Sodom as a figure
or type of  the judgment of  the last day.   We will see  that the
saving of Lot and his family is a figure of the Rapture which will
occur simultaneously with Judgment Day.
 
Looking at  the destruction  of Sodom,  we can  see that  God sent
angels to rescue the family of Lot (Genesis 19).  On the  heels of
this rescue operation God rains down fire and brimstone upon Sodom
and the other wicked cities, utterly destroying them.
 
God declares in Luke 17:30, "so it will be in the day when the Son
of Man  is revealed."  Thus Christ links  the destruction of Sodom
to Judgment Day.
 
But  God  also  links  the  rescue  of  Lot  and his family to the
Rapture.  Note that God declares in verse 34:
 
    I tell you, in that night there shall be two  in one bed;
    the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
 
The  parallelism that exists between  the destruction of Sodom and
the end  of the  world is  clearly evident.   Sodom, a wicked city
ripe for judgment, is populated by two kinds of people:  there are
the  wicked  who  are  to  be  destroyed,  and there is the church
represented by Lot and his  family. It is a tiny little remnant in
this wicked city.
 
So today the world  exists as a world  populated by those who  are
altogether rebellious against  God.  Amongst the  vast populations
of the world there exists the church.  It consists of  only a tiny
percentage of the world's population.
 
Then Judgment Day  comes for Sodom.  The cup  of their iniquity is
full.  God  will utterly  destroy them  for their  sins.  But just
ahead  of  that  judgment  God  rescues  Lot.  So close in time is
rescue  to  the  poured  out  judgment  of  God that Lot's wife is
destroyed in the judgment.  So it will also be at the end of time.
When  the nations have become ripe for judgment, God will send His
angels to rescue  the believers.  Two will  be in one bed;  one is
taken, the  other is left.  The one that  is taken is caught up in
the air to  be with Christ  even as I  Thessalonians 4:17 teaches.
The  one that is  left is left  to stand for  judgment even as the
wicked of Sodom were left for judgment.
 
Thus Christ is teaching that  the Rapture comes as a  simultaneous
event  with  Judgment  Day  itself.   There  is complete agreement
between the account  of Jesus concerning the  destruction of Sodom
and  the  I  Corinthians  15  account  which speaks of the Rapture
coming at the sound of the last trumpet.
 
 
THE NOACHIN FLOOD AND THE RAPTURE
 
A third path of the Bible continues to give us vast assurance that
the Rapture will be a  simultaneous event with Judgment Day.  This
is found  in the  language Jesus  utters as  He compares the Flood
with  its  events  to  Judgment  Day  with its events.  In Matthew
24:37-41  we read:
 
    But as the days  of Noe were, so shall also the coming of
    the Son of man be.   For as in the days that  were before
    the flood  they were  eating and  drinking, marrying  and
    giving in marriage,  until the day that  Noe entered into
    the ark, and knew not  until the flood came and took them
    all away; so shall also the coming of the  Son of man be.
    Then  shall two be in the  field; the one shall be taken,
    and the  other left.  Two  grinding at the  mill; the one
    shall be taken, and the other left.
 
In this passage God sets  up parallel language relating the  flood
that  destroyed the  world of  Noah's day  to the  event of Jesus'
return.  This parallelism, indicating that the destruction of  the
world in the Noachin Flood  was a type or figure of  Judgment Day,
is also set forth in II Peter 3:3-7, where we read:
 
    Knowing this  first, that  there whall  come in  the last
    days scoffers, walking after their  own lust, and saying,
    "Where  is  the  promise  of  His  coming?  For since the
    fathers  fell asleep,  all things  continue as  they were
    from  the  beginning  of  the  creation."   For this they
    willingly  are ignorant of,  that by the  word of God the
    heavens were  of old, and  the earth standing  out of the
    water and in the water:  Whereby the world that then was,
    being  overflowed with water  perished;  But  the heavens
    and the earth, which are  now, by the same word  are kept
    in store, reserved unto fire against the day of  judgment
    and perdition of ungodly men.
 
When we look at the Flood account of Genesis 7, we see  that seven
days  before the Flood  God gave Noah  notice that the Flood would
come  in seven  days.  Therefore,  Noah and  his family were to go
into the ark.
 
    Genesis 7:1 -- And the Lord said unto Noah, "Come
                   thou and all thy house into the ark;
                   for thee have I seen righteous before
                   me in this generation."
 
    Genesis 7:4 -- For yet seven days, and I will cause
                   it to rain upon the earth forty days
                   and forty nights, and every living
                   substance that I have made will I
                   destroy from off the face of the
                   earth.
 
That the Flood  did indeed come seven days after notice was given,
as we read in verse 4, can be learned from the language of Genesis
7:10:
 
    And it came to pass  after seven days that the  waters of
    of the flood were upon the earth.
 
 
The Bible  then records  the precise  date of  the Flood, together
with  the  information  that  Noah  actually  entered  the ark the
selfsame  day  that  the  Flood  came.   We  read  this in Genesis
7:11-13:
 
    In the  six hundredth year of Noah's  life, in the second
    month, the  seventeenth day  of the  month, the  same day
    were all the fountains  of the great deep broken  up, and
    the windows of heaven were opened.  And the rain was upon
    the earth forty  days and forty nights.   In the selfsame
    day entered  Noah and Shem and Ham, and Japheth, the sons
    of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons
    with them, into the ark.
 
Thus  Christ  teaches  that  the  peoples  of Noah's day continued
eating and  drinking until the  day that Noah  entered the ark and
the Flood swept them away.  Luke 17:27 reads:
 
    They did eat, they  drank, they married wives,  they were
    given in marriage,  until the day  that Noe entered  into
    the ark, and the flood cam and destroyed them all.
 
Certainly we can see the parallelisms that exist between the Flood
and  Judgment Day.  Noah and his family lived in a world cursed by
sin.  So  at Judgment Day the believers exist as a tiny remnant in
a world cursed  by sin.  When the  floods were to begin,  Noah and
his family entered into  the ark, a haven of safety for them.  So,
too, at Judgment Day the believers are raptured while  the unsaved
are  judged  and  removed  into  Hell.   "Then shall two be in the
field; the one shall be taken and the other left."  Matthew 24:40.
The one taken is like Noah.   Even as Noah went into the safety of
the ark, so  the believer is  caught up to  the safety of  Christ.
The one left is left for judgment, even as the  people outside the
ark were left for judgment.
 
Once  again,  therefore,  we  see  clearly  that  the  Rapture  is
simultaneous with Judgment Day.
 
When Christ rose from the grave, he  showed the resurrection to be
a  fact by many proofs (Acts  1:3).  Likewise the Bible's teaching
concerning  the  timetable  of  the  Rapture  is set forth in many
places  in the Bible.  Thus we shall  now look at a fourth path in
the Bible where this truth is taught.
 

