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Wondering About "The Rapture"?
Prophecy never titles any event "the rapture." Instead, it shows events that require interpretation — and Revelation draws striking parallels to one of them in Luke 12:36.
If you're looking for a prophecy that plainly labels an event "the rapture," you won't find one. Instead, prophecy gives us scenes and situations that require interpretation.
Take a look at Luke 12:36 as an example:
"You are also to be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door for him when he comes and knocks."
A man is returning from a wedding feast that is already taking place, while another group waits elsewhere, ready for him the moment he arrives.
This appears to be a prophecy related to what some Christians call "the rapture." So this picture is worth slowing down to consider. But you might notice that the wedding has already started before that group sees "their master." And now you are probably asking a few questions:
- When "the rapture" happens, does it start the wedding?
- If the church is the bride of the Lamb, how can it start without her?
- And who is outside?
- Is this even about "the rapture?"
These are all great questions. And to answer them truthfully, it is going to take some real effort.
That is what this site is here to do. This site is not about quick answers. If I just tell you the answer, "there are two 'raptures'," that idea of two raptures will be like a seed. A seed without soil will fail to grow. To understand prophecy, you need good soil and time to pray.
Now, back to our verse. The book of Revelation depicts events similar to those in Luke 12:36. Let me highlight the parallels between them and help you compare the scenes carefully.
From Revelation, we have two distinct scenes:
- The Lamb's wedding starts (Revelation 19) after his people are called to come out of Mystery Babylon (Revelation 18) — like those washed in the blood of the Lamb come out of "great tribulation" (Revelation 7).
- One like the son of man comes on a cloud (Revelation 14) to reap a harvest that appears to be near the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11) at a time no one knows.
Are those two events the same, or are they separated by time? Think about Luke 12:36: maybe in Revelation, the wedding starts, and then another group joins the wedding later.
This site is here to provide the soil to help you understand Revelation today and to help you know if what Luke 12:36 tells us is something unexpected (that there are two "raptures").