Over the past few years, I have heard a lot of talk from “Pre-Trib” Rapture circles theorizing that Antichrist will use alien abduction as an explanation for the Rapture. Up until very recently I pretty much dismissed that concept as totally unrealistic. I have to say though, with all the very unrealistic commenting on aliens from rational media sources, I am starting to consider that there might be some truth to this. Let me make real clear from the outset, I do not in any way believe that aliens are real. However, I do believe in the possibility that all this alien talk might be a demonically inspired sign and lying wonder as described by the Apostle Paul. See 2 Thessalonians 2:9—12. These signs and lying wonders might actually be part of a conditioning process, laying the groundwork for the lie that will be used by Antichrist to explain the Rapture.
For those who have no idea what or who the “Pre-Trib” Rapture folks are, let me give a quick description. The Rapture of the Church is a Biblical doctrine regarding the removal of true born again believers in Christ from the earth. As much as the thought of millions of Christians suddenly disappearing from the world sounds like it comes out of science fiction, the Rapture event is very Biblical. The only matter really up for discussion is the timing and the purpose.
For those who have no idea what or who the “Pre-Trib” Rapture folks are, let me give a quick description. The Rapture of the Church is a Biblical doctrine regarding the removal of true born again believers in Christ from the earth. As much as the thought of millions of Christians suddenly disappearing from the world sounds like it comes out of science fiction, the Rapture event is very Biblical. The only matter really up for discussion is the timing and the purpose.
Although there are several passages that I believe discuss the Rapture doctrine, it primarily comes from the Apostle Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians and the Corinthians. The believers at Thessalonica feared that their Christian loved ones who had died would miss the return of Christ, and the believers at Corinth had a wrong understanding of the resurrection.
The Thessalonians firmly believed that the Second Coming of Christ was imminent, just as our Lord instructed us to believe:
Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 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. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.Matthew 24:42—44 (NKJV).
However, they feared what would happen to their loved ones who died before Christ comes. So to correct their misunderstanding Paul explained to the Thessalonians:
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 by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.1 Thessalonians 4:15—18 (NKJV). By the way, the term “rapture,” though not in Scripture in that form, comes from a form of the Greek word harpazō, which the Greek to English translators interpreted as “caught up” and the Greek to Latin translator interpreted as rapiemur, which is where we get the term “rapture.”
As for the Corinthian Church, Paul needed to teach them that the resurrection was indeed a necessary part of the believer’s future in Heaven. In his explanation, Paul described how it will occur for those of us who are alive at the time this event comes to pass, “Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52 (NKJV).
Those are the two clearest verses in Scripture that teach the Rapture doctrine. Based on the Bible then, it is unequivocal that at some point in the future, all true born again believers in Christ will in a split second (the twinkling of an eye) be caught up (raptured) into the clouds to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air. Many Christians don’t believe it will happen, but there it is in Scripture as plain as can be. The Rapture is a real future event. The only thing that is left for discussion is the timing, which is a much more complex issue to explain that exceeds the point of this article.
The “Pre-Trib” Rapture position is that the Rapture will occur before the seven year period of tribulation, also known as Daniel’s 70th Week, when God pours out His wrath on the unbelieving world in a final opportunity for people to repent and put their faith in Christ alone, “such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Matthew 24:21b (NKJV); see also Daniel 9:20—27; see also Revelation 6—18 (providing details of God’s wrath, as well as the extreme evangelism that occurs during the tribulation period). This position also holds that Antichrist will provide a deceptive explanation for the disappearance of all the Christians, which will be embraced by all those who understood and rejected the Gospel before the Rapture occurred. Paul described this in his second epistle to the Thessalonian believers:
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:9—12 (NKJV).
Many “Pre-Trib” believers have expressed the belief that this lie will have something to do with aliens abducting those “intolerant” “Israel-loving” “exclusive” “overly religious” Christians, who were obstructing peace in the Middle East with their blind support of Israel, and were obstructing true harmony throughout the world with all their sinner accusations, and claims that Heaven was only for Christians. Each of those twisted descriptions of Christianity come from a misunderstanding of the Gospel message. There is some truth in each of those claims, but not in the way they are used to demonize Bible believing Christians.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, I originally did not believe that alien abduction would or ever could have anything to do with the deception Antichrist will use. I felt that aliens were just way too out there, pun intended, for the entire world to embrace as truth. The fact is though that many, many people all around the world are in fact embracing that aliens are visiting and watching over us. Just look at the following articles from rational media sources, which shows that “faith” in aliens is definitely on the rise. Then watch the video that follows of The Hal Lindsey Report from October 8, 2010. The whole show is really good, but to see the portion on this topic, fast forward to just after twenty minutes into the program.
Don’t Talk To Aliens, Warns Stephen Hawking
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/25/dont-talk-aliens-warns-stephen-hawking/?test=faces
Dozens Report UFO Over New York City
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/10/14/dozens-report-ufo-new-york-city/
Mystery Objects Over Chelsea Leave City Agape
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/chelsea_ufo_d27xhhmBwUABMwvFYS2GYP#ixzz12LmcKEV7
Mystery UFO Hovers Over Richmond VA For ‘Four Hours’
http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2010/10/mystery-ufo-hovers-over-richmond-va-for-four-hours/
(Make sure you click on “Skip This Ad” to go to the article.)
UFOs Visited Nuclear Weapons Sites, Former Air Force Officers Say
http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/ufos-visited-nuclear-weapons-sites-former-air-force-officers-sa/19642199
Former NORAD Officer Reports Alien Disclosure Date: October 13, 2010
http://www.examiner.com/ufo-in-national/former-norad-officer-reports-alien-disclosure-date-october-13-2010
Chinese Airport Closed After Fiery UFO Is Spotted Flying Over City
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1293395/UFO-China-closes-Xiaoshan-Airport-spotted-flying-city.html
500th Alien Planet Could Be Discovered This Month
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/alien-planet-number-500-101012.html
(Fast forward to just after 20 minutes into the program.)
It simply blows me away that so many people totally disregard the Gospel message, but will believe in little green men watching over us. For those of you who don’t know it, the core of the Gospel message is as follows. The Bible teaches we are ineligible of inheriting Heaven because none of us are good enough to deserve it. See Romans 3:10—18. However, we suppress that truth to believe instead that we are good enough to deserve Heaven on our own, despite our consciences convicting us of our sin. See Romans 1:18—23, 2:1—16. Because we ignore the truth, most people totally dismiss the greatest news we could ever hope for. Two thousand years ago, God became a Man in the person of Jesus Christ for the purpose of redeeming us from the punishment we actually deserve and giving us His righteousness that we do not deserve. Colossians 1:13—22. Most people reject this even though His coming was predicted hundreds and even thousands of years before He came, not to mention all the eyewitnesses of the resurrection. See 1 Corinthians 15:1—8.
People totally dismiss the Biblical truth of Christ and the atonement for our sins, but they will totally embrace that aliens are visiting us, and are likely the ones that somehow created us. I just can't understand it, except that the Bible warned us this day was coming. The Apostle Peter warned, “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 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 creation.’” 2 Peter 3:3, 4 (NKJV). The Apostle Paul also warned, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3, 4.
We are living in the time that Peter and Paul were writing about. Very few people in this world believe that Jesus will return to be King on this earth. Very few “intellectual” people even believe that God created us, preferring rather to believe the fable that we evolved out of nothing. There are so many signs that the time of tribulation is coming upon the unbelieving world soon. I believe that before this horrific time comes, Jesus Christ will return to this world for His Bride, the Church. The Apostle John recorded for us that Jesus promised He would return and take us to a special place, an event that is descriptively separate from the time in which He returns after the tribulation period to set up His kingdom on earth:
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.
John 14:1—4 (NKJV); compare with Revelation 19:11—16 (describing Jesus returning to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, with the glorified Church following Him as Paul described in Colossians 3:4).
Please disregard the fables of aliens and other nonsense. I don’t know if Antichrist will actually use alien abduction as an explanation for the Rapture. It certainly seems to make sense, but for now it’s really just an interesting theory. The only truth you can confidently trust is Jesus, your Creator and Savior who declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6b (NKJV). Don’t believe our enemy’s lie that Jesus was just a man and that you can get to Heaven any way you wish. There is only one way, through repenting from your rebellion and surrendering to God through putting your faith in His Son alone! If you hear His voice, do as Jesus commanded, “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15b (NKJV).
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