The concept of the rapture is primarily mentioned in the Bible in three main passages:
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 describes believers being "caught up" to meet the Lord in the air. The Greek word "harpazo," meaning "to seize" or "snatch away," is the origin of the English word "rapture." This passage talks about the Lord descending from heaven, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the living believers being caught up together with them in the clouds to be with the Lord forever.
- 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 speaks of a mystery where believers will be changed "in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye," at the last trumpet, receiving imperishable resurrected bodies.
- Matthew 24:40-42 contains a passage often associated with the rapture imagery, where two people are in the field, one is taken and the other left.
Other references include Luke 17:34-37, which has a parallel account to Matthew 24, although some interpret those taken as facing judgment rather than being raptured to glory. The word "rapture" itself does not appear in English Bible translations but comes from the Latin "rapiemur," used in the Latin Vulgate translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The rapture is understood as a future event where Christians are suddenly and physically taken up to meet Jesus in the air, typically described as occurring before or close to the second coming of Christ, though interpretations on timing vary among Christians.
