These are the passages Christians turn to when they talk about the rapture, quoted in full with a short note on what each one adds.
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16–17Paul wrote this to grieving believers who wondered what happened to Christians who had died. His answer: they will rise first, and the living will join them. He ends, “Therefore comfort one another with these words” (4:18).
“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will 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 imperishable, and we will be changed.”
1 Corinthians 15:51–52Paul calls this a “mystery,” something not revealed before. Living believers will not die but will be changed instantly into resurrection bodies.
“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 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.”
John 14:2–3Jesus’ own promise the night before the cross: He will come and take His people to be with Him.
“and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”
1 Thessalonians 1:10“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 5:9Many Christians read these verses as a promise that believers will not face the wrath of the tribulation. Others understand “wrath” as God’s final judgment. See will Christians go through the tribulation?
“Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
Revelation 3:10“looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,”
Titus 2:13“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
1 John 3:2–3The hope of His coming is meant to change how we live today.
Scripture quotations from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), © The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. lockman.org
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 is the central passage: the Lord descends, the dead in Christ rise first, and believers who are alive are caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.
In John 14:2-3 Jesus promises to come again and receive His followers to Himself, so that where He is, they may be also. Many Christians see this as the promise fulfilled in the rapture.
1 Thessalonians 5:9: For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 also speaks of Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
It comes from 1 Corinthians 15:52 and describes how fast believers will be changed at the resurrection: instantly, in a moment too small to divide.
No one knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36). The question is not when. It is whether you know Him. If you are not sure where you stand with God, start at salvation101.com.
What if it happened tonight? The Bride Is Taken, a Christian end-times thriller by Paul T. Barham, imagines the first days after the rapture. Read about the novel.