1 Corinthians 15:51-52
"Behold, I shew 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." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
The Rapture is the fourth mystery revealed to Paul — a truth hidden from ages and generations past, but now made manifest. This mystery reveals the catching away of believers to meet the Lord in the air, when the dead in Christ rise first and living believers are transformed in an instant.
What makes the Rapture a "mystery"? It was never revealed in the Old Testament. The prophets spoke of Christ's second coming to earth to establish His kingdom (Zechariah 14, Isaiah 11), but they knew nothing of the Church being caught up to heaven before the Tribulation. This truth was hidden in God and revealed for the first time to the Apostle Paul.
This brief overview introduces the Mystery of the Rapture as one of Paul's seven mysteries. For the comprehensive study covering:
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Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
The mystery was "kept secret since the world began" (Romans 16:25). It was "not made known unto the sons of men" in other ages (Ephesians 3:5). The Old Testament prophets did not know it. The patriarchs did not know it. Even the angels desired to look into these things but could not (1 Peter 1:12).
God revealed this mystery to Paul by direct revelation (Ephesians 3:3). Paul then proclaimed it to the Church through inspired Scripture. What was hidden is now made manifest — the Rapture of the Church before the Tribulation.
Behold, I shew 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 the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 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.
Paul explicitly calls the Rapture "a mystery" (1 Corinthians 15:51). This transformation — the dead raised incorruptible, the living changed in a moment — was never revealed before Paul.
For comprehensive study of the Rapture including Old Testament types, body-soul-spirit theology, the redemption of the body, our glorified bodies, 13 biblical problems with Post-Tribulation theory, and 390+ Scripture references, see the complete Rapture study.
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