Acts 8:39 reads, "And when they were come out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing."

 

As one knows this story, it is about how Philip obeyed the command from the Holy Spirit to go down from Jerusalem to Gaza to find the Ethiopian eunuch in the chariot who was reading the Word of God. When Philip addressed the man and saw that he had been saved by grace he baptized the eunuch. Once Philip had fulfilled his purpose he immediately vanished to another place by no effort from himself.

 

I Thessalonians 4:17 reads, "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."

 

Again, as those who know the verses preceding this scripture they understand that this is a future event in which the Lord delivers His elect out of the world before the tribulation. It is an event/moment that will occur where the saints of God immediately vanish to another place by no effort from themselves.

 

In both verses the Greek word is the same for "caught away and caught up." Harpazo means to seize, catch (away, up), pluck, pull, take (by force). It does not have any connotation to something or someone being immediately returned or dropped back. When Philip was caught away he did not immediately return to the place where the eunuch was reading. When Paul wrote that the saints will be caught up he did not say or hint that they would be immediately returned to the earth. In neither scripture was there any reversal of leaving one moment then returning the next moment. Some preachers may say that the saints were caught up with the angels and then returned to earth but that makes no sense either contextually or logically.

 

This second event of the saints being caught up is denied its meaning by some modern preachers who deny the rapture. Their reasoning is that since we will know when the Lord returns they criticize and wrongly identify this as a "secret rapture." A rapture it is but a secret it will not be when it happens. People will know when that moment has occurred. And it is only part of the Lord's second coming.

 

II Corinthians 12:2 reads, "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven...." Verse 4 continues, "How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is unlawful for a man to utter." Again, this is the same Greek word, harpazo, used the same way. Neither are these to be interpreted as being caught up in one moment and immediately returned or dropped in the next moment.

 

It is easy to believe prophecy or scripture that has been fulfilled (Acts 8:39) but some find it difficult to believe prophecy that has yet to be fulfilled (I Thessalonians 4:17).

 

 

 

Maranatha!