Rapture

The Rapture is a doctrine within various sects of Christianity that states that all believers will be taken into Heaven at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ, where they would receive a glorified body. The teaching comes from 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17:

''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.''

There is a difference of opinion among believers about the actual timing of when the Rapture takes place. These views include:


 * Pre-Tribulation, that it can happen at any time prior to the Tribulation. This is commonly supported by Scripture that says no one knows the day or hour of the Lord's coming. It is also commonly supported by the Scripture that says that God will keep believers from the hour of testing (tribulation) that will come upon the whole world, and those who dwell on it.


 * Mid-Tribulation, that it will happen at the midpoint the Tribulation. This is commonly supported by 1st Corinthians 15:51-52, which states that this will happen at "the last trumpet", which some Bible students interpret as being the seventh Trumpet Judgment. It is also supported to some degree by 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-4, stating that the day of His gathering of the saints will not come unless there's a "falling away", and that the "man of sin", the "son of perdition" (two terms used for the Antichrist) has been revealed.


 * Pre-Wrath, that it will happen somewhere during the last 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation, which is when they believe the Antichrist will be revealed, and when Christians start to become martyred. This probably will be when the sixth Seal Judgment, the Wrath Of The Lamb, takes place.


 * Post-Tribulation, that it will happen at the end of the Tribulation. This is commonly supported by Matthew 24:29-31.


 * Pan-Tribulation, that it can occur at any point during the Tribulation. This is usually supported by those who are completely unsure about the timing and simply put it in God's hands, that it will all "pan out" in the end.


 * No Rapture, that the Lord will simply put an end to this world at His coming and bring all those who are faithful to Him into the "new heavens and new earth", or that the Lord will simply come with His army of angels to defeat Satan, the Antichrist, and their armies and will set up His Millennial Kingdom here on earth.

Empath: The Luckiest Smurf stories
Tapper in the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series believes that there will be such an event that will take place before the time period called the Tribulation, though this event doesn't occur at any time during the series.