The Rapture Has Already Taken Place


Instead of hovering over the television on election night, I spent the evening working of my sermons for the following Sunday. I’m in a series on the rapture of the church, and I was stuck by the fact that the rapture has actually already taken place, and three times at that! Three people have already been raptured, or “caught up,” to heaven.

The first to be raptured was Enoch, and two verses in the Bible are devoted to this. Genesis 5:24 says, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” And Hebrews 11:5 says, “By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.”

The second person is Elijah in 2 Kings 2. You may remember that story of Elijah’s sudden translation to heaven in the chariot of God.

The third person, of course, was Jesus Christ, who ascended to heaven in Luke 24 and Acts 1.

 

These three people are forerunners and previewers of the great coming rapture of the church; and if we want to learn something about what it’s going to be like for us to be raptured, we should meditate on these three men. It was a very comforting thought for me on election night, and I went to bed greatly encouraged by the promise of coming events.