End Times Rapture Timing

All the passages regarding the rapture and Jesus' 2nd coming (in no particular order)

Each passage below is clickable, but keep in mind the original Greek text (click to see how AI can help with that) can sometimes contain more revealing information than most of our modern translations, and at times one also needs to take the verses around the passage into consideration for better context. Now you can better see why this is such as tricky subject.

• John 14:1-3

• Rom 8:19

• 1 Cor 1:7-8

• 1 Cor 15:1-53

• 1 Cor 16:22

• Phil 3:20-21

• Col 3:4

• 1 Thess 1:10

• 1 Thess 2:19

• 1 Thess 4:13-18

• 1 Thess 5:9

• 1 Thess 5:23

• 2 Thess 2:1

• 1 Tim 6:14

• 2 Tim 4:1

• Titus 2:13

• Heb 9:28

• James 5:7-9

• 1 Pet 1:7, 13

• 1 John 2:28-3:2

• Jude 21

• Rev 2:25

• Rev 3:10 (this is the most obvious single scripture pointing towards a rapture for believers)

• Dan 2:44-45

• Dan 7:9-14

• Dan 12:1-3

• Zech 14:1-15

• Matt 13:41

• Matt 24:15-31

• Matt 26:64

• Mark 13:14-27

• Mark 14:62

• Luke 21:25-28

• Acts 1:9-11

• Acts 3:19-21

• 1 Thess 3:13

• 2 Thess 1:6-10

• 2 Thess 2:8

• 2 Pet 3:1-14

• Jude 14-15

• Rev 1:7

• Rev 19:11-20:6

• Rev 22:7, 12, 20

To Google Gemini: please analyze these end times passages and tell me if you think these all refer to one event or 2 separate events.

Google Gemini’s Response:

That is a very extensive and thoughtfully compiled list of biblical passages related to the end times! Analyzing whether these all refer to one event or two separate events (or perhaps even more) is a central question in Christian eschatology (the study of the end times).

As an AI, I can offer an analysis based on common theological interpretations, but I must emphasize that this is a matter of ongoing debate among sincere believers. There are two major viewpoints regarding the events described in your list:

1. The Single-Event View (Often called Amillennial or Postmillennial)

In this view, the various passages describing the Lord's return, the resurrection, the judgment, and the transformation of the earth essentially refer to one grand, culminating event.

• Argument: The return of Christ is a single, glorious, decisive day that inaugurates the eternal state. Passages that seem to describe different aspects (a "coming for His own" vs. a "coming with His own") are seen as different perspectives or details of the same event.

• Key Passages Emphasized: Passages like Matthew 24:29-31 and Revelation 19:11-20:6 which describe a visible, glorious coming associated with judgment and the resurrection of believers and unbelievers simultaneously. The resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 is viewed as the final, bodily resurrection.

• The Difference is: Descriptive variation, not chronological separation.

2. The Two-Event View (Often called Dispensational Premillennial)

In this view, the passages describe two distinct future events separated by a period of time, most often identified as a seven-year Great Tribulation:

Event 1: The "Rapture" (Coming for His Saints)

This is a secret, sudden, and imminent coming of Christ in the air to resurrect and remove the Church (all believers) from the earth.

• Key Passages Associated:

  • John 14:1-3 (Preparing a place)

  • 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Meeting the Lord in the air)

  • 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (The transformation of living believers)

  • Titus 2:13 (The blessed hope)

  • Revelation 3:10 (Promise of being kept from the hour of trial)

Event 2: The "Second Coming" (Coming with His Saints)

This is a public, visible, and glorious return of Christ to the earth after the Tribulation period, where He judges the wicked, establishes His earthly millennial kingdom, and reigns.

• Key Passages Associated:

  • Matthew 24:29-31 (Visible, "after the tribulation" coming)

  • Acts 1:9-11 (Returning in the same way He left)

  • Zechariah 14:4 (His feet touching the Mount of Olives)

  • Revelation 19:11-20:6 (Riding a white horse, judgment, and the Millennium)

Analysis of the passages:

Your list is a near-perfect demonstration of why this debate exists, as you have listed passages that are typically associated with both views:

Passage Type + Interpretation in the Two-Event View:

"Blessed Hope" (Rapture)

Christ comes for the church; secret; before Tribulation:

John 14:1-3, 1 Cor 15:51-53, 1 Thess 4:13-18, Titus 2:13, Rev 3:10

"Glorious Appearing" (Second Coming)

Christ comes with the church; public; after Tribulation:

Matt 24:29-31, Acts 1:9-11, 2 Thess 1:6-10, Jude 14-15, Rev 1:7, Rev 19:11-20:6

General/Broad Terminology

Refer to the ultimate event, which is the glorious return of Christ to fully bring salvation and judgment:

Rom 8:19, Col 3:4, Heb 9:28, James 5:7-9, 1 John 2:28-3:2

Judgment/Kingdom

Typically associated with the final, physical, earthly reign of Christ:

Dan 2:44-45, Dan 7:9-14, Zech 14:1-15, Matt 13:41

Conclusion

Based on your list of passages, the question comes down to how one interprets the relationship between 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (meeting Him in the air) and Matthew 24:30 (coming on the clouds).

• Proponents of Two Events (Rapture & Second Coming) argue that the distinct details (imminence vs. signs, in the air vs. to the earth, coming for vs. coming with) require two separate events.

• Proponents of One Event argue that the passages all describe the one glorious, visible, final return, and that interpreting them as separate events introduces an artificial separation not explicitly taught in scripture.

Therefore, the passages on your list are interpreted as:

• Two Separate Events by many who hold to a Dispensational Premillennial perspective (Rapture + Second Coming).

• One Single, Multi-faceted Event by many who hold to Amillennial or Postmillennial perspectives (The Glorious Return).

Click to see the Next Section where AI was forced to make a decision on whether it thought these passages reflected 1 event or 2 separate events