Revelation Revealed – In between chapters 3 & 4

The Rapture or the Secret Coming of Jesus Christ

No more church on earth

The churches amidst which Jesus is envisioned by John in Revelation 1:13 and to which letters were written by John in chapters 2 and 3 are never again to be found in the book of Revelation, except in Revelation 22:16. The word ‘church’ is used 19 times in the chapters of Revelation from 1 to 3, and nowhere to be found between 4 and 21 chapters.
The book of Revelation is a book of sequence, all events happening one after another with no disorder or chaos. The phrase ‘After these things’ is written 9 times in the book of Revelation, which clearly shows that the events take place one after the other in order (1:19; 4:1 (twice); 7:1, 9; 9:12; 15:5; 18:1; 19:1).
In Revelation 4:1 John writes that after these things (that is, after the church age in chapters 2 and 3) he saw a door that was opened in heaven, and he heard a voice that asked him to come up and he would be shown things that must take place after this. Chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation record the scenario of the throne room of heaven.
Let us take a glimpse of these sequential events recorded in the book of Revelation for a clearer understanding.

Reference	In Heaven	On Earth
Chapter 1	–	John in Island of Patmos envisioning Jesus Christ
Chapter 2 & 3	–	Letters written and sent to the seven churches in Asia Minor
Chapter 4	Throne room of heaven i) Father God on the throne ii) 24 elders surrounding the throne iii) Holy Spirit of God from the throne iv) 4 heavenly creatures around the throne v) God is worshipped	–
Chapter 5	i) Seven sealed scroll in the hands of the Father ii) Son who is the Lamb that is slain is worthy to open the scroll, standing between the throne and the 4 living creatures and among the 24 elders	–
Chapter 6:1, 2	1st Seal broken – White horse with a rider given permission to conquer	False Christ
Chapter 6:3, 4	2nd Seal broken – Red Horse with a rider given authority to take peace from earth	War and slaughter
Chapter 6:5-6	3rd Seal broken – Black horse with a rider with a pair of scales in his hands	A loaf of bread costs one day’s pay
Chapter 6:7-8	4th Seal broken – Pale colored horse with a rider named Death and his companion was Grave	Sword, famine and disease
Chapter 6:9-11	5th Seal broken – Souls of the martyrs of tribulation period calling out to God for revenge from under the altar. They are asked to wait until the other martyrs join them.	–
Chapter 6:12-17	6th Seal broken	Earth quake and terrible natural disasters. Men hide themselves in caves and among rocks of mountains
Chapter 7:1-8	–	Angels on fours ends of the earth holding back the winds, 1,44,000 of all tribes of Israel sealed
Chapter 7:9-17	Countless multitudes of gentiles stand before God, praising Him	–
Chapter 8:1-6	7th Seal broken – Silence in heaven for half an hour. Preparation for 7 trumpets	Voices, thundering, lightening and earthquakes
Chapter 8:7	1st Trumpet blown	Hail and Fire thrown on earth
Chapter 8:8	2nd Trumpet blown	Great mountain of fire thrown into the sea
Chapter 8:10	3rd Trumpet blown	Great burning star falls on rivers and springs of water
Chapter 8:12	4th Trumpet blown	One-third of sun, moon and stars darkened
Chapter 8:13	Announcement of terrible woes to come	–
Chapter 9:1-12	5th Trumpet blown (1st Woe)	Demons loosened on earth to torment men for 5 months
Chapter 9:13-21	6th Trumpet blown (2nd Woe) – Voice from the golden altar to release 4 demons	4 demons and 200 million troop
Chapter 10	Angel with a small scroll, asking John not to write it down but eat it up	–
Chapter 11:1-2	–	Measuring the temple
Chapter 11:3-14	–	God’s two witnesses
Chapter 11:15-19	7th Trumpet blown (3rd Woe) – Announcement that the world has become the kingdom of God and thanksgiving saying the time for the true wrath and judgment of God has come.	Lightning, thunder, earthquake, hailstorm
Chapter 12:1-6	John’s vision of the pregnant woman, the dragon and her man child.	Woman runs to wilderness
Chapter 12:7-9	War between Michael and the dragon.	Satan and his angels thrown down to earth
Chapter 12:10-12	Shouts in heaven for throwing off Satan	–
Chapter 12:13-18	–	Dragon and the woman
Chapter 13:1-10	–	Beast out of the sea
Chapter 13:11-18	–	Beast out of the earth
Chapter 14:1-5	1,44,000 on Mount Zion	–
Chapter 14:6-7	–	Angel proclaiming the gospel
Chapter 14:8	–	Angel shouting of the fall of Babylon
Chapter 14:9-13	Voice asking John to write that blessed are they that die from then on	Angel shouting of the doom that is to come upon those who worship the beast and his statue.
Chapter 14:14-16	Son of Man with a sickle and an angel with a sickle	Harvest of other tribulation martyrs
Chapter 14:17-20	Another angel with a sickle	Gathering the others for judgment
Chapter 15:1	Seven angels with the last seven plagues	–
Chapter 15:2-4	Song of Moses and of the Lamb	–
Chapter 15:5-8	Seven angels with seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God ready to pour them on earth	–
Chapter 16:1	Voice from the temple to the seven angels to pour out on earth	–
Chapter 16:2	1st Bowl poured	Horrible sores
Chapter 16:3	2nd Bowl poured	Sea becomes like blood of corpse
Chapter 16:4-7	3rd Bowl poured	Rivers and springs become blood
Chapter 16:8-9	4th Bowl poured	Scorching heat from sun
Chapter 16:10-11	5th Bowl poured	Dense darkness
Chapter 16:12	6th Bowl poured	River Euphrates dried
Chapter 16:13-16	–	Three evil spirits go around the world to gather nations for battle against the Lord at Armageddon
Chapter 16:17-21	7th Bowl poured – Shout from the throne, “It is finished”	Thunder, lightning, earthquake. Babylon split into three, hailstorm
Chapters 17 & 18	–	Judgment upon Babylon
Chapter 19:1-6	Great praise in heaven	–
Chapter 19:7-10	Marriage of the Lamb	–
Chapter 19:11-19	Jesus and His saints ride down to earth	Armageddon War
Chapter 19:20-21	–	Beast and False prophet thrown alive into lake of fire
Chapter 20:1-3	Angel from heaven with key of bottomless pit	Satan bound and thrown into bottomless pit for 1000 years
Chapter 20:4-6	–	1000 year reign and resurrection of martyrs
Chapter 20:7	–	Satan loosened
Chapter 20:8-9	–	Gog and Magog War
Chapter 20:10	–	Satan thrown into lake of fire
Chapter 20:11-15	–	Great White throne judgment. No more earth and sky
Chapter 21:1-22:6	New heaven and new earth
Chapter 22:7-21	Other announcements and instructions

So now what has happened to the church after chapter 3?

The word ‘church’ is first mentioned in the Bible in Matthew 16:18 where Jesus says, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” So only after the ascension of Jesus Christ and only after the pouring down of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, after the sermon of Peter, church was formed, to which the Lord added people (Acts 2:47). Church means ‘ekklesia’ in Greek, meaning ‘the called out ones’ (It is a feminine noun), and in the New Testament out of 114 times the word ‘church’ is mentioned, it is used to denote the community of God’s people 109 times. Then we see the churches growing and spreading all through the nations and instructions being given by Paul and other apostles to the churches from the epistles to the Romans to the third book of John. Then in Revelation chapter 1 John envisions Jesus amidst the churches, in chapters 2 and 3, he is asked to write letters to the churches, after which there is no more church on earth. Church, the redeemed group of people by the blood of Jesus Christ is seen singings songs of redemption in Revelation 5:9-10, “…For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” By this we come to know that the church is in heaven by now.

How and when did the church get into heaven?

Let us try to figure out if Jesus Himself had said anything about taking the church with Him. During His last supper with His disciples Jesus said, “Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you” (John 13:33). Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward” (John 13:36). So when the disciples were perplexed that Jesus is going to depart from them, Jesus said to them, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). Jesus then called His disciples as His friends because ALL things that He heard from His Father, He has told them (John 15:15).

Jesus then announces to His disciples that He has much more to tell them, but they cannot bear all of the matters. So the Holy Spirit will come and disclose further details about the things to come (John 16:12-13). [These are recorded in the other books of the New Testament (other than the 4 gospels and the Acts of the Apostles), which the Holy Spirit inspired the writers to write.] Jesus then said, “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” When the disciples were discussing within themselves about what He meant by saying so, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you” (John 16:20-22). As Isaiah 66:7-9 indicates the woman in labor giving birth to a man child as the rapture of the Israelites in the future, so does this passage signifies the rapture of the New Testament church.

Paul writes to the Romans in 8:23, “…we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” Paul writes further on the subject of the redemption of the body in 1 Corinthians 15:49-53; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Philippians 3:21. To the Corinthians Paul tells a mystery that all of us will not die but will be changed. When the last trumpet sounds, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead will be raised incorruptible and those that are alive will also be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). To the Thessalonians Paul writes that 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 (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). So these passages tell us clearly that the church will be secretly caught up to the Lord.

Examples of Physical Rapture

• Enoch walked with God and he was no more because God took him (Genesis 5:24)
• Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind (1 Kings 2:11).

Other scriptural foundations to prove that there is rapture other than the second advent of Jesus Christ

• We are looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:28; Jude 1:21)
• Parable of the ten virgins where 5 wise virgins went with the Bridegroom and the 5 foolish ones were left behind (Matthew 25:1-13)
• Our citizenship is in heaven. We eagerly wait for the Savior Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body like unto His glorious body (Philippians 3:20-21)
• When Christ, who is our Life appears, we will also appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4).
• Paul’s appeal in view of the rapture and the aftereffects (2 Thessalonians 2).
• Paul’s appeal to keep the commandments without spot and blameless until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will manifest in His own time (1 Timothy 6:13-15).
• Christ will appear a second time for salvation for those who eagerly wait for Him (Hebrews 9:28).
• Be patient until the coming of the Lord as the farmer waits for the precious fruits; the coming of the Lord is at hand (James 5:7-8).
• keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Jude 1:21).
• We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is (1 John 3:2).
• When Peter disclosed that Jesus is the Son of the living God, Jesus said that a few of them would not taste death until they saw the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. Then in the very next chapter, Peter, James and John saw Jesus being transformed and Moses and Elijah conversing with Him. During rapture we know that the dead in Christ and the living in Christ will rise up to be with the Lord. Here Moses is an example for a saint resurrected from the dead and Elijah, a living saint who never tasted death (Matthew 16:13-28; Matthew 17:1-9).
• As John heard the trumpet like voice of Jesus that said, “Come up here”, so will the church hear His voice at the rapture. As Lazarus who was in the grave for four days heard the voice of Jesus saying, “Come out”, so will the dead in Christ hear His voice at the rapture (Revelation 4:1-2; John 11:43; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
• On answering His disciples the question in Matthew 24, “… what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”, Jesus answers about His second coming in verses 4 to 35 and about His secret coming in verses 36-51. The day and hour of His secret coming is known to none but the Father (vs.36), but the time frame of His second coming is revealed by Daniel and in Revelation.
• All signs preceding His coming refer to the second advent of Jesus Christ. There will be no sign for His secret coming.
  i) It will be as the flood came UNAWARE in the days of Noah and people were leading their very normal day to day affairs of life (Matthew 25:38-39). Noah and his family who were prepared with the ark were saved.
  ii) It will also be as fire and sulfur rained down on Sodom and the people remained totally oblivious until the moment it came upon them. But the Lord graciously took Lot and his family out of the disaster just before devastating it. So will the secret coming of Jesus be (Luke 17:28-29).
• Two men in the field, one taken and the other left (Matthew 24:40)
• Two women grinding at the mill, one taken and the other left (Matthew 24:41)
• Two people in one bed, one taken and the other left (Luke 17:34)
• Ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom, five taken and the other five left back (Matthew 25)
• Rapture is a ‘mystery’ and hence cannot be found anywhere in the Old Testament (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

But why Rapture in between the chapters of Revelation 3 & 4?

i) As we studied in the sequence of Revelation where chapters 4 and 5 talk of the throne room in heaven and the church is already present there and is always there after that.

• The last day of the church is the day of her resurrection or the rapture (John 6:40)
  ii) As after the letters to the churches in chapters 2 and 3, chapter 4 starts with ‘after these things’, that is after the church age on earth (No further mention of church in Revelation)
• To the church of Thyatira, God warns to take them into great tribulation if they do not repent (2:22).
• To the church in Philadelphia which is the perfect, holy, faithful church, God says that He will keep them from the hour of trial that is to come upon the whole world (3:10).

Rapture Before Tribulation

iii) Chapters 6 to 18 talk of the tribulation and wrath of God on earth and He takes us up before tribulations

• The first event in Tribulation is the disclosure of anti-Christ (Revelation 6:1-2) and Paul writes that as soon as the anti-Christ reveals himself, the church will be caught up (2 Thessalonians 2-8).
• Jesus will deliver from the wrath to come, those who wait for His Son to come from heaven (1 Thessalonians 1:10)
• God did not appoint us to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9)
• We, the children of God have light affliction which is only for a moment (2 Corinthians 4:17)
• Jesus asked to watch and pray in order to be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:36)
• God will repay with tribulation those who trouble you (2 Thessalonians 1:6)

Examples of characters preserved from the wrath of God

• Noah and his family preserved from the flood
• Lot and his family preserved from the fire

Events adjoining the church at the Rapture

• We receive an imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance reserved for us in heaven (1 Peter 1:4).
• Every individual will receive his praise from the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:5)
• All of us will appear before the judgment seat (Bematos in Greek, commonly called as ‘BEMA’) of Christ and be duly rewarded for every deed done with our ‘Body’, good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).
• We will receive our crowns according to our works:
  i) Imperishable crowns to those who ran their lives with trained strict disciplines (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).
  ii) Crown of Glory that will not fade away to those who shepherded their flocks not out of compulsion or greed, but willingly and eagerly, leading them with their good examples (1 Peter 5:2-4).
  iii) Crown of Righteousness to those who fought the good fight, finished their race and kept their faith (2 Timothy 4:7-8; James 1:12).
  iv) Crown of Rejoicing to those who led new souls to Christ (1 Thessalonians 2:19).
  v) Crown of Life to those who endured trials and were faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10).

What will capture us in the Rapture?

i) We need His SALVATION ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:5). We first receive our salvation by confessing with our mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). But salvation is not just a onetime process. Writing about the Christian conducts in Romans 13, Paul writes that our salvation is now nearer than we ever believed (Romans 13:11). While redemption from sin is our first step in our walk with God, there is a final redemption at the rapture (Luke 21:28). Paul exhorts us to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).
ii) Peter calls us to rest our hope fully upon the GRACE that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13). While salvation by His grace through faith and not our works is the first step in our walk with God, we also need His grace at the end to escape the vengeance that is to come upon those who did not accept the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:7-12).

Scriptural differences between the second coming and the second advent of Jesus Christ

Jesus comes in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17)	Jesus comes to the earth (Zechariah 14:4; Revelation 19:14)
Jesus comes for the redeemed church (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:28)	Jesus comes with the redeemed church (Revelation 19:14; Jude 1:14-15)
Only the redeemed shall see Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:50-54)	Every eye shall see Jesus (Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:30)
The redeemed are taken to the Father’s house (John 14:3)	Millennial kingdom (Revelation 20:4)
No sign (Matthew 25:38-39; Luke 17:28-29)	Lots of signs precede (Matthew 24:4-35)
Precedes the career of anti-Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8)	Terminates the career of anti-Christ (Revelation 19:20)
Before Tribulation (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; Revelation 3:10)	After Tribulation (Revelation 6-19)
World will be deceived after this (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12)	No more deception as Satan will be bound (Revelation 20:1-2)
After this Satan reigns and tortures the citizens of the earth with his agents on earth (Revelation 6-16)	After this the kingdom of Jesus is set up on earth (Revelation 20-22)

Note: Dear reader, as I have tried to crack the mysteries of the book of Revelation purely from the Scriptures, I would gladly invite any clarifications based on the Scripture alone. I proclaim that I am always teachable and I want to be so until my final day on earth. Thank you!