VII. THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH IN THE CONTEXT OF REFORMED THEOLOGY

The article which follows is for the most part a repeat of what was presented by me in Camp Shalom October 17, 1975. From the discussion following the presentation it became once again clear that it is hard to be fair, correct, and agreeable to every position taken or presented. It also became clear that it is hard to convince people who have their mind made up. For my part, I am very willing to admit that there remain many unanswered questions with regard to death, resurrection and entrance into the new heaven and earth of the believer.

History of the rapture theology

The Reformers had an interpretation of the book of Revelation which may be called "continuous historical" or "historicist". They understood the Book of Revelation to be "a symbolical panorama of all that was to happen in church history from the time that it was written until the end". (A. Pieters: Studies in the Revelation of St. John, p. 38). For centuries already most interpreters had understood by Babylon, the great whore, Rome either as a pagan city, or as a Christian city full with vice. This led many of the Reformers to identifying the Antichrist with the Pope. It must be noted that Calvin did ',not care to write a commentary on the last book of the Bible and never did, either.

To defend the Pope from the charge of being the Anti-Christ one Jesuit came up with a new interpretation which gave rise to a new school of thought, the futurist. This school believes that everything following the letters to the Seven Churches still has to take place. Therefore, so the Jesuit argued, the Pope could not be the Anti-Christ, since all that was still in the future. Gradually the outspoken views with regard to the Pope were worn down, especially during the end of the last century by the Oxford Movement in England.

Dr. Albertus Pieters, late professor at Western Theological Seminary, defends the so-called preterist position, that most of the material found in Revelation is meaningful and related in some way or another to the churches who received the Apocalypse from John. Almost everything had its fulfillment in the first two or three centuries; of course, the final judgement and the perfect state are still to come.

During the early 1800 the churches in Western Europe were at a low ebb, witness the Reveille, the break-away in Scotland of the Free Church, and in The Netherlands of the Free Christian Reformed Church. In many mainline churches the ministers played loose and fast with Scripture; as a result a reactionary movement came about which began to interpret Scripture literally. It so happened that these literalists adopted the futurist interpretation of the Book of Revelation. This meant that everything in the book of Revelation has to be literally fulfilled as yet. These ' people also took their literalist interpretation to the OT, found many prophecies apparently not yet literally fulfilled and said, "Look, this must all yet happen, of course not to the Church, for these prophecies are for Israel. Therefore they must yet literally come true for a literal, flesh and blood Israel.

Now, it will be clear that it is impossible to hold everywhere, all the time, to a literal interpretation of Scripture. In Daniel 9 : 26 it is stated that Jerusalem would be destroyed by a flood, but it happened by the soldiers of 'Etus, who flooded the city. The examples can be multiplied, which would ridicule a literal interpretation.

Nevertheless, the fermentation fo futurist interpretation of Revelation and literal interpretation of Scripture continued, raising various questions. Among others, how would it be possible that the prophecies for Israel in the Old Testament were as yet be literal fulfilled on this earth, while the Church was still here? The answer came from a young woman who had visions from time to time. Once, in a trance, she saw the Church (= all true believers) being removed from the earth while the earth continued to exist. That vision took place around 1830, and that was the birth of the rapture-idea.

It would go too far to show how Anabaptist ideas about this world, etc. also played a part in the history of the rapture idea. Let this be enough to show that the whole idea of the rapture definitely is strange to Reformed thought and interpretation of Scripture.

The Rapture in the overall view of the literalists

After the fall of mankind God plans to restore His rule over rebellious mankind; thereto He selects Israel. He prepares Israel as His people for His Son, the Son of David, the Messiah. The Messiah is born of Mary and has come to restore the Kingdom of heaven on earth. He offers this Kingdom to the Jews in Judea and Galilea, but they reject Him. When our Lord is convinced that they will not change their mind, He turns away from the Jews as a nation, as a people; instead Henow offers rest and service" to individuals, and also lays the basis for the Church to be bought by His blood. So please note: The Lord was born of Mary, the incarnation took place in order that the restoration of the Kingdom might follow. There was no intention to start the Church! The incarnation is not part of the basis of the Church, only- the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension and the exaltation. When the Lord Jesus turned away from Israel, the history of Israel stopped. As Dr. Ironside puts it, "The prophetic clock has stopped at Calvary. Not one tick has been heard since." (The mysteries of God", p. 54). This clock will start again the moment the Church is raptured.

Church and O.T.

The Church therefore has no connection with the Old Testament or with the early part of the Gospel. Many "rapture" people consider the Sermon on the Mount not for the Church but for the Kingdom of heaven which our Lord sought to bring on earth. Some go as far as to say that the prophecy in Isaiah 53 ("Surely He has borne our griefs and borne our sorrows", see the whole ch.) does not refer to the Lord Jesus' suffering and death because the O.T. does not speak about the Church, only about Israel.

The Church has no relation to Israel, no relation to Abraham, no relation to the Covenant. Only he who believes and is baptized is saved. The whole covenant theology is thrown out of the window. The Church also has no direct involvement with the millennium (thousand year reign).

The world continues

The rapture of the Church is supported by mostly I Thessalonians 4 :16. I have, in a previous article, explored this text, and am convinced that this text teaches the final return of our Lord to earth, with the believers meeting him already in the air, returning with Him for the end of all things. But, the Church is taken up into heaven, silently, that is all believers, who are saved by the blood of Christ through faith, Jews and Gentiles. The world, however, continues, without real Christians. Now a seven year period begins, in which Israel, which by then has returned to Palestine, makes an agreement with the Anti-Christ, to live in peace, while t he Temple is restored and the sacrifices started again. But after half a week = 31/2 years the AntiChrist breaks the agreement and terrible persecution and tribulations start, as the Anti-Christ really is out to destroy. This period also lasts 3% years, after which the Lord Jesus Christ returns from heaven to become Davidic King, ruling for 1000 years from His throne in Jerusalem. Jews become proclaimers of the Gospel of the Kingdom of heaven, note: not of the Cross and resurrection, that was only for the Church.

Saved by works

During these 1000 years Israel and a mass of Gentiles (= non Jews) are saved by legal obedience, namely by keeping the sermon on the Mount, through the grace of God, apart from the saving work of Christ. They are saved by accepting the message of the Kingdom of heaven and Jesus Christ as Messiah-King- (Matthew 5, 6, 7). After 1000 years there will be the judgement of all people who ever walked the earth. The Church however remains in heaven, for the Church is a heavenly body, while Israel and "

1000 year Gentiles are an earthly people.

REFORMED THEOLOGY

It probably is clear to you by now that this rapture teaching brings along a complete theology all of its own. All rapture people, who know what they are taking about (and there are many who don't especially in our churches) agree wholeheartedly with me, that you must choose: either the rapture, and away with Reformed Theology, or, Reformed Theology, and away with the rapture. Let's quickly see why:

1. Reformed theology teaches that the Lord God revealed His plan for salvation of mankind when He spoke to the people and the serpent in Paradise, in Genesis 3: 15. We consider that the first, the mother of all promises, the Gospel in its very first state. Here is not yet Jew or Gentile, only the salvation of a sinful human race.

2. The whole Old Testament is the preparation for the coming of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. The priest, the prophet and the king all point to Him who is coming. The O.T. ceremonies are foreshadowing Christ's sacrificial death on the Cross. The Passover lamb at the last night before the Exodus out of Egypt foreshadows the death of the Lamb of God the night before the deliverance out of sin.

3. Constantly we read how Israel misunderstood what the Lord God was saying to them through the prophets; how they thought that earthly prosperity, and an earthly Kingdom would be the ultimate fulfilment of God's promises; how in the end, with some exceptions, they did not even recognize the Messiah sent to them!

4. The Letter to the Hebrews shows clearly how Christ fulfilled the ceremonies of the Temple. He offered for sin once for all! And since the Lord is building a temple of living stones (I Peter) in which He dwells through the Holy Spirit, since it has been Pentecost, no Temple on earth is needed any more! Our High Priest is with the Father, He is in the true Holy of Holies. To speak of another Temple with a return of the sacrifices is to crucify the Son of God afresh.

5- Christ came to fulfill the Law. He did all we are supposed to do, by His perfect obedience He fulfilled all righteousness. Secondly, He suffered our punishment, and so removed our sin. He became the goat of sin (Dutch zondebok), who was sent into the desert, suffering outside the camp, that the people might be spared. It is beyond understanding how people can completely separate the Old Testament and the New Testament, how they can separate the old Covenant with the new Covenant of Christ's blood.

6. The Jews of Jesus' time were looking for an earthly kingdom. But when they wanted to make Him King, Jesus walked away. Instead He taught, "My Kingdom is not of this world".

7. Thus we conclude: One Saviour, One Covenant of grace, begun Genesis 3:15, lasting for

ever; one destiny for all believers in the crucified and risen Saviour, Jew and Gentile.

8. The Church is God's own people, both in the O.T. and in the N.T. The Church concludes theO.T. Israel.

9. The covenant with Abraham the Lord confirms with all believers (Ps. 105 "He is mindful of his covenant for ever, of the word that He commanded for a thousand generations" vs. 8).

In closing let me restate my conviction that no compromise is possible between rapture theology and Reformed theology. As a minister of the Reformed Church in America I have sincerely promised before God and the witnesses in Vancouver, B.C., in Lynden, Wash. and in Grand Rapids, Mich. to uphold the Reformed faith. This I have sought to do; and convictions regarding the rapture are shared by many others.

The results of rapture theology are many: gone is the whole biblical basis for infant baptism; gone is the whole basis for the one work of salvation as executed by the Lord God through his Son Jesus Christ. Gone also is the responsibility of the Church over against the world, for the Church cannot wait to get out.

One final thought: I wished that those people who are, so busy with all their theories about the rapture and the Second Coming of our Lord, would spend their energies more fruitfully. As for me, other work is waiting. With this piece the rapture, as far as I am concerned, has come and gone.