Opus 2026-044: The Unnoticed Rapture

I just finished a book entitled MAD about Hebrews.  The MAD stands for Mid-Acts Dispensationalism.  They claim a lot of interesting ideas.  Interesting, but not historically Christian.  One of the ideas that is not specifically stated, but became clear to me by the end was that when the rapture takes place it probably will not be noticed by the world.  Why?  Because it’ll be so few people who are raptured.

If you’re not into Bible teaching at all, let me share that the rapture is the term used for a moment in history when Christ returns and “catches up” his church into the air.

(1Th 4:16-17 KJV)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

I kind of pictured this being an exciting moment we believers, assuming I am one of them, find themselves flying through the air to meet Jesus in the clouds.  The term rapture is not used, but that’s one that we have adopted to explain it.

Since Christians argue over just about anything, one of the things they disagree on is when the rapture takes place. That involves another bit of biblical teaching called the “tribulation”.  Actually, the phrase that is continually used in the book was “the great tribulation”.  That’s the time where the antichrist rules and heaps all kinds of persecution and suffering on the world.  The MAD people claim that this only will be experienced by the Jews.  I’m not sure if there are other groups that feel that way, but they definitely do.

One of their requirements is that you believe this rapture takes place before the great tribulation.  That means that the church, or as they prefer to call it, the body of Christ, will be raptured before the suffering.  The church, the body of Christ, will be gone.  If you are into the pre-trip rapture, then you believe that Christians will not go through the suffering.

If you ever are around to copy this book long enough to read it you will find that in the process of applying MAD theology to the book of Hebrews he throws every single group of identifiable Christians under the bus and either explicitly says they’re going to hell or implies it very directly.  My old denomination is not mentioned by name, but it’s key term is used in the description of one of these heretical groups.  He even goes so far as to throw under the bus others that I thought would be part of his group.

Which comes to my point.  I’m sure you were wondering if I would ever get there.  If you’re still with me, I salute you.  If the only people that are raptured are those who fit into his theology then my theory is that there would be so few involved that no one will notice.  I had never heard of these people until my friend somehow accepted their indoctrination.  He is the only person that I have ever met that thinks this way.  He is the only person I know that has any books on the topic.  So far he sent me 11 books to read, which I have done.  None of them are published by anyone you’ve ever heard of.  This last one was one of those books that was printed on demand.  It was printed less than a week before I got it in the mail.

So how will you know if the rapture is taking place and if you were included?  I think it’s safe to say that you won’t know and you won’t be included, that is, if you accept what they have to say.  Fortunately, what they have to say often has nothing to do with the Bible, so relax.

McLean, Terence, D.  MAD about Hebrews.  Greentown, IN:  Discerning the Times Publishing Co., Inc, 2010.

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