Paul told the people of Corinth over 2,000 years ago a message. It said that the people he was addressing would not change and would not sleep before the rapture came. This means that the changes would happen not very long into the future. This is the key to understanding what the Rapture bible verses mean. Putting the entire verses into context, it is important to know that these verses were geared towards the people they were addressing in the present and not the people being addressed at some future date.
“We Shall Not Sleep”
When Paul says “we shall not sleep”, he is specifically saying that not a blink of an eye would happen before the events took place. Speaking metaphorically was just as common back then as it is now. However during the translation of the Bible texts, many misunderstandings cropped up that weren’t at all the intended meaning. In order to fully understand rapture Bible verses, it is essential to take everything in the right context.
The people living at the time would experience rapture
When Paul addressed the people of Thessalonica, he told them that some of the people living in that present day would be caught up in the air to meet the coming Lord. This means that the people of that day and era would meet Jesus on his second coming. When this is fully understood, it is easy to see that there is no rapture promised two thousand years later but in actuality, it is promised in that day and age. Once the full understanding of the text is accomplished, one can now look at the rapture Bible verses as a mirror into the past instead of as a promise of future things to come.
The book Bamboozled Believers by Michael Biehler offers amazing insight into rapture Bible verses.
