Partial Rapture Theory

[Vine Abider]

On another thread, a few people seemed interested in talking again about the Partial Rapture Theory.  (I say again, because we did a thread on this about 1.5 years ago that got to over 90 pages before George closed it!)

Here's a few of the comments I thought to bring over from that other (current) thread:

Below posted by me (as a response to @AnOrangeCat on that other current thread: 

We had quite the thread going on this over a year ago (actually  may have been a couple threads) - I can see if I find them if you'd like. But the basics are this: many argue incessantly for either pre or post trib rapture, and some also for mid trib.  I subscribe to the notion that there are some merits for all these in scripture, therefore multiple, partial raptures.  There have been God's people who have been caught away at various points, so I don't understand why Christians insist on dogmatically staking claim to just one rapture at the end.

To me, we are all saved equally, and He puts His Spirit of life into us to make us children.  Therefore we are all on equal footing in that regards - saved by grace period.  But then there is the matter of how we grow and what we do with this grace and life we've been given.  The Bema Seat judgement will address this and differentiate between God's children.  So why should the rapture idea be any different, that is, ones taken up according to how well they have allowed the seed of life in them to grow?

Much more could be said, but after some digging I found this thread I started in December 2022.  (FYI - there were over 90 pages to this thread and it was closed by George, but if you read a few of the beginning pages I think you'll get the idea.)

 

Below posted by me responding to @Dennis1209 on that other current thread:

I don't know much about what the anti-Nicene church fathers held regarding the rapture(s) . . . and I would defer to @AdHoc regarding any teachings from back then about multiple/partial reapings.   And even if no church father source for the idea comes from that period, I would maintain that this, in and of itself, certainly does not negate the idea.

I do agree that much of the partial rapture teaching did get promulgated by 19th century authors.  Here's something from Wikipedia in an article on "Rapture" subsection "Partial pre-tribulation premillennialism":  As stated by Ira David (a proponent of this view): “The saints will be raptured  in groups during the tribulation as they are prepared to go.”[98] Some notable proponents of this theory are G. H. Lang, Robert Chapman, G. H. Pember, Robert Govett, D. M. Panton, Watchman Nee, Ira E. David, J. A. Seiss, Hudson Taylor, Anthony Norris Groves, John Wilkinson, G. Campbell Morgan, Otto Stockmayer and Rev. J. W. (Chip) White Jr.  Found here  - an interesting read on the whole matter of the rapture:                                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture 

I am familiar with a number of these authors and many were in the 19th century.

If anyone is interested, here is a website I found today that promotes Partial Rapture Theory (PRT): https://www.bible-prophecy.co/partial-rapture-theory/  I have just started to look through it, so I can't vouch for its veracity.  UPDATE:  Just realized this website is by an author whose book I have on my shelf:  "The Partial Rapture and the Left Behind Church" by Paul Shoenbarger

Below posted by @Dennis1209 as a response to me (on that other, current thread):

To coin an old secular adage, “The closer to the bone, the sweeter the meat.” The closer we get to the source material and references, the more detail and accuracy.

My point is:

1 Thes. 4: ¹⁵For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. ¹⁶ 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: ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ Wherefore ^lcomfort one another with these words. [emphasis mine]

On scripture: I am not dogmatic, but I see nowhere in scripture that teaches a partial rapture. How could we comfort one another knowing some of our beloved brethren and loved ones missed the church age (age of Grace) Rapture and Resurrection? It seems the pronoun WE is all-encompassing and all-inclusive.

I mentioned the early so-called church fathers. Polycarp was a personal friend and disciple of John the Revelator, studying under John, not to mention Irenaeus under Polycarp and all the other so-called Ante-Nicene fathers. None of them knew what is spouted today as partial raptures.

Short of reverifying, I do not recall any Reformation leaders of the sixteenth century mentioning partial raptures. This doctrinal introduction is a product of the 19^th century, which is very late in Biblical terms.

It is not to say there will only be one rapture and one glorification. I believe those Tribulation martyrs (and ourselves) will return with Christ at His 2^nd coming, then having their glorified bodies.

And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:11)

The final resurrection is the Great White Throne judgment, where those not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are bodily resurrected, condemned, and join the Antichrist and False Prophet in the Lake of Fire.

I also would like @AdHoc to chime in. I consistently learn from you both, getting alternate views and thoughts.

[RdJ]

I can see why they say mid trib when I read revelation, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's pretrib and midtrib. At least there are 2 raptures, because the 2 witnesses get raptured as a seperate event.

[Marathoner]

See as how this is an eschatological subject, I would think it belongs in the appropriate subforum. This is not a subject of "general interest" to most. 

[Vine Abider]

24 minutes ago, Marathoner said:

See as how this is an eschatological subject, I would think it belongs in the appropriate subforum. This is not a subject of "general interest" to most. 

Oh, good point . . . I wasn't thinking about that.  So if it gets moved, do others see where?

[Michael37]

32 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

Oh, good point . . . I wasn't thinking about that.  So if it gets moved, do others see where?

Yes, in the Activity feed of each post, and in the Forums catalogue, and in their notifications if they have the setting in the "On" position in their Profile. Also when a thread gets moved a link can stay visible for a few days.

Some Oversight Ministers are good at moving threads so it's not just a tool available to me in our Moderation Actions gadget.

[farouk]

2 hours ago, RdJ said:

I can see why they say mid trib when I read revelation, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's pretrib and midtrib. At least there are 2 raptures, because the 2 witnesses get raptured as a seperate event.

@RdJ I that if Bible readers think about the Who? of the subject of the rapture as well as the What? aspect, then if they realize that it applies to church rather than to the tribulation saints on earth, then the subject is clarified.

[RdJ]

24 minutes ago, farouk said:

@RdJ I that if Bible readers think about the Who? of the subject of the rapture as well as the What? aspect, then if they realize that it applies to church rather than to the tribulation saints on earth, then the subject is clarified.

The tribulation saints get killed, but it reads like the 144000 get raptured.

Found this on Quora:

1. Enoch is caught up / taken / raptured [Genesis 5v24 + Hebrews 11v5-6] – A type for the church (faith)

2. Elijah is caught up [2 Kings 2v11] – A type for Israel

3. The resurrection & rapture/ascension of Jesus (First) [Matthew 27v52-54 + Acts 1v9-11]

4. The resurrection & rapture of many of the saints (directly after His resurrection) [Hosea 6v2 + Matthew 27v52-54]

5. The resurrection & rapture of the bride/church – those who have died in Christ [1 Thessalonians 4v16-17 & Rev 4v1] (Pre-trib) The wedding (John 14v2-3) is not an appointed time – it is at the discretion of the Father

6. The resurrection & rapture of the two witnesses [Rev 11v11-12] after 1260 days (Mid-trib)

7. The rapture of the 144000 [Rev 14v3] (most certainly before the second coming, probably mid-trib/pre-wrath)

 

https://bibleprophecyandthebeastsofthebible.quora.com/All-of-the-raptures-mentioned-in-the-bible

[WilliamL]

2 hours ago, RdJ said:

I can see why they say mid trib when I read revelation, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's pretrib and midtrib. At least there are 2 raptures, because the 2 witnesses get raptured as a seperate event.

There is a big difference between a partial rapture and multiple raptures.

A partial rapture means some Christians -- or should I clarify and say some professing Christians --  will not be found worthy to be raptured along with the "worthy" ones; e.g.

Luke 21:36 “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

-- although that passage may simply mean 'worthy to stay alive through the trib.'

Other than this passage, I don't know of any that even hints at a partial rapture.

However, there is another passage that hints that some people may be raptured, and then kicked out:

Matthew 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, ... 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 “So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

This garment, according to Revelation 19, represents one's good works:

Rev. 19:7 “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Regarding multiple raptures in the End Times, that is undeniable, because the Two Witnesses have one rapture all by themselves.

[Vine Abider]

8 minutes ago, WilliamL said:

There is a big difference between a partial rapture and multiple raptures.

A partial rapture means some Christians -- or should I clarify and say some professing Christians --  will not be found worthy to be raptured along with the "worthy" ones; e.g.

Luke 21:36 “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

-- although that passage may simply mean 'worthy to stay alive through the trib.'

Other than this passage, I don't know of any that even hints at a partial rapture.

 

Never thought about a differences between partial and multiple raptures.

So what about the promise to the church in Philly, where the Lord tells them "if" (a conditional standard being placed), then He will keep them from the hour of trial (tribulation) - is that not a possible partial? (Of course, one may not think the vehicle for keeping this promise  is a rapture . . .)

[RdJ]

2 hours ago, WilliamL said:

There is a big difference between a partial rapture and multiple raptures.

A partial rapture means some Christians -- or should I clarify and say some professing Christians --  will not be found worthy to be raptured along with the "worthy" ones; e.g.

Luke 21:36 “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

-- although that passage may simply mean 'worthy to stay alive through the trib.'

Other than this passage, I don't know of any that even hints at a partial rapture.

Revelation 3 It's said to the faithful church. This is not said to everyone in Laodicea.

10 Because you have kept [c]My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 

Matthew 25

Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom [a]is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

 

And Matthew 24

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

 

This can't be about when He comes back, because this is Laodicea and that church who lets Jezebel be before the trib. During the trib you can't even buy food without the mark of the beast, so then they can't be self absorbed marrying and eating and not noticing anything.

And you can just count the days until Jesus comes back from the point of the peace treaty or when the ac sits in the temple, so the thief in the night text must be about the rapture and the other text, 2 lay in a bed and one is taken. From that horrific song from the 80s and that horrible movie.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 26 by RdJ