The idea of the rapture, a time when Jesus will come and take his followers out of the world, has been popularized in the broader culture through books like Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth and Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series. And while the Bible teaches that when Jesus returns he will raise his people from the dead and gather those who are still alive up to meet him in the air, the word that is used for “meet” there is a technical word for going out of a city to meet a visiting dignitary in order to welcome him back into the city; in other words, when Paul teaches in 1 Thessalonians 4 that believers will “meet the Lord in the air,” he’s talking about Christians meeting Jesus in the air in order to welcome him back to his creation so they can rule with him forever.
Chuck and Aaron briefly talk about the timing of different theories of the rapture, discussing how the Bible does not teach that the rapture does not take place before Jesus’ return to rule in person on the earth.