Harpazo

The rapture of the church is a unique event that will be witnessed worldwide. The change of the bodies of those who believe in Jesus occurs in the blink of an eye, in an "atom of time." Then they, along with the resurrected believers, will be raptured in clouds (1 Thess.4:17). The question is how soon this will happen.

Are we looking to the ascension of Jesus, it seems that his departure from earth was visible to the disciples. It states:

"After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight." (Acts 1:9)

In the English translation, the same word "taken up" appears to be used here, but in the original Greek text, they are two very different words. The word "Epairo" is used for the "taking up" of Jesus, which is also used for the lifting up of the eyes, hands, or feet.

The Greek root word in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, for the rapture of the church, is "Harpazo." That word has a different meaning, namely, "snatching away suddenly." It contains an element of great speed. Our word "Harpoon" is derived from it. It is often used negatively, as the "snatching away of the kingdom" by the Jewish authorities (Math.11:12), or the "snatching away of the sheep" by the wolf (John 10:12). But sometimes the use is positive, such as “snatching” someone out of the fire. (Jude 1:23)

In the following places, the word “Harpazo” is used in connection with God Himself snatching people away.

“When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.” (Acts 8:39, 40)

It seems that Philip suddenly disappeared and reappeared in Ashdod (in present-day Gaza).

A second example of the use of Harpazo is found in the remarkable experience of Paul, who speaks of himself below:

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell." (2 Cor.12:2-4)

The fact that Paul does not know whether he was taken up bodily or out of the body also indicates that it happened quite suddenly.

The third occasion on which the word refers to the rapture of a person is the rapture of the Lord Jesus into heaven.

“The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. ” (Rev.12:4,5)

Given the threat of the dragon, this also seems to involve a very rapid transfer to heaven. But the actual rapture, according to the book of Acts, was visible to the disciples.

On the one hand, the transfer to heaven will occur very quickly, but that doesn't mean that, like the change, it will happen in the blink of an eye. We see the latter in almost all film adaptations of the Rapture. The point is, however, that the circumstances at the rapture take on threatening proportions, just as in the case of the Lord Jesus being caught up to the throne of God, The word 'rapture' might indicate that the church is caught up just in time, shortly before the disaster.