The Rapture of the Church
What Does it Mean Today?

The rapture of the church continues to happen throughout the Gospel Age. Jesus welcomes each saint home after their time on earth. Revelation gives us a picture the rapture or harvest of the Saints.

¹⁴I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man” with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested (Rev. 14:14–16, NIV).

Angel Reaping the Harvest

John looks and sees another short view of the Gospel Age. He sees the Son of Man or Jesus sitting on a white cloud. The white indicates brilliant light, and the golden crown of victory points to our Lord. Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man over eighty times in the Gospels. The Lord has a … sharp sickle in his hand. The sickle (drepanon) comes from (drepo) and means “to pluck.”[i]

An angel came from the Temple and called to the Lord sitting on the cloud. The angel told Jesus to send in his … sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come. What picture was Jesus showing us here?

To understand the meaning of the rapture or harvest of the earth, we look at the symbols. Revelation uses many pictures and symbols that point to spiritual truths. We see two separate images in these final verses of chapter 14.

Some Christians describe these verses as the rapture of the Church and the judgment by Jesus Christ. Yet, like so many other illustrations in the Book of Revelation, this picture has more than one meaning. Paul touched on it when he said that he preferred to die and leave his body on earth so that he could go home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8).

The Rapture or Going to Jesus

The angel told the Son of Man to reap with his sickle … for the harvest of the earth is ripe. Jesus also told his disciples to reap because the harvest was ripe (John 4:35–38). Jesus explained the Kingdom of God to his disciples. He said that when the grain was ripe, he used the sickle (drepanon) to harvest (Mark 4:29). Therefore, God reaps the rapture of his saints as firstfruits throughout the Gospel age.

Just before he died on the cross, Jesus told the criminal beside him that he would be with him today in Paradise (Luke 23:43). This means that the God who cannot lie guarantees us that we will also go to Jesus on the same day as we die.

The Rapture offers us treasures in Heaven

²In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am (John 14:2, 3, NIV).

Jesus gives a beautiful reflection of the harvest of his children. This harvest, or plucking with the sickle, continues throughout the Gospel Age. Yes, the picture above shows the rapture at the end of the Gospel Age. It also shows the personal rapture of every believer in Christ.

When we die, our Savior who cannot lie will come and take us by the hand and lead us across the river into the Promised Land. There we will see our Lord face-to-face. We see him in his full Glory, which he does not show on earth. We shall stand and bow with saints from other churches and ethnic groups to praise and glorify his Holy name. We will understand that he is worthy of our honor and our songs of praise as we dance before him. Holy is the Lord. Amen!

Jesus tells us in John above that he’s going ahead of us to prepare a place for us in Heaven. Every time a Christian dies on earth, Jesus comes and escorts them into Paradise. Jesus swings … his sickle over the earth and the rapture harvests the saints for the entire Gospel Age. Each of us should look forward to our personal rapture when our Savior plucks us out of here. “Thank you, Lord, for your unfailing Love, your salvation, and for our future home in Heaven.

The rapture of the church or harvest of people