The Rapture vs The Second Coming

Jerusalem of Gold

The Rapture vs The Second Coming

"The following is a comparison of the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ, highlighting the key distinctions noted in Scripture."


There are many excellent Scriptural comparisons online. So I have copied large sections of this text from an eschatological website.


However, the list taken from that website in blue below is not exhaustive. There are other differences not listed, some of which I would love to share with you.


For example, one of the clearest passages is found in Luke 17:26-35: "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed (note it doesn't say 'returned' but revealed). On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed: One will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together: One will be taken and the other left.”


The normality described by Yeshua in this passage of Luke's gospel - before the sudden event of Yeshua being "revealed" - does not sound like the social un-normality and wrath of God described in the Tribulation, detailed throughout the book of Revelation. There is one also very important and non-disputable detailed difference. In Luke, Yeshua says people will be "buying and selling". But in the Tribulation, people will not be "buying and seling" freely at all. They will be under the restrictions of the anti-christ: "And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark—the name of the beast or the number of its name." Revelation 13:16-17. Horrific. You do not want to be on earth at that time.  LORD, are we safe in relationship with You according to Your Word?


The Rapture is also a type or pattern. The more He has increased my faith in His Supernatural Rescue from the coming worst time in human history, the more He is revealing rapture, or catching away jewels, throughout the old and new Testament, often in the depths of Biblical Hebrew. This would make sense, as one of the purposes of the Tribulation period is to cleanse the self-righteous dependence of the religious Jewish people, and they study the Biblical Hebrew.


The imminence and 'anytime' truth of the Rapture also changes how we live. It also makes sense of this parable:


Readiness at Any Hour (Mark 13:32-37)
(Matthew24:36–51;Luke12:35–48)

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the master of the house will return—whether in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning. Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!”  By contrast, Biblically, we are told the exact length of days of the Tribulation from certain events, throughout the book of Revelation.


Now, to the excellent points raised by the eschatological website highlighting the key distinctions noted in Scripture:


1) Meeting in the Air - Versus - Returning with Him

In the Rapture, believers meet the Lord in the air:


  • "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17



In the Second Coming, believers return with the Lord:


2) Before Tribulation - Versus - After Tribulation

The Tribulation is a future seven-year period when God will complete His discipline of Israel and final judgment upon the unbelieving citizens of the world. The Rapture will happen before the Tribulation:

  • "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." ​1 Thessalonians 5:9
  • "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.Revelation 3:10


While the Second Coming will happen at the end of the Tribulation:

  • "And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birdsflying in mid-air, “Come,gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.” Revelation17-18 


3) Deliverance - Versus - Judgment

In the Rapture believers are taken from the earth by God as an act of deliverance:

  • "After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."1 Thessalonians 4:13–17
  • "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:9


In the Second Coming unbelievers are removed from the earth by God as an act of judgment:

  • "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth." Revelation 3:10
  • "But the beast was captured and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs, he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lakeof burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh." Revelation 19:11-21)NIV)


4) Hidden - Versus - Seen by All

The Rapture, according to Scripture, will be an instantaneous, hidden event:

  • "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." 1 Corinthians 15:50-54


The Second Coming, according to Scripture, will be seen by everyone:

  • “Look, He is coming with the clouds,”and “every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen." Revelation 1:7


5) At Any Moment - Versus - Only After Certain Events

The Rapture could happen at any moment:

  • ...While we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ," Titus 2:13
  • For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first."1 Thessalonians 4:14-18


The Second Coming won't happen until certain events take place:

  • "He (the antichrist) will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God."2 Thessalonians 2:4
  • "Immediately after the distress of those days, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven." ​Matthew 24:15-30
  • Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” ​Revelation 6-18


Just live each day well. As is common in Christian theology, there are conflicting views regarding the Rapture and the Second Coming. One source of confusion over these two end times events stems from verses found in Matthew chapter 24. While speaking broadly about the end of the age, it's likely this chapter references both the Rapture and the Second Coming. (I would add the same is true of the non-linear way the book of Revelation is written.) It's important to note, the purpose of Christ's teaching here was to prepare believers for the end. He wanted His followers to be watchful, living each day as though His return was imminent. The message was simply, "Be Ready."


If you are a Bible believing follower of Yeshua and you know of other clear distinctions in Scripture, please add them with Bible references to the comments section, so we can build a witnessing list for viewers, thank you.


If you believe the Bible is telling the truth about the following supernatural miraculous events, with the same gift of faith, the Rapture is not hard to believe:


Enoch was raptured (Genesis 5:24, Hebrews 11:5)

Elijah was raptured (2 Kings 2)

Yeshua was raptured, after His Resurrection (Luke 24:50-53, Mark 16:19-20, Acts 1:6-11) For more on this go to "The Ultimate Aliyah" study on this website.

God parted the Red Sea so the Iraelites could miraculously escape the Egyptians.(Exodus 14)  Egypt and Tribuation share the same root in Hebrew 

Phillip was miraculously transported by the Holy Spirit from one place to another - literally 'harpazo', the same as the word for 'rapture' (Acts 8:39-40)

Yeshua walked on water, reached out His Hand and grabbed hold of Peter, stopping Peter from sinking (Matthew 14:31)


The imminence of the Rapture changes how we live. Just as if we knew we only had one more day to live. Our obedience, repentance, intimacy with Yeshua increases, so does the urgency of our witnessing of His Gift of Salvation. And none of us know how suddenly we may die, especially in these times.


Come LORD Yeshua now! Rescue Your children. In Yeshua's Name, amen.