Most people miss the rapture because it was a secret revealed only to the Apostle Paul and is easily confused with the visible Second Coming.
Les Feldick teaches that the rapture is a Church Age doctrine that the rest of Scripture never hints at. Every Old Testament and Gospel reference to Christ's coming points to the Second Coming, not the rapture. Since the rapture was made known only through Paul, believers who read only those earlier passages hear about one coming, not two.
Romans 16:25 — The mystery kept secret since the world began explains why the rapture was not known until revealed through Paul.
2 Thessalonians 2:1 — Paul's phrase 'our gathering together unto Him' is the biblical basis for the rapture as a distinct event.
Matthew 24:29 — Christ's cataclysmic return after the tribulation is the Second Coming that the rest of Scripture announces.
Romans 16:25 speaks of "the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began." In 2 Thessalonians 2:1, Paul writes of "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him" — depicting Christ gathering believers to Himself. Matthew 24:29, by contrast, describes what happens "immediately after the tribulation of those days": the sun is darkened, the moon does not give her light, the stars fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens are shaken. These passages present both a gathering of believers and a visible, cataclysmic coming.
Les Feldick teaches that most people miss the rapture because it is a Church Age doctrine that the rest of Scripture never mentions. He stresses that there is "not a hint, not even the foggiest hint" of a group of believers suddenly taken off the scene anywhere in the Old Testament, the Gospels, or Acts — the rapture was a secret revealed only to the Apostle Paul (Clips 3, 7). Since every Old Testament and Gospel reference to Christ's coming points to the Second Coming — when He will stand on the Mount of Olives with cataclysmic signs — those who read only those passages hear about one coming, not two (Clips 1, 3).
Les Feldick uses Matthew 24 to show the graphic difference. The Second Coming is preceded by terrible signs: the sun darkened, the moon not giving her light, the stars falling, and the powers of the heavens shaken (Matthew 24:29; Clip 1). At the Second Coming, Christ stands on the Mount of Olives (Clip 4). The rapture, by contrast, is a silent, instantaneous event; the world will not know believers have gone (Clip 1). Paul's phrase "our gathering together unto Him" in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 sets it apart — at the Second Coming Christ is coming, but at the rapture He gathers His own to Himself (Clip 5). The rapture occurs seven years before the Second Coming, just before the Tribulation (Clips 4, 6).
Les explains that the rapture was a mystery — a truth nowhere hinted at in the Old Testament or the Gospel accounts. It was "a secret revealed by and to the Apostle Paul" (Clip 3). He repeats this in his teaching: not one writer before Paul ever mentioned a group of believers being suddenly taken off the scene (Clip 7). The reason is that the rapture is a Church Age doctrine, and Paul is the only writer in Scripture who writes concerning the Church (Clip 7). Since the rest of Scripture only refers to the Second Coming, people who know the Bible's end-time passages but have not been taught Paul's revelation simply never hear of the rapture.
Les understands why the rapture is hard to accept. He says it takes faith to believe that in a split second Christ will leave glory, come to the atmosphere, the trumpet will sound, the archangel will shout, the dead believers of the church age will be resurrected, and those alive will follow them up to meet the Lord in the air (Clip 2). "No wonder the unbeliever scoffs at it," he says (Clip 2). Because the world sees nothing physically happening at the rapture — it is silent and unknown to them (Clip 1) — those who have never been taught Paul's revelation find it easy to dismiss.
The Rapture vs. The Second Coming — What's the Difference?
Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick.
The Rapture Is Silent; the Second Coming Is Cataclysmic
Les teaches that the world will not know when believers are taken because the rapture is silent and instantaneous, in contrast to the visible signs at the Second Coming.
The Rapture Is Hard to Comprehend
Les explains that the rapture is a mystery that takes faith to believe, which is why even unbelievers scoff at it.
The Rapture Was a Secret Revealed Only to Paul
Les teaches that no Old Testament or Gospel passage reveals the rapture; it was a secret given to the Apostle Paul, so people who read only those passages hear only of the Second Coming.
The Rapture Comes Before the Tribulation
Les contrasts the catching up of believers with the Second Coming at the end of the seven-year Tribulation.
The 'Gathering Together Unto Him' Sets the Rapture Apart
Les uses 2 Thessalonians 2:1 to show that the rapture is Christ gathering His own to Himself, which sets it completely apart from the Second Coming.
The Rapture Takes Place Seven Years Before the Second Coming
Les clarifies the order: the rapture comes before the Tribulation, and the Second Coming ends it.
The Rapture Is a Church Age Doctrine
Les teaches that not a hint of the rapture appears in the Old Testament, the Gospels, or Acts; only Paul writes about it, because it is a Church Age doctrine.
2 Thessalonians 2:1: Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
Paul uses this exact phrase — 'our gathering together unto Him' — which Les points to as a phrase that sets the rapture apart from the Second Coming (Clip 5).
Matthew 24:29: Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Les quotes this verse to show the cataclysmic signs that accompany the Second Coming, in contrast to the silent rapture (Clip 1).
Romans 16:25: Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
The video titles for Clips 3 and 4 identify this passage as the key to understanding the rapture as a secret that most Christians miss.
Les Feldick teaches that the rapture was a secret revealed only to the Apostle Paul. Because no Old Testament or Gospel passage ever hints at it, people who hear only those end-time passages learn about the Second Coming but never about the rapture. Most references to Christ's coming refer to the Second Coming, not the rapture (Clips 3, 7).
No, according to Les, there is "not even the foggiest hint" of it anywhere up through the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the Book of Acts. It is a Church Age doctrine revealed only through the Apostle Paul (Clip 7).
The rapture is a silent, instantaneous gathering of believers to meet Christ in the air, and the world won't know it happened. The Second Coming is visible and preceded by cataclysmic signs like the sun darkened and stars falling, and it takes place after the Tribulation — seven years after the rapture (Clips 1, 4, 6).
Watch the Teaching: The Rapture vs. The Second Coming — What's the Difference?