The rapture is not in the Old Testament because God kept it a secret in His mind and revealed it only to the Apostle Paul.
Les Feldick teaches that from the Old Testament through the Gospels and into Acts, there is not a single hint of believers being suddenly taken off the scene. The rapture is a Church Age doctrine, a 'mystery' that Paul alone was given to reveal.
1 Corinthians 15:51 — Paul explicitly calls the rapture a 'mystery' — a secret never before revealed — which explains why it is absent from the Old Testament.
Ephesians 3:5 — This verse states the truth concerning the church was 'not made known unto the sons of men' in other ages, confirming it was hidden from Old Testament writers.
The Apostle Paul describes the rapture as a mystery that had been kept secret. In 1 Corinthians 15:51 he writes, 'Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.' The word 'mystery' indicates something that had never before been revealed in Scripture. In Ephesians 3:5 Paul explains that this truth 'in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.' Romans 16:25 speaks of 'the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.' Ephesians 3:9 adds that it is the fellowship of the mystery 'which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God.' These verses show that the rapture was hidden during Old Testament times and is first revealed in Paul's epistles.
Les Feldick repeatedly says there is not a hint — 'not even the foggiest hint' — of the rapture anywhere from the Old Testament through the Gospels and into the Book of Acts. He explains that the rapture is a Church Age phenomenon, and since Paul alone writes concerning the Church, the rapture is strictly a Pauline doctrine. God had kept this truth secret in His own mind; it was part of a body of revealed truth that He simply did not disclose in earlier ages. Les also connects this to the prophetic program. The Old Testament, he says, was based on the prophetic Word and dealt only with the nation of Israel under the Abrahamic covenant. No prophecy associates itself with the church. After Israel rejected her Messiah, God moved the prophetic program into the future and inserted the Church Age as an undetermined, parenthetical period of Gentile character. The rapture — which Paul calls a 'mystery' or 'secret' in 1 Corinthians 15:51 — belongs to this Church Age revelation, so it cannot be found in the Old Testament.
No. Les Feldick states that not a single writer before Paul gave any hint of a group of believers being caught away from the earth. He says there is no hint 'anywhere up through the Old Testament, all through the Gospels, into the Book of Acts.' The rapture is first introduced in 1 Corinthians 15:51, where Paul says, 'Behold, I shew you a mystery.' Les also notes that Jesus never referred to the rapture during His earthly ministry.
Les teaches that God is able to keep things secret as long as He cares to, and that is precisely what He did with the church age and the rapture. The Old Testament revelation was built on prophecy — what God said He would do — set on the Abrahamic covenant. The rapture instead belongs to the mystery, which Paul says was 'hid in God' from the beginning of the world. God revealed it in His own time through the Apostle Paul.
Les Feldick explains that all Old Testament prophecy is directed to and connected with the nation of Israel; no prophecy is associated with the church. The church age is a parenthetical period 'slipped in between' the prophetic program, and it is Gentile in nature, whereas prophecy belongs to Israel. Because the church age is not in the prophetic program, the rapture — which removes the Body of Christ — is not found in Old Testament prophecy. All church age doctrine, including the rapture, comes from Paul's pen.
Paul calls it a 'mystery' — or as Les likes to render it, a 'secret.' 1 Corinthians 15:51 says, 'Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.' Les emphasizes that this is something that had never been revealed before: the promise that one group of believers will not die physically but will be changed at the rapture. He then points to 1 Thessalonians 4 as Paul's further explanation of the same mystery, the 'outcalling' of the church.
The Secret Not Made Known in Other Ages
Les teaches that the truth concerning the church was not made known in earlier ages but is now revealed to the apostles and prophets; this is why the church and its rapture cannot be found in the Old Testament.
No Hint of the Rapture in the Old Testament
Les states there is not a single hint of believers being caught away anywhere from the Old Testament through Acts; the rapture is a Church Age doctrine from Paul alone.
God Keeps Secrets as Long as He Cares To
Les explains that the Old Testament was built on prophecy to Israel, while the church age was a secret God simply did not reveal — no hint of the church age or rapture appears in prophecy or Christ's earthly ministry.
A Secret Held in the Mind of God
Les says the rapture is not in the Old Testament or Gospels because it is a secret held in God's mind; God was dealing only with Israel until their rejection moved the prophetic program into the future.
The Rapture — 1 Corinthians 15:51
Les shows that 1 Corinthians 15:51 introduces the rapture as a secret never revealed before in Scripture — no hint in the Old Testament and Jesus never referred to it.
All Prophecy Belongs to Israel, Not the Church
Les teaches that no prophecy is associated with the church; the church age is a parenthetical Gentile period slipped into the prophetic program, and church doctrine comes only from Paul.
A Pauline Doctrine Found Nowhere Else
Les says the rapture is a Pauline doctrine that appears nowhere else in the Bible; Paul calls it a mystery, showing it was never before revealed.
The Mystery Revealed to Paul Is Now for Us
Les explains that the rapture is a secret revealed to Paul and is no longer secret — 1 Thessalonians 4 speaks of the same mystery, the outcalling of the church.
1 Corinthians 15:51: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
Paul introduces the rapture as a mystery, meaning it had not been previously revealed in the Old Testament.
1 Corinthians 15:52: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
This completes Paul's explanation of the secret — the sudden change of living believers at the rapture.
Ephesians 3:5: Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
This verse directly affirms that the church truth was hidden in earlier ages and only revealed in Paul's day.
Ephesians 3:8: Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Paul identifies himself as the one to whom this secret was entrusted, supporting the claim that the rapture is a Pauline revelation.
Ephesians 3:9: And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
This verse shows the mystery was hidden in God from the beginning of the world, explaining its absence from the Old Testament.
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,
Paul calls the mystery something kept secret since the world began, confirming it was not revealed to Old Testament writers.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Paul's fullest description of the rapture, which Les says is part of the same mystery revealed only to Paul.
No. Les Feldick teaches that there is not a hint of a group of believers being suddenly taken off the scene anywhere in the Old Testament. The rapture is a Church Age doctrine revealed only through the Apostle Paul.
Les says Jesus never referred to the rapture during His earthly ministry. It was a secret kept in the mind of God, not part of the prophetic word to Israel.
It is revealed in Paul's epistles — 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4. Paul calls it a 'mystery' or 'secret' never before revealed.
Because the rapture concerns the Church, and Paul alone writes concerning the Church. The Church Age is a parenthetical period slipped into the prophetic program, and all its basic doctrines come from Paul's pen.
Watch the Teaching: Why Did God Hide Secrets in the Bible Until Now?