There are two future comings of Christ to this world. The first one is for the Church, the Body of Christ, and the second for Israel. While there are similarities between the Rapture and the Second Coming, there are many differences as well. This episode highlights the major contrasts between these two future events—including a correction of the common misapplication of Matthew 24:37-41—and how a failure to “rightly divide” the Scriptures causes many to wrongly merge these two events into one.

It’s wrong to set dates for the Rapture. We are taught by the Apostle Paul that every day is a possible day for the Lord’s return, and we are to always be ready and looking for Him. This message continues comparing the Rapture of the Church with Christ’s Second Coming for Israel, calling believers to urgent evangelism as “children of light,” so others are not left behind for “the day of wrath.” The key contrasts—timing in relation to the Tribulation, Christ’s respective descents from heaven, and the glories of the heavenly and earthly kingdoms—emphasize the distinctiveness of these two future events.

It’s good to have the Rapture on our minds, but we also need to study our Bibles to understand it more fully, so we can tell others about it. Here, we conclude our walk through the comparisons between the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ for Israel. This teaching—which stresses the Rapture will be invisible to the world, while the Second Coming will be seen by everyone—is rooted in the Apostle Paul's "mystery" revelation and urges rightly dividing Scripture to distinguish between these two separate events and programs—one for the Body of Christ heading to heaven, the other for Israel on the earth.