First, what is the rapture? According to Dr. Jack Van Impe, long-time preacher of End Times prophetic teaching, “It is the literal, visible bodily coming of Jesus Christ to call out of this world, literally and bodily, every born-again believer--first the dead, then the living.” Revelation Revealed, page 54. He even quotes verses that I will use in my proof: 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
However, this is not a proof against the teaching of Jack Van Impe although his teaching has been questionable over the last several decades. This will prove the rapture, as taught by those like Dr. Van Impe, is not going to happen - at least not the way they describe. Remember, the rapture is the taking out of this world the literal body of believers.
First part of the proof: Revelation 20:4b,5 “Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” (emphasis added)
Second part of the proof: As you can see, the “first resurrection” are the martyrs who are beheaded during the reign of the Anti-Christ. Now see verse 5 above, “the rest of the dead did not live again” until another thousand years; the remaining dead did not get raised for 1,000 years! Now see 1 Thessalonians 4:15: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.” (emphasis added) Those who are alive, believers walking and talking on Earth (perhaps waiting for a rapture), will not be resurrected before the dead. Remember the first to go are the martyrs. The rest of the dead will not go for at least 1,000 years! Then those that are alive at that time, after the 1,000 years, will be “raptured”. Proof that this relatively new teaching is false.
