May 21, 2011: Who Will Be Raptured?

By now almost everyone has heard the prediction from Harold Camping that tomorrow May 21st, at 6:00pm (I'm not sure in which time zone) the world is going to end, Christ is going to return, the saved will be raptured (taken up into heaven), and the damned will be left behind on earth to face some pretty terrible times (as if we aren't facing some pretty difficult times now). If you want the history of Harold Camping and a confusing (there isn't a simple) explanation for how he came up with the date for the end of the world, read Jaweed Kaleem's Harold Camping: The Man Behind 'Judgment Day,' May 21, 2011. For those of you who have read my blog before, you know my take on the end times. For those who have not, you can look at my article End Time: A Marginal Belief.

What I want to discuss in this article is what heaven will look like on the day of "the rapture" (I do not particularly like this form of Christianese and will try not to use it frequently in my blog). The traditional belief among many Christians who focus on end-times doctrine is that when Jesus returns, the saved (Christians) will be lifted up into heaven while those who are not saved will remain here on earth to face incredible suffering (there is another view in which some Christians will remain during the period of tribulation [the Christian term for suffering] and will be taken up when the suffering is over). So the question is, who will heaven be filled with, and who will remain on earth after May 21, 2011? What will the make-up be of each location during the Apocalypse?

I think we will all be surprised by the way things turn out. I think who will be left and who will be taken, will be a complete shock to us. I think when the saved get to heaven, many will be surprised who was taken, and I think those on Earth will be quite surprised by who was left behind.

Jesus explained regarding those who will enter heaven, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS'" (Matthew 7:21-23). The major point Jesus makes in this passage is that many who expect to enter heaven will not, even though they thought they were acting on his behalf. Many today are making prophesies about the end times and telling people how they need to behave in order to be more in line with Jesus, when they are in fact not in line with Jesus themselves. They think they will be taken in the rapture, but because of their harsh judgment, because they themselves have locked the gates of heaven on people, they themselves will be left behind. Jesus will say to them as they knock at the gates, "I never knew you; depart from me."

While at the same time many who thought their salvation was secure only to be left behind, others who the Church shut their doors on will find in Christ welcoming arms as they are taken up, lifted into heaven. Like Lazarus in the parable (Luke 16:19-31) those who were persecuted and oppressed, even by Christians themselves who emphasized their sin instead of God's grace, will find comfort and peace.

When Jesus described who would be taken and who would be left behind, he stated that those who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited prisoners, etc. would find their place in heaven, while those who neglected such things would be left behind (Matthew 25:31-46). Nowhere did he say that those who obeyed the laws of the Old Testament would be saved, and nowhere was sin (or the lack thereof) considered in reference to the elect. From a couple paragraphs above, we can conclude that those who followed the law and considered themselves righteous (and even more righteous than others) are the ones who will not be taken up during the rapture. Again I reiterate Jesus' admonition, "I have desired compassion and not sacrifice." Compassion through helping out the less fortunate is what Jesus desires, not a perfect report card.

When the end times come, if that occurs on May 21st or not, we will enter heaven and be surprised by who we find there. We will find gay couples and straight couples; we will find those who have had abortions and pre-marital sex; we will find people who were absent from church for years. We will find people we thought were lost because despite all our evangelizing to them, they just would not listen. We will find Democrats and Republicans. Because those who go to heaven are not those who followed the law to a tee or who followed our particular ideals for each other. Those who go to heaven are those who showed compassion and love to everyone, especially to their enemies.

We will also be surprised by who is left behind. Remaining on Earth we will find pastors and priests. We will find consistent church-goers and leaders of different ministries. We will find people who spent their entire lives trying to convert people to Christ and who read the bible daily. We will find the most adamant Christians.

What occurs when Jesus returns will be a big surprise to every individual. No one will be able to say, "that is exactly what I was expecting." This was the purpose of Jesus' parables, to turn people's expectations upside down. So when it comes to predicting the future, try not to have too many expectations, because in the end they will be turned upside down. That's what Jesus did.
Blessings,
-Brandon