Good morning. Today is Friday, October 9th!

🥳 Congratulations on starting today with God, and thank you for letting us be a part of it.

— 1 Thessalonians 4:17

Why Do We Call It the Rapture?

The Rapture is one of the most recognizable terms in Christianity. You might even assume it is one of the most recognizable words in Scripture.

Except there’s something interesting about it: most English Bibles never actually use the word “rapture.”

The event certainly is there.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul explains that when Jesus returns, “the dead in Christ will rise first.” Then believers who are still alive will be “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).

That is what we call the Rapture.

But look at the actual wording Scripture gives us: “caught up.”

So how did “caught up” become “the Rapture”? And who even started calling it that?

Interestingly, we don’t know exactly who did.

There isn’t one person we can confidently point to as the first person who named the event the Rapture. But we can trace where the name came from.

Paul originally wrote in Greek, and the word translated “caught up” comes from harpazō, which carries the idea of being seized, snatched, or carried away. When the passage was later translated into Latin, “we will be caught up” became rapiemur, from a Latin verb meaning to seize or snatch away.

Our English word rapture ultimately comes from that same Latin family.

Over time, Christians began using the Rapture as a simple name for the event Paul described. Eventually, the name became so recognizable that today we immediately know what someone means, even though most English Bibles still don’t actually call it that.

And that last part is pretty incredible.

By the time many modern English translations were made, the Rapture was already a familiar Christian term. Yet translators didn’t simply insert that familiar name into the verse. They continued translating what the Greek actually says: “caught up.”

And that little detail can give us greater confidence in something much bigger.

When we read Scripture, we want what the biblical authors actually wrote, not words added simply because Christians later became familiar with them. Here we have a small example of exactly that distinction being preserved.

The Christian terminology became incredibly popular. The biblical wording remained.

So calling it the Rapture isn’t wrong. Now we just know something most people probably don’t: if you wanted to call it exactly what Scripture calls it, you would call it being “caught up.”

And the fact that our familiar name never simply replaced those words gives us one more reason to have confidence when we open our Bibles and read what is actually there.

When you’re not sure how to pray, A.C.T.S. gives you a simple path to follow: Adore, Confess, Thank, and Ask.

Adoration: God You don’t change Your mind. You finish what You start.

Confession: I still treat faith like a checklist instead of trusting Jesus.

Thanksgiving: Thank You that Jesus fulfilled the law so I don’t have to.

Supplication: Teach me to live by faith, not rules, today.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

“Amazing Grace” by Pentatonix

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See you tomorrow,

Zach | Start With God