The etymology of the word takes us to Medieval Latin called “raptura”and “rapto” which means “seizing and carrying off.” In the Latin Bible, we find them used as follows:

• In Acts 19:29 which tells of the people seizing [rapto] Gaius and Aristarchus;
• In 2 Cor. 12:2, 3 when Paul tells of a man who was caught up [raptum] the third heaven and to paradise; and
• In Rev. 12:5 which tells of a male child who was snatched up [raptus] to God and to his throne.

And in Against Heresies, Book 5, Chapter 5, Verse 1, Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 140-202) taught that Enoch and Elijah, in anticipation of what will happen to the just and the spiritual, were translated and caught up to Paradise and there they will remain until the end of all things. But in Chapter 9, Verse 1, Irenaeus taught that the Great Tribulation shall be the last “contest” that the righteous will have to overcome to be crowned with incorruption,

There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be. For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.

In other words, the translation and carrying off of Elijah and Enoch anticipate what would become of the Church at the end of the Great Tribulation, when they are translated and carried off to eternal life.

The first sentence of that quote from Irenaeus should be very familiar because it’s from Mat. 24:21, 29-31,

For then there will be great tribulation [thlipsis, Greek], such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. …Immediately after the tribulation [thlipsis] of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  (Mat 24:21, 29-31 ESV)

In the Lord’s own words, the elect will be gathered and carried off by angels immediately following the end of the Great Tribulation which will be marked by great signs in the heavens including his appearance from the clouds.

The Apostle Paul had to write a follow up epistle to the church of the Thessalonians in order remind them that the coming of the Lord and our being gathered together to him will be preceded by rebellion and revelation of the Man of Lawlessness.

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? (2 Thes. 2:1-5 ESV)

Both the coming of the Lord Jesus and the gathering of the elect by rapture are inseparable and Post-Tribulational (after the Great Tribulation). This is true even in his first epistle to them,

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  (1 Thes. 4:16-17 ESV)

But one might ask, what is the point of being carried off into the clouds just to go back down again?

What is the point of such a meet-up?

Aside from 1 Thes. 4:17, the Greek word used, apantesis, is also used in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. However, only the wise virgins had enough oil to keep their lamps going as they went about to meet (apantesis) the arriving bridegroom. They were well prepared for his delay and they had enough oil to keep their lamps going as they waited till they were able to escort him into the wedding banquet (Mat. 25:10).

And so, the meet-up when the people of God are carried off into the clouds is meant for them to welcome their coming Bridegroom-King and to escort him into his wedding banquet to be united with him forever.  But it is also the timing of the resurrection of the  departed saints and the translation to immortality of those who remain alive waiting for his return.

This is the very same mystery that the Apostle unveiled in his epistle to the church of God in Corinth,

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Cor. 15:51-54 ESV)