JESUS, the Rapture…and Aliens?
ESCHATOLOGY SERIES
A Theory By Shaun Shuler
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in GOD, and trust also in Me. There is more than enough room in My FATHER’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.”
John 14:1-3 NLT
With any discussion of the End Times and the Great Tribulation, the subject of the Rapture will most definitely come up. In this article, I will be discussing the three distinct beliefs about the Rapture. At the conclusion, I will share my theory based on the world‘s fascination with UFO’s and aliens and how this could be intertwined with the Rapture.
Before we dive into the Rapture, let‘s take a brief look at what the Great Tribulation is.
The Great Tribulation
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Matthew 24:21 NKJV
The Great Tribulation is considered the time of when GOD’s wrath is poured out on the earth. It occurs during the last half of the 7-year period referred to as the 70th week in the book of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27) or the 7-year Tribulation.
1st half of the Tribulation is when the antichrist arrives on the scene, makes a peace deal with Israel. At the midway point of this 7-year period, the antichrist breaks from the peace treaty, declares himself GOD and forces everyone to worship him or be put to death.
The true horror show, that is the Great Tribulation, soon begins around this time when the world is forced to worship the antichrist. This is when the full wrath of GOD is poured out on mankind as judgement on the world ultimately due to sinful, rebellious humans rejecting JESUS as LORD and SAVIOR and choosing to worship the antichrist.
“Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of GOD’s anger. It has been poured full strength into GOD’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the LAMB. The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.”
Revelation 14:9-11 NLT
At the end of this 7-year period, JESUS will return in His Second Coming to defeat evil and set up His Kingdom on earth for a thousand years.
In the book of Revelation, what is known as the Great Tribulation is when the 7 Seals (Revelation 6:1-17 and 8:1-6), the 7 Trumpets (Revelation 8:7-9:21 and 11:15-19), and 7 Bowls (Revelation 16:2-21) are unleashed on the earth.
It is going to be hell on earth. This will be the most chaotic time ever on earth as JESUS said in Matthew 24:21.
So the question that many Christians have is, “Will the Church go through this time of tribulation or will the Church be spared?”
Several passages in the Bible reference a moment where believers are changed, gathered, or caught up, also known as the Rapture.
So, what is the Rapture?
The Rapture
The Rapture is the Christian belief that JESUS will return in the sky and He will take all the believers (the Church) off of the earth and into heaven. Pre-Tribulation, Mid-Tribulation, and Post-Tribulation are the 3 main beliefs of the Rapture based on when it could take place: before, during, or after the Great Tribulation.
Now the term Rapture is not directly used in the Bible, but it is heavily referenced.
When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.”
John 14:3 NLT
“For since we believe that JESUS died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when JESUS returns, GOD will bring back with Him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the LORD: we who are still living when the LORD returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the LORD Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of GOD. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air. Then we will be with the LORD forever.”
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 NLT
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NIV
“And He will send out His angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather His chosen ones from all over the world —from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.”
Matthew 24:31 NLT
Based on the verses above, there is good evidence that there will be a gathering or removal of believers off the earth. The question is, when?
For this article I am not trying to prove or disprove any of the following beliefs, I simply want to give you a short description of them.
The 3 main beliefs on the Rapture are:
Pre-Tribulationist believe JESUS will appear in the clouds before the 7-year Tribulation begins, and rescue the Church from the destruction that is about to begin.
Mid-Tribulationist believe JESUS will come and take the Church off the earth in the middle of the 7-year Tribulation before the wrath of GOD is poured out on the world.
Post-Tribulationist believe that the Church will meet JESUS in the air at His Second Coming when JESUS defeats the antichrist and his followers, and then sets up His 1,000-year Millennial reign.
People who believe in Pre-Tribulation or Mid-Tribulation Rapture agree that the Church will be spared from the wrath to come. Many use the following verse to support this belief:
“Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
Revelation 3:10 NKJV
Personally, I believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture and my original plan was to have deep breakdown explaining with Scripture why I believe this to be true. However, to keep this article from becoming a novel, I will bypass the details for now and will address this in a future article.
So for my theory, I am going with the Rapture taking place prior to the beginning of the 7-year Tribulation or the Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
How do AlieNs fit into all of this?
The headline in the local Roswell Daily Record on July 8, 1947, was: “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region”, with the statement, “The intelligence office of the 509th Bombardment Group at Roswell Army Air Field announced at noon today, that the field has come into the possession of a Flying Saucer.” This became known as the famous Roswell Incident. The next day, the military claimed it was a crashed weather balloon. Despite this, the fascination about aliens really took off.
From movies and TV shows like E-T, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, X-Files, Independence Day, Ancient Aliens on the History Channel to all the UFO sightings people have claimed to witness, the popularity of aliens is fully entrenched in our culture.
To add to this idea of the existence of life from other planets, the United States Navy recently released videos of pilots encountering UFO’s while flying. The Navy refers to them as "unexplained aerial phenomena." They have never claimed these UAP’s to be aliens but they are also not sure what they are.
So are there actual alien civilizations on other planets throughout the universe?
It is hard to prove something does not exist, but here are my thoughts.
I do not believe there are other civilizations in the cosmos. If there were, how does JESUS dying for their sins work?
Would He have to go and be birthed by a virgin in every civilization, live a perfect life and die for their sins?
If JESUS only came to Earth and lived a perfect life and died only once for all our sins for every being in the entire universe, how would these other civilizations find out about it?
True the Bible does not explain everything in the universe, but I feel the simplest answer is the way to go here which is there are no other civilizations on other planets.
Does the Bible reference anything resembling aliens?
If your definition of an alien is something alive that is not from the earth, then yes, the Bible does refer to beings not from the earth. They are called angels.
Not the 2-winged, baby-faced, chubby creatures depicted in art, but many of these angels described in the Bible would be totally “alien” looking to us.
“From the center of the cloud came four living beings that looked human, except that each had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, and their feet had hooves like those of a calf and shone like burnished bronze. Under each of their four wings I could see human hands. So each of the four beings had four faces and four wings. The wings of each living being touched the wings of the beings beside it. Each one moved straight forward in any direction without turning around. Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back. Each had two pairs of outstretched wings—one pair stretched out to touch the wings of the living beings on either side of it, and the other pair covered its body.”
Ezekiel 1:5-11 NLT
“Attending Him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.”
Isaiah 6:2 NLT
Angels are mentioned over 200 times in the Bible. They have appeared in different forms to people throughout the Bible to bring a message from GOD, or to help someone in trouble. But what are angels?
Angels are spiritual beings:
“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
Hebrews 1:14 NIV
Angels have the ability to appear to humans in physical form:
“Then an angel of the LORD appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.”
Luke 1:11-13 NIV
Angels have the ability to physically interact with humans:
“But the two angels reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door. Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside.”
Genesis 19:10-11 NLT
Angels have free will:
“For GOD did not spare even the angels who sinned…”
2 Peter 2:4a NLT
“And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority GOD gave them but left the place where they belonged…”
Jude 1:6a NLT
As a former angel himself, the devil is well known for his deceptiveness:
“This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.”
Revelation 12:9 NLT
And JESUS said:
“For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:44 NLT
Paul also made this distinction:
“But I am not surprised! Even satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
2 Corinthians 11:14 NLT
So put all of this together and we finally get to my theory.
My Theory
What would the Rapture event be like for those left on the earth? JESUS gave us a sneak peek.
“Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.”
Matthew 24:40-41 NLT
“That night two people will be asleep in one bed; one will be taken, the other left.”
Luke 17:34 NLT
This will play out all over the world. So what will be the explanation as to why millions of people just disappeared off the earth?
The devil knows that those who have accepted JESUS as LORD and SAVIOR will be gone, but millions of Bibles will still be here for people to pick up and research for answers. So being the “father of lies”, the devil will have to come up with an explanation that distracts people from finding the truth in Scripture.
The way I see it (again only my theory), is “aliens” will make themselves known to the world right before the Rapture or more likely right after the Rapture. These “aliens” will not be from another planet but will be demonic beings (fallen angels) appearing in physical form pretending to be aliens. This will provide the devil the opportunity to “kill two birds with one stone.”
First, what better way to explain away the disappearance of millions of people than to blame it on “aliens”.
Secondly, this false revelation that aliens exist, will also create fear and panic worldwide. Enter the antichrist, who will use this situation to unite a divided planet under one cause and usher in his one world government.
I’m not saying demons posing as aliens is guaranteed going to happen, but based on everything I have presented, wouldn’t it seem to at least be a possibility?
So without knowing if this will happen or not, what is the purpose of me even writing about this?
Simply that if my theory is correct and the Rapture takes place, followed by an appearance of so called “aliens” and they are used to explain away the reason why all these people disappeared and the world has to “unite” against this “alien presence”, then those who witness all of these things will know that any reports given by the antichrist, the media, or whoever, will be full of lies. Then these people can find a Bible and start researching about the love of JESUS and all the events described in the book of Revelation to see what will come next. Then perhaps those individuals will finally accept CHRIST as LORD and SAVIOR.
If this does not happen like I theorized, then this was just a fun thought experiment from my overly active imagination.
The Bible is the Word of GOD, and in it GOD reveals His immense love for us, that we are all sinners, that JESUS died for our sins so we have a way for salvation, and how to live, function, and honor GOD in this world. All of this is more important than the what if’s and what could be’s, so when diving into the mysteries of the End Times, always remember it is fun to discuss, to come up with ideas or theories, but we have to be careful to not become obsessed with what may happen while ignoring the truly important things which is:
“‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV
GOD BLESS!!!
Thank you for visiting and please leave any comments, questions, prayer requests, ideas for new topics you’d like for me to discuss, or your theories about the Rapture, aliens or anything else concerning the End Times in the comment box below.
Check Out More Articles