The Rapture vs. The Return

10 biblical reasons to believe in a two-phase Second Coming of Christ

One of the major critiques of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is that it teaches two Second Comings of Christ—a Rapture before the Tribulation and a Return at the end of the Tribulation.

Post-Tribulationists, who place the Rapture and return at the end of the Tribulation, strongly object to the notion that the Rapture of the church and the return of Christ to earth are two stages or phases of one event, separated by at least seven years. They contend that this actually teaches two future comings of Christ, while the Bible only presents one event. 

Of course, the same issue can be leveled against the mid-trib or pre-wrath views, though the seven-year timeline is compressed. The issue at hand is whether the Second Coming of Jesus will occur in one event or whether are there two stages to this one event—the Rapture (stage one) and the Return (stage two). 

So is that a valid view of Scripture? Could the Rapture and the Return be two stages of a single event? Let’s examine the evidence.

Biblical Precedent for Multi-Stage Events

There is biblical precedent for one event to unfold in several stages. For instance, there were three phases to the Babylonian Captivity of Judah: 605 B.C., 597 and 586. Each is called the Captivity, but they are multiple stages of one event. 

It’s important to remember that there were also multiple aspects or phases of Christ’s first coming: His birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension. His spirit left His body after the death and returned at the time of His resurrection (Luke 23:46). This is not considered a separate “coming,” even though those events were separated by three days. All of these events are part of the first coming. These aspects of Christ’s ministry were separated by periods of time.

In the same way, we believe there are two aspects of the Lord’s Second Coming: the Rapture, which takes place in the air, and the Return, which begins in the air but ends up with a return to earth.

Likewise, the “Day of the Lord” is an extended event that will unfold over the entire seven years of the Tribulation period. Viewing the Lord’s coming or parousia in an extended sense is consistent with how we understand the Day of the Lord.

The pattern of a two-stage or two-phase coming of Christ is duplicated in the future kingdom of God, which also unfolds in two stages. Phase One is the Millennial (thousand-year), Messianic, earthly kingdom of Jesus described in Revelation 20:1-6. Phase Two is the eternal kingdom in the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1-22:5).

These are not two different kingdoms. They are closely connected, but they are two stages of the one, glorious kingdom of God. Similarly, the Rapture is the first, initial stage followed by the Return of Jesus at least seven years later. They are not two different comings any more than there will be two Days of the Lord or two future kingdoms. They’re a single event, separated into two stages.