For weeks, social media and the campus hummed with speculation that the rapture would happen this week. Posts pointed to world events, natural disasters and passages from the Book of Revelation as signs.
Based on Mathew 24 and the Book of Revelation, many Christians believe that when the rapture happens, all true believers will be brought to Heaven, while the rest of humanity remains on Earth for a period of Tribulation before the final judgment of God’s Kingdom.
But it didn’t happen. So what now?
Dr. Cliff Barbarick, chair of the Department of Bible, Missions and Ministry, said this isn’t the first time believers have expected the end at a specific moment.
“I mean, there have been multiple times in my lifetime. There’s been times throughout the history of Christianity, and it’s been wrong every time,” Barbarick said.
Not every Christian doctrine teaches rapture theology, and Barbarick explained that there is a lot of diversity among different Christian groups on the rapture.
“The reason there’s diversity is that there is no clear description in any biblical book that we have,” Barbarick said. “So anytime you’re going to try to put together a description of what you think is going to happen at the end, you are piecing together from different incomplete descriptions in the New Testament.”
One of the reasons Christians thought the rapture would happen now is because of a viral prediction by South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela, who claims to have received a vision from Jesus that the rapture would occur on Sept. 23 or 24.
After his prediction was shared, the internet blew up. Some Christians amplified this prediction by interpreting current events and biblical prophecy as signs of the end times.
Other Christians criticized people who were saying the rapture was going to happen because they feared that it would scare off new believers, especially if it did not happen.
“It has harmed people’s faith, either the people who bought into it and really believed it wholeheartedly themselves,” Barbarick said. “And then when it doesn’t happen, it’s a crisis of faith for them.”
Talk of the rapture has also caused some anxiety on campus. Kadence Spreter, freshman nursing major from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, said that she wrestles with the question: “Did I do enough?”
“They say that faith plus salvation equals good works, but then some people say faith plus good works equals salvation,” Spreter said. “Which is correct? Because it’s all about the interpretation of that certain scripture.”
Those emotions, Barbarick explained, are understandable but not where Christians are meant to place their hope.
“Fear can be motivating, but it’s also in the end a really thin motivation, and it’s not going to hold up,” he said. “Instead, we put our trust in what Christ has already done and in the goodness of God.”
Barbarick said the best Christians can do is to continue putting their trust in God, and it is OK to think about end times, but don’t put emphasis on it.
