Rick Renner: 9 Rapture-Type Events in the Bible
The rapture remains a hotly debated topic within the Christian faith, with believers divided on what it entails, its timing and its scriptural foundation. Rick Renner of Renner Ministries recently addressed this subject in a video where he outlined nine rapture-type events described in the Bible. Renner emphasized his firm belief that the rapture is a future event clearly detailed in Scripture, offering a comprehensive study to affirm its biblical basis for Christians.
Below are the nine rapture-type events listed in the Bible as Renner explains them:
1. Enoch was supernaturally, physically caught up into heaven and never tasted death (Gen. 5:24, Heb. 11:5). “He was snatched [up]. He was seized. He was taken into heaven and never tasted to death. That is the first rapture recorded in Scripture, and my friends, it’s in the book of Genesis, so the Bible’s been talking about raptures from the very beginning of time,” explains Renner.
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2. Elijah was supernaturally, physically caught up into heaven and never tasted death (2 Kings 2:11). “We find it in 2 Kings 2: 11 where the Bible says, ‘and it came to pass as they still went on and talked that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.’ That’s a rapture. Elijah was raptured from the earth into the presence of God, and Elijah never tasted death,” says Renner.
3. Jesus was supernaturally, physically caught up into heaven after His resurrection (Acts 1:9-11). “We read about this in Acts chapter 1 beginning in verse 9 which says: ‘then when He had spoken these things while they beheld, He was what taken up.’ That is a rapture. Jesus was literally taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight,” Renner explains.
4. Philip the evangelist was supernaturally, physically caught away from one location to another location (Acts 8:39, 40). “It was a rapture-type event, when someone was in one place and suddenly they disappeared and they reappeared somewhere else,” says Renner. “He had just baptized the Ethiopian eunuch; the Spirit of the Lord caught away Phillip. That word ‘caught away’ is the Greek word harpadzo, the same word which is described as being the rapture of the church in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. It is a supernatural snatching, or catching away, and suddenly the Spirit of the Lord caught away Phillip that the
eunuch saw him no more. That means Philip just vanished. He disappeared from sight and he went on his way rejoicing.”
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5. Paul was supernaturally, physically caught up to the third heaven and received unspeakable divine revelations (2 Cor. 12:2-4). “We read his (Paul) own testimony about this in 2 Corinthians 12: 2-4,” shares Renner. “He repeats it again, the Greek word harpadzo. He was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter, so Paul himself testified that he experienced a rapture-type event.”
6. John was supernaturally, physically caught up in the spirit realm to heaven and given the Revelation (book of Revelation). “We see that the apostle John was literally caught up, he was snatched or he was raptured, into the very presence of God in heaven,” exclaims Renner. “My friends, there are so many examples of raptures in the Bible; I don’t know why anybody could argue with the idea of a rapture.”
7. Believers alive on Earth will one day be supernaturally, physically caught away into the presence of the Lord in the future (1 Thess. 4:17). “There it is: the Greek word harpadzo, to seize, to catch, to suddenly snatch away. It’s something that is supernatural. We shall be caught up with Him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord, which means a day is really coming when faithful saints are simply going to vanish. And just like all of these other examples, we’re going to be seized and suddenly snatched into the very presence of the Lord,” says Renner.
8. Two end-time, prophetic witnesses will be supernaturally, physically caught away into heaven during the time of the Great Tribulation (Rev. 11:11,12). “When you come to Revelation 11, it tells us in verse 11 that they were killed by mobs. In verse 11 says, ‘and after three days and a half, the Spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon all them which saw
them,'” Renner reads. “Verse 12, ‘and they heard a great voice from heaven saying saying unto them, “Come up thither,” and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them.'”
9. The saints saved during the Great Tribulation will be supernaturally, physically caught away into the presence of the Lord (Rev. 7:9-14). “When people say, ‘Come on, you can’t really believe people are just going to disappear can you?’ Yes! I certainly can. We have nine examples of it in Scripture. Some of it’s already happened, some of it’s about to happen, some of it’s going to happen in the future, but the Bible really talks about nine specific raptures,” Renner declares.
While opinions on Renner’s interpretation of the rapture may vary, one truth unites all believers: the call of Jesus to be ready at any moment. Paul’s warning that the day of the Lord will come “like a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2) serves as a reminder to live in constant preparation for His return. Whether the rapture occurs before, during or after the Great Tribulation, the urgency for Christians remains the same—faithfully anticipating the day when He will come again.
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James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
