Rapture of the Saints

A term often applied to the “catching up” in the clouds of the saints, including both those raised from among the dead, and those who will be alive on the earth at that time, to meet the Lord in the air at His coming, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17). This preliminary detail in the coming of the Lord is of great interest to the church, which is set to wait for Him. See ADVENT, SECOND.