When the rapture happens all living believers will be taken directly into heaven. At the same time all deceased believers will be resurrected. This sudden event will happen just before the anti-Christ comes to power and the tribulation begins. Those who reject the doctrine of the rapture use the name “secret rapture” as a derogatory term to discredit the idea. Some preachers have taught that Christians will disappear and no one on earth will know what happened. The rapture is a Biblical doctrine, but does the Bible say it will be a secret event?

Often we have questions about the Bible that it does not answer. Scripture gives very little attention to the rapture. For example, the Bible never describes the response of those left behind. Most of the material in the popular treatments of the rapture, like the Left Behind books and movies, is pure fiction. Though the Bible says nothing about the immediate aftermath of the rapture, it seems certain that the disappearance of millions of people from the earth will capture the attention of the world.

What the Bible does say about the rapture gives the sense of a dramatic event that will shake the world. The Bible describes archangels sounding trumpets, graves emptying and believers disappearing. Many think only Christians will hear the heavenly trumpets, but why? The Bible never says who will or will not hear the trumpet. Since 1 Corinthians 15 describes the events of the rapture as happening in the blink of an eye, we can safely assume that the saved will not float gently up into the air to drift slowly out of sight. Graves will suddenly empty and Chrsitians will disappear. It seems very unlikely that no one will notice these things when they happen. The rapture can hardly be called a secret event.

However, the real question is, will those left behind understand what is happening? Most of the world will probably not recognize the theological significance of the disappearance of all Christians. Those familiar with the Biblical teaching of the rapture will probably figure out what has happened. But since those left behind will be the ones who did not believe the gospel, it is safe to assume they will be tempted to seek explanations other than that God took all believers to heaven. The Bible does not teach that the rapture will be a secret. The Bible does not teach that the rapture will be seen by everyone. All we can say for sure is that the rapture will happen.