Jack Hibbs : I Changed My Mind On The Rapture
The topic of the rapture is one of the most passionate and polarizing among Christians today. It stirs emotions and elicits heated debates, but above all, it’s a subject rooted deeply within the pages of the Bible. For many, the idea of being “caught up” with Christ is both a source of hope and an area where viewpoints often clash. Throughout Christian history, countless believers have wrestled with what the Bible truly teaches about the rapture, and I am no exception. In fact, my personal journey through the doctrines of the rapture led me through uncertainty, growth, and, ultimately, deeper faith. Join me as I share how my understanding of the rapture evolved and what brought me back to a biblical, pre-tribulational view grounded in the authority of Scripture alone.
Growing Up Without Church—A Fresh Encounter with Faith
I still remember the first time I ever stepped into a church. It was June 20th, 1977—my life was about to change, though I had no idea what God had planned. Having grown up in a family that never attended church or even went to a church funeral, I entered Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa as a 19-year-old with zero expectations and even less experience. What awaited me was a powerful collision with the truth of God’s Word and the life-changing invitation of the gospel.
On that memorable night, the young evangelist Greg Laurie was preaching from Revelation 20 with a message titled “How to Inherit Hell.” The passionate sermon pierced my heart, and by the time the invitation was given, I committed my life to Jesus Christ. Little did I realize that saying yes to Jesus would immediately cost me my closest childhood friendships—the very next day, I discovered that even though my friends didn’t criticize my new faith, they simply vanished from my life. Yet God filled that void with an insatiable hunger for the Bible and a desire to learn, study, and grow.
The Early Years: Immersed in Bible Teaching and Prophecy
The late 1970s were marked by revival and spiritual hunger at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. If you wanted a seat, you had to line up an hour before service! The aisles overflowed, and people sat on the floor just to hear the teaching of God’s Word. Influential Bible teachers such as Chuck Missler, Randy Ziegler, and Pastor Chuck Smith poured into my life. The church culture valued studying end-times prophecy and encouraged expecting the Lord’s return with glad anticipation. It’s true, there were playful rhymes every year about Jesus coming back soon, but the core message always remained: Christ’s return could be at any moment.
As a new believer, I found myself devouring the writings of theologians like Dr. H.A. Ironside and hearing thoughtful teaching on prophecy. At Calvary Chapel, the dominant perspective was “premillennial, pre-tribulational, and literal.” That meant expecting Jesus to return for His church before the great tribulation and to establish His millennial reign after. If you’ve heard these terms, you know Christians often fall into distinct categories—premillennial, amillennial, or postmillennial—based on how they interpret prophecy. Most of us unconsciously inherit our views from our church background, which is why God urges us in Acts 17:11 to check everything against Scripture itself.
The Winds of Change—Encountering Other Views
As time went by, I began listening to Christian musicians and teachers like Keith Green, who challenged many in the church to reconsider their beliefs regarding the rapture. Keith influenced by others, leaned towards a “post-tribulational” view, claiming it was a more courageous, manly approach to end-times. The implication was that those who believed in a pre-tribulational rapture were simply hoping to escape suffering instead of enduring it for Christ. I felt convicted and even hurt, wondering if my beliefs were a sign of weakness.
Gradually, I began to embrace post-tribulational thinking—believing the church would have to undergo the tribulation and endure great testing before Christ’s return. I read authors with various views, listened to different influencers, and became convinced that a post-tribulational approach reflected a willingness to suffer for Christ. But the more I adopted this position, the more I found myself wrestling with Scripture. Verses I once understood clearly now became sources of confusion. The lines blurred between Old Testament saints, church-age believers, and tribulation saints. I began to force passages to fit my adopted view, rather than allowing the Bible to speak plainly.
The Struggle of Making Scripture Fit
Trying to uphold the post-tribulational position caused ongoing tension between what I read in the Bible and what I wanted to believe. The more I tried to blend together passages about tribulation, Israel, and the church, the more unsettled I became. It became clear: I was doing theological gymnastics to make my new beliefs work. This period of confusion wasn’t marked by peace, but by a sense of heaviness and striving. Even the beginnings of replacement theology (interpreting references to Israel as actually referring to the church) started creeping into my thinking—a serious distortion of Scripture.
A Return to the Text: Letting the Bible Speak
The turning point came when I quieted all the outside noise. I stepped away from commentators, conflicting books, and radio programs. I asked God for clarity and went straight back to His Word. During a fresh reading of John 14, Jesus’s words deeply impacted me: “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).
This passage revealed something profound—Jesus spoke not simply of returning but of taking His followers to be with Him in the Father’s house. It was a promise not about enduring
