After the rapture.. do believers stay in heaven or live on the earth for 1000 years?

Thank you for your question. I believe we should look to God and His word to find out what He says too. I know what your question means, but since some people are offended by the word " rapture " ( which means to be carried away ) because the literal word " rapture " doesn't appear in the Bible, the concept of us ( as Christians ) being gathered together with Jesus when He appears is in the Bible.

Colossians 3: 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

So in the Scriptures ( and their is more to support this ) we see that Jesus does appear and His elect ( those who have trusted in Jesus for the salvation of their souls ) are gathered together with Him and we will be with Him forever.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For 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:

17 Then 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.

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Another testament of our gathering together with Christ, take notice it says so shall we ever be with the Lord. ( verse 17 ) So I believe we will be with Lord forever at that point.

Throughout the Bible it talks of two resurrections the resurrection of life and the resurrection of damnation.

John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Acts 24:15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;

So we can see the two resurrections one to life and the other to death.

Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

So all that saved have part in the first resurrection, the resurrection of life. And the Bible says in verse 6 , that we will be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. So we will be with the Lord during the thousand years and forever.

Since there is only two resurrections the resurrection of Life and the resurrection of death, we all have part in one of them.

Revelations 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

I hope this answers your question. If I need to elaborate further, let me know. God bless you, and I hope all that reads this has part in the resurrection of Life.

1John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

God bless you in Jesus name,

sincerely Andrew

At the 2nd coming of Christ, the dead in Christ and those alive in Christ are gathered together in the clouds with Jesus by his angels and we go to heaven for 1000 years. At the same time the wicked are slain/killed by the Wrath of God and the wicked dead remain dead. Satan and his fallen are "bound" on the desolate earth with no humans left to decieve for 1000 years. Satan cannot resurrect or create anything anew. After 1000 years The New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, the wicked dead are resurrected and Satan gathers them against the city and the saints, they are thrown into the Lake of Fire where the wicked humans are destroyed and the immortal fallen angels burn forever. The earth is restored and the rightious get to live on earth with Jesus for eternity as it should have been in the Garden of Eden before satan and sin entered the world.

When the Rapture happens, the believers will be taken up into Heaven with Jesus Christ. The unbelievers will stay on the Earth for seven years (three and a half years of peace, three and a half years of destruction). When that ends, the Jews that were saved during that period will go up to Heaven when Jesus comes back at the Second Coming. The unbelievers will go to the lake of fire and we, the believers, will go with Christ to the earth and reign for 1,000 years. It's going to be pretty cool! lol.

This comes out of the book of Revelation.

When Jesus returns, His church comes with Him. The bible says, "He comes with ten thousands of His saints". Those are the believers that are raptured, to meet the Lord in the air, before the beginning of the seven year tribulation period.

The bible also teaches that His church will "rule and reign" with Him during His Millennium reign on earth.

What happens after the rapture depends on when the rapture happens.

And Jesus and His people will rule on Earth for 1000 years after He returns, not immediately after the rapture.

I'm pretty sure, if I remember correctly, that we live on earth for a 1000 years while He prepares a new heaven. A new heaven and a new earth shall be born.

The "rapture" doctrine says that Jesus will take away the true believers FIRST and then take the evil doers LATER. But this contradicts the Bible:

Read Matthew 13:18ff

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “FIRST gather together the tares [weeds] and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’

The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom ALL who cause others to sin and ALL evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. THEN the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Whoever has ears ought to hear.

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People will be taken body and soul from the earth when Jesus comes again in Glory at His 2nd coming at the end of time. There is no secret 3rd coming of Jesus before this event. This "rapture" is a man-made doctrine and it is false.

Check out "The Rapture trap".

ISBN-13: 978-0965922890

Rapture happened in the 1st century.

Bible says so.

These are the times after.

There is no Rapture as you believe it to be.The early Church taught no such nonsense and maybe if you were to take time to read what was taught by the early Church you would stop buying in to the Rapture nonsense which by the way was not taught untill 1830....

The rapture is fiction, so the question is moot.