Acts 8:39-40 :
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn’t see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. Passing through, he preached the Good News to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.
This is an interesting passage because it’s about suddenly disappearing. Philip gets “caught away” and “was found at Azotus.” As far as I know, no other apostle had an experience like this after Jesus ascended. Jesus was said to have this kind of experience but now we read that Philip had it too.
One of the other times that this happened we read about in John when Jesus walked on water out to the boat that the disciples were in and, after He calmed the storm, they were immediately at the other side of the lake. The whole boat was caught away to the other side along with everyone in it.
One other instance of suddenly disappearing hasn’t happened yet. Luke uses the Greek word “Harpazo” which is translated into English as “caught away.” The other case is in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Here, the same word: “Harpazo” is translated “caught up” in English. Believers in Jesus are to be “harpazo-ed” to meet Jesus in the air when He comes to take His Church. Today, we usually refer to this word “Harpzo” as the word “Rapture” and because of this, I think we can learn a little bit about what will happen to us from this passage.
Notice that the Spirit of the Lord did it. I think it is safe to say that the Spirit would be involved in our rapture. Also, notice the reaction of the eunuch. He just didn’t see him any more. It doesn’t say that there was a dramatic explosion, or that there was a poof of smoke, or anything else. He just didn’t see him anymore. It appears that the eunuch was too preoccupied with his rejoicing anyway. Perhaps the world will be preoccupied enough to not even notice at first and only later realize that we are missing. This is a compelling argument for how things may happen when the Rapture takes place. I am really looking forward to it!
Science: All of these things violate our understanding of physics but they were recorded in history. Science is unable to account for what the historical record reveals. It is isn’t very wise to wait on science in order to believe in something because some things can’t be explained by science yet. We simply don’t understand how they work. Also, some things are beyond the reach of science; things such as “truth” and “love,” are very real, but cannot be explained by science. Just because we don’t understand something, doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen.