The Rapture: In the Twinkling of an Eye

Before They Were Left Behind #3

by Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins

Book 3 of the 3-book prequel to the best-selling Christian fiction series that sold over 63 million copies!

“The Left Behind series . . . is among the best-selling fiction books of our times―right up there with Tom Clancy and Stephen King.” ― Time

Get a glimpse into the lives of your favorite characters before they were left behind. You will find all these answers and more in this exciting series!

The In the Twinkling of an Eye / Countdown to Earth’s Last Days
In this the final prequel to the blockbuster series, the story alternates between events on earth immediately after the Rapture and characters in heaven as they view the chaotic events on earth.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Religion, Fantasy, Thriller, Faith

351 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Timothy "Tim" F. LaHaye was an American evangelical Christian minister, author, and speaker, best known for the Left Behind series of apocalyptic fiction, which he co-wrote with Jerry B. Jenkins.

He has written over 50 books, both fiction and non-fiction.

Reviews

[Stacy Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! Fast paced and had me quite emotional at the end! There was a scene in Heaven where Jesus was talking to Peter, which had me sobbing. I related to it so much. It was overwhelming at parts, and it really made me think.

[Jaydee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so awesome!! I got so excited while I was reading this book. It just made me look forward to going to Heaven and being with God and what's just waiting for us. f

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third installment in the Before They Were Left Behind series is half Glorious Appearing and half Left Behind.

The actual rapture doesn't occur until halfway into the book, the time up to then is spent setting up the situations in which people find themselves when the Rapture occurs, by and large information we didn't get (at least as explicitly) in Left Behind. Once the Rapture occurs the action splits between those who are raptured and their experiences in Heaven (the same kind of story as those present at Christ's second coming in Glorious Appearing) and the reactions of those left behind, although mostly differnt perspectives than those given in Left Behind.

While I still enjoyed Glorious Appearing. because it was the last book in the series, there wasn't that driving force to finish the book immediately so I could be ready for the next one. There was no next one. Jesus had come back to Earth. After his 1,000 year reign on Earth, there's nothing but eternity. So I had similar problems with reading the story of the raptured saints. While it was cool to read about Heaven and meeting all the other saints, it wasn't as gripping as the fight for survival facing those left behind.

On the other hand, I absolutely loved getting to see more about what happened to people who played smaller or later roles in the Left Behind series when the Rapture occured, as well as the fates of random people, reminding us that this event effects the whole world.

I realized that I totally forgot to mention Carpathia in The Regime, but I will say that it's very illuminating (and creepy) to see his initial reaction to the Rapture. Really, though, of the three prequels, he plays the smallest role by far in this one. If the The Rising was about Nicolae and the The Regime was about The Steele's and Buck , then The Rapture is essentially about humanity.

[Pamela Hubbard · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was definitely the worst of the trilogy, which says a lot because the first two weren't great. Along with the multiple spelling/grammatical errors, the story line was seriously lacking. The actual rapture happens about halfway through the book, and from that point on, real time happenings in the world post-rapture are interspersed with the experiences of those who were raptured (mostly Irene and Raymie). I hate to say it, but these scenes were ridiculously corny. So much time was spent talking about all these heroes of the faith that Irene got to meet in heaven and their testimonies, that I felt like I was reading some sort of non-fiction martyrs book or something. I did enjoy the "real world" story lines, but the heaven vignettes just turned me off the whole book. This was one of those situations where the authors probably had a quota of books they needed to fill with their publisher so they were grasping at straws to come up with a new book.

[Alyssa Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m done with the Left behind series! I’m so happy, yet so sad! I will definitely reread this series again...and again.. and...ummm...well...again.

[Suzette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!!!!! This book made me emotional and brought me to my knees to pray for family members and friends who aren’t saved. The book, as its title suggests, deals with each of the characters as they experience the loss of family members to the rapture, their thoughts, and feelings. Between these stories are the experiences of the believers and what the authors describe Heaven to be like and the fire judgement, which is the deeds of believers being judged for their eternal value. It made me reconsider how I use my time, what activities I value, and which of my works are being done in honor of the Lord (not for salvation- no amount of good deeds can earn our place in Heaven.) A powerful book.

[Halley Hopson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you loved the original Left Behind series and are debating on whether or not to read the prequel trilogy I would highly recommend that you do.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Completely disappointed by this book. It simply doesn't stand within the entire series. As I said in reviewing the second book it is very likely two prequels would have sufficed in telling the story.
I was deeply disappointed at LaHaye and Jenkin's decision to include scenes from heaven. This is the same reason I did not like Glorious Appearing. The arrogance it requires for two men of earth to take the limited scriptural references and parlay those into fictional accounts of the moments immediately following the rapture is beyond my comprehension. Not only were those portions of the books extremely unimpressive they were nothing more than men worshipping other men, albeit religious ones. As they proceeded I simply began skipping those sections. If the intention was to entice folks to want to one day go to heaven I found them to be exactly the opposite.
Those ridiculous scenes aside I also did not enjoy the character development of Irene. Rather than developing her into a strong Christian woman I feel the authors did a great disservice to her portraying her as a nagging, plain wife, juxtaposed against the alluring Hattie.
I believe this is a case of one too many books about the same topic. The original series was good, even the first book of the prequels was good, but LaHaye and Jenkins simply couldn't recapture the magic of the originals.
Not worth a read.

[Sophie T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very inspiring to me, and like all the best books in my opinion, made me think about big things and how I can do better.

[Heitham Hammad · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The end of a very interesting series. I would strongly encourage anyone to read the entire Left Behind series."

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little disappointing. The first half was spent trying to convert Rayford, which just felt like a retread of the previous book. Then we get to the rapture where we go over the exact same stories and incidents from Left Behind, only this time from different perspectives. This could have been interesting if the majority of it wasn't from people on the plane. Yes, we get to look at things from the perspective of Hattie and the First Officer, but it's quite literally the same story.

We also get to see what happens to those who were raptured. Yet another missed opportunity. Not that I think that there could ever be a satisfactory description of heaven, but so much of the time was spent with Wikipedia summaries of various evangelists and saints as they received their crowns. I don't think that we need a two page summary on the life of Billy Graham. We all know that he was a gospel gangster.

[Anthony A · Rating 5 out of 5]

This third book in the prequel series to the Left Behind series was the best of the three. I am pretty excited about reading, now, the Left Behind series. I actually had read the first book in the Left Behind series, "Left Behind," and then I discovered that there was a prequel series, the Before They Were Left Behind series and so I halted reading the second book in the Left Behind series and read the 3 prequel books. Although this series is fiction, the authors really do a great job of speculating on what might actually happen when these end times events actually take place. Excellent book and a must read for any true Christian - and any unbeliever that might be interested in what the Bible says about the future - the "end times."

[Stephanie Whitman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got goosebumps

While I understand it's in the religious genre, some parts were a bit preachy. Of course that's too be expected! The preachy parts made the story lag a little. However, the story was so well written, that i was up way passed my bedtime. I was chugging coffee the next morning with a smile in my face. I won't spoil it for you but there was a part that was coming. We knew it was going to happen! Yet, when it did, you weren't prepared! Which, according to the Bible, will happen just like in the book; any time! The rest of the Left Behind series, I've read before but I'm in a different place in my life and i can't wait to see what will hit me differently this time around!

[Chris Osantowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am officially done reading these books. This is the 16th book of Tim and Jerry’s that I have read and frankly there is nothing remotely redemptive in any of them. This book is supposed to end the prequel series and prepare the reader for the main series, but it ultimately ends up being 75% copied from the first book.

It never ceases to astound me how willingly evangelical Christians consumed these books. For an entire chapter they just recite an entire sermon from their pastor. The last 3rd of the book consists of mom and son post-rapture in heaven just being like, “whoa heaven is so great I can’t wait to keep being here.” Tim and Jerry, thrift stores everywhere despise you for taking up too much space on their shelves.

[Bridgit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did I miss something? When did being a Christian Fiction book exempt a book from having a plot? The authors start a 'world domination' type of thread, then forgot about it; they introduced characters that were completely forgotten about - and had absolutely no relevance to the limited story arc that did exist; then about halfway through, the authors switched completely away from any sort of story and just started recounting biographies of famous biblical characters.

What a waste of time.

Mark this as my first and last christian fiction book.

[Debbie Wise · Rating 1 out of 5]

The authors are just not good. What can I say? I've had 3rd and 4th grade students who could write better. In some of the sequels, it was obvious they had newly discovered use of a Thesaurus but typically picked the most inappropriate word choices to use throughout their books. Story line is ok. I much prefer the Bible for the accurate account of Jesus' Second Coming. It's really hard to believe these books were in the fastest-selling adult fiction series! However, on second thought, with the dumbing down of our country, it's quite feasible that these would make best seller's lists.

[VWrulesChick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another series with the Left Behind series although it is only 3 books in this series. It focuses on the beginnings of Nicholae and his early years before he comes into the Left Behind (12 book series) I guess a pre-quel to the Left Behind although it was written afterwards.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

half Glorious Appearing and half Left Behind....interesting...

but it was interesting to see the perspective of those in heaven during these events

2.5 Stars

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was pretty good. I actually liked the prequels. Although I will say Irene was just too much. She really laid it on thick and her friends told her to ease up. It was too much.

[Stephen Gallup · Rating 2 out of 5]

The copy on the box of CDs that I checked out of the library includes the possibly excessive claim, "Authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins are now among the greatest successes in the history of publishing."

I wish people would refrain from making statements like that. Yes, there is always a hunger for depictions of the afterlife, and several books come to mind that have done quite well commercially, simply because they address that interest. So Messrs LaHaye and Jenkins may indeed be publishing phenomena, at least in the short term. But if their writing is not exceptional, and if they fail to convey life-changing insights, such phenomena are likely to wilt.

Sorry if I seem to be a skeptic. But on the other hand here's a coincidence for you: Shortly after inserting a disk in the CD player and pulling onto the freeway for my daily commute, I spotted a license plate reading LFT BHND. That raised an eyebrow!

I've known about the Left Behind series for a long time. I recall hearing a bookseller commenting that she displayed the titles under Fantasy in her store and was amused by customers who took it upon themselves to move the books over to the Religion side. I sympathize with the dilemma, because I'm not sure this fits into either genre.

The quality of the writing varies between passable and terrible, and since there are two authors, I suppose one of them must be more competent than the other. Alas, neither was able to see or correct the laughably bad passages occurring throughout (e.g., in summarizing someone's life they say, "She lived until she died." Whoa, fancy that!). At the outset there's an incoherent description of a failed aerial attack on Israel. No doubt it's included as the fulfillment of one last prophesy before the End Times, but the telling is so poor that I nearly gave up on the book at that point. But then it moves on to trace the lives of several people living in different parts of the world, and I was able to engage somewhat with them.

Most prominent are Nicholae Carpathia, a formerly obscure politician whose career abruptly soars to unimaginable heights; and the Steele family, consisting of two devout believers (mother and son) and two agnostics (father and daughter).

Other characters are less well developed here, but presumably play larger roles in other titles of the series.

In terms of plot, I suppose the main protagonist is Rayford Steele, who sees himself as a good-enough guy but has no patience for his wife's newfound enthusiasm for Jesus. (The wife, Irene, occupies at least as much of the narrative, but her only other function in the story is to provide eyes through which we see the Rapture.

Obviously, Carpathia has the role of the AntiChrist. He's the villian, of course, driven by personal ambition and by an unnamed Spirit that is using him for its own purposes. But since he's also a character, I do wish we had a bit more insight into his innermost thoughts. Does he not feel any ambivalence toward that spirit? Is there no struggle going on within him? If not, why not? What is the attraction of the power he seeks?

Regarding the scenes set in Heaven, I'm in agreement with another reviewer who writes "My human brain can not even begin to imagine how it's going to be when I get to Heaven." I'm reminded of The Shack , about which I wrote that it should come as no surprise if exposure to God involved a major shakeup of one's expectations. There really isn't any such shakeup here. We're told Heaven is wonderful. Young Rayford Junior even says, "Isn't this something, Ma?" But the depiction seemed mighty flat to me. Since Dante, I don't think there have been many efforts in literature to depict Heaven -- probably because extraordinary gifts would be needed to make the reading worthwhile. But without linguistic genius, someone tackling the subject might still do a creditable job by venturing -- oh, for example how about a scripturally sound scene in which God addresses questions like the reasons innocent people suffer and prayers are not answered. I mean, if He can answer burning questions like "How much Earth time has passed while we've been here?" it seems there might be bandwidth for questions that have beset believers down through the centuries. Frankly, I found more value in skimming a short blog post today than in this entire book.

Well, my curiosity about the Left Behind series is now satisfied. The subject is worthy, but very challenging; and I'm pretty sure these authors don't begin to do it justice -- or to merit their publishing renown.

[Brianna Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

5, SO GOOD the whole thing. i was absolutely consumed by it

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rapture, the last of the prequel trilogy of the Left Behind series, brings us up to and partly into the events of Left Behind. The rapture happens about halfway through the book, but this time we see it from the perspective of those taken (and a bit from those left behind).

If you are unfamiliar with the term "rapture," this book will explain it. In short, it is the beginning of the end. According to the bible, God will judge the earth and those in it, giving non-Christians one last chance to believe in and trust Him for eternity in heaven (those he reject Him will spend eternity in hell - everyone spends eternity somewhere). Before the judgment begins, He takes current believers to heaven - He raptures them from the coming destruction.

The authors make some interesting choices here in telling Irene's and Raymie's experiences as they are raptured and arrive in heaven. They are based in the few scriptures given on what it will be like so nothing is unbiblical, but simply their best guesses.

Note - I listened to the audiobook which begins with a snippet from The Regime: Evil Advances to remind the reader where we are in the story. Then the narrator said, "And now, The Rapture" in those deep tones. I almost pulled the car over. I didn't want my car to careen around on the road, driverless.

Second note - while the narrator did an excellent job, someone didn't do their homework on how to say/pronounce certain things. 1 Thessalonians is pronounced "First" Thessalonians, not "One" Thessalonians. And Joni Eareckson Tada pronounces her first name like Johnny. It doesn't take much to research this so I'm disappointed no one took the time to do so.

[Bradford Combs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This final book of Left Behind prequel series was good. The Irene scenes in the second half of the book really stand out. I liked that Lionel from the Left Behind: Kids series was mentioned, though I was disappointed that Raymie's best friend Ryan from that same series didn't make a cameo.

What I don't like, and the book relied heavily on this later in the book, was that Lionel's scene was just copied and pasted from Left Behind:Kids. Likewise, many of Rayford and Buck's late scenes were copied and pasted from Left Behind. It was distracting.

That said, the original scenes with Rayford's co-pilot Chris was an interesting new touch to early Left Behind scenes. Hattie's scene was also a (not-so-nice) surprise, as was Lionel's mother's scene and Bruce's.

All-in-all, this was a decent concluding chapter that leads into Left Behind (with some overlap). I hold to something I said in my review of the previous book. These would have been better served as two individual books, one about Nicolae and one focused on Irene and Raymie And maybe a third focused on Lucinda Washington or Bruce Barnes. Still, it was enjoyable.

[Douglas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Groan… Irene praying for “purity” in Chloe’s life… “What she was really looking for in a man, she could find only in God.” the caricatures that are Lucinda Washington et al… Rayford seeing Irene becoming “old cold plain and shrill”. He is a poor character to spend so much of this Before time following. The temptress Hattie appears in full form, with no aim but to secure Rayford. For how much they rip her intelligence throughout the series, her discretion and patience speak to the opposite. This book finally acknowledges this must be true.

Pastor Billings saying, “You will not hear of true Christians… terrorizing, bombing, killing, or flying planes into the buildings of those who exercise their freedom to disagree.” with no irony… are the authors saying they were “true Muslims” who did that?

The awful things that have been done “in the name of Christ”, for millennia, should provide sufficient justification for care to avoid such broad statements, but for the authors truth of the words is ultimately not the point, the emotional response in the reader is, driving them to convert through fear if nothing else. That is the point of the whole series. It is certainly fortunate that the true way happens also to be the authors’ way. /s

Does this Rapture include all fertilised nonimplanted human zygotes as full-grown individuals, alongside full-grown aborted fetuses and de-Downs Syndrome-ed children? There is much they didn’t have to include, but what they did include says much about them. Such shits.

[Joshua Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Satisfying end or beginning.

The first thing I want to say is don't read this prequel series unless you've read at least the original Left Behind. This particular book especially.

That being said, there are highs and lows in this book which I would like to address. Nicolae Carpathia has had the most thrilling character development of the whole prequel series. Granted, the end result was predictable but watch how he becomes the person in the Left Behind series, the anti-Christ, was the most interesting part of this whole thing.

This book and prequel series is plagued by the same problems as the Left Behind series however. It portrays the pre-rapture Christians as cheesy and almost a charicature which is interesting considering the book was written by Christians. They seem mostly like people I wouldn't like either as a Christian myself. Perhaps I'm being overly judgmental, but it is a work of fiction so it's fair to criticize.

The only other interesting element was the timing of the rapture and the events in heaven with what was going on on earth. Plus it was nice to see the initial reaction to the rapture by other characters we meet later in the series. If youve read the original series, then it brings it to a satisfying conclusion, or beginning depending on how you look at it.

[Sarah Schoesler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the last book in the Left Behind Series for me to read. This book is focused on the Rapture occuring and the events surrounding it, for both those taken to heaven and those left behind. It closely follows Irene and Raymie as they enter the kingdom of Heaven and the events that transpire there: the appearance of Jesus; being judged for your works on earth; receiving your heavenly crowns. They intersperse these chapters with stories of others and their good works for Christ. Many of these stories were about people I had heard of, many were not but I suspect that they were based on real life heros. The book also flashes back to those left behind. Many of the main characters, Raymond, Chloe, Smitty, know right away what happened and realize that they were left behind. Others, like Buck, have not come to that conclusion yet but seem to be on that track. Lastly, we hear more about Nicholae and his rise to power in Romania.

Overall it was a good book, but I think that parts were dragged out a little too long. It was almost if they committed to writing this book and then realized that they couldn't go beyond the first book in the series and that left little time to cover in the book

[Rusty Shackleferd · Rating 1 out of 5]

So far I think there are too many characters in the book. Too much characters to predict by starting in the middle of this season. The author clearly has his mind set on something else besides on how to survive a rapture, more like a soap opera. Then he brings religion into these books which make it a little personal and agitated at some points. Out of all the apocalypse books I've read this is the worst. It doesn't really bring in Christians because they really don't enjoy reading end of the world books. :). At the same time it brings in the people who actually think the world is going to end, or just adventurous readers, and they end up getting quotes and prayers from the bible. This author seems like he has the completely wrong categories going on in one book. Those are the facts. For my opinion, the whole series fails at being anything near Christianity. I could not stand or watch anybody finish all of his books, because of what i said before its like a little soap opera. everybody knows everybody some way, and mostly all of them talk about god. although in reality I have to say that The author really knows how to write an action scene. Too bad all the action scenes are all like 4 pages long. :(

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in the series, “Before They Were Left Behind”. There is further development of the main characters and also the secondary characters. There are many international events that happen simultaneously that cannot be explained. And then, the rapture.

Most of the second half of the book is focused on heaven, the description of its territory and how beautiful it is. It discusses the heavenly hosts. I felt as if the majority of the second half of the book was dedicated to the “saints” that went before us. I enjoyed hearing the story’s of so many people who have dedicated there lives.

In some books I read I feel as if I’m transported into the story. It as if I can see, hear and feel the story. This book, felt as if it was simply a story. I did not feel the raw emotion of some other books. I’ve been a Christian for most of my life and do anticipate being in heaven some day. LaHaye & Jenkins clearly lay out what it takes on each individuals life to be welcomed into the kingdom.

If I take a step back, analyze what I read, and ponder the implications, it causes me to reevaluate my motives and thoughts and longings as a Christian. Am I dedicating my life to further God’s kingdom? If for no other reason, it was worth the read. I want to be, “All In”!

[Some Christian Lady · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my least favorite of the three “prequel’s” to the Left Behind series. I know this is a fiction book, but I feel the authors took too much liberty with their idea of what will go on in Heaven after the second coming of Christ. Additionally, I don’t believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. I knew before starting these books that they tell a pre-trib rapture story, so I’m not begrudging them for that, but I am begrudging them of other things that I find unbiblical. One example is when one of the main characters, Irene, is in heaven and says that God is in her, and she is in God. Uh, what? Also in this book the characters in Heaven can be in many different places at once if they want. Where is that taught in the Bible? Honestly, I had many similar complaints about this book as I have about the series “The Chosen” (which I do not watch), which makes sense since Jerry Jenkins (one of the authors of this series) is the father of Dallas Jenkins (the creator of “The Chosen”). I’m a little put off of this book series after this one, so whether I continue reading it is up in the air. I read most (if not all) of the series as a teenager, and I enjoyed it then, but I’m not so sure I’ll enjoy it as much now that I’m older and have a better understanding of eschatology. We shall see!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been putting this off simply because the rapture I'd a scary part of the Bible even if I won't be a part of it, I'll be in heaven.