What is Rapture, who is the lawless one?

Rapture is a state or experience of being carried away. The English word comes from a Latin word, rapio, which means to seize or snatch in relation to an ecstasy of spirit or the actual removal from one place to another. In other words, it means to be carried away in spirit or in body. In the bible it is translated as being caught up. 1 Thess 4:17.

Highlight

2 Thess 2:7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

Explanation/Application

These verses are connected to 1 Thess 4:16 & 17. This lawless one will usher in the destruction of 1 Thess 5:3. The one who holds back is the Holy Spirit. The verse, when He is taken out of the way (2 Thess 2:7), coincides with (1 Thess 4:16 & 17), For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

This being caught up in the clouds of 1 Thess 4:17 happens when the one who holds back in 2 Thess 2:7 is taken out of the way. This event also marks the beginning of the great 7-year tribulation period or the day of the Lord.
The beginning of this great event is described in Revelation 4, 5, & 6.

Response

I think the best response to this information is found in Luke 21:36. Jesus says “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”