Will the Rapture of the Church be Pretribulation?

What is the Rapture of the Church? What are the different views of the Rapture? Are you a pre-tribber, post-tribber or mid-tribber? Does it make a difference what view we believe? Doctrines on the rapture of the church take many forms and there are a variety of views about when the rapture of the church will take place. What I will attempt to do in this lesson is describe the differing views and give scriptural evidence why I believe in a pretribulation rapture. This is one of the most hotly contested theological debates of our generation: When will the Rapture of the Church occur in relationship to the coming tribulation on earth? Will the Rapture be post-tribulational, pre-wrath, mid-tribulational, or pre-tribulational? Rest assured, whether or not you agree with my conclusions on this point is not essential to your salvation, or even to your fellowship in the church. No matter which view you hold, the evidence is rather sketchy, but I feel one view wins out.

What is the Rapture?

The Rapture is described in 1 Thes 4:13-18, 1 Cor 15:51-52, and Rev 3:10. Jesus Christ is coming back soon! In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the Apostle Paul tells us about the Rapture, the event in which Jesus Christ will quickly, without any warning, snatch all true Christians off the earth and bring us to heaven. After telling us that the Christians who have already died will have a short head start, Paul says that "we 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."

The word "Rapture" comes from the Latin word rapio, which means to "snatch; to seize; to catch away". The Rapture involves all true Christians living on earth being instantaneously "airlifted" to heaven by Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:52 adds that this will happen "in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." Scripture indicates that this event will occur suddenly, without any specific signs or forewarnings preceding it. Jesus will instantaneously give every Christian a "heaven suit" that is immortal and imperishable, a body that will never be subject to disease, decay, degeneration, or death.

Opposing Views

There has been controversy for many generations concerning the timing of the final events in human history. The position held by the majority of categorical and fundamental Bible teachers is as follows:

We are presently in the dispensation known as the Church Age, and we do not know when this age will end.

The Rapture will occur at the end of the Church Age; and the day of the Rapture will be the first day of the sever-year period known as the Great Tribulation.

The Second Coming of Christ will occur on the last day of the Tribulation period and will usher in the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ.

The statements above are part of a position, or viewpoint, concerning the chronology of the final events of human history, a doctrinal concept known as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture / Pre-Millennium Tribulation view. There are several other schools of though among Christian scholars

Post-tribulation Rapture

The post-tribulation rapture position holds that the church will go through the seven year Tribulation period. It will endure the judgment and the wrath of God and will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air to return immediately with Him to the earth. A scripture used to justify this position is John 16:33: "In the world you will have tribulation." In Scripture, the word tribulation is used in two different ways. First, it is used to describe any severe trial that comes upon and individual in his walk with Christ. In this sense, the believer must expect tribulation. Second, the word is used to describe that seven-year period when the wrath of God is poured out on the earth upon men for their rejection of Jesus Christ and the gospel. One of the purposes of the Tribulation is to punish those who have rejected the Word of God (another is to bring the Jews to Jesus). Believers are given the promise "There is therefore now no condemnation [judgment] to those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). The church cannot experience the judgment of the Tribulation, because their judgment was removed by the blood of Christ at Calvary.

When Paul vividly describes the marvelous departure of the Church from the earth in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, he says we will "meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." The picture we get here is not that we go up and then right back down to earth, like we're on an elevator. Rather, Paul says that at the Rapture, we will go to be with the Lord, in the air, forever. This implies He will take us back with Him to heaven. That makes sense, because Jesus said He would do this in John 14:3, "I will come back and take you to be with me". That's where we're going in the Rapture, to be with Jesus in heaven, to live in those rooms that Jesus said He was preparing for us in His Father's house.

Secondly, I don't believe the Rapture will be post-tribulational is because 1 Thessalonians 5:9 clearly states, "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." Follow this carefully. The Tribulation will definitely be a time of God's wrath that affects the entire world (Revelation 6:17). The tribulational woes are universal in their scope. But those who are part of the Bride of Christ, whose sins have been paid for fully by the blood of Christ, are exempt from ever suffering God's wrath. The fact that God rescued Noah before the Flood, and then rescued Lot before destroying Sodom, sets a precedent for the fact that God does not pour out His wrath on believers. Therefore, the Church will not be here on earth during the time of God's final outpouring of wrath on the earth.

Third, God promises in Revelation 3:10, "I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth." By Jesus speaking of an "hour of trial" that "is going to come", He is pointing ahead to an unspecified future time in history. This future time of trial will come upon the whole world. It refers to a time of unprecedented universal, worldwide trouble, the final Day of the Lord. The purpose of this future time of worldwide trouble will be to test and judge all the unbelieving inhabitants of the earth. Revelation 3:10 doesn't say that Christians will be protected from God's wrath "during" the Tribulation, nor does it say that we will be guarded "through" the Tribulation. Rather, Christ's promise to His Church is specifically that we will be delivered "from" or "out of" the "hour of trial" that is going to come upon the whole world. For that to be true, the Church will need to be removed from the earth before the time of this trial begins. Before a nation will declare war on another nation, the first thing it will do is to evacuate its ambassadors. That is what God will do. Christians are ambassadors of Christ, so God will air-lift us off the earth before He declares war on the earth.

Mid-tribulation Rapture (pre-wrath Rapture)

This view holds that the church will go through the first three-and-a-half years (some say first five years) of the seven year tribulation and then it will be raptured before God pours out his wrath on the earth. Studying through the book of Revelations you will come to the conclusion that the first three and a half years of the Tribulation will be relatively peaceful, prosperous and quiet (as least for the Jews). The horrible judgments of "the day of the Lord" will not begin until the mid-point of the Tribulation, when the antichrist declares himself to be god and demands that the entire world worship him. If this is correct, then the mid-trib or pre-wrath Rapture theory could be true, because the Church would still not experience God's wrath, and we would still go to heaven after we meet the Lord in the air.

One critical passage which is used to attack the pretribulational position is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4:

"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God."

Verse 3 teaches that two events must precede the "day of the Lord", which is when God pours out His wrath during the Great Tribulation. First, the "rebellion" must occur, and second, the "man of lawlessness" must be revealed.

The first sign that the day of the Lord has come is that the "rebellion" occurs. In Greek, apostosia means "apostasy" or "falling away" or "total abandonment". Some interpret this as referring to a moral and spiritual breakdown throughout society. Some view it as a gradual doctrinal shift away from orthodox evangelical beliefs. I believe it means this: Following the Rapture of all true believers, all those who remain behind in the organized "Christian church" will be unbelievers only. Correct? Without any "conservatives" with biblical convictions to hold them back through the preaching of the gospel. They will quickly dive into deep doctrinal apostasy and abandon the teachings of the true faith. They will be deluded to follow the false prophet instead of God.

The second sign that the day of the Lord has come will be the revealing of the future world ruler. The identify of the antichrist will be revealed by his conquering three kings and establishing a seven year covenant of peace with Israel. Three and a half years later, when he demands to be worshipped as god, his identity will be unmistakable.

2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 goes on to say that the antichrist is presently being held back by a powerful Person. Paul says,

"And now you know who is holding him back (the restrainer), so that he (the antichrist) may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who holds it back will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way."

Paul says that in the future, before the day of the Lord begins, the antichrist will be revealed for who he is. This will occur only after the Person who is now holding him back is taken out of the way. So, the question is, who is holding back antichrist? Genesis 6:3 identifies the Holy Spirit as the One who restrains sin. It is the Holy Spirit who holds back the antichrist at the present time. Only omnipotent God is powerful enough to restrain Satanic evil. So, what does Paul mean when he says that the Holy Spirit will be "taken out of the way"? Think about that. Where does the Holy Spirit live on earth? He dwells within the bodies of Christians. Right? Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and the universal Church collectively functions as one Temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells on earth. But when the Church, the Holy Spirit's Temple, is Raptured from the earth, at that moment, the Holy Spirit will be also "taken out of the way."

So, the two events which precede the wrath of God in the day of the Lord, are apostasy and antichrist. Many people assume Paul is saying that the Rapture would not happen until after these two events of apostasy and antichrist have taken place. He doesn't say that. All he says is that the "day of the Lord", or the last half of the Tribulation, will not begin until after these two events occur. What this implies is that there will be a gap of time between the Rapture and the day of the Lord, which could last anywhere from a few weeks to 3-1/2 years (which starts in the middle of the Daniel's 70th week). During this gap of time, after the Church is gone, the apostasy will occur and the antichrist will arise. The rapture can not occur in the middle of the tribulation because the antichrist will already be revealed.

Pre-tribulation Rapture

The pretribulationist position rests essentially on one major premise: the literal method of interpretation of the Scriptures. According to Daniel 9:27, the final seven years of history before Christ's return to earth will not officially begin until the antichrist has gained sufficient power to enact and enforce a seven year covenant with Israel. Once he signs a seven year covenant with Israel, guaranteeing her security from Islamic attack and permitting Israel to rebuild her Temple (adjacent to the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem), the final seven year countdown will begin.

During the initial three and a half years of the Tribulation, the entire world will be relatively peaceful. It will unite economically, religiously and politically under the antichrist (in Europe) and his false prophet (in Rome). But, during the final three and a half years of the Tribulation, after the antichrist commits the abomination of desolation by declaring himself to be god, God will pour out His judgments on the earth.

Scriptural Evidence for the Pretribulation Rapture

You do not know the day or hour

The Bible indicates that the Rapture of the Church is "imminent". This means it will happen without any specific signs or warnings that would enable a person to accurately predict the date (John 14:1-3; 21:21-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:18; Philippians 3:20-21; Titus 2:13). However, if the Rapture was mid-trib, pre-wrath, or post-trib, it would no longer be imminent, for one could count the days from the beginning point of the antichrist's seven year covenant with Israel until Christ came.

Also, our expectancy of an any-moment reunion with Christ (Acts 1:11; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Colossians 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Timothy 6:14; James 5:7-9; 1 Peter 3:3-4) encourages the Church to look forward to being with Christ, rather than looking forward to enduring worldwide martyrdom. There's no guarantee we won't be martyred, but Christians are not told to stockpile food in bomb shelters, but to be comforted by the blessed hope of seeing our Lord. We are to be looking not for antichrist, but for Jesus Christ.

Marriage Supper of the Lamb

In Luke 12:36 it states that when Christ returns, he will be returning from a wedding. In Rev. 19:7-8 we read about the marriage itself. Before the marriage takes place, there is the marriage supper. According to Jewish custom, first the marriage contract is drawn up, often including a dowry. This parallels the act of faith we use when we trust Jesus to be our savior. The dowry is His life, which was used to purchase us. When the time comes for the wedding to take place, the groom goes to the bride�s house unannounced, she comes out to meet him, and they both return to his father�s house. This is an exact correlation of the events according to the pre-trib scenario. Jesus the groom comes down to earth, stopping short of actually touching the earth. The Church next rises into the air to meet Jesus. Both He and bride return to His Father�s house (heaven). The marriage supper will take place during the seven year tribulation. The Jewish feast, according to custom, would last seven days. This prophetically matches the seven year length of the tribulation. Finally, after the marriage supper, the bride and groom are presented to the world as man and wife. The matches the time when Jesus returns to earth with the Church at His Second Coming (Rev. 19:14).

Come up Here

In Rev. 4:1 where it says "come up here," many pre-trib writers sight this as a prophetic reference to the rapture of the Church. Rev. 1 through 3 is the Church Age. After the shout to "come up here" in Rev. 4:1, the Church is not mentioned in scripture at all. The attention of scripture switches from the Church to the Jews living in Israel.

Revelation 13:9, which is spoken during the reign of antichrist, says "He who has an ear, let him hear." A very similar exhortation is found seven times in Revelation 2 and 3, only there it says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." The omission of the phrase "to the churches" in 13:9 is significant because it implies that the Church, the body of Christ has already been Raptured away. In fact, throughout Revelation 6-18, there are no references to the Church or to the Bride of Christ at all. This is a loud silence. It is a very conspicuous absence, definitely implying that the Church will not be here.

He is taken out of the way

Before the Antichrist can revealed, Paul said that a "he" must be taken out of the way. The "he" that must be removed, according to 2 Thes. 2:7, is widely thought to be the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has been promised to never leave the Church. Paul is saying, in essence, that a force or person or group of persons must be removed from the earth before the Tribulation can begin. Since this has not yet occurred, they could not yet be in the Tribulation.

The Five Foolish Virgins

The wedding story that Jesus gave in Mat. 25:2-13 tells of the rapture of the Church and how some will not be ready. Jesus clearly states that a group of people will miss out on some event, and will cry out to God to let them into the place where He resides (heaven). Although some try to put this parable in a post-trib context, it doesn�t fit very well. The ones left behind in a post-trib rapture, will be fighting against God or hiding from Him, not begging him to rapture them also.

The Church is to Escape Wrath

In 1 Thes. 5:9, Paul assured us that God has not appointed His people to wrath. The wrath is plainly God�s wrath that will be poured out during the tribulation. Pre-trib believers cite this as meaning, Christians will be removed from the earth. Post-trib believers tell a different story. They describe this as meaning God will protect Christians during the tribulation, and pour this wrath out on the unbelievers. This idea runs against the statement made in Rev. 13:7, where the Antichrist is given power to make war with the saints and to overcome them. A post-trib view would make God�s promise of protection from wrath into a lie.

Noah and Lot as Examples

The tribulation period is compared to the times of Noah and Lot by Jesus in Luke 17:28. Most people argue over what time frame Jesus was talking about here, pre-trib or post-trib, and miss an important point. The two things that the Noah and Lot examples have in common are the removal of the righteous and the judgement of the unbelievers. From these two accounts, we see that God prefers to remove His own when danger is involved.

Jacob�s Trouble

The Tribulation is call "the time of Jacob�s trouble" (Jer 30:7). Daniel�s 70^th week pertains to the Jews and Jerusalem (Dan 9:24). It is a time when God resumes His attention on Israel instead of the Church. Romans 11 likens the family of God to an olive tree. Paul states that God has "broken off" the branch of the Jews because of their rejection of Christ, and He has "grafted in" the branch of the Gentiles, even though they did not seek for God or salvation. Paul also asserts that God�s plan for the Jews is not over yet; they will one day be grafted back in to the tree of God�s family (Rom 11:12, 15, 23-25). He states that "a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in" (Rom 11:23). The Bible indicates that there will be a revival among the Jewish people; many will one day be saved. God will conclude His dealings with the Gentile people, and begin to save Jews.

Conclusion

In light of all these reasons, I feel it is reasonable to expect a pre-tribulational Rapture. However, there is one thing we should all remember. It is not so important to figure out every little riddle of prophecy. Whether we know the Anitchrist�s mother�s maiden name isn�t the primary goal. Knowing Jesus Christ as you personal Savior and having your name written in the Lamb�s Book of Life, this should be our number one priority. The jailer asked Paul, "what must I do to be saved?" The answer was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 16:30-31). Whether or not we accurately predict that Rapture as pretrib, postrib, midtrib, or pantrib (it will all pan out in the end), our salvation depends only on one thing: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

Week 10: Predestination or Man�s Free Will?

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