Rapture

PART I – “I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU!” 

So often in this newsletter we point to the signs that tell us that we are on the cusp of the End Times.  Israel is back in the Land and the generation that saw that happen is coming to the end of their natural life-cycle.  Jesus told His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.” (Matthew 24:34)  Many scholars believe that He was talking about the generation that saw the return of the State of Israel or the return of  Jerusalem.  Either way, that puts us in the window.  Then we see the Magog Alliance forming up as Turkey and Persia (Iran) and Russia cozy up to each other, as Ezekiel 38 predicts.  [There is some conflicting opinion on whether Russia is a part of that confederacy.]  With the technology accompanying the vaccine and the electronic currency that will soon be put in place, we see the architecture of the Mark of the Beast being built.  Preparations are in place for the rebuilding of the Temple.  Steps are being taken to unite the religions of the world.  All of these are events that will take place during the Tribulation, that 7 year long time of trial and judgment that will come upon the earth prior to the return of King Jesus.  So, if we on the edge of the Tribulation, we are very near to the rapture of the Church. 

Here’s the bottom line: JESUS IS COMING BACK!  This is one of the central, most essential, sometimes disbelieved and certainly misunderstood tenets of the Faith.  It is also an essential to understand this doctrine in order to ‘get’ what is to come   Sometime, probably in the not too distant future, Jesus is coming back for His Church, – all the true believers, – to gather them to Himself.  This is what is referred to as the ‘Rapture’.  Following that He is coming in judgment.  Many Christians, – sometimes whole denominations, – have missed the essential nature of this doctrine.  Others have glossed over it.   In this series we’ll look at that promise of Christ’s return; – its certainty, its timing and its relation to the day in which we live.

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”  (John 14:2-3)  These are the words of Jesus himself, speaking to the apostles on the occasion of the Last Supper.  Christ had just told them that “Where I am going, you cannot come.”  Now He was explaining why.  It is here that  Jesus gave his disciples that promise of His future return to “…receive you to Myself.”  It is a promise to come and take believers out of the world to a heavenly dwelling place where they will live in the age to come.  This is clearly not His return in judgment, but as we will see, a coming for His bride.

In fact, the event that Jesus is alluding to is something the Church has come to call, The Rapture, after the Latin word raptus found in 1Thessalonians 4:17.  5.^[1]  Let’s look at Paul’s description of the event found in 1Thessalonians 4:15-17.  “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

Here is the event, given in so much more detail.  And there is that word caught up, from the Greek harpazo, which echoes and expands upon the promise of Jesus’ words of John 14:3 recorded above.  He’s coming, and He will bring us to Himself!  Paul wrote these words to the Church in Thessalonica, which had begun to question what they had been taught and believed about Christ’s coming.  Read the two verses that precede the description of the rapture above.  “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”  (1Thessalonians 4:13-14)  The persecuted Christians in Thessalonica believed that they would be delivered from the trial by Jesus return.  They believed that this ‘rapture’ could happen imminently, at any time.  Yet many of their brothers were dying and they began to question just what happens to those Christians who had “fallen asleep.”  Would they miss the Lord’s return?^[2]  So Paul gave them a detailed view of the rapture.  Let’s examine some of its elements.

First of all, let’s remember that Paul is speaking to believers, Christ’s Church, comforting them about their already dead loved ones.  Broken down, here is what he tells them, (and by extension, believers of every age).

• The dead will rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 puts it thus, “we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.”
• The Lord Jesus Himself, is coming for us. It will be an unmistakable event.  Verse 16, tells us “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.”  According to Dr. David Jeremiah, the Greek there is not suggesting that there will be three separate auditory events.  Rather it is describing a sound that will be so unmistakably memorable as to be perceived as a shout from heaven, like the voice of an archangel or the very trump of God.  [It is interesting to note here that the New Agers also expect some sort of signaling sound that will usher in a chaotic event that will ‘convert’ the world to their cause.  Could this “shout,” this “voice of the archangel,” be misinterpreted by Satan’s followers to their own ends?]
• First the dead are raptured and then the living. “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”  The original Greek harpazo has several senses: To be carried off by force, to eagerly claim for oneself, to snatch away speedily, and to reserve from destruction.  When Christ comes for His Church, it will be an occasion that reflects all of those meanings.
• There will be a great reunion with all New Testament saints, living and dead. The believers in Jesus from every age will come together with the Lord.
• We will be instantly transformed. 1Corinthians 15:51-52 describes it like this: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”  The whole transaction will be over in a moment as we receive our eternal, glorified bodies.  1Corinthians 15:42-44 reads, “The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.  It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”  It will all happen in the “twinkling of an eye.”^[3]

PART II – “YE KNOW NOT WHEN THE MASTER COMETH” 

Perhaps even more contentious in the church, than the existence of a rapture, is the question of just when it is going to occur.  All scholars of the End Times, believe that the world will face a time called among other things, The Great Tribulation, to occur just preceding Christ’s return to judge the earth.  This is a 7-year period where, especially in the last three and one-half years, God’s wrath is visited on unbelieving mankind.  The argument centers on, just where in relation to the Tribulation, is the Rapture going to occur.

 The Look of the Thing

We have seen what the Rapture will look like to God’s people.  But what will it be like here on earth?  We have to remember that the rapture will indeed be a sudden event.  While there are signs of the Tribulation and signs of Christ’s coming, and we’ll see later that if you are here at the time the Antichrist brings the “abomination of desolation” to a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem, that you will be able to calculate the exact time of Jesus’ return in judgment: BUT there are no signs that indicate when the Rapture will take place.  Christ could come back for the believers at any moment.  Mark 13:32-33 says, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.”  In Matthew we are told that mankind will not be expecting a heavenly visit.  Life will be going on as usual.  “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:37-39)   One often stressed aspect of the “days of Noah”, is their moral bankruptcy, – and that is true.  However, another sometimes-missed characteristic is their utter normalcy.  In the days before the rapture it will be; Life as usual!  Then bang!  That is what is referred to as ‘imminence’.

In his Left Behind series of books and movies, Tim La Haye has crafted perhaps the most graphic images of what will follow the Rapture event here on earth.  Others too have applied their minds to paint a picture of the impending chaos.  As Paul puts it, “in the twinkling of an eye;” millions of believers will be gone.  Planes without pilots and cars without drivers will crash.  Children will disappear in front of their parent’s eyes.  It is likely that in some places, much of the infrastructure will at least temporarily crash, – leaving millions without power or water.  There will be empty houses and riots perhaps.  We have seen the aftermath of Katrina.  For weeks, headlines and news shows will be dedicated to the disappearance of those millions.  Some churches will lose a great part of their membership, –  others hardly any at all.  A religious hierarchy will remain to try to explain away the event.    And those empty churches may be filled in the following weeks with, in the words of End Times scholar and mega-church pastor John Hagee, “…weeping people who have realized, too late, that God’s prophetic doomsday clock has advanced, shearing away another event on the prophetic time line.”^[4]

How will the Bible-denying world account for such an event?  Space aliens, a New Age ‘leap of consciousness’, are some that are already being put out there as possible explanations.  In the early 90’s, David Bay of Cutting Edge Ministries infiltrated one particular new age event, a conference of the American Theosophical Society.  He reports that one speaker at the meeting described a rapture type of event when Christians, – those who could never accept the Antichrist, – will ‘leave for another dimension’.  New Age writer, Ruth Montgomery confirms this view in her book, Herald of the New Age, writing that “millions that will pass into the spirit.”^[5]  The world has its explanation already in place!

The Timing Controversy

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

(Mark  13:32)

This seems to be the central fact of the timing of Christ’s return: We can know “neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (Matthew 25:13)  This is what creates the doctrine of ‘imminence’, – the fact that Christ could return at any time.  “For in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” (Matthew 24:44)  It is this fact that colors so much of what we can know about the timing of the Rapture.  Later we’ll look at just how ‘imminence’ can help point us toward the truth.  Still many different beliefs abound on the timing of this signal event.  Let’s look at a few of the most widely-held beliefs.  There are four major positions for the order of these end times events.

• 

  Preterism – The belief that all end-times Bible prophecy has already been fulfilled.

• Mid-Tribulation Rapture / Pre-Wrath Rapture – The Church will be pulled out three and one-half years into the Tribulation, – after the Antichrist has revealed himself. In Pre-Wrath it is an indeterminate time after the mid-point.
• Post-Tribulation Rapture – Jesus comes for His Church after the world suffers through the entire period of God’s wrath.
• Pre-Tribulation Rapture – Christ will pull believers out before the Tribulation begins.

We’ll examine each of these in a little more detail.  Preterism, the belief that Biblical prophecy has been largely fulfilled, is based to a great degree in Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew 24:34: “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”  ‘Which generation?’, is always the question that must be asked.  While Preterism holds that so much of prophecy was fulfilled in AD 70, with the destruction of Jerusalem.  Yet it is patently obvious that so much of End Times prophecy has not come to pass.  This is not to deny that Jesus did not predict the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 and the scattering of the Jews among the nations: He most certainly did. (see Luke 21:20-24)  But then comes “the times of the gentiles” of undetermined length, before the remaining prophecies are fulfilled.  The biggest problem they have is that so much in the way of prophecy did not come to pass in those days.  Europe was not reunited into a new Rome.  Nor have giant hailstones bombarded the earth, nor the sea turned-to-blood, nor have a third of the trees been destroyed,^[6] nor did Damascus “cease from being a city,” as predicted in Isaiah 17:1.  Where in history was the Antichrist, the mark of the beast, the army of 200 million from the East, or the Euphrates River gone dry?^[7]  Where then is the promised Millennium?  Why is there still suffering?  Why did not Christ return in glory, seven years after the “abomination of desolation?”  In contrast, we can see prophecy being fulfilled within the last century, – and increasingly so in our very lifetimes.  The Jews have begun re-gathering back in to the Land.  Israel was “born in a day” back in 1948.  The alignment of nations that would come against Israel, (especially Russia, Turkey, Iran and the former Soviet Republics), – is forming, – as predicted in Ezekiel.  Plans are being made for the re-building of the Temple, as found in Daniel.  We are living in days of prophetic fulfillment!

The generation of which Jesus spoke could not have referred to the 1^st century one that saw the destruction of Jerusalem.  Perhaps there is a clue in Psalm90:10: “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years.”  Still, 70 or 80 years from when?  Look at Christ’s words that precede, his admonition that “this generation will not pass.”  Jesus is comparing Israel here to the fig tree, a comparison long established in Scripture.  “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.”  If Israel is indeed the fig tree, and the budding is the reestablishment of the nation in 1948; – or even the retaking of Jerusalem in 1967: Then a 70 to 80 year generation would bring Christ’s return amazingly close at hand.^[8]  In any case, that generation alive in 70 AD has passed, and we’re still here, and prophecy is still being fulfilled.

The Mid-Trib position advances the theory that the Rapture will occur at the mid-point of the Tribulation, 3.5 years in at the time of the Abomination of desolation.  The scripture used is often 2Thessalonians 2:3 which says, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.”  So, Mid-Trib – (and Post-Trib advocates too,) – believe that the Antichrist must rise before any of this takes place.       That too, falls down on the issue of imminence.  Jesus Himself says in Mark 13:32-33, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.”   Bible scholars agree that the Tribulation will last for 7-years, and will be a specifically delineated time.  Daniel 9:27 spells it out.  Speaking of the Antichrist it reads:  “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven. In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”  The “covenant” likely refers to a peace treaty guaranteed by the Antichrist.  Therefore, the start of the 7-year Tribulation is identified with the confirmation of that covenant.  If the Mid-Tribbers are right, then they certainly could ‘know’ the day and the hour “in which the Son of man is coming,” by counting forward exactly 1,260days, [three and one half Biblical years] from the signing of the treaty to the middle of the Tribulation, when the Antichrist “exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2Thessalonians 3:4)  That alone destroys the whole notion of imminence. )  [Now in fairness, an offshoot of the Mid-Trib position is called Pre-Wrath, and allows for some time to pass before the Rapture but prior to when the real-bad-stuff starts flying – and therefore maintains a sense of imminence, in their eyes.]

Now the majority of Christians hold to the belief that the rapture of the Church will occur after the 7-year Tribulation.  We’re talking about Catholicism, Orthodox and many mainline Protestant denominations.  So they use 2Thessalonians 3, quoted above and Revelation 20:4-5, which refers to the raising of the dead at Christ’s Return.  It reads in part, “I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.  Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection.”      But the Post-Tribulation theory of the Rapture, that Christ will come for His church only after the Tribulation also runs up against this notion of ‘imminence.’  Only the math is different.  Those holding this Post Tribulation position only need count 7-years from the confirming of the covenant.  In fact, Daniel 12:11 spells it out exactly.  “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, [That’s when the Antichrist goes into the Temple to exalt himself as God] and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.”  There can be no surprise there.  Yet Scripture tells us to “watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming.” (Mark 13:35)

So that leaves the Pre-Tribulation position, that is outa-here before the 7-year Tribulation.  Here are a few positive arguments before we continue the critique of the Post-Trib position.  First, we are NOT APPOINTED TO WRATH.  See, Romans 5:9 & 1Thessalonians 5:9.  Secondly, according to Revelation 3:10, we are told, “I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”  Looking at Strong’s Concordance we see the word translated “from” is ek in the Greek – and it means ‘out of.’  Finally, the Tribulation is a time when God will be dealing with the Jewish People.  This is Daniel’s 70^th week.^[9]  It is also the time of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  In Luke 12:26, Jesus is pictured returning from a wedding.  In the Jewish ceremony the supper comes first.  When we return with Him, we come as His bride.  Now let’s continue with the contrasts.

Another argument against the Post-Trib position can be found in Matthew 25:31-34, 41.  “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”  The picture here painted, of Christ seated “on the throne of His glory,” is not a picture of the Rapture, – but rather one of His Second Coming in Power.  The problem is that if Jesus calls his Church “to meet the Lord in the air” (1Thessalonians 4:17), and then they immediately return with Him to earth: Then who are the sheep in the passage above?.  As well known Bible teacher John MacArthur puts it: “Where do we get the sheep for the sheep and goat judgment?.” ^[10] Following Christ’s judgment, the Earth is to be populated by those who accepted Christ during the Tribulation and survived until Christ’s coming.  Referring to Matthew 25, Chuck Missler asks: “Since all believers will be translated at the Rapture and all unbelievers are judged,…then no one would be left to start the population base for the Millenium.”  If the Rapture and the Second Coming occur at essentially the same time, as Post-Tribbers believe, then Missler asks, “Where would the believers in mortal bodies come from if they are raptured at the Second Coming?  Who would be able to enter into Christ’s kingdom?”^[11]

Those holding to the Post-Tribulation position must also be able to account for passages 1Thessalonians 1:10 which tells us that He has “delivered us from the wrath to come.”  Instead, Ephesians 5:6 tells us that God’s wrath is reserved for “the sons of disobedience.”  As Chuck Missler points out, there is a “clear distinction between; who will taste of God’s wrath and who will not.”  Revelation 13:7 clearly paints a picture of unprecedented persecution.  Many Post-Tribbers believe that though the Church will be living through the Tribulation, God will supernaturally protect Christians during that time.  But God’s word does not support this.  “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.”  Yet Matthew 16:8 says of Christ’s Church, that the “gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  That’s because to Missler and MacArthur, Dr. Jeremiah and other Pre-Tribbers, the Church, having already been raptured, –  is no longer on earth.  Jeremiah 30:7 reveals that, what that prophet calls, “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” (Jacob being another name for Israel), pertains primarily to the Jews, and only to the rest of the world by extension.  Yet through that time of testing, God’s Chosen People Israel will be saved.  “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.”^[12]

Finally, there is this.  The Christ’s return are to be like the days of Noah and Lot.  Luke 17:28-30 describes it.  “They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”  It was when Lot “went out” from Sodom that the judgment came.  So too with Noah.  When he was sealed in the Ark – only then – did the rains start.  Genesis 19 speaks of Lot’s escape from Sodom.  In Genesis 19:22, we see the angel that was sent to save Lot could not enact the divine judgement he was charged with until Lot’s party was safely ensconced in his ‘sanctuary’ city.  “I can do nothing until you arrive there,” he told Lot.  Jesus went on beginning in Luke 17:31.  ‘”In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.’  And they answered and said to Him, ‘Where, Lord?’  So He said to them, ’Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.’” (Luke 17:31-37)  This passage is set at the End of the Age and definitely talks about the coming of God’s Kingdom.  The question remains, is this the final return or a Pre-Trib Rapture.  One scholar believes implicitly that it refers to the gathering of the Church to Christ in the air – the eagles gathering with the Body of Christ.

PART III – THE CASE FOR THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE

Matthew 24:36 reads, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”  So no one can speak from Sinai on this matter.  Yet just the very fact that we cannot know the moment of Christ’s return for His Church, argues that the Rapture will occur before the time of Tribulation that will come upon the earth.  So we will examine the compelling  Scriptural evidence for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. 

Understanding the timing of the Rapture would seem to require an understanding of just what God has revealed about the End of the Age.  We are given serious clues about this in the writings of the Prophet Daniel, as well as the Gospels of Matthew, and Luke.  Before His final coming in judgment, Christ told us the world will see a time of “great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”  (Matthew 24:21)  Jesus’ return as judge will be preceded by events so terrible that “unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved.” (Matthew 24:22)  Christ described the events of those days to His disciples: “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:7-8)  He goes on to detail events on the earth just prior to his coming in glory.  “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:29-30)  Even a cursory look through the Book of Revelation fleshes out for the reader a seven year period of disease, war, natural disasters, persecution and political & economic dictatorship unprecedented in the annals of man.

But to understand the meaning and something of the timing of these future events, let’s return to those passages in Daniel that we just looked at in Chapter III.  In those verses, God revealed to Daniel, much of the outline of history; – the rise and fall of nations and kings as well as a very accurate schematic of God’s plan for the end of the age.  We saw how God gave him the exact timing of Christ’s first coming into His Kingdom, and how that Messiah was to be “cut off,” – which happened when He was rejected by the nation and crucified.  We’ll pick it up halfway through Daniel 9:26 and take it through 9:27.  “And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.  The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”

Yeah that’s a mouthful!  Yet these verses contain an amazing prophecy of incredible accuracy that clues us into not only the timing, but also the meaning of much of God’s plan of redemption.  We saw that incredibly accurate picture of both Christ’s first coming.  It also tells us of His return in the last days.  Let’s break it down.  First let’s recall Daniel 9:24 again but in another translation.  “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.”  God has had a plan all along to pay the price for our sin, to create a Kingdom of Righteousness – where there will be no sin, to fulfill the word of His prophecies and to anoint Jesus the Messiah as King of Kings.  What we have here then is a summary of the timing of God’s entire redemptive plan.

Then the prophecy describes what was to follow: – the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.  “And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.”  Jesus too made that same prediction in Luke.  In verse 6, speaking of the Temple Jesus says: “the days will come, in which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”  That was fulfilled by the Romans in AD 70.  It was at that time, you recall that the 2^nd Temple burned, as the Roman Army soldiers tore down every stone in a greedy attempt to recover the Temple gold.  Following that war and the next about 60 years later, the Jews were scattered among the nations in fulfillment of prophecy.  Just as Jesus told us in Matthew 21:24, they were slaughtered and scattered and “trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”  It can be argued that the “times of the Gentiles” was fulfilled in 1967, when the fledging, re-born nation of Israel recaptured Jerusalem during the 6-Day War. The thing to remember is that Daniel’s prophecy primarily concerns God’s dealings with the nation of Israel.  “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people,” says Daniel 9:24.  Chuck Missler points out that the Church was not present for the first 69 weeks of prophecy, nor will it be there for the 70^th.^[13]   The already 2,000 year period, known as the “times of the Gentiles,” is but an interlude between that 69^th and 70^th week.

What this all means is that the coming 7-year Tribulation, the 70^th week of Daniel, will mark the completion of God’s prophetic plan for the Jewish nation.^[14]  In other words God’s plan went through the first 69 weeks of Daniel’s prophecy.  Then the prophetic time clock stopped, – at the crucifixion, – and will resume when the “times of the Gentiles” is complete.  Romans 11:25 concurs that Israel will remain in “blindness…until the fullness of the Gentiles is come in.”

When will this Tribulation occur?  Paul gives a sign to watch for.  “Let no man deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.”  (2Thessalonians 2:3)  The Day of the Lord will not happen until a great apostasy, or falling away from the previously held tenets of the Faith has occurred.^[15]  A couple of verses later, Paul continues the thought.  “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed.” (2Thessalonians 2:6-8)  Notice that the “falling away” or Great Apostasy is what prepares the way for the appearance of the “lawless one”, or Antichrist.

Now in the verses just quoted, it is “He who restrains” that will be “taken out of the way.”  That “He” is a person: It is the Holy Spirit, who lives in every member of God’s true church. Scripture indicates that the Holy Spirit will not be removed from the earth during the Tribulation.  In fact His presence is what makes possible the sealing of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, and the saving of the millions of ‘Tribulation saints’.^[16]  But His influence will be greatly diminished when the Church of true believers is taken out.  This is what allows the rise of “the man of sin.”  To many scholars, this seems the best explanation of this passage in 2Thessalonians 2.

An interesting confirmation can be found in Jesus’ own words recorded in Matthew 25:1-13.  It is a parable of the rapture of the Church.  “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

The ten virgins represent the “Professing Church”.  But not all are truly saved.  In Scripture oil often represents the Holy Spirit.  All true believers are indwelt with the Holy Spirit at salvation.  Not everyone in church is saved.  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)  In the parable of the virgins, Jesus clearly states here that some will be ready and some will not.  It is significant that Christ uses a marriage feast as an illustration.  In Revelation 19, Jesus’ union with His Church is described as the “marriage supper of the Lamb,” the Church referred to as His “wife”.  In Matthew 9:15, Jesus refers to Himself as “the bridegroom.”  Those who are saved, will go “in with him to the marriage”.  It is worth noting that to the others, “the door was shut.”  Again, in the light of this parable, only a pre-Tribulation rapture makes sense.  As Todd Strandberg of Rapture Ready puts it, if God’s saints weren’t pulled out until after the Tribulation, they won’t “need to seek the Lord because they’ll immediately be confronted by Him and His army of angels”.^[17]  So next week, we’ll close our case for the pre-Trib rapture.

PART IV – MARRIED TO THE KING

The Rapture is God’s plan to save His Church from the wrath that is coming to earth.  The wedding comparison is an appropriate one, as we view the Church as the Bride of Christ.

 Jesus compared that event to ten virgins waiting for the unknown, but imminent arrival of the bridegroom returning for his bride according to Jewish custom.  Understanding the Church as Christ’s bride, is essential for understanding the purpose of, and therefore the timing of the Rapture event.  In Revelation 19:7-8, John paints us a picture of the Church as bride at the coming marriage supper.  “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”  But before that celebration, we, the true believing Church, – must be joined with Him.  Recall that in John 14:2-3, Jesus makes a solemn promise to His bride.  “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” This passage is best understood in a wedding context.

Now a traditional Jewish wedding had several phases, all with parallel meaning for the marriage of Christ and the Church, – and hence the Raptrue, which is when Christ comes to take His bride to the “Father’s house.”^[18]

• The Katuba – This was the commitment phase, often undertaken years in advance. In John 14:3, recorded above, we see the commitment Christ made to come and redeem us, His bride.
• Purchase Price – The groom would pay a dowry, or price for the privilege of possessing the bride. Of course, that was Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross.  1Corinthians 6:20 reminds us “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
• The Marriage Covenant Sealed With Wine – Toasting with wine was a sign of the sealing of the marriage promise.  As He took the wine at the Last Supper, Jesus sealed with us, “…the new covenant in My blood.”  When we take communion we acknowledge and remember His promise, proclaiming “…the Lord’s death till He comes.” (1Corinthians 11:25,26)  He is coming for us!
• The Bride Set Aside – After the covenant was sealed, the bride was set aside to live in purity, awaiting the return of the groom.  So Christ has cleansed us and set us aside for Himself, “…as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)
• The Groom Builds A Room – The groom would then return to his father’s house to build an addition for the new family. “I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2)
• Waiting For The Groom – There is a time of waiting; – perhaps a year or more. The bride did not know when the groom would return.  The 10 virgins of Matthew 25 are awaiting the arrival of the groom.  He could come at any time.  The message is: Imminence.  He could return for his bride at any moment.
• The Groom Returns – Usually at night, as in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins.
• His Arrival Preceded By A Shout – In the parable of the virgins we read, “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’” (Matthew 25:6)   Here is the description of the Rapture found in 1Thessalonians 16:17: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
• To A Separate Chamber – The bride is then taken to a separate chamber to consummate the marriage. “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3)
• The 7-Day Marriage Supper – The marriage supper of the traditional Jewish wedding lasted 7 days. The marriage supper of the lamb is to last the 7 years of the Tribulation.

Not Appointed To Wrath

One of the most compelling arguments that the Rapture is to occur before the Tribulation hour can be found in the promises of Christ himself.  The Tribulation is the expression of that very wrath of God “against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” (Romans 1:18)  The ‘righteous’ are those that have been declared righteous, – justified by God himself through faith in His Son.  The wrath of God is for those who “hold the truth in unrighteousness” – those who willfully believe the lie.  Ephesians 5:6 tells us that God’s wrath is for the “children of disobedience.”   John 3:36 informs us that wrath is for “he that believeth not the Son.”   But God’s children are promised something much better.  “[B]eing now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Romans 5:9)  1Thessalonians 1:10 tells us we are to “wait for his Son from heaven” because He has “delivered us from the wrath to come”.  That seems to be Christ’s clear promise that we will not see the Tribulation.  This is confirmed again in 1Thessalonians 5:9.  “For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Then there is this.  In the Book of Revelation, Jesus is giving messages to the various churches.  There is a very significant passage in the letter to the church at Philadelphia, long acknowledged to represent ‘The Faithful Church’, and one of the types of churches that will remain until Christ’s return.  In Revelation 3, John writes words of comfort for everyone who has truly committed his or her life to Christ.  “I know your works.  See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” (Revelation 3:8)  This is a description of the true and believing Church.  Then in Revelation 3:10 comes this promise.  “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world,” (the Tribulation), “to test those who dwell on the earth.” This is Jesus’ promise to keep His faithful from the time of testing that will come in the last days.

Now those holding to the Post-Tribulation Rapture position, say that God will protect Christians through the Tribulation period.  But this is not what is suggested by the original Greek.  According to John MacArthur, the construction of the verb ‘to keep’ definitely conveys the added meaning of ‘out of’ or ‘from’. ^[19]  To believe that it meant “to keep through” as Post-Tribbers suggest, would make curious the statement of Revelation 13:7 in which the Antichrist is given power “to make war with the saints and to overcome them.”  This would seem to contradict Matthew 16:18, in which Jesus promises His Church that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  Again, it appears that the saints of Revelation 13 are not the Church, – but rather are those who come to saving faith during the Tribulation itself.^[20]

Finally there is this promise of Divine protection, found in Isaiah.  Remember, in Matthew 25, Christ told us that He was going to prepare a place for us,  – much like the chamber that a groom takes his bride to on their wedding night.  “Come my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were for a little moment, Until the indignation is past.  For behold, the Lord comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.” (Isaiah 26:20-21)

The Sum Of It All

The arguments given for the Pre-Trib Rapture are by no means exhaustive.  But remember, God has not determined to subject His bride to wrath.  Rather He has promised to pull out the Church before that wrath is exercised upon a world that rejects Him.  The tribulation (small t) and persecutions we face now and before His return are the work of Satan.  The wrath of God of the Tribulation (capital T), is the work of God; reserved for the “children of disobedience.”

He is coming for us at an unknown hour.  He has gone “to prepare a place” for us.  He promised to return!  “And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1Thessalonians 5:9)  For the time is coming when, in Paul’s words, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1Cor.15:51-52)

[1] Material taken from an article entitled: – A Pretribulation Rapture of the Church…, Rapture Ready

[2] From the notes on 1Thessalonians 4:13-18, John MacArthur Study Bible

[3] Much of the material from this section adapted from,

[4] John Hagee, From Daniel to Doomsday, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1999

[5] Notes taken from transcripts of Cutting Edge Radio Show 1093-1094, found on Cutting Edge, author David Bay

[6] What is the Pretribulation Rapture?, Rapture Ready .Com

[7] Todd, Preterism: I Can’t Believe It, Rapture Ready .com

[8] Michael Hile, The Last Generation, Rapture Ready .com

[9] Teresa Garcia, The Case for a Pre-Trib Rapture, Inspiration.org, viewed

[10] John MacArthur, answering questions on the rapture, Questions & Answers, Grace To You

[11] Chuck Missler, The Great Snatch, Koinonia House, 1995

[12] Chuck Missler, Our Blessed Hope, Koinonia House, 2002

[13] Chuck Missler, The Great Snatch, 1995

[14] A Pretribulation Rapture of the Church, Rapture Ready, Editor Todd Strandberg

[15] John MacArthur, Notes from the MacArthur Study Bible, pg 1854

[16] Todd Strandberg, The Pre-Tribulation Rapture, Rapture Ready

[17] Todd Strandberg, The Pre-Tribulation Rapture, Rapture Ready

[18] The following section taken from a taped teaching by Chuck Missler, The Rapture: Christianity’s Most Preposterous Belief, Kononia House, 2002

[19] John MacArthur, Notes taken from the MacArthur Study Bible, pg 1,997

[20] An expansion upon thought taken from Todd Strandberg, The Pretribulation Rapture,Rapture Ready