(and then some!)
Dr. Roger G. Ford, Ph.D., P.E.
December 2024
The Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ is and always has been, since the very early Church days when the Apostle Paul was alive, a subject of intense curiosity, scrutiny, and unfortunately controversy! Why is this so? Probably, first of all, the instantaneous disappearance of millions and millions of people all over the world from all nationalities and ethnicities really cannot happen, can it? Well, the Bible says it can, and it will. Jesus wants His Church to come and be with Him in Heaven because He is the Bridegroom and we, his Church, are the Bride of Christ. This is a symbolism of the marriage of the Jewish faith even used today by orthodox Jews. By the way, Jesus was and is a Jew by birth! (Ephesians 5:25-32: Paul compares the relationship between Christ and the Church to that of a husband and wife. Christ loves the Church and gives Himself for her, cleansing her and presenting her to Himself as a radiant and spotless bride. Revelation 19:7-9: The Bride of Christ is described as a glorious and holy woman, clothed in fine linen, symbolizing righteousness and purity. The passage also mentions the marriage supper of the Lamb, where the Bride, the Church, is joined to Christ in a union of love and devotion.)
The Rapture also has to happen before Daniel’s 70th Week can begin, because the 70th Week of Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27) is all about Israel and not about the Church. Why do we know this? After chapter 4 in the book of Revelation, the church is never referred to until Christ’s Second Coming in chapter 19. Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation concentrate on the existing churches in Asia Minor at the time of John. But then, Revelation 4:1 occurs when Jesus says to the churches, “Come up here”, a clear reference to the Rapture. This is a picture of the sequence of events in the End Times. First, the Rapture (Revelation 4:1). Then, the Tribulation (Revelation Chapters 6 through 19). Then, Jesus’ Second Coming WITH His Church (that’s us). In fact, Revelation 4:1 is a picture of the Rapture which is the kickoff of the Tribulation time. Daniel’s 70th Week is the Jews final opportunity to be reconciled to God through the Messiah and prepare for the Kingdom He promised them so long ago. 2500 years before the fact, Zechariah prophesied that this would take place near the end of the 70th Week. Zech. 12:10 says, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” Therefore, many Jews will accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, but, sadly, many will not.
As a result of the opening of the fulfillment of End Times prophecy, we come to what I consider the ULTIMATE PROOF of the immediacy of the Rapture and the ASSURANCE of it happening BEFORE any of God’s Wrath otherwise known as the Tribulation. In fact, I believe that there are significant wars to come (the In-Between” time with Psalm 83, Gog Magog – Ezekiel 38,39, etc.) that will pre-date the Tribulation and involve nuclear war, but we as believers will not be here for those either. What is that “ultimate proof”? 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11!
“But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overcome you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those that sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”
The “Day of the Lord” is, of course, in this case, referring to the Tribulation that is the Wrath of God on this sinful and evil world. A “thief in the night” is not what we usually think in our day. We usually think of a thief in the night as someone clandestinely breaking in, being very quiet and sneaky, stealing something, then leaving just as quietly. This is not how this was perceived in the time of Jesus on the Earth. A thief in the night was a strongarm break-in, loud and mean, with hostages, bodily harm, demands, possibly even death. The “sudden destruction” is what the thief does when he breaks in to get whatever he wants, and he comes without notice.
The reference to Christians NOT being in darkness is a direct message that we are different than the rest of the world. We are “all sons of light and sons of the day”, not “of the night nor of darkness”. Being “in the light” is a direct reference to Jesus Christ. John 1:1-5 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” This section at the very start of John’s Gospel is the most powerful statement in the entire Bible because we learn that Jesus is the Creator God, He is the Light of men, and that those in the darkness cannot and will not understand any of this. This also means that the darkness, or those who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, will be subject to God’s Wrath. But those in God’s Light, the Light of Jesus Christ, will NOT see or experience God’s Wrath!
We go back to Thessalonians where it says, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We as believers are not to experience God’s Wrath because we belong to Jesus and are in His Light, not in darkness. 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10 says, “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from Heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,” Romans 5:9 says, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” And Revelation 3:10 says, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee fromthe hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the Earth.” These verses conclusively show that God does not put His Wrath on believers in Jesus Christ. Therefore, Christians do not see any of the Tribulation, any of the “In-Between” time from the Rapture to the start of the Tribulation, just the sudden and unknown timing of the instantaneous “catching up” to be with Jesus in the air. Those in the dark, those who do not know Christ as Lord and Savior, WILL experience God’s Wrath, the Tribulation, the Antichrist, the seals, the trumpets, the bowls of Revelation. So, how do we escape God’s Wrath that comes on the entire world in the End Times? The Rapture!
We all know that the word “Rapture” technically does not appear anywhere in the Bible. But, being “caught up” (“harpazo” in the Greek) to meet the Lord in the air is precisely the same as the Rapture! 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 assures us, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 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, 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 (“harpazo”)together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
The Rapture keeps us away from God’s Wrath that comes on the entire world to wake up God’s Chosen People, the Jews, to their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Throughout the Bible, we see how stubborn, how disobedient, how worldly the Jews have always been. But without the Jews, we would not have a Savior! God made covenants with the Jews to always love them, always protect them, and eventually save them. God knows it will take extreme measures to wake the Jews up to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, their Savior as well as ours. So, “Jacob’s Trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7-11), what we know as the Tribulation and Daniel’s 70th week (Daniel Chapter 9), is to get Israel’s attention, turn them to Jesus, and to punish the world for its sin and disobedience to God. Then, Jesus can come and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords for a thousand years, the Millennial Kingdom (“Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Matthew 6:10).
The Rapture and Why It Was So Huge to the Thessalonians
In order to fully understand the impact of the Rapture, we must place ourselves into that tiny first century church in Thessalonica, after the Resurrection, after Pentecost, about 50 A.D. when Paul had come and started this group of new Christians, left, then heard about some major concerns that they had because of the persecution they were receiving from Jews in the area. Refer to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. (This section is adapted from Dr. John MacArthur and GTY.org)
Verses 13-18: “But we do not want you to be uninformed,” – or ignorant – “brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 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 not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
The details of what happens to Christians after they die were elusive in the early church, and the Thessalonians were worried about that subject: “Where do Christians go after they die? What happens to their souls? And, in particular, what happens to their bodies?” This set of questions troubled young believers in the church at Thessalonica, as we might assume, because they didn’t have the full revelation that we now have from the New Testament. Their concern, however, was rather specific. Paul had been teaching them when he ministered to them about the fact that Jesus was going to return. And, in fact, he taught them as if it could happen in their lifetime.
They expected the coming of Christ. They also expected the judgment of God in an event called the Day of the Lord, a very familiar Old Testament term. But they were living in the expectation that this could happen in their lifetime. And nothing is said by Paul in any of his writings about this, either here or in 1 Corinthians 15, that would lead them to believe that it couldn’t possibly happen in their lifetime.
There is then an imminent event, the return of Christ in some way that could happen in their lifetime. And the question they were asking is this, “What happens to Christians who die before His return?” They were so worried about what was going to happen to Christians that died that they would therefore miss the great event of the coming of the Lord, that they were burdened by it, if not actually grieved by the thought that some of the folks they loved would miss this event. And what made it seem more grievous was persecution. Many of them perhaps had died or would die under persecution.
Back in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 3 and verse 3, Paul talks about the fact that “they shouldn’t be disturbed by afflictions. They should know that we have been destined for this. For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, and so you know.” What’s going to happen to those people who have been persecuted and died?
This Thessalonian Church was marked by love. In fact, this is the only church that Paul ever wrote to that he didn’t drag out their sin and confront it. There isn’t anything like that in his letters to them. They were marked by a profound love for one another, and even for those outside their local fellowship all throughout Macedonia. This added to the grief in their minds, if someone died and was to miss Christ’s call, His return, were they going to be a disembodied spirit? Were they going to be a lesser saint? Were they going to miss the great event? Were they somehow not going to experience the presence of the Lord?
Paul answers the distress and the confusion and ignorance with a clear description of a single event that will be the next event on the prophetic calendar. We call it the Rapture, and that’s because of verse 17. The verb “caught up,” “harpazo” in Greek. It means to snatch up, to seize and carry off by force. It is the sudden swoop of an irresistible force that pulls you away. It is a violent snatching away. The term “Rapture” is simply a word to describe the snatching away, and that is exactly what verse 17 is saying. There will be a time when believers are snatched up by a sudden, divine, irresistible force. That’s what this text is about, about that event.
This is not that event when He comes and His feet touch the Mount of Olives, and He turns the desert into a garden, destroys the nations, and establishes His Millennial reign. This is not Christ coming to Earth, because it clearly says He comes and meets them in the air. We know this is also not judgment, because there’s no judgement here. This is strictly a snatching away of believers into the air to meet the Lord. That is the next event in the prophetic calendar for us.
I love this term, “The dead in Christ shall rise first.” Even though they’re dead they’re still in Christ. Nothing can separate them from Christ, Romans 8. First Corinthians 15:23 identifies believers as “those that are Christ’s, those that are in Christ.” Death does not separate them from Christ. “So it is the dead in Christ who rise first, then” (verse 17) “we who are alive and remain” (still alive on Earth) “will be snatched up together with them in the clouds.” You remember Acts 1? “You saw Him go in the clouds, you’ll see Him come back in the clouds.” And we’re all snatched up in the clouds. Their glorious bodies meet up with their spirits already in glory. The rest on Earth who are alive are transformed on the way up. And we know how fast that is, as fast as it takes light to flash on the eye, in a minute portion of a nanosecond we’re changed on the way up. This is the Rapture. We’re all snatched up by this divine, irresistible force.
This is an interesting word, this word “harpazo”. It’s used in Matthew 11 of taking a kingdom by force. It’s used in John 10 of a wolf snatching a sheep. It’s used in John 10 where our Lord says that nothing can snatch us out of the Father’s hand. It’s used in 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul was snatched up into the third Heaven. It’s used in Acts 8 where Philip was caught up and disappeared, remember, when he was talking to the eunuch. Most importantly, it’s used in 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. The trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed,” snatched up, transformed into our eternal condition like the risen resurrected Christ; and we will be joined together with the dead who receive their glorified bodies – and I love this – “and so we shall always be with the Lord.” There will be a reunion with saints that died in the past – both distant and recent.
Don’t worry about those who’ve died. They’re not going to be second-class saints, they’re not going to be floating spirits while you have a glorified body. We’re all going to be together, all of us who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is reunion, no one left out. We’ll all be in that glorious final form. And, again, clouds are associated with this; we meet the Lord in the air. Again, this is not the Second Coming. He’s not coming to Earth, we meet Him in the air.
Meeting the Lord is a common Old Testament idea, and here it’s the experience of believers. And He gathers us and takes us to the rooms He’s prepared for us in the Father’s house, and we will always be with the Lord (John 14). Never after that will we be separated. At the end of the Day of the Lord, when He comes back to the Earth in judgment, we come back with Him. When He sets up His kingdom on Earth, we reign with Him on Earth through the thousand years of the Millennial Kingdom; and then in the new Heaven and the new Earth, we dwell with Him forever, never to be separated from the Lord.
What is the purpose of telling us this? Verse 18: “Therefore, (what is all this there for?) comfort one another with these words.” Nobody’s going to be left out. God, who is the God of all comfort, comforts His people, not with some kind of emotional warm and fuzzy experience; He comforts His people with truth, the Truth, God’s Truth, the only Truth!
Further Proof of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture
The Bible never precisely states when the Rapture of the Church will take place. That’s why there is so much disagreement over when it will occur. All positions are based on inferences in the Scriptures. Why inferences? Jesus said in Matthew 25:13 referring to the foolish virgins that did not prepare oil for their lamps and missed the coming of the Bridegroom, “But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.” This means we all should be ready for at any time Jesus could “call us up” in the Rapture of the Church! So, are you ready? Some believe the Rapture will occur in the middle of the Tribulation period. Others place it near the end of the Tribulation period. And some combine it with the Second Coming. I happen to believe that the best inference of the Scriptures is that it will occur before the Tribulation begins because this event is to be “imminent” or the very next thing to occur on God’s calendar of the End Times. If the Rapture occurs AFTER other prophesied events yet to occur, then the Rapture loses its “imminency” since it is not premier or first or “a surprise” in timing!
I have many reasons for my belief, including Scripture verses, prophetic symbolism, and logic. With regard to Scripture verses, some of the more important ones that relate to the Rapture’s timing are the following:
- Luke 21:36, “…keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (We will “escape” God’s Wrath of the Tribulation IF we know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord!)
Jesus spoke these words in His Olivet Discourse which He delivered to His disciples the week He was crucified. Those words concluded a long speech in which He outlined the major signs of the End Times that would signal the season of His return. Notice that He says that believers should live anticipating the Lord’s appearance at any time, and that they are to pray for their escape from all the horrors of the End Times which He had been talking about. To me, this passage strongly infers a Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, “…you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”
I consider this passage to be one of the most convincing that points to a Pre-Tribulation Rapture. After all, the Bible clearly teaches in both the Old and New Testaments that the Tribulation will be a period of the pouring out of God’s wrath (Isaiah 24 and Revelation Chapters 6-19). This verse promises that Jesus will deliver believers “from the wrath that is to come.” A similar promise can be found in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 which states: “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…”
- Revelation 3:10, “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the Earth.”
These are some of the words that Jesus addressed to the church at Philadelphia. They constitute a promise that true believers will be kept from the testing that will one day encompass the entire world. We know from many other scriptures, including Revelation Chapters 6-19, that the “hour of testing” will be the Tribulation period of seven years (the Time of Jacob’s Trouble – Jeremiah 30:7) when the Wrath of God will be poured out on the Earth (Revelation 11:18 and 15:1).
These three passages are isolated because they give us clues as to the timing of the Rapture — namely, that it will take place before the Tribulation begins. There are many other verses that refer to the Rapture besides these three. Some additional ones are here for your personal study (be sure to read these “in context” to get the full meaning):
John 14:1-3, “Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.” (Where will He “take” us – to Heaven, so this reference is NOT the Second Coming but the Rapture!)
1 Corinthians 1:7-8; 15:51-53, “7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift [which comes from the Holy Spirit], as you eagerly wait [with confident trust] for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ [when He returns]. 8 And He will also confirm you to the end [keeping you strong and free of any accusation, so that you will be] blameless and beyond reproach in the day [of the return] of our Lord Jesus Christ… 51 Listen very carefully, I tell you a mystery [a secret truth decreed by God and previously hidden, but now revealed]; we will not all sleep [in death], but we will all be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed], 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at [the sound of] the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [who believed in Christ] will be raised imperishable, and we will be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed]. 53 For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us that is capable of dying] must put on immortality [which is freedom from death]…” (These highlighted portions of Scripture point to Jesus revealing Himself to His Church that is beyond reproach, or, completely forgiven and not subject to God’s Wrath, NOT Jesus’ Second Coming which is accompanied with His Wrath on the unbelieving when He comes back to stand on the Earth once again and begin His reign in His Millennial Kingdom.)
Philippians 3:20-21, “20 But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who, by exerting that power which enables Him even to subject everything to Himself, will [not only] transform [but completely refashion] our earthly bodies so that they will be like His glorious resurrected body…” (We await the transformation of our earthly bodies to resurrected bodies, NOT spend time being subject to God’s Wrath on an unbelieving world!)
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:9,23, “13 Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life]. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again [as in fact He did], even so God [in this same way—by raising them from the dead] will bring with Him those [believers] who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For we say this to you by the Lord’s [own] word, that we who are still alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede [into His presence] those [believers] who have fallen asleep [in death]. 16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the [b]archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord! 18 Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers who have died]… 9 For God has not destined us to [incur His] wrath [that is, He did not select us to condemn us], but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,… 23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (We anticipate meeting the Lord Jesus “in the air” at the Rapture – “caught up” is “harpazo” in Greek and “rapturo” in Latin where we get our term “rapture” – BECAUSE God has not destined us believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to incur His Wrath, meaning go through the Tribulation!)
Hebrews 9:28, “28 so Christ, having been offered once and once for all to bear [as a burden] [e]the sins of many, will appear a second time [when he returns to earth], not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly and confidently waiting for Him.” (Jesus will not only appear, but touch down on the Earth at His Second Coming to bring His Wrath on the unbelieving. But here, He appears NOT to deal with sin, but to rapture us into His presence!)
1 Peter 1:7,13; 5:4, “7 so that the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested and purified by fire, may be found to result in [your] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ… 13 So prepare your minds for action, be completely sober [in spirit—steadfast, self-disciplined, spiritually and morally alert], fix your hope completely on the grace [of God] that is coming to you when Jesus Christ is revealed… 4 And when the Chief Shepherd (Christ) appears, you will receive the [conqueror’s] unfading crown of glory.” (All these highlighted words are referring to Christ’s appearing in the air to rapture us, not to descend to the Earth as He will do AFTER the Tribulation!)
1 John 2:28-3:2, “28 Now, little children (believers, dear ones), remain in Him [with unwavering faith], so that when He appears [at His return], we may have [perfect] confidence and not be ashamed and shrink away from Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is absolutely righteous, you know [for certain] that everyone who practices righteousness [doing what is right and conforming to God’s will] has been born of Him. 3 1See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].” (More references to Christ’s appearance, NOT touching down in the Second Coming!)
Jude 21, “21 and keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously and looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ [which will bring you] to eternal life.” (Why would we wait anxiously and look forward to going through even part of the Tribulation? Answer – we would NOT! We anxiously wait for new bodies and being in the very presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ which happens at the Rapture of His Church!)
Revelation 2:25, “25 except to hold tightly to what you have until I come.” (This was written to the church at Thyatira that was, even then 2,000 years ago, anxiously awaiting the Rapture. The Book of Revelation Chapters 6 through 19 never mentions any reference to the churches that are revealed in Chapters 2 and 3. Why? Because they are gone, not to go through the Tribulation! So, the “until I come” refers to the Rapture so that the Church of Jesus Christ will NOT have to go through the Tribulation!)
Colossians 3:4, “4 When Christ, who is our life,appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Again, Jesus is “appearing”, NOT “touching down” to the Earth as He will do in the Second Coming!)
Revelation 4:1, “1After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a [war] trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here”, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” (Why would Jesus command us to “Come up here”, up to be with Him, in order to show us what comes AFTER the Tribulation if we are to go through any part of the Tribulation? Obviously, we are NOT to go through ANY of the Tribulation!)
Romans 5:1, “1Therefore, since we have beenjustified [that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God] by faith, [let us grasp the fact that] we have peace with God [and the joy of reconciliation with Him] through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).” (We are even NOW “blameless” and therefore in no need to suffer for the fact that we are still sinners in spite of our salvation!)
Romans 8:1, “1Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior].” (Probably the most profound explanation in Scripture of there being absolutely NO CHANCE the Church of Jesus Christ WILL GO THROUGH THE TRIBULATION for even a second is this verse – meaning the Rapture is BEFORE the Tribulation! If we are indeed IN Christ Jesus, (meaning we have humbled ourselves and realized that we have no power, no way of attaining salvation by any sort of works, that we are sinners in need of a Savior Who can only be the One and Only God, Jesus Christ, we have accepted His sacrifice in our place on the cross, shed His blood to cover our sins) then we are no longer subject to any condemnation, no punishment for our sinful behavior BECAUSE Jesus has taken our place and PAID for our sins through HIS sacrificial death and resurrection!)
An Old Testament passage, Isaiah 26:17-21, is also very strongly inferential to the Rapture which was a “mystery” at the time but is revealed to us now. Notice that this is Old Testament prophecy from Isaiah, the Prophet to Judah, written 700 years before Jesus was born! “Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the Earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the Earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the Earth (the unsaved) for their iniquity: the Earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.”
Note the reference to the dead living and arising, along with the living, after much travail and suffering. Of course, Isaiah is referring to the Jews, and eventually to the Abomination of Desolation when those Jews left during the Tribulation will have to flee to a place, we think Petra, where God will protect them from the Antichrist indwelt by Satan himself for the remainder of the Tribulation or three and one-half years. But Isaiah is looking forward to a time when he will be raised from the dead, referring to the time when that will happen, the raising of the faithful dead of the Old Testament at the Second Coming of Christ just before the start of the Millennial Kingdom. But we also see the “mystery” of the Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ which will occur before the Time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) Trouble, our “arising”!
Another Pre-Tribulation Passage?
There is another verse that is often cited as proof that the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation begins but contains a word that many do not know has two different interpretations that can both be true at the same time adding tremendous meaning to this verse. It is 2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction…”
The reason it is often presented as evidence of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture is because it states that “the Day of the Lord” (The Tribulation) will not occur until “the apostasy comes first.” How does this relate to the timing of the Rapture? (The bulk of this information is derived from Bill Salus and prophecydepotministries.net) Because the word, “apostasy” (“apostasia”) means “departure”, and a departure can be a spiritual departure from the faith and also a physical departure such as the Rapture. And thus, this verse is saying that the spiritual departure of the Church, mirroring the Laodicean Church of Revelation Chapter 3 being neither cold or hot causing Christ to spew them out of His mouth, happens before the Antichrist appears, and the physical departure of the Church in the Rapture must occur before “the man of lawlessness” (the Antichrist) is revealed and the Tribulation begins.
I am always suspicious of biblical doctrines that are based on alternative translations. People who are straining to prove a doctrinal point, will often look in a Greek or Hebrew lexicon for the definition of a word and then will choose whichever one fits their pre-conceived doctrine. The problem with this approach is that the true meaning of words must always be determined by their context, not by the possible alternative definitions. But, in this case, let’s look a little deeper.
The Greek noun, “apostasia”, is used only twice in the New Testament. The other occurrence is in Acts 21:21 where it states that an accusation was made against Paul that he was “teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake [“apostasia”] Moses.”
The word is used in verb form a total of 15 times in the New Testament, and only three of these have anything to do with a departure from the faith (Luke 8:13, 1 Timothy 4:1, and Hebrews 3:12). In other settings, the word is used for departing from inquity (2 Timothy 2:19), departing from ungodly men (1 Timothy 6:5), departing from the temple (Luke 2:27), departing from the body (2 Corinthians 12:8), and departing from persons (Acts 12:10 and Luke 4:13).
This insight about the use and meaning of the word is certainly compelling, but what is most convincing is that the first seven English translations of the Bible rendered the noun, “apostasia”, as either “departure” or “departing.” Those early Bibles were The Wycliffe Bible (1384), The Tyndale Bible (1526), The Coverdale Bible (1535), The Cranmer Bible (1539), The Great Bible (1540), The Beeches Bible (1576), and The Geneva Bible (1608).
The Bible used by the Western world from 400 A.D. to the 1500s, Jerome’s Latin translation known as “The Vulgate”, rendered “apostasia” with the Latin word, “discessio”, which means “departure”!
The first translation of the word to mean apostasy in an English Bible did not occur until 1611 when the King James Version was issued. So, why did the King James translators introduce a completely new rendering of the word as “falling away”? The best guess is that they were taking a stab at the false teachings of Catholicism. The Catholics were “falling away” from Scripture, not reading the Bible, listening to Catholic teaching which often departs from God’s Word with ceremony, ritual, and adherence to men’s wisdom (the Pope).
Another interesting and significant point is that Paul used a definite article with the word “apostasia”. The significance of this is emphasized by Daniel Davey in a thesis he wrote for the Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary: Since the Greek language does not need an article to make the noun definite, it becomes clear that with the usage of the article, reference is being made to something in particular. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 the word “apostasia” is prefaced by the definite article which means that Paul is pointing to a particular type of departure clearly known to the Thessalonian church.
In light of this grammatical point, the use of the definite article would support the notion that Paul spoke of a clear, discernable point. And that point he had already identified in verse 1 of 2 Thessalonians when he stated that he was writing about “our gathering together to Him [Jesus].” This interpretation also corresponds to the point that Paul makes in verses 6 and 7 where he states that the man of lawlessness will not come until what “restrains” him “is taken out of the way.” And what is it that restrains evil in the world today? The Holy Spirit working through the Church. Of course, the Holy Spirit is God, and God is Omnipresent meaning He is always everywhere. So, how can the Holy Spirit be “taken out of the way”? The members of the true Church of Jesus Christ are all individually indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Because we are guided by and influenced by God, the Holy Spirit within us, when we are taken “out of the way” by the Rapture of the Church, the restraining influence that we have on the world and its politics and leadership will be removed thus allowing someone like the Antichrist to gain power and take over as Leader of the “Lost World” – a world without believers influenced by the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit does not leave or be “taken away”, all His people are the ones “taken away”. Evil will be free to dominate everything without much or even any opposition. But then comes the 144,000 Jewish evangelists of Revelation Chapter 7 who will evangelize the post-Rapture world, many will become Tribulation saints over the seven years of the Tribulation. Many of those new believers will die but be in Heaven waiting for the Second Coming to receive their resurrected bodies along with the Old Testament saints.
What About the Old Testament Saints?
You might say, “Well, did the Jews in the Old Testament believe they were going to have a resurrection?” Absolutely! They believed they were going to be raised from the dead. You remember the book of Hebrews, chapter 6, where the writer says, “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Messiah, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God.” That’s Old Testament theology of instruction about washings, laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Of course, the Old Testament saints believed in the resurrection of the dead. That was promised to them by God.
Job, chapter 19, verse 23, “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! That with an iron stylus and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the Earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes will see and not another.” Job believed in resurrection.
Psalm 16 tells about God not letting His holy one see corruption. And then Daniel, chapter 12, is the passage on resurrection, verse 1: “At that time (and this is looking at the end of the Day of the Lord) Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time.” That’s the time of tribulation – THE Tribulation, the period of the Day of the Lord. It follows the Rapture and comes before the final judgment, verse 2, “at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” There will be a resurrection of the unjust and the saints as well. The Old Testament teaches the resurrection of the body, and so does the New Testament, as we have found.
Notice what Jesus Christ said in Matthew 25:34 in reference to His earthly kingdom: “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The promise of God’s earthly kingdom goes all the way back to Adam when God first placed man on the Earth (Acts 3:21) and it continues with Israel from Genesis 12 onward until we come to Paul, and everything after our dispensation of the Age of Grace. Everyone justified before God from Adam all the way up to Pentecost have an earthly hope. The oldest Bible book, Job, makes it clear in Job 19:23-27 that these saints had a hope, not to die and go to Heaven [our hope], but a hope to be raised again and go into that earthly kingdom. “23Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, 24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! 25 I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
All who will be saved after our Dispensation of Grace, the Church Age from Pentecost to today, they too have an earthly hope – our Dispensation interrupts Israel’s prophetic and earthly program for about 2,000 years. Thus, all people saved unto eternal life outside of our Dispensation of Grace, outside of Paul’s ministry, they will all be resurrected together, for they all need go into the earthly kingdom that God promised them. They need to be resurrected after Jesus Christ comes back at His Second Coming, but before He initiates His kingdom on Earth, the Millennial Kingdom. After the Rapture (when the Church, the Body of Christ, is taken into Heaven), and after the seven-year Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to Earth (Revelation 19:11-21).
It is here on the Bible timeline that Revelation 20:4-6 will be fulfilled: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Note the believing Jews slain during the Tribulation, are clearly referenced in verse 4. These verses describe the “Old Testament saints’ resurrection” (those before Abraham) plus the resurrection of Israel’s kingdom saints (after Abraham but before Pentecost), both Jew and Gentile alike, and it will occur just after Jesus Christ returns to Earth at His Second Coming. Notice how verse 6 speaks of Israel’s ministry as a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:5-6; Isaiah 61:6; 1 Peter 2:8; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10).
According to Jesus Christ, Israel’s patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be resurrected to enter and reign in their kingdom; obviously from this verse, their resurrection would be before the 1,000 years begin – at this same time as the Tribulation saints and the Old Testament saints. Matthew 8:11: “And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven.”
Please understand that Israel’s 12 apostles also need to be resurrected before the Millennial Kingdom can begin, for they will sit on 12 thrones judging Israel’s 12 tribes in her kingdom: “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first” (Matthew 19:27-30). Mark records similar statements in Mark 10:28-31.
Conclusion
Is the pre-Tribulation doctrine true? The doctrine of the pre-Tribulation Rapture is not only valid, but it’s really the only choice we as believers have. Otherwise, we’re endorsing, knowingly or unknowingly, the un-biblical act of “works salvation”. That’s right, if we hold to any other view, except a pre-Tribulation Rapture, we are by default, holding to a works-based salvation because we somehow need to go through part or all of the Tribulation to “prove” our worthiness to enter Heaven. The Bible clearly teaches salvation is by faith alone. It also clearly and correspondingly teaches, a Rapture event will take place for all Christians, just prior to the Tribulation period. The timing of the Rapture is where most of the confusion or debate occurs.
The Bible, specifically the Book of Revelation, speaks about a unique group of people, who will come to faith in Jesus Christ during the Tribulation period. We commonly refer to this group as the Tribulation Saints. The distinction is no accident, a purposeful separation is made between the Bride or Church of Jesus Christ and the Tribulation Saints. It’s during the Tribulation that we are told of a coming time of judgment and wrath upon the entire world, one that ultimately ushers in the second coming of Jesus Christ. This time is the time of “Jacob’s Trouble” (Jeremiah 30) and a return of Daniel’s 70th week to fulfill that missing last week of years since 69 weeks of years have actually come to pass ending with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Daniel 9:24-27 describes a 70-week period (weeks, Hebrew “sevens”, of years totaling 490 calendar years) decreed by God for Israel and Jerusalem, with six specific goals to be accomplished:
- “Finish the transgression”
- “Make an end of sin”
- “Make atonement for iniquity”
- “Bring in everlasting righteousness”
- “Seal up vision and prophecy”
- “Anoint the most holy place”
The interpretation of this prophecy is divided into three periods:
- 69 weeks of years (7+62): From the decree to rebuild all of Jerusalem (the city, the walls, and the Temple) of Ezra 9:9 in 457 B.C. to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, 69 weeks of years must pass or 483 years making Jesus’ crucifixion happening in approximately 27 A.D. I know this messes with “established” dates, but we also know Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. making his effort to kill baby Jesus had to have happened in 5 or 6 B.C. Add 33 years to 6 B.C. and you reach 27 A.D. for the crucifixion, not 33 A.D.
- Gap: A period of unknown length between the crucifixion and the future 70th week of Daniel (also known as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7-9)) which now is very close to exactly 2,000 years – 27A.D. to 2027) fulfilling Hosea 6:2, “After two days (2,000 years) he will revive us (the Jews); on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence (the Millennial kingdom lasting 1,000 years).”
- 70th week: The final seven-year period, which has not yet been fulfilled and is called the Tribulation to return the Jews to their Messiah.
- The 70th week represents an end to the Age of Grace (because the Church is gone in the Rapture) and a return to the Age of the Law (because Daniel lived in the Age of the Law so his 70th week is part of the Age of the Law and not the Age of Grace – dispensations are important to grasp and understand (reference Hebrews 1:1))
The pre-Tribulation Rapture is the event which teaches that all Christians living just before the Tribulation, will be snatched out of this world and have their mortal bodies translated into immortal bodies after the dead in Christ precede us receiving the same. We are promised to eternally live with the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1-3). (Note the removing of US from the Earth, not Jesus coming TO the Earth.)
The Bible clearly says, the Antichrist will kill and overcome the Tribulation Saints. Also, we find no Rapture event depicted in the Book of Revelation for this group of people, the Tribulation Saints, which is very important. The Book of Revelation speaks of two resurrections. The first resurrection in the Book of Revelation is for the Tribulation Saints (since the Church is already in Heaven), who are martyred for Christ Jesus and have not taken the mark of the beast. The first resurrection mentioned in the Book of Revelation has no mention of the Church, the Bride of Christ, the marriage supper of the Lamb, nothing (Revelation 20:3-5). Those living during the Tribulation and coming to faith in Jesus Christ will take part in the first resurrection of the Book of Revelation, along with the Old Testament saints (Daniel 12:1,2; Isaiah 26:19; Revelation 20:3-5).
We can also see this group of Tribulation Saints in Revelation 6:9-11; 7:9-17: “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the Earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.” (Revelation 6:9-11).
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’ Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘My lord, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.’” (Revelation 7:9-17).
The Tribulation Saints will be separated out because of their sacrifice during the Tribulation period. These people alone will participate in the first resurrection of the Book of Revelation according to Revelation 20:4-7, “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
Those that insist on the Church being IN the Tribulation have a serious problem. If only the Tribulation Saints are resurrected first, it means the entire non-Tribulation Church, everyone from Christ until the Tribulation, will have to be resurrected at the second resurrection of the Book of Revelation. However, the second resurrection is called “The Great White Throne Judgment” (Revelation 20:11-15), the judgment of the unrighteous occurring at the END of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, and no one is looking forward to that one, not even those of us who just have to witness it. We will NEVER be judged AT ALL for sin since we are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. Obviously, the Church is not nor could never be suffering under God’s Wrath during the Tribulation for exactly what these Scripture verses tell us: 1 Thessalonians 1:10, “And to wait for his Son from Heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come”, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ”, and Revelation 3:10, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from (Greek “ek” meaning “out of”) the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the Earth.” Therefore, the Church is raptured BEFORE God’s Wrath which begins with the first Seal Judgment just after the peace treaty the Antichrist signs with Israel found in Daniel 9:27 at the beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week.
Besides the massive problem with the above, we also must accept another horrible reality of the Tribulation found in Revelation 13:7. Everyone IN the Tribulation who is a believer in Jesus Christ, and therefore a saint, must be overcome by Satan/Antichrist, which is clearly shown to occur, “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations”. During this period, the Tribulation Saints, since they are IN the Tribulation along with the entire world, are overcome by the Antichrist meaning subject to death which many will experience, but not all. Yet, Jesus said the Church would not, cannot be forever overcome by even the very gates of hell in Matthew 16:18, “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter (“petros” – small rock), and upon this rock (“petra”- huge rock Jesus) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Again, obviously, the Church is gone when this “overcoming” takes place inside the Tribulation. There will be survivors of the Antichrist and Satan because “righteous” humans will enter Christ’s Millennial Kingdom, but they will be under the domination of the Antichrist until Jesus’ Second Coming.
The Bible is very clear on these points. We are not protected through the coming Tribulation, we are protected from the Tribulation, kept “out of” God’s Wrath, all of which clearly demonstrates a removal before the Tribulation period. This perfectly harmonizes with the most prominent and clear Rapture verses, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 & 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
One additional fact – the Bride or Church, is situated in Heaven before the first resurrection of the Book of Revelation! Let me repeat this, “the Church is in Heaven BEFORE the first resurrection of the Book of Revelation!” Why would we need a resurrection if we’re already in Heaven? The Tribulation Saints will still be waiting for the first resurrection of the Book of Revelation to occur (Revelation 20:4-7), while the Bride or Church is in Heaven and has already experienced the promised marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 19:7-9 says, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”” The marriage Supper of the Lamb is exactly that – for those who are the Bride of Christ, the Church, that attends the “marriage” supper with the Bridegroom Jesus! Tribulation saints are not part of the Bride of Christ, are not given their resurrected bodies until the Second Coming of Christ which happens after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. A distinction of believers – of course! Old Testament saints who received righteousness because of their faith during the Age of the Law; New Testament saints because of their faith and acceptance of Lord and Savior and the Messiah Jesus Christ in the Age of Grace; and Tribulation saints who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and Messiah in the Tribulation, the 70th week of Daniel and back to the Age of the Law. In addition, there will be people born in the Millennium who come to acceptance of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and become Millennial saints.
Accordingly, if there is no Pre-Tribulation Rapture, the non-Tribulation Saints of the Church Age would have to wait for the second resurrection of the Book of Revelation to occur over a thousand years in the future. We should all have a massive problem with this belief because it means the Church would miss the Millennial reign of Christ, which we are promised to be with Him, and even worse, we are to be judged according to our deeds or works along with the unrighteous dead in that second resurrection! Revelation 20:11-15 says, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence Earth and Heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
One can make little sense of End Times prophecies without a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, which makes the two resurrections of the Book of Revelation major obstacles to reconcile, as does the empty promises of our redemption, and ultimately it would make Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross a needless act. The pre-Tribulation doctrine plays a significant role in the continuity and understanding of God’s eternal plan for mankind, the Church, and the judgment of the spiritual forces of darkness.
We can see the faithful Bride, the Church age believers throughout the ages that have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, receive the Lord’s promised salvation by faith in Christ and escape from any judgment of sin. We cannot add any personal good works to the perfect work of Christ upon the cross. It is through this perfect work of atonement by Jesus Christ that we are justified, made righteous, before a Holy God. And we can trust His promised protection from the coming wrath which will come upon the entire world. The precise timing of the Rapture is at His choosing. However, and thankfully, in the Bible, Jesus gives us many signs to be looking for, the greatest of which is the return of the Jews to Israel (1948) which started the End Times and restoration of Jerusalem (1967) pointing to the Jews being forever back in their chosen, Promised Land – both having already happened.
I do believe the time of the Rapture of the Church is extremely near, imminent, meaning it could occur very soon, perhaps today! Humble yourself, confess that you are a sinner, repent of your sins, and place your trust in Christ today because we are not promised a tomorrow – no one is! The time is quickly running out. The delaying of belief and faith in Christ will result in eternity in hell! So, receive the inexpressible promise of eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we say looking forward to the Rapture and no other End Time event, “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”