The Rapture

The biblical event referred to as the “rapture” is an often-used Christian term that carries with it much mystery and confusion. Just what is this event, and when will it occur? The first part of this question, that is, what is the rapture, is fairly easy to answer, and is generally agreed upon by conservative, mainstream Christians. However, when the rapture discussion arrives at the second part of the question, that is, the timing of this event, then we will find that some heavy debates will arise. In this study, the first part of our discussion will address the definition and description of the “rapture”, which will actually be the shorter part of this study. The second part of this discussion will address the timing of the rapture, which will take the lion’s share of the study. Though the timing of the rapture initially may not seem that important, in this study we will see how this issue carries with it many implications on how one interprets Scripture, and also how one defines certain key doctrines of Christianity such as the biblical definition of the Church and God’s future plans for Israel. However, before we get into the issue of the timing of the rapture, let’s first gain an understanding of the definition of this prophetic biblical event. Definition of the Rapture To begin with, the word “rapture” comes from the Latin word “rapere” found in the expression “caught up” in the Latin translation of I Thessalonians 4:17, “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.” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 4:17) The actual Greek work being translated “caught up” is “harpazo.” This Greek word “harpazo” refers to a seizing or a snatching away by a force that cannot be resisted. We see an example of the meaning of this word, “harpazo,” in the following passage, “Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks.” (NKJ: Acts 23:10) In this passage, the phrase “take him by force” is the translation of the Greek word “harpazo.” The word “rapture”, used in a biblical context, is used to refer to an event in which Jesus Christ will come to take His Church, that is Christians both alive and dead, back with Him to heaven. The rapture of the Church should not be confused with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which is a completely separate event. These two events being separate is evidenced in part by the timing of the rapture, which we will discuss later in this study, and other inconsistencies between the two events such as with the rapture we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air; whereas, with the Second Coming we are coming down from heaven with the Lord (cf. I Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 19:11-14). The primary three passages in the Bible that are looked to as the core passages describing the rapture are I Thessalonians 4:13-18, John 14:1-3, and I Corinthians 15:51-53. Let us first review these passages, and then we can glean some insights from them regarding the rapture: “13But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15For 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. 16For 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. 17Then 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. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 4:13-18) “1’Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In 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. 3And 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’.” (NKJ: John 14:1-3) “51Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--52in 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. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 15:51-53) (It should be noted that the Greek word translated “mystery” refers to a divine truth, purposed by God in the past, but now being revealed to men. We can see this exemplified in the two following verses: “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith…” (Romans 16:25-26) & “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew….But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 2:7-10)) I mention this to clarify for the reader that the reference to the “rapture” as a “mystery” does not mean that it is something that cannot be understood, but that it is an event that was previously not known or understood, but is now being revealed by God to us. As we are told in the passage from I Thessalonians, the rapture is the coming of Jesus Christ from heaven to gather to Himself all the Christian believers (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). Those Christians that have already died previous to His coming will be taken first, then immediately after we who are still alive will be taken (I Thessalonians 4:16-17). However, don’t be confused by the order of those taken, that is, first the dead will be raptured and then those who are alive. We all, those Christians both dead and alive, will be taken in an instant, or as we are told in I Corinthians, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…” (NKJ: I Corinthians 15:52) This event will happen so fast that it most likely will not even be seen by those who remain here on earth. One moment there is someone standing there, and the next moment they are gone. What a glorious time this will be, for we are told that when we who are raptured from the earth will then be met by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in the sky to take us all home to heaven to be with Him forever (I Thessalonians 4:17). He will take us to heaven where He has prepared for each of us the most marvelous of eternal dwelling places of which He has been preparing for us since He left this earth (John 14:1-3). Furthermore, we will receive our new spiritual bodies at this time. These bodies will be perfect, and will stay perfect for eternity (I Corinthians 15:52-53). What a marvelous eternal future we, as Christians, have to look forward to. No wonder Paul could say to the Corinthian church, after describing the rapture to them, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 4:18) We too should find comfort in Paul’s words to the Thessalonian church regarding the rapture, and our future eternity in heaven with our Lord. Our life here on earth is but for a moment compared to our eternal future—a future of perfect happiness and joy with no pain or sorrow ever again. This world can throw at us many forms of problems and trials, but when compared to our secure eternal future, they are but for a moment. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (NKJ: II Corinthians 4:17-18) As Christians, our afflictions are light compared to our future eternal glory. Furthermore, our focus should not be on those temporal things that are visible here on earth, but should be on those things that are not seen, which are in heaven, that possess infinite value. Yes, the rapture is an event that should bring comfort to each and every one of us that calls Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior. The Church and Israel’s Destiny To gain a proper understanding of the rapture, more particular, its purpose and timing, one must have a good understanding of the purpose of the “Church” and of the destiny of Israel. Without such an understanding, proper interpretation of prophetic Scriptures will be difficult to impossible. The Church To properly understand the rapture, one must have a good understanding of what is referred to in the Bible as “the church”, or, more specifically the church spoken of by Jesus Christ in Matthew 16:18. For with a misunderstanding of this biblical term, one may also have a misunderstanding of the rapture and its purpose. The Greek word translated “church”, ekklesia, is used in several ways in the New Testament. It can refer to general gatherings of people for religious or non-religious purposes, and it can refer to Christendom in general. However, it also refers to “the body of Christ”, that is, the church that Jesus Christ said He would build. Jesus referred to His building of the Church in the book of Matthew, “Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.’” (NKJ: Matthew 16:16-18) The “rock” that Jesus refers to here is not Peter, as some believe, but is his confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus Christ is the foundation on which Christianity and the church rest upon, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 3:11) Jesus’ reference to building His church is pointing to the future, that is, it had not yet been built. It could not be built until Jesus Christ laid down its foundation, and that foundation would be His dieing on the Cross for our sins, and then being raised up in glory. This is the gospel (gospel means “good news”) message according to Paul, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…” (NKJ: I Corinthians 15:1-4) Thus, upon the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, the foundation of the church was laid, or as it is also called, “the body of Christ”, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 12:27) (cf. Ephesians 4:11-12) And just as the church has a beginning, it will also have an end. The Church, or Church period, has a definite beginning in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the hearts of those who accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 12:13-14) In Acts 1:5 Jesus tells his disciples, “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (NKJ: Acts 1:5) The Holy Spirit, in Acts 2, subsequently comes upon those who accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, thus fulfilling the words of Jesus Christ. Peter later refers back to this event as “the beginning”, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.” (NKJ: Acts 11:15) Thus we had the beginning of the Church. And just as we had a beginning of the Church, we will also have an ending when Jesus Christ comes to take away, or rapture, His Church up to heaven. Those who will be saved subsequent to the rapture will not be part of the Church referred to by Jesus Christ, even though these people will be saved through the same faith in Jesus Christ as that of those in the “Church.” One way we know that the Church period will have a definite ending is that during the seven-year period known as the “Great Tribulation” the antichrist will be given authority to prevail against the saints, i.e. Christians, present at that time, “It was granted to him (the antichrist) to make war with the saints and to overcome them.” (NKJ: Revelation 13:7) This verse states that the antichrist, who is given power by Satan (synonymous with “the gates of Hades” mentioned in the previous passage from the book of Matthew) will be able to successfully prevail against the saints and will overcome them. This directly contradicts one of the attributes of the Church spoken of by Jesus Christ, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (NKJ: Matthew 16:18) Therefore, these saints during the Tribulation period are not part of the Church, or rather, they are not part of the Church period stretching from the day of Pentecost (in Acts 2) up till the rapture. Another point to note in the uniqueness of the church is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Only during this Church period do we see the Holy Spirit dwelling inside the Christian believer (cf. I Corinthians 6:19). This was not the case in the Old Testament, nor do we have any reference of such an indwelling during the Great Tribulation or in the millennial kingdom period that follows. In the millennial kingdom, God and Jesus Christ are dwelling with us, but are never referred to as living within us. Prior to the beginning of the Church period, God was working in the world through Israel. However, after Jesus Christ died for our sins, and then was raised up in glory, God changed gears and began working in the world not through Israel, but began working in the world through the His Church, that is, both gentiles and Jews who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And, whereas before, i.e. in Old Testament times, God’s message was directed to the Jews, now His message is directed to the entire world, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” (NKJ: Matthew 28:18-20) God will later turn his attention back onto Israel once He has completed His work in the world through the Church. The period we are currently living in, that is, the Church age, has the Church as God’s instrument through which He is ministering to the world. For God’s focus to return to Israel, the Church must be removed from the scene, that is, the rapture. Once the Church period has ended, God will redirect His focus back on to Israel and their prophetic destiny. By no means does this mean that the Holy Spirit will not be working in the hearts of the gentiles to bring them to a saving belief in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will still be reaching out to the hearts of each and every person on earth, both Jew and Gentile, and, as before, it will be up to each individual person to either receive or reject His calling. However, after the church is raptured, the Holy Spirit will not be working through Christians corporately, that is as one body, as He is doing now through the church. In summary, the Church relates to those Christians who have come to a saving belief in Jesus Christ from the day of Pentecost to the time of the rapture of all Christians to heaven. The purpose of the Church is to be God’s instrument through which to minister the gospel message to the world, both Jew and Gentile. Israel’s Destiny A proper understanding of Israel’s biblical prophetic destiny is critical to properly interpreting end-times prophecy. The key point to know is that Israel’s covenant with God was not contingent upon their behavior. Yes, there would be consequences for their rebellion against God in the form of punishment through their being conquered and dispersed as a nation. However, God never turned his back on His promises to them. This can be clearly seen in the following passage: “’When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.’” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 4:25-31) God is clearly not through with Israel. He has a definite plan for their future, and He will see to it that they fulfill their prophetic destiny. God chose the Jews to be His special people--special in that through that nation of people, God would show Himself to the world through miraculous signs and wonders, He would speak to the world through emissaries called prophets, and through their lineage would come the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Israel is special because God chose them, not because of anything special in them—just as we, as Christians, are not special because of anything we have done, but because God chose us as His children solely based on our decision to accepted His Son as Lord and Savior of our lives. God, in speaking about bringing the Jews back into the land of Israel in the last days, said, ““Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, ‘when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.’” (NKJ: Ezekiel 36:22-24) Based on this passage, we can clearly see that first, God still recognizes the Jewish nation of Israel as His chosen people. Furthermore, as mentioned previously, God has made it clear that even though Israel has greatly sinned, He will still honor His covenant with them, not for their sake, but to show His glory to the world through miraculously restoring Israel as a nation. For in the restoration of Israel, none of the glory is given to man, but all to God, “And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.’” (NKJ: Isaiah 49:3) One misinterpretation of the Bible, in relation to Israel, is a belief that the Jewish nation of Israel has forfeited her relationship with God due to her sinful rebellion, and that the Church is now the new Israel. Simply put, this belief contradicts all the promises that God unconditionally gave to Israel, and makes Him out to be liar. In addition to God’s unconditional covenants given to Israel, Israel both in the Old Testament and the New Testament has always referred to the Jews, and is separate and distinct from gentiles and the Church. This is made clear from the following verses: - “Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 10:32) Not only do we have in this verse a distinction between Jews and the Church, but also of the gentiles. In essence, there are three general groups of people-Jews, Gentiles (the Greeks), and the church.-during the Church age. - “And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.” (NKJ: Accts 5:21) Clearly here with the gathering of people in the temple, the reference to “the elders of the children of Israel” points directly to the fact that Israel refers to the Jews and not the Church. The Jews have already returned to their land of Israel, and have reestablished it has their nation against impossible odds. Surely God’s hand was guiding their every step. From a biblical standpoint, Israel has and always will represent the nation of the Jews. The Relationship Between Israel and The Church One of the keys to understanding prophecy, and the relationship between the Church and Israel, is found in the book of Daniel. In chapter 9 of Daniel we read: 24“’Seventyweeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. 25Know therefore and understand,that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. 26And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; 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. 27Then 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.’” (NKJ: Daniel 9:24-27) Volumes of commentary can and have been written on this passage, but for our purposes, I would like to just highlight a couple of items. In this passage, which is referred to as the “Seventy Weeks of Daniel” by many students of the Bible, we are given an outline of world history. This passage outlines the future for Israel. One key to understanding this passage is that the Hebrew word for “week” refers to weeks of years, or periods of seven weeks, for example, sixty-nine weeks is actually 69 times 7 years, or 483 years. In this passage, we are told that there will be a period of 69 weeks (7 weeks plus 62 weeks) between when the command to rebuild Jerusalem is made to when the Messiah comes. Then verse twenty-seven talks of one week that most scholars agree refers to the seven-year Tribulation period. But what about the period in between the sixty-nine weeks and one week, that is, the period from the Messiah coming to the beginning of the Tribulation period. Arguably, this is the period of the Church age, where God temporarily refocuses is ministry to the world from Israel to the gentiles. But notice that this period of the Church age has a definite ending, that is, when the seventieth week begins, and God’s attention is again refocused on Israel. What happens to the Church when God’s attention switches back to Israel? Well, this leads us into our next section of this study, that is, the timing of the rapture. There are various beliefs on the timing of the rapture, with the two predominant beliefs being what is referred to as Pre-Tribulation rapture, where the church is taken prior to the Tribulation period, and the Post-Tribulation rapture, where the church is taken at the end of the Tribulation period. Some will point to this argument of when the rapture will occur as trivial; however, I would beg to differ. For one’s belief on when the rapture will occur will have a profound effect on other areas of Christian doctrine. I will say to the reader right up front that I am an ardent pre-Tribulation rapture believer, and, in the following discussion, I will attempt to lay out the biblical groundwork for this position. Along the way I will point out the other areas of Christian doctrine that the rapture question touches. The Timing of The Rapture SUMMARY OF THE RAPTURE VIEWS To begin this section, let’s first review the various views concerning the timing of the rapture: Pre-Tribulation Rapture The pre-tribulation view of the rapture predicts that our Lord Jesus Christ will come for His church prior to the seven-year Tribulation period. With this view, we have a literal interpretation of eschatological (end times) events, and maintain the belief that Jesus Christ can come at any time. From a Scriptural standpoint, as we will discuss later in our study, this view is by far the most consistent with the Scriptures when compared to the other views. Post-Tribulation Rapture The post-tribulation view predicts that Christ will come for His church at the end of the Tribulation, either an instant before it ends or a short time before its end. Next to the pre-Tribulation rapture view, this is the most followed view. An indepth discussion on the inconsistencies of the post-Tribulation view is beyond the scope of this study. However, for purposes of our study, I will note several of these inconsistencies (note: the post-Tribulation view actually has several variants; therefore, depending on the specific variant being discussed, not all of the following inconsistencies may apply): 1) Incorrect interpretation of the church: The post-Tribulation rapture view states that the Church, or Church period, does not end before the Tribulation period. They hold that the church is synonymous with “saints” and “the elect”, which, as we will discuss further in our study, is not correct. Some views even hold that future Israel is actually the Church, which was discussed previously as being an incorrect interpretation. 2) Confusion between tribulation and the Great Tribulation: The post-Tribulation rapture will argue that the Bible says that Christians will go through tribulation; therefore, it would follow that they would go through the seven-year period known as the Great Tribulation. It is true that the Bible tells all Christians that they will go through trials and tribulations in their life: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (NKJ: John 16:33) “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (NKJ: Romans 5:3-4) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (NKJ: II Corinthians 1:3-4) “Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.” (NKJ: II Corinthians 7:4) “For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 3:4) But this tribulation is from the world not from God; whereas, the terrible events occurring during the seven-year Great Tribulation period are directly from God. In addition, in regards to the tribulation Christians will face from the world, we are to find joy and are to grow spiritually, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (NKJ: James 1:2-4) This is not true during the seven-year Great Tribulation in which God’s wrath will be poured out onto the world because of their sin and rebellion against God: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (NKJ: Matthew 24:21) “Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” (NKJ: Jeremiah 30:7) “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.” (NKJ: Daniel 12:1) There is a distinct difference between the tribulation we face in our every-day walk, and the seven-year period referred to as the Great Tribulation. 3) Misinterpretation of “enduring to the end”: Various Scriptures make mention of Christians “enduring to the end” through tribulations. Again, similar to item 2 above, interpreting “to the end” as meaning to the end of the seven-year Tribulation period has no basis. We are encouraged to endure through our trials depending on our Lord to enable us. The phrase “to the end” could mean to the end of the trial or to the end of our earthly lives, but taking this to specifically mean enduring to the end of the Great Tribulation would be a tremendous stretch. For a more in depth study on the post-Tribulation rapture view and the interpretational problems therein, I would recommend the book, “The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation,” by John F. Walvoord. Mid-Tribulation Rapture The mid-tribulation rapture view predicts that Christ will rapture His church in the middle of the Tribulation. This views the two-witnesses as symbolic of the Church witnessing to the world during the first three and one-half years of the Tribulation, and the rapture actually occurring in Revelation 11:11-12, “Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.” (NKJ: Revelation 11:11-12) This symbolic interpretation has no basis, and does not fit based on the description given to these two witnesses. For example, these two witness have powers similar to Elijah and Moses, ‘And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.” (NKJ: Revelation 11:5-6) There is no Scriptural basis for assigning such powers to all Christians. Furthermore, at the end of their ministry the two witnesses are killed by the beast, and their two bodies are left in the streets of Jerusalem for three and one-half days (Revelation 11:7-10). Obviously, all the saints will not be killed at once and have their bodies heaped on the city streets of Jerusalem. The mid-Tribulation view limits the time of God’s Wrath on the world to the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation. However, during the first three and one-half years of the Tribulation, we have many judgments of God coming against the world (see the chart of events in the next section). Furthermore, the mid-Tribulation rapture view interprets the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15, “Then the seventh angel sounded,” as the “last trump” of I Corinthians 15:52, “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.” This is incorrect for several reasons. First, the two witnesses are raptured prior to this seventh trumpet blowing, that is, three verses prior. Therefore, the rapture of the two witnesses is part of the sixth trumpet, and not the seventh and final trumpet. Secondly, the seven angels blow trumpets of judgments not blessings. This would mean that even if the rapture of the two witnesses occurred subsequent to the seventh trumpet, the trumpet would not be heralding the good news of the gathering of the saints up into heaven, but would be heralding the beginning of the seven vial judgments on the earth during the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation. Clearly, the mid-Tribulation rapture view is inconsistent with the Scriptures, and does not warrant further consideration. Partial Rapture The partial-rapture view holds that the rapture will occur pre-Tribulation, but only those Christians leading a consecrated life at the time of the rapture will be taken. Those not living their lives in accordance with biblical guidelines will remain on earth and will have to go through the rapture. This view can be quickly discarded since it rests on a foundation of works over faith. As we read in Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (NKJ: Ephesians 2:8-9) Clearly we are saved through our faith in Jesus Christ, apart from works. Furthermore, those who are saved are viewed by God through the work of the Cross, and, hence, we are pure and clean in his sight, “…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love…” For if the requirement for inclusion in the rapture rested on how we are living our lives according to the Scriptures, then no one would be included for there is not one of us who can say that we live a perfect life, “For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” (NKJ: Romans 3:22-24) This view of the rapture is obviously inconsistent with Scripture, and is not deserving of further discussion. Pre-Wrath Rapture This relatively new view of the rapture has the Church being raptured during the middle of the last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. In all candor, this has been thoroughly dismissed by practically all, if not all, well-grounded biblical scholars as a ridiculous and completely unfounded interpretation of the rapture. I only mention this view due to the fact that it is a view being circulated in some Christian circles. Further discussion is not considered necessary. SUMMARY OF THE SEVEN-YEAR GREAT TRIBULATION EVENTS To more fully grasp the terrible nature of the seven-year Tribulation period, and to better understand the purpose and timing of the rapture, the following is a chronological summary of the major judgments that God will bring upon the earth due to the sinful and rebellious acts of her inhabitants. However, before continuing, I must in good conscience note that the following timing of events during the seven-year tribulation period is debatable. I would say that the following timing of events is most probably the more generally held view, but there is some debate among students of the Bible. Beginning of the Tribulation: The Tribulation period begins with the antichrist making a covenant, probably some form of a peace agreement, with Israel, “Then he (the antichrist) shall confirm a covenant with many (Israel) for one week…” (NKJ: Daniel 9:27) (Note: The word “week” actually refers to a week of years, or seven years) Events During the First Three and One-Half Years: First Seal Judgment (Revelation 6:1-2): Antichrist begins to take over various countries. Second Seal Judgment (Revelation 6:3-4): War on the earth begins with devastating loss of lives. Third Seal Judgment (Revelation 6:5-6): Worldwide famine occurs. Fourth Seal Judgment (Revelation 6;7-8): Worldwide sickness and disease occurs. One-quarter of the earth’s population dies. Fifth Seal Judgment (Revelation 6:9-11): Tribulation Saints are being killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. Sixth Seal Judgment (Revelation 6:12-17): A devastating worldwide earthquake occurs. Seventh Seal Judgment (Revelation 8:1-5): Another great earthquake occurs accompanied by great thunder and lightning. First Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 8:7): Hail and fire fall on the earth destroying one-third of the trees and all the grass. Second Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 8:8-9): Something like a burning mountain, probably a meteor, crashes into the sea causing great devastation. One-third of all sea life and one-third of all shipping vessels are destroyed. Third Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 8:10-11): A burning star, either another meteor or possibly weaponry missiles, fall on the earth destroying one-third of the earth water sources, that is, rivers and springs. Many people will die as a result. Fourth Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 8:12): A cataclysmic event occurs causing one-third of all heavenly light sources, i.e. sun, moon, and stars, to be darkened. Fifth Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 9:1-11): Demonic locust-like beasts, with sharp teeth and scorpion-like tails will be released from beneath the earth. They will inflict much pain on the people of the earth for five months. Sixth Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 9:13-19): An army of two-hundred million with modern weaponry (note: John, the writer of Revelation, is describing a scene from his perspective, never having seen even the simplest of machinery; therefore, this description would fit that of modern aircraft and their related weaponry) make war on the earth, and one-third of the remaining population on the earth are killed (assuming the starting population is ~4 billion, and ~1 billion were previously killed by the fourth seal judgment, the population would be 3 billion; therefore, this war would kill another billion people). The Two Witnesses of God (Revelation 11:3-12): The two witnesses given power by God to witness to the world for three and one-half years are killed, lie dead in the streets for three and one-half days, are raised again to life, and then taken up to heaven in the sight of all. Seventh Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 11:15-19): Worldwide lightning, thundering, great hail, and an earthquake. Events During the Last Three and One-Half Years: The antichrist is given worldwide authority for three and one-half years (Revelation 13:3-7). The “Tribulation Saints” are overcome by the antichrist (Revelation 13:7, Daniel 7:25). The antichrist comes against Israel (Daniel 9:27, Jeremiah 30:7, Revelation 12:6) First Vial Judgment (Revelation 16:2): Sores come on all people who have taken the mark of the beast. Second Vial Judgment (Revelation 16:3): The water of the sea is corrupted, and all sea creatures die. Third Vial Judgment (Revelation 16:4): All of the water sources, rivers and springs, are corrupted and become undrinkable. Fourth Vial Judgment (Revelation 16:8): The sun’s rays become intense, scorching people and the earth, causing great pain. Fifth Vial Judgment (Revelation 16:10-11): Absolute darkness falls on the earth. Sixth Vial Judgment (Revelation 16:12-16): Armies begin to gather in an area called Armageddon to prepare for battle. Seventh Vial Judgment (Revelation 16:17-21): The greatest of all earthquakes devastates the earth along with giant hailstones, ~100 pounds in weight, falling from the sky. The End of the Tribulation Period: Armageddon and The Second Coming of Christ (Revelation 19:11-21): Jesus Christ returns with the raptured Saints from heaven, and defeats all the armies of the earth that have gathered against Him. ARGUMENTS FOR A PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE As we have previously discussed, there are various views regarding the timing of the rapture, and only one of these views can be correct. The predominant view held by those students of the Bible who view the Bible in a literal sense, that is, those who steer away from allegorizing or over-symbolization of Scriptures, is that of a pre-Tribulation view. The following are some of the Scriptural arguments supporting the pre-Tribulation view of the rapture: A Pre-Tribulation View is Consistent with God’s Promise to Save Christians from His Wrath The seven-year period of the Great Tribulation, as outlined previously, will be a time when God pours out His wrath upon the world for their rejection of His Son witnessed by their rebellion and evil acts: - “And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (NKJ: Revelation 6:15-17) - “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.” (NKJ: Revelation 15:1) - “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.’” (NKJ: Revelation 16:1) - “Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. ‘I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, a man more than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.’” (NKJ: Isaiah 13: 9-13) However, in the Bible we, as Christians, are promised to be saved from God’s wrath: - “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (NKJ: Romans 5:9) - “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 overtake 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 who 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.” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 5:2-9) - “…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 1:10) - “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, to test those who dwell on the earth.” (NKJ: Revelation 3:10) Note that the Greek word for “from”, (Greek, ek), literally means “out of” as opposed to “through.” That is, God is not going to preserve the Church through the seven-year Great Tribulation, but will take the Church out of it. By no means are we not deserving of God’s wrath because of our sins, but through the work of our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the Cross, we have been spared from God’s wrath. For while our Savior was on the Cross, He took on the sins of the whole world and also received upon Himself God’s wrath for those sins. Every person who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior receives the free gift of salvation, and they will also be spared from God’s wrath to come on this world. The Tribulation period is the pouring out of God’s wrath on the world; therefore, the Church cannot be present during this time based on God’s promise to us in His Word A Pre-Tribulation View Supports the Biblical View that Christians Should Maintain a Constant Expectation of the Return of Their Savior The Bible teaches us that we should be ever expectant of the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are told that His return may occur at any time. This biblical teaching of an ongoing expectancy for the return of Jesus Christ is very evident in the following verses: - “’But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 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. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore (keep watching), for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’” (NKJ: Matthew 24:36-44) - “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (NKJ: Matthew 25:13) - “’Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.’” (NKJ: Luke 21:36) - “’Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!’” (NKJ: Mark 13:33-37) - “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” (NKJ: Revelation 16:15) - “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (NKJ: Luke 12:35-40) - “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…” (NKJ: Philippians 3:20) - “Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” (NKJ: Philippians 4:5) - “…looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…” (NKJ: Titus 2:13) - “To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” (NKJ: Hebrews 9:28) - “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (NKJ: James 5:7-9) However, for this to be possible, that is, for the return of Jesus Christ to rapture Christians to be able to happen at any time, the rapture must happen prior to the Tribulation period; otherwise, Jesus Christ cannot come at any time because the Tribulation period must occur first. In fact, instead of Christians looking for Jesus Christ, the other rapture scenarios would have us looking for the Anti-Christ and the Tribulation. A pre-tribulation belief presupposes that Jesus Christ may return to rapture His Church at any time. The belief in the imminent return of Jesus Christ will yield in the holder of this view at least two extremely positive attributes: a more holy lifestyle and an evangelistic nature. Those who are looking for His return will be more conscious of their lifestyle as it relates to biblical principles. We read in I John, “…but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him (referring to his coming) purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (NKJ: I John 3:2-3) Thus, as in all of God’s Word, the reality of a pre-tribulation rapture will serve as an encouragement to all Christians to follow God’s Word in their lives. Furthermore, knowing that He could come at any moment gives one a sense of urgency to share the gospel with the unsaved. If anything other than a pre-tribulation view is taken, then Christians would not be looking for the return of Jesus Christ to rapture them to heaven, but would be looking for the events that must prophetically occur prior to the rapture. Thus, instead of a hopeful and excited expectation of their Savior’s coming to take them home, Christians would fearfully be looking for the coming of the anti-Christ and an ensuing period of suffering. This is not consistent with what the Bible tells us about our expectation for the rapture as we will look at in the next section. A Pre-Tribulation View Supports the Biblical View That Thoughts of the Rapture Should Bring Comfort to Christians The Apostle Paul, after finishing explaining the event of the rapture to the Thessalonians, tells the Thessalonians that they should find comfort in the words he spoke regarding the rapture: “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. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 4:13-18) Now, if the rapture was to occur prior to the Tribulation period and the coming of the Anti-Christ, then these words would truly bring exceeding comfort to those in Thessalonica for they would be looking for their Savior to come and take them to heaven prior to these awful events that are to come. However, if the rapture is to occur at the end of or in the middle of the Tribulation period, then Paul’s words would truly not be of comfort since, prior to our Lord’s coming to rapture all Christians to heaven, they would have to endure through some very terrible times. Therefore, for the above passage to make biblical sense, the pre-Tribulation viewpoint would need to be true. A Pre-Tribulation Viewpoint is Consistent With The Biblical Teaching That We Do Not And Will Not Know The Exact Time of His Coming The Bible is very clear that we will not know when Jesus Christ will come to rapture His Church. This concept of an unknown time for the rapture is evident in the following verse: “’But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 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. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’” (NKJ: Matthew 24:36-44) However, with the beginning of the Tribulation period, biblical events are laid out in very accurate order with exact timing in days. The following are some examples of the exact timing of events during the Tribulation period: - “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.’” (NKJ: Daniel 9:24-27) This verse in Daniel indicates the event that will signal the beginning of the Tribulation period. The Tribulation period will begin when the Anti-Christ forms some form of agreement between the Jewish nation of Israel and other nations that will bring a miraculous peace to that area. Exactly midway into this seven-year period (prophetically, a year is 360 days), the Anti-Christ will break his agreement and turn against the Jews in Israel bring and end to their worshipping of God. This breaking of His agreement is also spoken of the following verses, “Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.” (NKJ: Daniel 12:7-12) AND “Then the woman (symbolizing the Jews in Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” (Revelation 12:6) - “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” (Revelation 11:3) With a pre-Tribulation rapture, we have no idea when our Lord will come for us. It could be in minutes or years. However, with those views that have the rapture occurring at the end of or in the middle of the Tribulation period, we would have Christians knowing precisely when our Lord was coming based on the prophetic events that were occurring in the world. Therefore, only a pre-Tribulation viewpoint is consistent with the Scriptures in that we will not know the exact timing of the rapture. A Pre-Tribulation View of The Rapture is Consistent With The Biblical View of Church Being Referred To As The Bride of Christ In the Bible, Christians during the period between Christ’s crucifixion and the rapture are referred to as the bride of Christ: - “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” (NKJ: II Corinthians 11:2) - “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (NKJ: John 3:29-30) - “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.” (Revelation 19:7-8) - “And Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (NKJ: Matthew 9:15) - “Husbands, love your wives, just 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. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” (NKJ: Ephesians 5:25-32) In this verse, Paul appears to be talking only about husbands and wives, but then takes this passage and analogizes the relationship to Christ and the church, that is, Christ as the bridegroom and the Church as the bride. To gain some insight into this biblical analogy of the Church being the bride of Christ, let us take a brief look at the Jewish wedding process back during the time period of the writing of the New Testament. Jewish Betrothal (“The Rapture” tape notes, Chuck Missler, Koinonia House—notes in [] were added for emphasis) The first step, the Ketubah, or betrothal, was the establishment of the marriage covenant, usually when the prospective bridegroom took the initiative, negotiating the price (mohair) he must pay to purchase her. [Our Lord and Savior paid the price for us, His church, when he died on the Cross for our sins] Once the bridegroom paid the purchase price, the marriage covenant was established, and the young man and woman were regarded as husband and wife. From that moment on, the bride was declared to be consecrated or sanctified—set apart—exclusively for her bridegroom. As a symbol of the covenant relationship that had been established, the groom and bride drank from a cup of wine over which the betrothal had been pronounced. [Matthew 26:27-30: The Christian communion is a celebration of our covenant marriage relationship with our Lord in which we partake of wine in remembrance of our Lord and Savior, and His saving work on the Cross] After the marriage covenant was established, the groom left his bride at her home and returned to his father’s house, where he remained separated from his bride for approximately 12 months. This afforded the bride time to gather her trousseau and prepare for married life. During this period of separation, the groom prepared a dwelling place in his father’s house, to which he would later bring his bride. [John 14:1-3: Jesus Christ left this earth to go to heaven, His Father’s house, to prepare our eternal dwelling places. He will later be returning for us to take us their to be with Him.] At the end of the period of separation, the bridegroom came—usually at night—to take his bride to live with him. The groom, the best man, and other male escorts left the father’s house and conducted a torch-light procession to the home of the bride. Although the bride was expecting her groom to come for her, she did not know the time of his coming. As a result, the groom’s arrival was preceded by a shout, which announced her imminent departure to be gathered with him. [I Thessalonians 4:16: The Lord will be coming for us at a time that we do not know, preceded by a loud shout and a trumpet call] After the groom received his bride, together with her female attendants, the enlarged wedding party returned from the bride’s home to the groom’s father’s house, where the wedding guests had assembled. Shortly after their arrival, the bride and groom were escorted by the other members of the wedding party to the bridal chamber (huppah). Prior to entering the chamber, the bride remained veiled so that no one could see her face. While the groomsmen and bridesmaids waited outside, the bride and groom entered the bridal chamber alone. There, in the privacy of that place, they entered into physical union for the first time, thereby consummating the marriage that had been covenanted approximately one year earlier. After the marriage was consummated, the groom came out of the bridal chamber and announced the consummation of the marriage to the members of the wedding party waiting outside. Then, as the groom went back to his bride in the chambers, the members of the wedding party returned to the wedding guests and announced the consummation of the marriage. Upon receiving the good news, the wedding guests remained in the groom’s father’s house for the next seven days, celebrating with a great wedding feast. [Revelation 19:7-9: Those who received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will partake of the “marriage supper of the Lamb (Jesus Christ)” in heaven, and we will remain in heaven for seven years until the end of the Tribulation period.] During the seven days of the wedding feast, the bride and groom remained hidden in the bridal chamber (cf. Genesis 29:21-23, 27-28) for the seven days of the huppah. [Isaiah 26:20-21: We are given an illusion to this period of time where the Church will be hidden in heaven for a period of time, that is, until God has finished pouring His wrath out onto the world, in the book of Isaiah] Afterwards, the groom came out of hiding, bringing his bride with him, but with her veil removed, so that everyone could see her. [Revelation 19:11-15: At the end of the Tribulation period, Jesus Christ will return with His bride, the Church, to earth to destroy all those who rebelled against God.] Obviously, the entire wedding period is a time of excitement and joy for the bride, and a time of which the bridegroom is trying to make his bride feel very special. A pre-Tribulation view of the rapture would be consistent with this joyous wedding process where the Lord would come and take us, His bride the Church, and whisk us up into heaven where there would be celebration and the wedding feast. However, what kind of scenario would be had if the rapture were to happen at the end or in the middle of the Tribulation period? This would mean that the Church, the Lord’s bride, would have to endure through God’s wrath being poured out onto the world before they could be raptured up to heaven. Or, in other words, this would be like the groom, before taking his lovely bride to his home, severely beating her up, and then taking her to his home to enjoy the festivities and the wedding supper. Would this make sense? I do not believe so. For the Church to be properly referred to as the bride of Christ, the Church must be removed from the earth prior to God’s wrath being poured out onto the world. Otherwise, this reference to the Church as the bride of Christ would make no biblical sense. A Pre-Tribulation View of The Rapture is Consistent With The Church Not Being Present During The Tribulation Period The Church is conspicuously absent during the seven-year Tribulation period. This absence is evidenced in two different ways. First, The “Church” is missing from Revelation, Chapters 6 thru 18, which represent and detail out the seven-year Tribulation period. However, the word “Church” is used 19 times in Chapters 1 thru 3, which are pre-Tribulation chapters, then again it is used in Chapter 22, the last chapter of the book of Revelation, which is subsequent to the seven-year Tribulation period. Why this mysterious gap in references to the Church in the book of Revelation? This “gap” would point heavily to a conclusion that the Church is not on this earth during the seven-year Tribulation period. Further evidence that the Church is not present during the seven-year Tribulation period comes from our Lord and Savior Himself. In the book of Matthew, our Savior states, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (NKJ: Matthew 16:18) Jesus Christ states that the gates of Hades, representing Satan and his powers here on earth, will never overcome His Church. However, we read in the book of Revelation, “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.” (NKJ: Revelation 13:7) (cf. Daniel 7:23-25) Here in this verse, we have the anti-Christ overcoming the Christians (saints) here on earth during the Tribulation period. But how can this be when the Lord, Jesus Christ, told us that Satan and his powers would never overcome the Church. The only way this could be possible would be if these Christians here on earth during the Tribulation period were not part of the Church, or probably more correctly referred to as the Church period. As we discussed during the first part of this Bible study, the Church actually refers to that group of Christians that came to the Lord from the time of His crucifixion up to the point of the rapture. Therefore, the rapture must occur prior to the Tribulation period to enable there to be a distinction between those Christians on earth prior to the Tribulation period for which Satan will not be able to overcome, and those here on earth during the Tribulation period for which Satan will be able to overcome. A Pre-Tribulation Rapture View is Eluded To In The Old Testament In the book of John, Jesus talks to His disciples concerning heaven and His future return to take them there to be with Him, “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. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (NKJ: John 14:2-4) In this passage, Jesus tells His disciples that He will come back for them to take them to Heaven, that is, the rapture. In addition, He tells them that He will prepare dwelling places, symbolized by “mansions”, for them. These are words of encouragement given by Jesus Christ to His disciples regarding the future and their eternal destiny. It is interesting to note that this is not the first time heavenly dwelling places are spoken of in the Bible. God spoke to His people through the prophet Isaiah around 2500 years go regarding heavenly dwelling places referred to as “chambers”: “Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 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; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain.” (NKJ: Isaiah 26:19-21) In this passage, God is talking about a time when He, “comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity…” This is a direct reference to the Tribulation period. In the Bible, there are only two times spoken of where God pours out His wrath and judgment on the entire world. The first occurrence is in the book of Genesis, chapters 6 through 9, where God judges all the inhabitants of the world with a worldwide flood, destroying all but eight people. The other occurrence is in the book of Revelation where God will pour out His wrath on an evil and rebellious world. The aspect to note in this passage from Isaiah is that prior to God pouring out His wrath on the world, He calls His people to enter their “chambers” and stay there until He has completed His wrath upon the world. These “chambers” are not earthly dwellings, but are heavenly dwellings. God in this passage is calling His people to Himself, to hide them in heaven until He has fully poured out His punishment on the world for their evil acts. This would mean that the rapture must occur prior to the seven-year Tribulation period to enable the Church to avoid God’s wrath that will be poured out on the earth during that time. A Pre-Tribulation Rapture View is Consistent With “Types” Found in The Old Testament In the Old Testament, we are given examples illustrating biblical doctrines referred to as “types.” We find evidence of this in I Corinthians where Paul is referring to some Old Testament events, “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 10:11) The Greek word translated “example” means “form, figure, or pattern.” The English word “type” is developed from this Greek word. In biblical studies, the word typology is used to refer to Old Testament illustrations that support biblical doctrines. It should be noted that typologies only support already established biblical doctrines, and do not, on their own, establish such doctrines. The following are types found in the Old Testament that would support the Pre-Tribulation Rapture viewpoint: The Flood When looking back to the time of God’s judgment on the world through a worldwide flood, we can see three distinct groups of people: 1) Those taken up, or raptured, before God’s wrath, that is, Enoch (Genesis 5:24) – Enoch would symbolize the Church being raptured prior to God’s wrath being poured out onto the world. 2) Those preserved through the flood, that is, Noah and his seven family members – Noah and his seven family members would symbolize the 144,000 Jews sealed by God for protection and ministry during the Tribulation period (cf. Revelation 7:4 and 14:1), and/or could symbolize the Jews that God will protect in the wilderness from the anti-Christ (Revelation 12:13-17). 3) Those destroyed in the flood, that is, all inhabitants on the earth except for Noah and his seven family members – These would symbolize the unbelievers who are destroyed during the seven-year Tribulation period. In reviewing the only other time in the Bible where God pours out His wrath on the world, i.e. other than the seven-year Tribulation period, we have God mysteriously choosing to rapture the righteous prior to His wrath. Sodom & Gomorrah When God had decided to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their terrible sins, He first took all the righteous people out of the city. His wrath was poured out onto Sodom and Gomorrah after the righteous were removed from the city (Genesis chapters 18 and 19). This is consistent with the pre-Tribulation rapture view in which the righteous, that is, the Church, is taken out of the world prior to God’s wrath. Daniel and the Fiery Furnace In chapter 3 of Daniel, we have what some biblical students understand to be a type of the Tribulation. In the book of Daniel, we have Daniel and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshack, and Abed-Nego, taken, by conquering forces of Babylon, from their homeland in Israel to the great city of Babylon. In this foreign land the four young men hold fast to their devotion to God. In chapter 3 of the book, Daniel’s three friends are sentenced to death because of their lack of obedience to worship a pagan idol. Their sentence was to be thrown into a fiery furnace. Mysteriously, the king who had sentenced the three young men to death ordered that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual, “He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.” (NKJ: Daniel 3:19) Many students of the Bible see this statement of “seven times” as symbolizing the seven years of the Great Tribulation period. In addition, the fiery furnace would represent God’s Wrath during this seven-year period, which would make sense since fire is consistently used in the Bible to symbolically represent Gods’ judgment. Based on these two attributes in this event, this scene is considered to be an illusion to or type of the seven-year Tribulation period. If this is the case, we can again see three groups of people in relation to the fiery furnace as types or illustrations of those people associated with the seven-year Tribulation period: 1) The soldiers burned up by the heat of the furnace - Symbolic of the unbelievers being destroyed by God’s wrath during the seven-year Tribulation period. 2) The three faithful to the Lord, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, being preserved in the furnace - Symbolic of the 144,000 Jews sealed by God for protection and ministry during the Tribulation period (cf. Revelation 7:4 and 14:1), and/or could symbolic of the Jews that God will protect in the wilderness from the anti-Christ (Revelation 12:13-17). 3) Daniel, who was mysteriously not present, being taken out of the situation completely - Symbolic of the Church being raptured before God’s wrath is poured out onto the world. A Pre-Tribulation View of The Rapture Allows There to be A Distinction Between Jews and Gentiles During The Tribulation Period The Bible clearly teaches that there are three groups of people during the Church age, “Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God…” (NKJ: I Corinthians 10:32). These three groups can be defined as follows: 1) Jews: Descendants of Abraham through Isaac. 2) Gentiles: In the Old Testament, it refers to all non-Jews. In the New Testament, it refers to all those who are unsaved and not Jews. 3) The Church of God: Includes all those, whether Jew or Gentile, that have been born again through a saving belief in Jesus Christ. If the Church were present during the seven-year Tribulation period, there could be no distinction between Jew and Gentile due to the fact that the Church encompasses both believing Jews and Gentiles: - “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 12:13) - “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him…” (NKJ: Romans 10:12) - “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (NKJ: Galatians 3:28) - “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” (NKJ: Colossians 3:11) Yet Jews are dealt with as a separate and distinct people during the Tribulation period in the book of Revelation, chapters 6 through 19. This would point to a pre-Tribulation view of the rapture in that for their to be a distinction between Jews and Gentiles, the Church must not be present since the Church is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles; thus, making such a distinction impossible. A Pre-Tribulation View of The Rapture Is Consistent With The Rapture Being Referred to As “The Blessed Hope” In the book of Titus, Paul refers to the coming of Jesus Christ as “the blessed hope”, “…looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…” (NKJ: Titus 2:13) Before going on, there is a need to comment on the Greek word being translated “hope.” The Greek word translated “hope” carries a different meaning that our English version holds. The word translated “hope” refers to a hopeful expectation towards a definite future event. There is no doubt associated with the word. In referring to the coming of Jesus Christ for His Church, one would have to ponder the usage of the reference to His coming as a “blessed hope” if any other view than a pre-Tribulation rapture is being considered. For with a pre-Tribulation rapture view, His coming would be prior to God’s wrath being poured out onto the world; whereas, with the other views, His coming would be preceded by a time of terrible tribulation upon the world. What kind of “blessed hope” would that be? A Pre-Tribulation Rapture View Supports The View That The Holy Spirit, Working Corporately Through The Church, Is Restraining The Anti-Christ From Taking Power In his second epistle to the church of Thessalonica, Paul speaks to these Christians regarding the coming of the anti-Christ,: “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, the son of perdition, who opposes and 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. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 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, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (NKJ: II Thessalonians 2:4-12) To many students of the Bible, the “restrainer” is referring to the Holy Spirit. One of the main arguments towards this interpretation is the fact that the “restrainer” is referred to, in the original Greek, both in the neuter and male (“the restrainer in verse 6 is neuter and is masculine in verse 7). In the original Greek text of the Bible, only the Holy Spirit is referred to both in the neuter and male. This is evident in Lord Jesus’ Upper Room Discourse (John Chapters 13 thru 17), where He refers to the Holy Spirit both in the neuter and in the masculine. Therefore, for the anti-Christ to come into power, the Holy Spirit must be removed out of his way. However, this should not be misconstrued to mean that the presence of the Holy Spirit in this world will cease, but would point to the Holy Spirit not working through Christian individuals as one corporate body, that is, the Church. Now the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit resides in each and every Christian: - “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (NKJ: I Corinthians 6:19) - “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” (NKJ: Ephesians 2:19-22) - “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (NKJ: I Corinthians 3:16-17) Furthermore, Jesus Christ Himself said that Satan and his powers could not overcome the Church, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (NKJ: Matthew 16:18) This then makes a strong argument for the “restrainer” being the Holy Spirit working through the corporate body of Christians known as the Church. And for the anti-Christ to come into power, this body of Christians must be removed from the world. For the Church would not allow the antichrist to take power. They would point to him through the Scriptures as the coming deceiver. Only with the Church taken out of the way, may the antichrist bring the entire world under his dominion both economically and spiritually. Thus, in regards to the timing of the rapture, only a pre-Tribulation rapture view would be consistent with the interpretation of the “restrainer” being the Holy Spirit. For the Church must be raptured out of this world, and out of the way of the anti-Christ before he will be able to come into power according to Bible prophecy. A Pre-Tribulation View of The Rapture is Consistent With Passages in The Bible Referring to Christians Escaping and Being Kept From The Tribulation Period In the New Testament, we find passages of Scripture that indicate that Christians, more specifically the Church, will be spared from going through the Tribulation period. The following are two examples of these passages: 1) “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (NKJ: Luke 21:34-36) In this passage from the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus is talking about the tribulation period, He tells the disciples to pray that they may “escape” these terrible times to come. The Greek word for “escape” means to “escape, flee, or run away.” It does not, in any way, refer to enduring or being preserved through something. 2) “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, to test those who dwell on the earth.” (NKJ: Revelation 3:10) In this passage from the book of Revelation, Jesus tells us as believers that we will be kept from the “hour of trial” that will come upon the whole world (speaking of the tribulation period). The Greek word translated “from” again means “to take out of or away from”, and does not imply in any way a concept of being taken through, protected or otherwise. It is very evident that with the above two passages a pre-tribulation rapture would be consistent with these Scriptures; whereas, a post-Tribulation or mid-Tribulation rapture would contradict these Scriptures. A Pre-Tribulation Rapture View is Consistent with The Biblical Distinction Made between The Pre-Tribulation Saints, And Those Saints Here on Earth During the Tribulation Period In the Bible, we can see a clear distinction made between the Christian saints (Note: From a biblical perspective, all believers are referred to as saints through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross) living on earth prior to the seven-year Tribulation period, and those Christian saints here on earth during that time. Following are two illustrations of this difference: 1) Those saints living prior to the Tribulation period, that is, the Church, cannot be overcome by Satan and his power. This is made clear by Jesus Christ Himself when He is addressing His disciples, “…on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” (NKJ: Matthew 16:18) However, during the Tribulation period, the anti-Christ is given power to overcome the saints, “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.” (NKJ: Revelation 13:7) Based on these verses we can see that Satan currently does not have the power to overcome the current-day saints, yet will have power to do so during the Tribulation. 2) The Scriptures point to the Tribulation saints who were killed for their witness as the group of Christians to reign with Christ here on earth during the millennium, “Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (NKJ: Revelation 20:4) An explicit distinction is made here between the saints that died for their witness prior the Tribulation period, and those who died for their witness during the Tribulation period. Based on the above examples, it is clear that a distinction will arise between Christians at some point prior to the Tribulation period. This distinction points towards a rapturing of the Church prior to the start of the Tribulation period. A Pre-Tribulation View of The Rapture, As Opposed to a Post-Tribulation View, is Consistent With The Scriptures Referring to a Dividing of Those Left on The Earth, At The End of the Tribulation Period, Between Believers and Non-Believers In the book of Matthew, Jesus speaks of His Second coming at the end of the Tribulation period, “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.” (NKJ: Matthew 25:31-32) He will sit in judgment on all those who are on this earth, and will divide them into two groups: believers (sheep) and non-believers (goats). This passage, however, does not make sense if there is to be a post-Tribulation rapture in that there would be no believers left in the world to divide from the non-believers. If the rapture happens at the end of the tribulation, then all the believers will have been caught up right before Jesus returns; therefore, there will be no believers left on earth. Hence, when Jesus gathers all the nations together to separate the sheep from the goats, i.e. believers from non-believers, there would be no sheep (believers) but only goats (non-believers). Other General Comments Regarding the Consistency of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture View With Other Scriptures - The Bible gives Christians instructions on every aspect of their lives, including how we are to persevere through life’s trials and tribulations; however, it gives no instruction on how we should prepare ourselves in anticipation for the seven-year Tribulation period. This would appear to not make sense unless there was no need to give such instructions since we, the Church, will not be going through this period. - The Scriptures tell us that in the last days, the entire world will unite under a one world economic and religious system. In this day and age, this is incomprehensible. What could cause all the nations of the earth, with all the existing conflicts, to come together as one. What situation or event could be the catalyst for such an occurrence? A sudden disappearance of millions of people could be the one event that could unite the world, and have those in conflict lay aside their aggressions in the face of such a worldwide cataclysmic event. Even more, what an opportunity for the antichrist to take the helm promising to protect the world against any such further events. As the Bible states, the antichrist will be able to perform false signs and miracles, which will give the world confidence in his words. - If there is to be a post-Tribulation rapture, who will inhabit the millennial kingdom? Since all believers will have been raptured at the end of the Tribulation period, then all that would be left on earth would be unbelievers, but they will be destroyed by the Lord, which would mean that there would be no one left to dwell on the earth during the millennial reign of Christ. Stated another way, since only believers will move on into the millennial kingdom period, and with a post-Tribulation rapture all believers will be taken up to heaven at the end of the Tribulation period, then from where will these millennial-kingdom believers come? - In the book of Daniel, we have a passage commonly referred to as “The Seventy Weeks of Daniel” found in verses 9:24-27. This passage lays out the history of Israel (Note: In interpreting this passage, it should be noted that the “weeks” are generally accepted as referring to weeks of years, or periods of seven years, and the years consist of 360 days). First, there is a period of sixty-nine weeks of years (483 years) representing the period of time between the command to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 445 BC to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in 32 AD. The seventieth, or last week of Daniel’s prophecy is the seven-year Tribulation period. The break, or parenthesis, between these two periods of Israel’s history is referred to by many students of the Bible as the “Church Age.” This is a period of time where God’s attention is temporarily focused off of Israel and the Jews, and onto the Gentiles. It can be said that the Church temporarily stopped the clock on Israel’s prophetic history. If the beginning of the Church stopped the clock, so to speak, on Israel’s prophetic history at the end of the sixty-ninth week, then it would follow that the Church must end and be removed to restart Israel’s prophetic historical clock. Final Comments The rapture of the Church, a biblical event who’s description is generally agreed upon, but who’s timing has created some dispute. Though there is dispute on the timing of the rapture, it should be understood that this issue alone should not be one to cause division between Christians for there are many great men and women of God who hold to various views on the timing. However, and I will say up front that this is a personal bias, that those who hold to other than a pre-Tribulation rapture view may allow this belief to alter their views on some of the foundational Scriptures. A pre-Tribulation rapture view has with it a very literal interpretation of God’s Word; whereas, with the other views there is a strong tendency to use allegory (taking passages as mere stories or examples rather than literal statements) and symbolism when proper interpretation of the Scriptures would not call for it. One example of this is how one views the Church and Israel. In trying to determine the timing of the rapture, one should ask themselves two questions: 1) What is the purpose of the rapture, and 2) What is the purpose of the Church. In answering the question of the purpose of the rapture, the pre-tribulation view would say that the main purposes of the rapture are to save the Church from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9 and I Thessalonians 5:9), and to enable God to refocus His attention back on to Israel. Though answering the second question regarding the purpose of the Church could possibly fill volumes, one simple purpose is that during this time of the Church age, God is ministering to the world through His Church, that is, the body of Christian believers both Gentile and Jew. Once the Church is raptured out of the world, then God’s focus is back on Israel, which is clearly evident in the book of Revelation chapters 6 – 19. The post-tribulational view would have to argue against the above answers, but would struggle to find alternative biblically consistent answers. The case for pre-Tribulation rapture is strong and clear. Unfortunately, there is no one verse or passage that completely and concisely explains this event. Hence, we must study all of Scripture, including those specifically referencing the rapture, and from such study determine God’s plan for the timing of the rapture. Careful study of the Scriptures shows a preponderance of the Biblical evidence, as can be seen from this study, supports the pre-Tribulation view; whereas, the other rapture-timing views run into problems with contradicting the Scriptures. The pre-Tribulation rapture view is by far, compared to the other rapture-timing views, the most Scripturally grounded and consistent view. The rapture is referred to by Paul as the “blessed hope” (NKJ: Titus 2:13), and the Thessalonians were told to find comfort in the thought of the rapture, “Therefore comfort one another with these words” (NKJ: I Thessalonians 4:18). Those of us who have believed in the work of the Cross and have accepted Jesus Christ as our own personal Savior are no longer citizens of this world, but now have our citizenship in heaven. We are waiting here in the world, in this now foreign land, for that day when we can go home to heaven, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…” (NKJ: Philippians 3:20) The rapture represents the most glorious event in the life a Christian, that is, our Lord and Savior coming to take us home to be with Him for eternity. I pray that this study will bring joy to the reader, and will give you a wonderful excitement and expectation towards this glorious event known as The Rapture. God Bless.