Foreword
Throughout church history, many different views have been promoted to the detriment of the church body as a whole. This started to happen early in the timeline of the church, as we can read about Paul dealing with false doctrine in his letters to the churches. Some of the false teaching during that time can be found in scripture, such as 1. Sexual immorality was acceptable (I Cor. 5:1-2) 2. Once saved, always saved (I Cor.6:8-10), 3. No resurrection from the dead (I Cor. 15:12), 4. Completely altered and perverted gospels and the preaching of another Jesus (II Cor. 11:1-15).
The subject matter that I shall discuss in the following pages are not at all attractive to our flesh. We do not like to hear that our flesh must suffer and go through some hard times in order for our spiritual garments to be made white and spotless in the eyes of our heavenly high priest, Jesus! Many bible scholars are now revisiting the eschatological views of their parents and church leaders, asking the hard questions that have been avoided for to long! I am not the first to question old entrenched views which are patently false and have no basis in the scripture, and I am sure I will not be the last! Many since the church age started have held to the doctrinal truths given in the Word of God which HE has preserved throughout the ages of time so that we could have the same unadulterated truth in our hands as did our forefathers! Psalms 12:6-7 is our reminder that GOD is able to keep HIS WORD and preserve it for us who are living in the end of the days of grace! Psalms 12: 6-7 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.
I have read several authors who also hold to this profound truth of the rapture of the church and the events that are surrounding the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ! In essence I agree with almost all of the salient points that these authors present in their books. Many hours of research has obviously gone into the production of their books, and so I would like to give them credit here, not for the content of this book, but for the content of theirs which helped me in my understanding of how to compile this one in a quick and easy to read format. These authors are: Marvin Rosenthal (The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church), Henry Hudson (A second look at the second coming: tracing pretrib theology to Margaret McDonald)
The Truth About the Rapture
It should be no surprise to the believers living in these last days that we are nearing the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ in clouds of power and great glory to catch us away unto himself! Even though we have been told by the Lord that no man knows the day nor the hour, we are encouraged by the Holy Ghost’s inspiration to the apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians that we are not children of the darkness that the day of the Lord should come upon us unawares!
I Thess. 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
We are not given the day nor the hour, but we are aware of “the times and the seasons” in which we live that match up to the fulfilling of the Word of God, and therefore can know that we are in that season of the Lord’s appearing!
With that being said, there are so many mistruths about the catching away of the church that must be addressed. Throughout the last century, many have taken God’s word out of context, and with that attempt has caused many Christians to wrongly believe that Jesus will take them away from this world before the end time trials and testing come upon the church to try her and make her ready! We will turn back to the Word of God to correct our thinking and find out what HE says about the rapture of the church!
THE DAY OF THE LORD
First, we must recognize that the word rapture is not in the bible at all, but is taken from a Latin word “rapere” which means to carry off or to catch up. The idea of the catching up or carrying away of the church is referred to in many places in the scriptures as “The Day of the Lord”. The only other words used to describe the rapture is “caught up”, which Paul also uses in the book of I Thessalonians. As we continue to look further into God’s word, we will notice that when The Day of the Lord is mentioned, it is referring to the time of the catching away of the church! We will also notice that The Day of the Lord WILL NOT COME until events orchestrated and ordained by God have taken place. For any believer to say, “Jesus could come and rapture me right now!” or “we are expecting the pre-eminent (it could have already happened) return of Jesus Christ to catch us away” is indicative of an unlearned and ignorant believer! In essence, you are stating that your desire to be “caught away” will take precedence over the WORD OF GOD being fulfilled. Jesus stated that His word was forever settled in heaven, and that heaven and earth would pass away, but HIS word would not pass away, but be fulfilled!
Here we will see the rapture of the church associated with the term “The Day of the Lord”.
Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable Day of the Lord come:
I Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
II Peter 3:10 But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise…
Joel 2:11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the Day of the Lord is great and very terrible; who can abide it?
Joel 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for The Day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
THE SECRET RAPTURE?
We have seen that the Day of the Lord is an earthshattering event! When Jesus appears on clouds of power and great glory, the heavens shall roll away and open to reveal the mighty Son of God, and behind him will be his armies, and the souls and spirits of the the righteous dead to be reunited with their glorified bodies! Paul shows us this truth in Thessalonians as well:
I Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
So how is it that when Jesus appears, he rolls back the heavens with a great noise, with a shout, with the trump of GOD, and it is a secret thing? The only secret thing about the rapture according to scripture is knowing the day and the hour!! Let us look at words that JESUS himself spoke concerning his appearing and let us see if this is such a secret event:
Matthew 24: 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Jesus repeats this truth in the book of Mark:
Mark 13:24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.
27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Again in the book of Luke, Jesus once more repeats this truth to his followers:
Luke 21: 25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; and the sea and the waves roaring.
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (referring to the things which shall come to pass AFTER the rapture, the time of wrath)
WHAT EVENTS MUST TAKE PLACE BEFORE THE RAPTURE?
Now that we have seen that the Day of the Lord is the same as the rapture, and that it will NOT in any shape or form be a secret catching away where no one is aware, let us look again to scripture to find what events must take place before the rapture of the church. Remember, that the Word of GOD, is forever settled in heaven, and not one jot or tittle of it will be unfulfilled! The first clue is already given by Jesus in Matthew and Mark. I will bring those up again to clarify the timing of the rapture of the church.
Matthew 24: 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days
Mark 13:24 But in those days, after that tribulation,
So we see that Tribulations must come BEFORE the rapture of the church. We also know that the breaking of the seals in Revelation are the beginnings of the time of tribulations. We also know that the first seal that is broken in Revelation is a picture of the antichrist, and when he is revealed he brings about the second seal, which is war! The third seal of famine and pestilence, which always comes after warfare, is opened and the fourth is death and hell, the culmination of all of the previous three seals. These seals are broken in quick succession, showing that not much time elapses from the appearing of the antichrist to his bringing in world war, the famine and pestilence that follows, and the end result of much death and hell on earth! This will be such a time of testing and tribulation, that we are told that from the 4 seals one fourth of all mankind will be killed! In 2020 world population numbers, that translates to 1.95 billion! No wonder Jesus spoke of this time in Matthew 24:21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” By verse 30, Jesus is describing his appearing and catching away of his elect!
We also see the apostles preaching this same doctrine of the end times. Paul in II Thessalonians chapter 2 gives us this insight of what happens BEFORE the rapture of the church!
2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (the day of the Lord), and by our gathering together unto him (the rapture)
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ (The day of the Lord) is at hand. (Paul knew the rapture wasn’t in his time as much was needed to be fulfilled in the word of God)
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (Day of the Lord, the rapture) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Even after reading this, there are many believers who will have a hard time accepting this from the word of GOD. The arguments of “Jesus would never put his bride through this kind of tribulation!” and “we are not appointed unto wrath!” are assuredly swirling about when these truths are expounded upon.
Those arguments begin to lose steam as time goes on and many Christian believers around the world are facing a growing threat of persecution, hatred, and even death! 2019 marked a year of unprecedented persecution of Christian believers not seen since the time of the apostles and the later purgings of believers from the apostate church and the time of the crusades, when many Christians were beheaded by the muslims for their faith in Jesus Christ. When we read of the sacrifice and what the price of believing in Jesus cost the early church, we must recognize that his bride has already been through many tribulations, but not like the ones we are about to go through! It is going to be the time of birthing of the man child by the woman mentioned in Revelation chapter 12, when great birth pangs come upon the church, increasing more and more until we are caught up unto God!
Now we can see the chain of events that are yet to take place BEFORE the church is raptured according to the plan and word of GOD!
Great falling away! (This is already happening in the church world, with false doctrines!)
The antichrist revealed Seal #1 in Revelation
War (not just regional conflict but world war Seal #2 in Revelation)
Famine and Disease (results of war Seal #3 in Revelation)
Death and Hell (Seal #4 in Revelation)
Souls beheaded for the testimony of Jesus (Seal #5 in Revelation)
Sun shall be darkened, moon to blood, stars fall (in Seal #6) The Great Day of the Lord has come!
Rapture of the Church! Then we see in Seal #6…
Revelation Chapter 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are those arrayed in white robes? And whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
What about the Wrath of God?
When we see the rapture taking place in the time of the sixth seal, with eyes of understanding we can see that it matches up exactly with the descriptions Jesus gave in Matthew:
Matthew 24: 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Here is the same description being given in the book of Revelation at the opening of the 6th seal:
Revelation 6: 12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and , lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Here we see not only the description that matches the day of the Lord, but we are also told that the day of the Lord’s wrath has begun. So this follows through with other scriptural evidence already given by Paul in the book of Thessalonians, that we are not appointed unto wrath! We will go through the first 5 seals of tribulations, but when seal 6 is opened, we see the exact descriptions of the Day of the Lord, when he appears in power and great glory, to receive us unto himself. And then the day of the Wrath of God begins. Praise God! He did not appoint us to wrath!
I Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Taking the whole of I Thessalonians chapter 5 in context, Paul begins in verses 1-3 by saying, “ But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they say, Peace and safety: then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
We are not appointed unto wrath, but we must rightly divide the Word of Truth to understand that the first 5 seals are a part of the great tribulation and NOT THE TIME OF WRATH! The Wrath of God and the Lamb does not begin until the end of the 6th seal and when the 7th seal is opened the angels with the trumpets prepare to sound and then the Wrath of God will begin to be poured out upon the wicked sinners who rejected God’s plan of salvation, the precious Lamb of God, JESUS CHRIST the Righteous!
When we take a long hard look at the seals that are broken, the results are the end choices of mans rejection of God. He has sown to the wind, and will reap the whirlwind. He has planted seeds of rebellion and disobedience to God, and he will begin to reap the fruits of his own doing. In the seals we see the Antichrist, the end result of man’s choosing his own wisdom over God’s! We see the inevitable destruction of rebellion as peace is taken from the earth and it is enveloped in a mighty world war. Furthermore, we see the results of even those choices as war brings forth disease, famine, pestilences….and as a final note to this age long symphony, mankind will be turned over to be ruled by hell itself, and all that is therein! These are but natural and just fruitions of mans poor choice of evil and wickedness over the goodness and righteousness of God!
When God’s wrath is being poured out beginning with the 7th seal and moving into the trumpets and vials of wrath….it is supernatural! No longer the things that man is doing or has done. Now the wrath of an Almighty God has been stirred, and the results are indeed catastrophic! Beyond a doubt, all of the unbelievers and wicked sinners in that timeframe will curse God! Even those who once said there is no God! There will be no doubt at that time as to the existence of God, as He will make himself known to all of creation, with even the powers of heaven being shaken and cast down! In each one of the trumpets, we see something being cast down from the heaven’s onto the earth, signifying that every event taking place now is coming directly from the hand of God!
Will I have a chance to be saved after the rapture?
There will be many who will finally believe that there is a GOD, but the time to believe and receive salvation will be past! We know from scripture, that unless man repents of his sins, those sins cannot be remitted. Repentance is a Greek word “metanoia” which means a complete reversal of actions: of thought, of deeds, of mind… unless there is a turning away from sin in mind, thought and action, and turning toward God, calling upon the only name given among men whereby we must be saved, (JESUS) there can be NO salvation!
What do we find in the time of the trumpets? Repenting? Calling out on the name of the Lord Jesus? To the contrary, we find the exact opposite. All who is still alive by the end of the 6th trumpet, according to scripture, ALL of them left alive refuse to REPENT!
Revelation 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Not only do we find this here, but we find when Jesus was telling the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, those who where left (at the time of the rapture) they returned and found that the door was shut! And when God shuts a door, no man can open it…Noah’s ark was a picture of the rapture to come!
Matthew 25:10 …and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
To further amplify and solidify this sad fact, we notice in the time of the vials being poured out, just after the time of trumpets, that again there is no one who is repentant and seeking to be saved:
Revelation 16: 9 …and they repented not to give him glory….11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
My friend, the door of Salvation, Jesus Christ the Only begotten Son of God, is available to you today! Now is the acceptable time! Today is the day of Salvation! Do not wait, or put off what you know you must do and think that you will have time to do it another day! We know the season and the time of the Seals of Revelation are about to be opened! Prepare your hearts now for the times that are coming ahead! Seek the Lord Jesus while he may be found! There is coming a day when the door of salvation will be closed, and no amount of sincere prayer or crying will open it again. Imagine what it must have been like in the days of Noah! When the rains and the flood came, many were trying to get into the ark, but God had closed the door! There is going to be a rapture, a time of great joy and excitement for the called, the faithful and the chosen! It will also be a time of great fear and horror, for those who had not made themselves ready. You can choose today to be one of the called, faithful, and chosen. Choose Jesus Christ today!
Where did this idea of a Pre-Tribulation secret rapture come from?
In the early 16th and 17th centuries, different views of bible prophecy were being devised by Jesuit priests in an effort to stop early reformers from breaking away from the heresies of the catholic church, and teaching that the catholic church had strayed from the doctrines of Christ. One such priest, a Jesuit by the name of Ribera, in 1591 AD invented a
“futurist” view of Christianity that would only be fulfilled in the end of the Christian era. He taught that a rebuilt “Babylon”, a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, a 7year tribulation period, and a secret rapture of the church would come before an antichrist would appear. Sound familiar? It should, as Ribera’s doctrine is the father of end time views taught by so many denominations today.
However, Ribera is only a part of the story. In 1731 a young man named Manuel Lacunza, who lived in Chile, decided that he wanted to be a Catholic priest. He went to Spain and joined in the priesthood of the Jesuits. Thirty six years later when the Jesuits were expelled from Spain because of their brutality, the now
“father” Manuel de Lacunza y Diaz moved to Imola Italy, and claimed to be a converted Jew who went by the name of Rabbi Juan Jushafat Ben-Ezra. Under that alias, he wrote a book titled “The coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty”. In it, he theorized that the church would be secretly taken to be with the Lord 45 days before any tribulations and Jesus’ final return to the earth. Believe it or not, a Chilean Jesuit a.k.a. Jewish Rabbi, theorized the earliest, pre-tribulation, secret rapture view on record! Lacunza died in Imola, Italy in 1801, and that should have been the end of his teachings. In 1812 his book was published in Spanish, and fourteen years later was published in English by a radical cultist named Edward Irving. In the churches at that time, Edward Irving was considered a heretic, and Lacunza’s views should have died out with him. However, a follower of Irving, an evangelist named Robert Norton, met a little Scottish girl named Margaret MacDonald, who supposedly had a vision of the church being secretly raptured. Norton was so enamored with her story he began to preach her “vision” as the gospel all across England.
False doctrine will twist its way as a serpent twisting the truth, into the minds of unlearned and gullible believers who have not been rooted and grounded in the word of GOD! It is obvious that in every age of the church, the unlearned and ungrounded in the Word of God, have succumbed to the seducing spirits which have doctrines of devils! We must judge all things as exhorted by the Apostle Paul, with the measuring stick of God’s Word, the Doctrine of Christ!
John Darby, a founder of the Plymouth Brethren, became interested in this
“new” doctrine, and attended several Irvingite meetings. In his letters, Darby states that he had “come to a new understanding of this truth” and made no secret of the fact that he had been influenced by Lacunza’s writings. Darby then took the simplistic view of Lacunza and Irving’s thoughts on the 45 day tribulation timeframe, and modified it to a 7 year tribulation period to fit the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy into this new doctrine. It was of course guesswork theology, but the origin of the seven-year tribulation period and a pre-tribulation secret rapture doctrine had its birth! Upon that shaky and sandy foundation of man’s ideas and wisdom, other wrinkles in the scriptures had to be ironed out, and along came more false doctrine to back up the already false premise of a secret rapture. It was then these other false ideas had their birth:
- A Jewish temple would be rebuilt, and animal sacrifices re-established
- That a secret rapture would take place
- That the Antichrist would appear and rule the world for 7 years
- After 3.5 years of good rule, this antichrist would turn against the Jews, stop the sacrifices, and start the battle of Armageddon!
If Darby had stayed in England, his views may have died there with him. At the time, there weren’t very many Darbyite’s around. But He visited the United States, and while there met C.I Scofield. Yes, that Scofield, the writer of the Scofield Bible and commentary. Scofield was so taken with the Ribera-Lacunza-MacDonald-Darby ideas that he decided to include them in the annotated bible he was working on. Sound bible scholars of his day tried to dissuade him, and even 3 of Scofield’s revision committee members resigned because of their adamant rejection of this “new” view. Most in the Protestant churches at that time believed the Jesuits and the Irvingite’s were heretical, so to add insult to injury, many of the Protestant clergy pushing this new doctrine, would hide its origins and push that this new found “truth” was their own! It is now understood that John Darby and C.I. Scofield are the fathers of what today is called dispensational eschatology, of which includes the 7year tribulation, and pre-tribulation secret rapture doctrines.
In the following decades, the Scofield bible became the most widely read bible in the English language and was the primary vehicle through which the pre-tribulation secret rapture and the 7 year antichrist rule view was spread throughout churches in America. Sadly, even today, some people think that the commentator’s notes below the scriptures are as valid as the inspired text they are commenting on! There have been many rebuttals by conservative theologians throughout the years, but so few bother to refute the Ribera-Lacunza-MacDonald-Darby-Scofield view in a way that the everyday saint can understand.
That view has been commercialized, embellished, and turned into a profit generating agenda, through which many books, movies, and teaching materials have been produced. The “Left Behind” series of books and movies have so glamorized and twisted the view of the secret rapture, most uneducated Christians will tell you when the rapture takes place that piles of clothing will be neatly folded where the Christian once stood. Overnight the many millions of missing Christians will be searched for at first, and then the world will put a spin on what really happened that would make CNN blush! They will explain away the millions of missing as some great scam or trick of the church to try to prove the gospel. Only an emerging antichrist, (who may have already been on the scene) can bring sense and calm to the ensuing craziness, that the world will gleefully follow his commands and rule! Then the four horsemen of the apocalypse will ride and those who have been left behind in the next seven years will have an opportunity to choose Christ and obtain their salvation by struggling and fighting against the evil empire! How sad that NOT ONE of these ideas being promoted through those false doctrines, books and movies, can be backed up by the solid rock of biblical truth!
Rightly dividing the Word of Truth! How many resurrections?
At which point do we turn from fables and turn to the truth? Are you willing to accept known false doctrine just to go along and get along with other believers? We must contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints in the first church! Empirical evidence is throughout the scriptures, along with direct words and proof that has already been discussed in this book. Empirical evidence is described in Webster’s dictionary as “originating in or based on observation or experience, relying on experience or observation alone often without due regard for theory, capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment.” If we go on empirical evidence alone we could find enough evidence in scripture to debunk a “pre-trib” rapture of the church! An example of the empirical evidence is found in Revelation 20:4-6 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
There is only 2 resurrections! The First, which is reserved for the blessed and holy and those who were dead in Christ who shall be raised to life at the rapture! I Thess. 4:16-17 shows us this truth! For the Lord himself shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The second resurrection is described as those who were “the rest of the dead” who would not be raised until the thousand years are over at the Great White throne judgement! If the rapture happens before the time of tribulation, how is it that there are those who die for the cause of Christ and have not received the mark of the beast, in the 5th seal in the time of the tribulation? Either these were those who suffered for Christ during the tribulation and were raised and raptured in the time of the 6th seal as scripture teaches, OR YOU HAVE TO COME UP WITH AN ADDITIONAL RESURRECTION!!! That would be false doctrine and definitely a scriptural fable we are warned to stay away from! It is not sound doctrine! We must rightly divide the word of truth! The scriptures will uphold itself as iron sharpens iron. If our wrong thinking contains brass, the sharp sword of the Word will cause the brass to crumble. We must use all of the counsel of God to build any doctrine with! If a doctrine consists of only one verse, it cannot be classified as doctrine. Bible doctrine will support itself with many verses to substantiate a particular truth.
Another place in the scriptures that has brought about much confusion is the “time of tribulation”. Many have heard and been taught that the tribulation period is a time of seven years at the end of time when the antichrist would set his kingdom up with a time of peace for 3.5 years, and then in the middle of the seven year period would rise up as the evil king he really is and break his peace agreements with Israel and stop their blood sacrifices that they would by this time have restarted. He then would rule with fierce anger and wrath for the final 3.5 years until the final war with Jesus Christ as he returns to the earth to set up his millennial kingdom. Sadly, this is not supported with ANY scripture! The ONE place that end time teachers reach to explain this doctrine is found in Daniel chapter 9:24-27. Furthermore, there should be no bible teacher or student who would base doctrine on ONE verse or portion of verses alone! Sadly, many have done this concerning the end time and the reign of the antichrist! Let us look at the verses in detail, and with proper exegesis unwrap the meaning of these verses!
Daniel 9:24Seventy weeks (these are understood to be prophetic weeks of years 70×7=490 years total) are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, (these have to do with Israel and Jerusalem only! Not Russia, Great Britain, the United States, etc… then we get to the final point and main subject of these verses..who finishes transgressions? JESUS) to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, (who makes an end of sins? JESUS) and to make reconciliation for iniquity, (who makes reconciliation for iniquity? JESUS) and to bring in everlasting righteousness, (who brings in everlasting righteousness? JESUS) and to seal up the vision and prophecy, (who will seal up the vision and prophecy? JESUS) and to anoint the most Holy. (who is the anointed most holy one? JESUS)
25Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: (this is broken down in to two parts 1. 7 weeks (7×7 weeks of years=49 years) to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem detailed in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra. 2. 62 weeks (62x7weeks of years=483 years) after Jerusalem and the temple was rebuilt the Messiah JESUS would be born!) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: (who is still the main subject? MESSIAH JESUS! After the 62 weeks following the 7 weeks of rebuilding the temple and city JESUS would be born! When he reached 30 years of age he would start his ministry and it would last for 3.5 years in which he would bring in the New Covenant and be cut off, not for himself, but for his people and church!) and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; (this is not the Antichrist, but Prince Titus of Rome who destroyed the temple and city and dispersed the Jews throughout the world as was foretold in these verses in Daniel and JESUS also prophesied of it in Matthew 24) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (desolations that were determined upon the Jews and Jerusalem was the effect of the second abomination that maketh desolate…when the blood of JESUS was shed for the remission of sins and to cover iniquity and bring a end to the power of sin, the religious of Jesus’ day went back to the temple and sewed the rent vail and middle wall of partition back and began offering the blood of bulls and goats again, trampling underfoot the blood of Christ! That was the abomination that made Israel and Jerusalem desolate! This could NOT be the antichrist for when his rule ends, JESUS brings in the millennial reign with blessings not desolations!)
27And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: (This is that final week, the 70th week and it is still talking about the main subject JESUS who confirmed his new covenant, not just with Israel and the Jews, but to whosoever will, the many and it is for one week, 7 years!) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, (after 3.5 years of his ministry JESUS brought an end to animal sacrifice and shedding of animal blood for sins! He became the ultimate, perfect, spotless sacrifice once and for all!) and for the overspreading of abominations (still offering up blood of bulls and goats) he shall make it desolate, (the desolation of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 a.d. Matthew 24) even until the consummation, (the completeness of judgement falling upon the Jews for rejecting the Messiah JESUS) and that determined (the judgement allocated for the crime of rejecting the Son of God) shall be poured upon the desolate. (Again, who is this portion of scriptures written about?…Israel and Jerusalem! During the last 3.5 years JESUS will complete the new covenant! In the first 3.5 years he brought salvation to the world and in the last 3.5 years he purifies his church in the tribulations, and after the rapture when the time of wrath descends, deals with national Israel, sealing those of Israel who are called the “remnant”, and pours out the wrath of God without measure upon the wicked!
Another important thing to notice is that the Antichrist will only have 3.5 years to be in the earth! This is repeated several times to solidify this doctrinal fact!
Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles and the Holy City shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (3.5 years)
Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and three score days, (3.5 years) clothed in sackcloth.
Revelation 12:6 And the woman (the woman is referred to in scripture as the Old Testament bride Israel, or the New Testament woman, the church. In this case it is the marked of national Israel of the 144,000 that will be protected by God during the antichrist reign of 3.5 years) fled to the wilderness where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days (3.5 years)
Revelation 13:5 And there was given unto him (this whole chapter is giving us details of “the beast” also called the antichrist) a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue (the word continue in the Greek in the Strong’s Concordance #4160-4161: to press forth, from going forth to going out, or from start to finish! How could the antichrist be around for 7 years when GOD only gives him 3.5 years or 42 months from “start to finish”?) forty and two months.
Arguments and Responses
Now we must look into other arguments for a pre-trib rapture and use scripture as the “responses” or proof against it.
Argument: We are not appointed unto wrath! The time of tribulation is the time of wrath!
Response: Amen! We are not appointed to wrath! However, the time of tribulation is NOT WRATH as we see at the end of the 6th seal in Revelation 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? The first 5 seals in prophecy is referred to as the time of great tribulation. The 6th seal is the rapture of the church and the beginning of the wrath of God! Jesus himself confirms this in Matthew 24:29-31 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Match this up with Revelation 6:12-16 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and every island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens 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 that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath has come…..
Argument: Jesus would never put his “bride” through that kind of tribulation or expose her to the antichrist!
Response: Jesus loves you and the end time church and “bride” more than other Christians who have gone on before???!!! What about the “bride” of Christ who suffered in the first church age? They faced crucifixion, being burned at the stake, even fed to the lions in the Roman coliseums for sport! What a testament to the grace of God through Jesus Christ that was revealed on them in that time of testing! What about the Lord’s apostles? All but one suffered horrific deaths for the testimony of Jesus Christ and the Word of God! The time of tribulation will purify and cleanse the church, for the bride must be cleansed and purified of the spots, wrinkles, and blemishes on her wedding garments!
Sound doctrine of CHRIST is needed so badly in these last days, that the warning from Paul to Timothy, his son in the faith, ring so true in these days of the end time in which we live.
II Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
Pastor Stephen Dubois