This is the first article in a series of articles dealing with the end times and the rapture of the church. The objective of this series is twofold:
- To show that the church will go through the end-times events described in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6, including the great tribulation.
- To refute the pre-tribulation rapture theory as the big deception that it is.
Introduction
For quite some time now, God has been sounding the alarm through many prophets and watchmen, urging the sleeping church to wake up and prepare for the end of this age and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you doubt that we are entering the end times, please take this to the Lord in prayer urgently. This is a matter of utmost importance.
During normal times, the timing of the rapture would have no practical importance to our lives. It would be just another theological issue to argue about. But because we are entering the end times, what we believe about the timing of the rapture has a huge impact on our lives, on our entire outlook about the end times, and on how we prepare.
I’m personally convinced that we are the generation that will witness the return of the Lord and the end of this age. I’m not saying that this will happen next year or in two years, but it will be sooner than most think, and the church is still asleep.
Through this booklet I want to sound the alarm and instill some sense of urgency.
Why the timing of the rapture matters
Please understand that the consequences of being wrong about the timing of the rapture are very asymmetric. If I expect a post-tribulation rapture and I’m wrong, I will still be raptured if I’m in right standing with the Lord. But if you expect a pre-tribulation rapture and you’re wrong, you will probably fall away.
If I expect to go through severe hardship and persecution, I will prepare accordingly, first spiritually, then mentally and emotionally, and also physically, because I want to be able to endure to the end. And if I’m raptured before that, praise God! I lose absolutely nothing. Believing in a pre-tribulation rapture is not a requirement for being raptured. The only requirement is being right with God, living in holiness and obedience.
On the other hand, if you expect to be raptured before any serious tribulation and persecution, you are a lot less likely to prepare, because there is nothing to prepare for! You expect to be “beamed up” before anything bad happens. Then, when the pressure keeps rising and you are forced to make difficult decisions, you are much more likely to fall away, because you haven’t prepared.
If you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, I plead with you to consider the arguments presented in this series of articles with an open mind. Be willing to at least consider that what you believe might be wrong, because the consequences of being wrong are extremely serious.
The end times
Right now we are entering a time of judgments (economic collapse, high inflation, war, famine, pestilences, natural disasters) on the whole world, on believers and unbelievers alike, a time that the Bible calls the beginning of the birth pains.
Jesus warned us about it in [Matthew 24] (also [Mark 13], [Luke 21]):
[Matthew 24:6-8] You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
This time of judgments will then be followed by a time of severe persecution for believers.
[Matthew 24:9-14] Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. … But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
[Matthew 24:21-22] There will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Regarding the timing of the rapture of the church relative to the tribulation mentioned in the above verses, there are two main schools of opinion.
The pre-tribulation view
The most popular theory these days is that the church will be raptured before the tribulation. The rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ are seen as two different events separated by the tribulation period. The former is supposedly a secret event before the tribulation, when Jesus comes for His saints, whereas the latter is a visible event after the tribulation, when Jesus comes with His saints to judge the wicked.
Those who miss the rapture will still get a chance at salvation during the tribulation, but most likely they will have to pay for their faith with their lives. These believers are called “tribulation saints.”
According to the pre-tribulation view, the church will not go through any of the events prophesied in Matthew 24 and in the Book of Revelation. In particular, the following verses are understood to be referring to the second coming of Christ rather than the rapture.
[Matthew 24:29-30] Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
It’s important to understand that the pre-tribulation rapture is a relatively new theory developed by John Nelson Darby around in the 1830s. That’s an undeniable fact. The idea was then included by C. I. Scofield in his famous Scofield Reference Bible, and more recently popularized by Hal Lindsey in his best-selling book The Late Great Planet Earth, then by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins in their series of novels Left Behind.
A big problem with the pre-tribulation view is that there is not even one Bible verse that clearly supports it. One cannot read the Bible and come up with such an idea. It’s simply not there. The only way one can come to believe it is by learning it from another source.
But the idea of escaping tribulation and persecution is very appealing to the flesh, so no wonder this theory gained so much popularity.
The post-tribulation view
Although not very appealing to the flesh, this is the traditional view embraced by the early church and also by most of the church throughout the ages.
According to this view, the rapture happens after the tribulation, after the church has been tested and purified through severe persecution. This also means that the Matt 24:29-30 verses mentioned above refer to the rapture. Indeed, if we read the very next verse, we can see that the believers are caught up in the air!
[Matthew 24:31] And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
There are different flavors of this view, the differences centering on the relationship between the great tribulation and the day of the Lord, the latter being the final outpouring of God’s wrath to destroy the wicked.
In this series of articles, we will see that the Bible teaches the following sequence of end-times events:
- The beginning of the pains
- The (great) tribulation
- The rapture of the church
- The day of the Lord
The beginning of the pains is a series of judgments designed to wake up the world and also the church. During the tribulation, the church will be severely persecuted, and most Christians will fall away in that time of testing. But those who decide to endure to the end will be purified, and the church will become the spotless bride ready for Christ’s return.
[Daniel 12:10] Many will be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly.
[Revelation 19:7] The marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.
For pre-tribbers: Can you explain why this verse (Rev 19:7) is at the very end of the Book of Revelation if the church is raptured before even the first seal is broken?
Although judgments fall throughout the tribulation, God’s wrath during the day of the Lord is an entirely new level of judgment. This final outpouring of wrath is not to get the wicked to repent, but to destroy them. It will be literally hell on earth.
This is what the church will be saved from, NOT the tribulation. The tribulation is a time of testing and refining. Are you ready to go through it? Is your faith strong enough to endure to the end? The time to prepare is now.