Timing of the Rapture

Introduction:

This is the first article I’m publishing on this site. The reason is that if there is a Pre-Tribulation rapture, I won’t need to worry about all the details of the Great Tribulation as I should be raptured off the Earth by then. I really hadn’t considered ( or heard of ) any other timing for the rapture. I learned of Mid-Tribulation or Pre-Wrath and Post-Tribulation rapture after beginning to research the topic. I then set out to prove that the Pre-Tribulation rapture is the correct view. From here on, these views will be abbreviated to PreTrib, MidTrib and PostTrib. There are other theories as well. Partial PreTrib rapture is where only the most devoted Christians are raptured before the Tribulation. PreWrath is a type of MidTrib rapture where the Church is raptured some time before the really bad stuff happens at the end of the Great Tribulation. Others can be found with all sorts of scenarios. I will be focusing on the merits or problems with PreTrib and PostTrib raptures as those are the most common and PreWrath is really a kind of PreTrib rapture where the Church is only present for the ‘peaceful’ time of the Seven year time of Jacobs Trouble. I originally wanted to give equal Pros and Cons for each side but unfortunately, I haven’t found any contrary arguments to the PostTrib tenets and have found contrary arguments to all the PreTrib tenets so this article is mostly going to be about showing how the PreTrib view fails to convince me of its merits. It should also be noted that the PreTrib theory is only widespread in North America. It also got it’s roots recently…in 1830, a 15 year old girl, Margaret McDonald, claimed to see a vision of a 2 stage return of Christ. John Nelson Darby took this and made a system out of it. So lets begin. I will show the most often used tenets of the PreTrib view and then why I think they fall short.

Not Appointed Us to Wrath

The PreTrib camp always uses 1 Thessalonians 5:9 in their arguments. Here they are assuming that Gods Wrath is the Great Tribulation. In Revelation and Thessalonians, there is two Greek words used for wrath. Strongs 2372 ( thymos ) which is an intense but temporary type wrath and Strongs 3709 ( orge ) which is a settled wrath…a finality…like when the judge of the courtroom has seen enough and says, ” This man is sentenced to the Death Penalty!” The Pure Word bible translates it as Wrath for Justice and I think wrath of Judgement might be a good term for it, too. In 1 Thessalonians 5:9, the later is used and I believe that this is referring to the final judgement of God at the Return of Christ ( which is eternal damnation for unbelievers ). The ‘but’ in this passage could be translated as ‘but instead’ to make it more clear. Now reread the sentence but insert tribulation for wrath or eternal damnation for wrath and see which makes sense. ‘For God appointed us not to tribulation but instead to the obtaining of salvation…’. This is saying that if one goes through the tribulation then he/she won’t obtain the salvation of Christ. However, we know that the many martyrs from the tribulation reign with Christ Revelation 20:4. Then use eternal damnation: ‘For God appointed us not to eternal damnation but instead to the obtaining of salvation…’ which makes good sense. See also John 3:36 which is the first ( orge ) wrath. So does Strongs 3709 orge actually mean judgement to damnation? You be the judge. Here are many of the verses which use this word: 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:16, Revelation 6:16-17, Revelation 11:18, Revelation 14:10 ( the second wrath ), Revelation 16:19 ( the last wrath ), Revelation 19:15 ( the last wrath ), Romans 2:5, Romans 5:9. Examples of the other wrath ( thymos ) which is more in line with outpouring of anger: Revelation 12:12, Revelation 14:8-10, Revelation 14:19, Revelation 15:1, Revelation 15:7and Revelation 16:1. There is a big difference between the two.

It should also be noted that Tribulation is against the Saints and not against the sinners. Of the almost 50 times used in the New Testament, only 2 times was it used to trouble sinners and both times was not in the 70th week of Daniel Romans 2:9 and, 2 Thessalonians 1:6. Tribulation ( including the Great Tribulation ) is Satan attacking the Saints and not Gods Wrath. We as Christians are to expect and even welcome tribulation Romans 5:3. We are certainly not more devout Christians than those around the time of Christ and will likely not suffer the tribulation they did…like having a fire lit under a big pot with them in it and slowly being boiled alive with the ability to simply deny Christ is Lord to get out of the pot. Yet PreTrib camp says we won’t go through the Great Tribulation because it will be Sooooo bad…what could be worse than being boiled alive? There were such horrible deaths to the Saints around the time of Christ that we can’t expect a worse death. The Greek word used for the Great Tribulation is the same one used for general tribulation and only differs in the degree ( which likely means widespread, over the whole Earth, persecutions ). PreTrib says that Christ wouldn’t allow his Bride to be beaten and bruised. I guess the Apostles and 100’s of thousands of martyrs over the ages are not going to be his bride!?!?

Another verse used by the PreTrib camp is Luke 21:36 saying we ‘Escape’ these things. Again, sounds promising. Only problem is if you look at the Greek words used, escape here is the Strongs 1628 ( ekpheugo ). With the Ek, it makes it clear that it means to escape out of the midst of. So they can’t be raptured out before the tribulation if they are to escape out of the middle of it. Escape doesn’t mean raptured at any rate…just miraculously delivered like the Hebrews at the Passover in Egypt, perhaps.

Then we come to Revelation 3:10 which is widely used in the PreTrib camp. One thing to note in this passage is the translation which some make as trial (Strongs 3986 peirasmos. test/trial/temptation ) ‘…I also will keep you from the hour of trial…’. I’ve found that this should be translated as temptation. This should not be translated as Great Tribulation. He will keep his faithful that have endurance of faith to resist the temptation to deny Jesus and the written word…not rapture out before hand…what endurance ( patience in some translations Strongs 5281 hypomone – perseverance/endurance ) is needed if you are raptured out before any endurance is needed? Much more than that, though, is the Strongs 5083 ( EkToreo ). Again the Ek gives the meaning of ‘Out of the Midst of’ and EkToreo doesn’t just mean ‘keep’, it more accurately means to ‘guard’ from danger. So a better translation would be to ‘guard you in the middle of’ and not keep you from being there. There is only one other place in the New Testament where ektoreo is used and it’s also by John in John 17:15. Here it is correctly translated to ‘protect/keep/guard you from the Evil One’. Interestingly, the first part of the passage uses words that ‘could’ have been used in 3:10 if it was meant to take them out of the world but in contrast, he’s stating that ‘I would NOT have you take them out of the world…’, the exact opposite of PreTrib rapture.

Now look at Ephesians 6:10-14. He’s not talking to Jews here, by the way, so this also defeats the PreTrib argument that only recently converted Jews ( and some Gentiles ) will be in the Great Tribulation. This is asking us to ‘Stand in the Evil day’…not to be raptured out before it.

Apostasia

PreTrib proofs often include this term from 2 Thessalonians 2:3 ( Strongs 646 ). They say this is the Rapture because it is a spatial separating of Christians. In Greek, there are different words for nouns and verbs…always. In English, a run in the stocking is spelled the same as a run to the store but have vastly different meanings. The first is a noun and the second a verb. The Apostasia ( Strongs 646 ) is a noun and the verb Aphistemi ( Strongs 868 ) is the verb which means to leave, withdraw, abandon, or depart but that is not the word used. It is the noun that is used and it means turning away, rebellion or apostasy and all the ancient church fathers interpreted it this way and an excellent book which quotes many church fathers and delves deep into the Greek is “The Apostasia, Rapture or Rebellion” by Seth M. Knorr. It is called The Great Apostasia…it is an EVENT! This means it is not a gradual thing or one evolving over time…it is an event…something happens. We don’t know what the Apostasy is going to be all about but there is a good chance that it is linked with the Mark of the Beast. How many lukewarm Christians will ignore the warnings of the Bible and accept the Mark so they can buy and sell and work instead of giving up their house, cars, jobs and not be able to buy food or clothing because they won’t accept the Mark? They will be sent into desolation by denying the Devils Mark of the Beast! Revelation 13:16-18. Revelation 14:9-11 shows that accepting the Mark is separating yourself from Jesus and his written word and showing allegiance to Satan and his AntiChrist. This is apostasy and the great number of Christians will fall away from Christ and his written word ( the prophesies ) and that will likely be The Great Apostasy…the great deception or lie mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, in my humble opinion. These Christians who accepted the Mark of the Beast will likely be the ones asking for rocks to fall on them as who is able to escape the wrath of the Lamb because they KNOW they didn’t heed the Bible Prophecy, Revelation 6:16

Coming in the Clouds

1 Thessalonians 4:17 is often used to prove a PreTrib rapture because it doesn’t mention the unbelievers being raised from the dead to be judged. However when you read this in context 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, you can understand why he isn’t talking about the unbelieving dead being raised and what happens to them…because he’s comforting those who have lost believers and that they are worried that the dead believers won’t get to be there at Jesus return. The PreTrib camp believes that the righteous believers will be raised at the PreTrib rapture and the rest after the Great Tribulation and the return of Christ to Earth. John 5:28-29 certainly makes this sound like it is not the case. Also refuting this view is Daniel 12:2. The fact that the unbelieving dead were not mentioned being raised in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is not proof that they are not raised at this time. If one believes that, then they must believe there was 2 resurrections of Christ because in Matthew 27:52-53 the dead Saints arose out of their graves and appeared to many. None of the other Gospels say this, so by the same token, must be different resurrections.

Then we can look at the grammar. What does it mean to MEET Jesus in the air? Look how the word ( Strongs 529, apantesis ) is used in Acts 28:15-16. The Brethren, when they heard Paul was coming, went to MEET Paul ( sounds like quite a distance ) who took courage when he saw them. So did Paul turn around and go back where he came from? No, he carried on to his original destination with his Brethren accompanying him. This fits with the PostTrib view where the believers left to meet him in the air and carry on with him to his final destination to defeat the Enemy at his second coming. The only other place the word is used is in Matthew 25:1 and Matthew 25:6. PreTrib says that they MEET Jesus and go back to heaven to wait for all the bad stuff to pass. However, it seems more Jewish to Meet the Groom and carry on to the Feast and Wedding Festivities. Now read the passage Matthew 25:10. Does it sound like the Groom went back to where he came from? Or does it sound like he carried on with the 5 wise virgins to the appointed Banquet? It’s interesting to note that all 10 were virgins implying that they were all Christians. The difference is that 5 were watchful and prepared, the other 5 were not, making it clear that we had bettered be prepared for the Day of the Lord and not expect to be raptured out and not have to worry about it.

Also good to note about the verse is that those being raptured are those who are alive and left remaining. The True Word Bible translates this as those ‘made surviving’ instead of ‘left remaining’. Why didn’t he just say, ‘those who are alive’ and leave out the left remaining/surviving? This makes it sound like those who are alive made it through some hard times but managed to make it through. That sounds a lot like Matthew 24:31 which everyone agrees happens after the Great Tribulation. To defend the PreTrib view, there are differences to make the point that they could be 2 different events. The elect are gathered in Matthew 24:31 but simply caught up in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. PreTrib says angels gather the elect in Matthew but Jesus himself catches up in Thessalonians. This isn’t saying they couldn’t be caught up by the angels ( actually, I can’t imagine any other way…by bus or train? ) but different terminology was used. 1 Corinthians 15:52 uses a different terminology again ( we’ll be changed ) but it is obviously referencing one or both of the two events so a change in terminology is not proof of two different events. Does Jesus need to come and get his elect himself to be considered ‘he took them’? In Ezekiel 11:17 and Ezekiel 28:25 God collected his people. I never read anywhere any accounts that God himself showed up and took them in his arms back to Israel but God said he gathered them. Also in Ezekiel 34:13, Ezekiel 37:21 and again in Isaiah 43:5.

Comes Like a Thief in the Night

Most PreTrib theories contend that Jesus Coming like a thief in the night means that he will come secretly ( not necessarily at night ) and snatch away Christians ( or the most devote Christians in the Partial Rapture theory ). There are also some PreTrib theories that don’t say it will be secret and everyone will see it, however the coming like a thief in the night, they say, indicates secrecy…at least in Western thinking. When looking into Hebrew insights into Revelation through BibleHub.com, ChatGPT and numerous other sites and books, coming like a thief in the night is an Hebrew idiom meaning coming unexpectedly and embarrassing the victim maybe even taking ALL that they have ( even wives and children ). In ‘Lost in Translation, Volume 2, The Book of Revelation Through Hebrew Eyes’ puts it this way, “…is a Hebrew idiom meaning that He will come boldly, like an armed intruder who kicks in the door and makes sure everyone in the neighborhood knows he’s there.” Hebrew Rabbis say it comes from the High Priest coming in the night and catching the priest, tending the never-ending fire in the temple, asleep. Some versions say the High Priest takes coals and lights the linen robe on fire and the priest runs home naked and ashamed. Others say the priest has to take of his robe and spend the rest of the shift naked. At any rate, no Hebrew views make it sound like the ‘thief’ comes and takes just one or two valuable things and sneaks off into the night. The scriptures say the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night and so they argue that the Day of the Lord is the PreTrib Rapture but what does the Bible say the Day of the Lord is? Acts 2:19-20 makes it definitely sound like it comes after Great Tribulation. See also, Matthew 24:29-30 and Mark 13:24-27. In Revelation 16:15, Jesus is warning of coming as a thief in the night but this is AFTER the 6th Vial has been poured out!!! Very much nearing the end of the Great Tribulation. Also making this sound like the case is 2 Peter 3:10-13.

At That Time Your People Will Be Delivered

The PreTrib theories state that Daniel 12:1 proves that Christians will be saved from the Great Tribulation. Strongs 4422 ‘Deliver’ does indeed mean to save/rescue/help flee from, but this is IN the time of Great Distress and not BEFORE. This is a good argument for PreWrath Tribulation Theories, though, however if we read the next verse as well, Daniel 12:1-2 states that the dead will arise to everlasting life or everlasting shame and abhorrence and so this indicates at the end of the Great Tribulation.

The Church isn’t mentioned in the Great Tribulation

Indeed the Church is not mentioned in the Great Tribulation. According to PreTrib theory, the Church here is the believers set apart from the Jews ( and Tribulation new believers ). However, that Church isn’t mentioned At All in Revelation. The Greek word ( Strongs 1577, ekklesia ) is a generic term for assembly/gathering of any sort. At the time of Christ, there was no believers of Jesus separated from the Jews. Any gentile believer was believing that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah prophesied about and so they were ‘becoming’ Jewish believers even to the point of being circumcised either by deciding to or being forced. They became one with the Jews and was subject to much more persecution and tribulation than the Jewish believers because the Jews were protected by laws allowing them to practice their faith whereas gentile converts were not protected and were subject to harsh penalties for not, for example, eating meats that were dedicated to the ‘Gods’ of the day and many other such requirements.