FAQ :: Will all Christians be raptured before the Tribulation?

Yes, but only those who have been born-again by the Spirit of God, not those who are Christians name only. The Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine teaches that all Christians will be raptured before the Tribulation starts. The major reason that most well-studied Christians hold to this doctrine is that the Bible clearly teaches that the children of God (Christians) are not destined for His wrath which is poured out during the Tribulation:

“For God appointed us not into wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

The context of the passage is not the wrath of hell, but of some other form of wrath. The only other form of wrath is what God pours out on the unsaved during the Tribulation. If Christians went into the Tribulation they would suffer the wrath of God. His wrath is poured out with the breaking of the Sixth Seal (Revelation 6:12-17). This would mean that there would be a clear contradiction in the Bible.

There would be no reason to commission 144,000 men of the twelve tribes of Israel to preach the gospel if Christians go into the Tribulation. The 144,000 witnesses are commissioned immediately after the wrath of God is poured out (Revelation 7:1-8), because all the Christians have been raptured, and there is no one to share the gospel with the lost.

A few types in the Old Testament (Enoch, Noah and Lot) are evidences for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Enoch was translated and never saw death (Hebrews 11.5) before the flood came and destroyed the wicked. He is a type of the church which will be translated (raptured) before the wrath of God is poured out on the lost during the Tribulation. Noah and his family is also a type of the Church. They were spared death by being in the ark (Hebrews 11.7) when the flood came and destroyed all life outside the ark (Genesis 7:21-23).

Lot and his family is another type of the church. The angels compelled Lot and his family (who did not want to leave), to depart Sodom just before it was destroyed. The angels literally grabbed Lot, his wife and his two daughters and dragged them out of Sodom (Genesis 19:16). Another evidence is the promise that was given to the church of Philadelphia:

“Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” (Revelation 3:10).

The ‘hour of trial’ is a reference to the Tribulation. The church of the Philadelphia Era was given the promise of not going through that time of testing. In Revelation chapters two and three the seven churches that were in the area of modern-day Turkey were given special messages. They were rebuked for sin, but also given promises. The seven literal churches are symbolic of seven periods of the Church Age. The rebukes and promises to them also apply to Christians of those seven eras. We are living in the Philadelphia Era. The promise of being kept from the ‘hour of trial’ was made to the church of the Philadelphia Era (to us).

The church is mentioned in the first three chapters of the book of Revelation. In chapter four and verse one it says, “After these things I saw.’ What comes after these things is the Rapture. A command is given to John, ‘Come up hither.’ That is also the command that the archangel gives at the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16).