What is the Pretribulation Rapture?

Published on: July 19, 2016December 4, 2017 by RR2

Pretribulation Rapture The rapture is an event that will take place sometime in the near future. Jesus will come in the air, catch up the Church from the earth, and then return to heaven with the Church. The Apostle Paul gave a clear description of the rapture event in his letters to the Thessalonians and Corinthians.”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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess, 4:16-18).

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:51-53).

The timing of the rapture is not known. From the Word of God and from sound reasoning–something Jesus used quite frequently–I hope to prove the reality of the pretribulation rapture.

The word “rapture” comes from Paul’s “caught up” remark in verse 17. The words “caught up” are translated from the Greek word harpazo, which means “to carry off,” “snatch up,” or “grasp hastily.” The translation from harpazo to “rapture” involved two steps: first, harpazo became the Latin word raptus; second, raptus became the English word “rapture.”

Scriptural Evidence for the Pretribulation Rapture

The Unknown Hour
When we search the Scriptures and read the passages describing the Lord Jesus’ return, we find verses that tell us we won’t know the day and hour of that event. Matthew 25:13 says Jesus will return at an unknown time, while Revelation 12:6 indicates that the Jews will have to wait on the Lord 1,260 days, starting when the Antichrist stands in the Temple of God and declares himself to be God (2 Thes 2:4). This event will take place at the mid-point of the seven-year tribulation (Dan 9:27). Note that some people only see a three-and-a-half-year tribulation. In a way, they are correct because the first half of the tribulation will be relatively peaceful compared to the second half. Nonetheless, peaceful or not, there still remains a seven-year period called the tribulation. When the Jews flee into the wilderness, they know that all they have to do is wait out those 1,260 days (Mat 24:16). There is no way to apply the phrase “neither the day nor the hour” to this situation. The only way for these two viewpoints to be true is to separate the two distinct events transpiring here: 1) the rapture of the Church, which comes before the tribulation; and 2) the return of Jesus to the earth, which takes place roughly seven years later.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
In Luke 12:36, the Word states that when Christ returns, He will be returning from a wedding. In Revelation 19:7-8, we read about the marriage itself. The marriage supper takes place before the marriage. According to Jewish custom, the marriage contract, which often includes a dowry, is drawn up first. The contract parallels the act of faith we use when we trust Jesus to be our Savior. The dowry is His life, which was used to purchase us. When it’s time for the wedding, the groom goes to the bride’s house unannounced. She comes out to meet him, and then he takes her to his father’s house. This precisely correlates with the events according to the pre-trib scenario. Jesus, the Groom, comes down from heaven and calls up the Church, His Bride. After meeting in the air, He and His Bride return to His Father’s house, heaven. The marriage supper itself will take place there, while down here on earth the final events of the tribulation will be playing out. After the marriage supper of Jewish tradition, the bride and groom are presented to the world as man and wife. This corresponds to the time when Jesus returns to earth accompanied by an army “clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Rev 19:14).

What They Didn’t Teach You in History Class
Many groups try to discredit the pre-trib rapture by saying most of the end-time events in the Bible have already taken place. A group of people called preterists claims that the Book of Revelation was mostly fulfilled by 70 AD. If the events described in the Book of Revelation took place in the past, I’m at a loss to explain some of the current situations I see around us: the rebirth of Israel, the reunification of Europe, the number of global wars that have occurred, and the development of nuclear weapons. During history class, I must have slept through the part where the teacher talked about the time when a third of the trees were burned up, 100-pound hailstones fell from the sky, and the sea turned into blood (Rev 8:7-8, 16:21). I think several people would have to question their opposition to the pre-trib rapture doctrine if they knew that the evidence provided to them was based on the understanding that most tribulation prophecies have already occurred.

The People of the Millennium
If Christ were to come back after the tribulation, rapture all the saints, and slay all the ungodly, who would be left to populate the earth during the millennium? Only the pre-trib viewpoint can account for this post-trib problem. The Church is raptured before the tribulation, a vast number of souls are saved during this seven-year time frame, and those who make it through the tribulation go into the millennium while the unsaved are cast into hell.

The Saint U-Turn
In the pre-trib scenario, after we rise to meet the Lord in the air, we will go to heaven and abide there seven years. At the end of that period, Christ will come down to earth, defeat the Antichrist, and cleanse the temple. In a post-trib rapture, we would rise in the air to meet the Lord, then do a 180-degree U-turn and come back down to earth. Revelation 1:7 states that Christ will appear out of the clouds and come down to earth. Zechariah 14:4 says that His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. If He’s already headed our way, why would we need to be caught up to meet Him?

“Come Up Hither”
Many pre-trib writers cite Revelation 4:1, which says, “come up hither,” as a prophetic reference to the rapture of the Church, leaving Revelation chapters 1 through 3 as a description of the Church Age. After the shout to “come up hither,” the Church is not mentioned in Scripture at all. The attention of Scripture switches from the Church to the Jews living in Israel.

Armies in Fine Linen
When Jesus returns (Rev. 19:18), an army follows Him. The army’s members are riding on white horses, and they are clothed in fine linen that is white and clean. In Revelation 19:8, we are told that the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. If the saints of God are returning with Christ to wage war on the Antichrist, then it is not possible to have a post-trib rapture without us running into ourselves as we are coming and going.

The Time of Jacob’s Trouble
In several passages, the Bible refers to the tribulation as a time of trouble for the Jews. The phrase “Jacob’s trouble” pertains to the descendants of Jacob. Jeremiah 30:7 says that this time of trouble will come just before the Lord returns to save His people. The final week of Daniel’s 70th week is yet to take place. An angel told Daniel that, “70 weeks are determined unto thy people” (Dan 9:24). Scripture never mentions that the tribulation is meant to be a time of testing for Christians. However, some post-tribbers try to claim that they are the ones being tested during the tribulation. To make this so, they need to spiritualize the 144,000 Jewish believers in Revelation 7:2-8 who receive God’s protective seal. Placing the Church dispensation into the same time frame as the seven-year Jewish dispensation, as the post-tribbers do, raises one good question: Can two dispensations transpire at the same time? In the past, God has only dealt with one at a time. Having both present during the tribulation would have to be an exception.

“He” That is Taken Out of the Way
Before the Antichrist can be revealed, Paul said a certain “He” must be taken out of the way. According to 2 Thessalonians 2:7, the “He” that must be removed is widely thought to be the Holy Spirit. It has been promised that the Holy Spirit would never leave the Church, and without the working of the Holy Spirit remaining on earth, no one could be saved during the tribulation. The removal of the Church, which is indwelt by the Holy Ghost, would seem the best explanation for this dilemma. The working of the Holy Spirit could go on during the tribulation, but His influence would be diminished because of the missing Church.

War or Rapture
(Rev 19:19-21) When Jesus returns at the end of the tribulation, He will be coming for battle. For those who believe in a post-trib rapture, it would be strange to meet your Lord and Savior just as He’s rushing into battle. The idea that war and rapture could occur together is difficult to imagine, especially since they transpire at the same moment.

The Five Foolish Virgins
The wedding story that Jesus gave in Matthew 25:2-13, I believe, is a parable of the rapture of the Church. It explains how some will not be ready. Jesus clearly states that a group of people will miss out on an event, and will cry out to God to let them into the place where He resides, heaven. Although some try to put this parable in a post-trib context, it doesn’t fit very well. The ones left behind in a post-trib rapture will not need to seek the Lord because they’ll immediately be confronted by Him and His army of angels.

God Hath Not Appointed Us to Wrath
In 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Paul assures us that God has not appointed His people to wrath. This wrath is plainly God’s anger that will be poured out during the tribulation. Pre-trib believers interpret this as meaning that Christians will be removed from the earth. Post-trib believers tell a different story. They describe this as meaning that God will protect Christians during the tribulation and pour this wrath out on the unbelievers only. This idea runs against the statement made in Revelation 13:7, in which the Antichrist is given power to make war with the saints and to overcome them. A post-trib view would make God’s promise of protection from wrath into a lie. In years past, it was possible to think of being protected from the guns and swords of that day. Today, when any major war would involve nuclear and chemical weapons, it’s impossible to expect that same kind of protection. When Nagasaki, Japan was bombed during World War II, the bomb exploded over a Catholic church. Everyone who was in the center of the explosion died–both Christians and non-Christians. The only way to validly interpret God’s promise of protection from wrath is by viewing 1 Thessalonians 5:9 as the bodily removal of the Church from this world.

The Salt of the Earth
Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). When the believers are supenly removed, the earth will be plunged into spiritual darkness. When this happens, the Antichrist will then be free to control the world.

God Takes an Inventory
In Revelation 7:3, an angel descends to earth and seals the servants of God. Two bits of information about this sealing highly disclaim a post-trib viewpoint. The first item is the number of people sealed: 144,000. The second one is that all those who are sealed are from the 12 tribes of Israel. For the events in Revelation 7:3-8 to be true in a post-trib interpretation, either the Church has turned against God or God has turned against the Church. A post-tribber could write a thousand-word commentary about why the Church doesn’t need to be sealed. Instead of trying to argue about why the Church is not mentioned or sealed, a pre-trib proponent could just say, “We’re already in heaven.”

Noah and Lot as Examples
The tribulation period is compared to the times of Noah and Lot by Jesus in Luke 17:28. Most people argue over whether the time frame Jesus was talking about in that passage was pre-trib or post-trib. In doing so, they miss an important point. The two circumstances that the Noah and Lot situations have in common are the removal of the righteous and the judgment of the unbelievers. From these two accounts, we see that God prefers to remove His own when danger is involved.

Common-Sense Reasons for Believing in the Pretribulation Rapture

The World Test
One way to check the soundness of a doctrine is to see how the world reacts to it. One company put out a questionnaire that was used to screen prospective employees. One of the questions was, “Do you believe in the rapture?” If you answered “yes,” your chances of getting hired would not be good. Some internet sites do not allow the topics of Rapture or Second Coming. They do allow topics such as sex, gays, and drugs. The only time the news media mentions the rapture is when someone sets a date and is proven to be wrong.

That Old-Time Religion
It used to be a rule of thumb that when one was visiting a church or listening to a preacher, one could assume the preacher believed in repentance, prayer, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost if he taught the rapture doctrine. It was also true that the churches on fire for God worshipped out of storefronts. Today, many of those storefront churches have moved into marble palaces and have strayed from their principal doctrines.

Birds of a Feather Flock Together
Whenever I look at all the groups that teach false doctrine and are highly focused on end-time events, I cannot find any that support the rapture theory. Some organizations, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, teach a false gospel and are heavily into Bible prophecy. Why, then, don’t Jehovah’s Witnesses teach a false doctrine that would be right up their alley? Could it be that the demonic forces that influence these groups know something that Christians opposed to the rapture don’t know? The list of prophetically minded cults that reject the idea of a rapture goes on and on. Here are some more: the Mormons, the Worldwide Church of God and the Moonies, as well as leaders like Jim Jones and David Koresh.

The Church Would Rebuke the Antichrist
If the Antichrist came to power with the Church still here, I do not see how he could operate. When Hitler was fighting to take over England, a number of Christians were praying for victory. Hitler made mistake after mistake, and England outperformed its enemy at every stage of the conflict. It is difficult to measure the impact of intercessory prayer in physical warfare. Little is known of how great a role praying saints played in the defeat of Nazi Germany. If the Church were to reside on earth during the tribulation, I am sure she would give the Antichrist fits. In Revelation 11:3, the two witnesses alone give the Antichrist enough headaches. Millions of Christians who know their Bibles well would recognize the man of sin and pray fire down on his head. The post-trib view would have to plan on the Church just rolling over and playing dead the whole seven years.

We should all remember one thing: Knowing the Antichrist’s mother’s maiden name isn’t the primary goal. Knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and having your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life should be your number-one priority. The jailer asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30-31).

— Todd Strandberg

Additional Articles On The Pretribulation Rapture

Downward Spiral by Todd Strandberg

Published on: July 18, 2016February 13, 2018 by RR2 Comment

Introduction
Of all the years I’ve written for Rapture Ready, I don’t recall ever having a single image become the inspiration for an article. Normally, a manuscript is written first and then a graphic is created to fit the theme of the article.In the case of this page, I encountered an image that compelled me to write an article about it. The ten police mug shots at the top of this page so perfectly illustrate the destructive power of sin, they practically wrote half the story line for this article.

I found this photo collage on a joke site. I don’t know why it would used as humor, but that just illustrates the sick nature of our society.

Even though several websites feature this woman’s arrest photos, I could only find a very limited explanation of why they were taken. I’m hoping that someone will information on this lady will see this article and provide me with more details.

This nameless girl is said to have been a New York prostitute for 15 years. Her physical deterioration is said to have been caused by drug abuse and the hard life of prostitute. I was told by one source that she eventually died.

This article will attempt to identify why people fall into a downward spiral and what can be done to prevent other people from falling into the same trap.

The Causes of a Downward Spiral
There are many reasons why people fall into a pattern of self-destruction. We have no cut-and-dry reason one person stumbles and another avoids addiction. One individual may be born with a weakness for alcohol while another may have a natural dislike for intoxicants.

Somewhere at the core of all addictive behavior is the way people deal with temptation. We can educate people, but knowledge doesn’t mean that people will automatically make the right choices.

In most cases, the destructive process is hidden from the person undergoing the transformation. No one typically says, “I think I’ll slowly waste away my life.” A more likely statement people end up making is, “How on earth did I get into this mess?”

Because so many factors are at work, it would be impossible for me to list a stage-by-stage example that could be applied to all cases. The best thing I can do is compile a list of the most common reasons people get trapped in a downward spiral.

All-the-Time-in-the-World Syndrome
People in their youth often believe they have plenty of time to correct a behavioral problem. What they don’t realize is that as we get older, we lose our ability to cope with the poor choices we make. The errors we make in life create obstacles that compound over time.

Overconfidence
Many people believe they have the ability to cut off desire/thoughts anytime they wish. They say, “I can give this habit up any day, so why let today be that day?” As long as they don’t run into a problem, their confidence remains intact.

Denial
When people are faced with a fact that is uncomfortable or painful to accept, they reject it as untrue. Despite what may appear to be overwhelming evidence, they remain steadfast in their view of reality. We cannot force people to believe something they refuse to see as fact.

The Lack of a Foundation
Without a moral compass to guide individuals, there is nothing to prevent them from getting into trouble. A person who has no foundation of truth will sink into error with just as much certainty as someone who is standing in quicksand.

The Tolerance Factor
The typical experience with drug abuse is a good way to explain how the tolerance factor works. As people continue to abuse drugs and alcohol, their condition is often made worse by their bodies adjusting to the effects of the intoxicating substances. Over time, an addict needs an increasing the amount of drugs in order to achieve the same high. The cycle may progress to the point where the addict needs to take large quantities of a drug just to cope with daily life.

Unsuccessful Attempts To Stop a Habit
When people fail in their attempt to quit a bad habit, their lack of success can create a feeling of hopelessness. They give up trying to achieve sobriety based on the assumption that they lack the ability to kick the habit. The failure to moderate their behavior may cause them to identify with or even defend the addiction.

Emotions Are Stronger Than Reason
It’s important to realize that emotions are a key driving force in our lives. Once emotions are aroused, the intellect or the reasoning faculty becomes overshadowed. The emotions are stronger than the reason and tend to have the final say. A good example of this would be someone who has a short temper and makes decisions based on his or her likes or dislikes.

“I Don’t Care Anymore”
One of the strongest drives in mankind is the desire for self-preservation. We take care of ourselves because we want to go on living. When people reach the point where they don’t care what happens to them, they become enveloped by their addiction. The people who reach this stage are very difficult to successfully treat.

Breaking Out of the Downward Spiral
There is no easy answer for people seeking to dig themselves out of the hole they find themselves in. If it took time for people to get their life into a mess, it will take time to put their world back into some working order.

Recovery starts with a realization of life’s core values. Those who are involved with something like drugs begin recovery with the understanding that the habit is morally wrong. They say, “I shouldn’t be messing with this stuff.” The most chronic drug users tend to be people who lack a strong moral foundation.

The next step of the recovery process involves accepting, understanding and releasing negative feelings. Because hostility can be a major obstacle to healing, it is very important for people in recovery to make amends with their friends, family, and–most importantly–themselves.

A third step is about choice — people have to decide that they are going to take an action that is best for them. Without a sense of determination, it is very easy to fall back into the spiral of despair. Most individuals can give up a vice for a short time. The problem is maintaining sobriety.

The final step is one that never ends. Once people decide to turn their lives around, they need to take a continual inventory of life. When they stumble, it’s important for them to admit to the error and quickly get back up.

An addict seeking recovery needs to realize that they never will get back to 100 percent. To be cured means that someone is no longer destroying his or her life. Even if the woman in the header photo were to give up drugs, she never would regain the looks or health she had as a teenager. All addictions leave some type of lasting physical or emotional scars.

The Bible has several verses that tell me we can overcome temptation:

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:13-15).

Our Relationship with God

With any attempt at restoration, there needs to be a reliance on God’s grace. The Lord has the power to supernaturally break the hold of any sin that binds us.

Some of the most successful programs for chronic addiction have been ones founded on prayer and Scripture. Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous advise people to realize that “a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

Because everyone is born in sin, we all have our addictions. Most of these shortcomings don’t cause us to end up sleeping in a gutter. A business man who sings in the Sunday choir ” unless he has Jesus as his Savior — is spiritually no better off than the woman in the header of this article.

We have no room to say we’re better off than anyone else. The Lord warned us that “Unless you are born again you can never see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

God does not send his angels to rescue us from our evil ways. He gives victory to people who put their trust in Him.