THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
Pastor Dale Morgan
Updated August 15, 2006
David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service
The word "rapture" does not appear in the Bible, but it is the term used
by many Christians to describe the catching away of the saints described
in 1 Th. 4:13-18. The term "caught up" in 1 Th. 4:17 is also translated
"pluck" (Jn. 10:28), "take by force" (Acts 23:10), and "pulling [out of
the fire]" (Jude 23). It refers to a forceful seizing and a snatching
away. It is used of the devil snatching the word of God from the heart
of the foolish (Mt. 13:19) and of the Spirit of God snatching away
Philip after the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:39). This is
exactly what Christ will do to the New Testament believers before the
onslaught of the Great Tribulation.
Notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:
1. The Rapture is (1) a resurrection of the dead in Christ (v. 14-16),
(2) a catching up and translation of the living New Testament saints (v.
17).
2. The dead in Christ are with Him in heaven (v. 14).
3. The Rapture is the believer's hope (v. 13). It is what we are looking
forward to.
4. The Rapture is certain. (a) It is as sure as Christ's resurrection
(v. 14). (b) It is the word of the Lord (v. 15).
5. The Rapture is a comfort (v. 18). If this translation did not occur
until the end of the torments of the Great Tribulation, it certainly
would not produce solace for the Christian standing on this side of the
Tribulation.
6. The Rapture is before the day of the Lord's wrath (5:1-5, 9).
This event is also described in 1 Corinthians 15:51-58.
1. The Rapture is a mystery that was not revealed in the Old Testament
(v. 51). The Old Testament prophets taught about the resurrection, but
they did not teach that some would be caught up without dying. The
translation of the New Testament saints will involve an instantaneous
change from morality to immortality. Those believers living at that hour
will never see death.
2. The translation of the church-age saints is said to be a source of
comfort and encouragement (1 Co. 15:58). Again, if this translation did
not occur until the end of the torments of the Great Tribulation, it
would not be a comfort.
Among those who believe in a literal Rapture of church-age saints, there
are three general positions. All of these pertain to the timing of the
Rapture in relation to the Great Tribulation. The three views are (1)
Pre-tribulational, meaning the church-age saints will be raptured before
the Great Tribulation. (2) Mid-tribulational (also called Pre-wrath
Rapture), meaning the church-age saints will go through the first half
of the Tribulation. (3) Post-tribulational, meaning the church-age
saints will go through the entire Tribulation period.
THE EVIDENCE FOR THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
For the following reasons we are convinced the Bible teaches a
Pre-tribulational Rapture. In the following study, we are using the term
"church" in a general, institutional sense:
1. CHURCH-AGE BELIEVERS ARE PROMISED SALVATION FROM WRATH (1 Th. 1:9-10;
5:1-9; Rom. 5:9; Rev. 3:10).
The Great Tribulation is expressly called the day of God's wrath. Today
the Lord is withholding His anger; He is seated upon a throne of grace,
but the day approaches when He will take the seat of judgment. Then "the
day of his wrath" will be upon all the world (Ps. 110:5; Isa. 13:6-13;
Rev. 6:16-17). It is true that in every century, Bible-believing
churches have been subjected to persecution, but this is quite different
from the Great Tribulation. The general persecutions of the saints are
caused by the wrath of wicked men and the devil, whereas the seven-year
Tribulation is a period especially pertaining to God's wrath (Rev.
6:16-17; 14:10). Some feel that the church will not be saved out of the
time of wrath, but will be saved through it. This cannot be true, since
the Bible clearly reveals that those who are on earth during the Great
Tribulation will not be delivered from wrath but will be overcome (Rev.
13:7). The Scriptures that promise church-age believers deliverance from
wrath must refer to salvation out from the very presence of the wrath.
Concerning the Great Tribulation, we are told that "as a snare shall it
come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth" (Lk. 21:35).
Therefore, church-age believers must either be physically removed from
the earth, or they will be involved in the day of wrath. God promises
removal. "... I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which
shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth"
(Rev. 3:10). This verse does not say that God will keep the church age
saints through the temptation but from it.
2. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS TO BE REMOVED BEFORE THE TRIBULATION (2 Th. 2:1-8).
In other passages of the Bible, the Holy Spirit is said to be the
restrainer of sin (Ge. 6:3; Is. 59:19). The Holy Spirit came into the
world in His present dispensation at Pentecost (Acts 2), when He came to
empower the church for the Great Commission (Acts 1:8). He will remove
the church-age believers before the time of God's great wrath. This does
not mean the Holy Spirit will not be present in the world at that time.
He is God and is omnipresent. It means that He will not be present in
the same sense that He is in this age.
3. CHURCH-AGE BELIEVERS ARE PROMISED MANSIONS IN HEAVEN (Jn. 14:1-3).
When the Lord Jesus returns to the earth at the end of the Tribulation,
He sets up His Messianic kingdom. If the Rapture occurred at the end of
the Tribulation, the promise to church-age believers pertaining to
Heaven would not be fulfilled. Church-age believers are a heavenly
people with a heavenly hope (Eph. 1; Ph. 3:20; Col. 3:1-3). Some
dispensationalists teach that the church-age saints will live in heaven
during the millennium. I believe they will live both in heaven and in
earth. Jesus promised the apostles that they would reign with Him over
Israel (Matt. 19:28).
4. THE TRANSLATION OF CHURCH-AGE SAINTS IS SAID TO BE IMMINENT (meaning
that it could happen any moment) (Matt. 24:42, 44; 25:13; Mk. 13:33),
whereas the Second Coming is said to be preceded by specific signs (1
Th. 1:9-10; Tit. 2:12-13; Jam. 5:8,9; 1 Jn. 2:28; Rev. 1:3).
The apostle Paul instructed the church at Thessalonica that they did not
need to heed signs and times, because the New Testament believer has
been promised redemption from the "day of darkness" which shall overcome
the whole world (1 Th. 5:1-9). The church is waiting, not for the
appearing of the Antichrist, but for the redemption of the Son of God.
5. THE CHURCH IS A MYSTERY UNREVEALED IN THE Old TESTAMENT (Eph. 3:1-11).
The New Testament church has no part in the chronology of events
foretold by the Old Testament prophets. They clearly foretold the first
coming of Christ, His miraculous birth, life, death, resurrection, and
ascension. The same prophets described Christ's Second Coming in glory,
preceded by a time of unprecedented worldwide tribulation, and followed
by the establishment of the glorious Messianic kingdom centered in
Jerusalem. But these prophets did not see the present church age--"which
in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now
revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Eph. 3:5).
Between the first and second coming, there is a time gap that was not
seen by the Old Testament prophets. This gap is the church age. The
prophets did not see that Israel would be set aside temporarily while
God called out from among all nations a special body of people. After He
has accomplished this purpose and the fullness of the Gentiles is come
in, God will restart Israel's prophetic clock and will fulfill all Old
Testament prophecies in relation to His ancient chosen nation. "...
blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the
Gentiles be come in" (Rom. 11:25).
The Great Tribulation deals with Israel, not with church-age believers.
This present mystery period will end with the removal of the church-age
believers from the earth; and the Lord will then take up His plan for
the nation Israel as He fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of the
time of Jacob's trouble, the coming of Messiah in glory, the regathering
of the remnant, and the establishment of the Messianic kingdom.
6. THERE ARE EVENTS INTERVENING BETWEEN THE TRANSLATION AND RESURRECTION
OF THE CHURCH AND THE SECOND ADVENT.
According to 1 Cor. 15:51, EVERY saved person will be translated at the
Rapture. Yet Mat. 25:31-46 shows that when Jesus returns to the earth at
the Second Advent He will find many true believers in their natural
bodies. There must, then, be a period of time between the Rapture of the
church-age saints and the Second Coming to allow for these folk to be
saved. It is reasonable to believe that this period is the seven years
of the Great Tribulation.
7. THE BOOK OF REVELATION SHOWS THAT THE CHURCH IS NOT ON EARTH DURING
THE TRIBULATION.
(a) The church is not seen on earth in chapters 4-18.
(b) The witness for God in the earth during the Tribulation is Israel,
not the church (Rev. 7).
(c) The prayers of the saints in Revelation 8 are prayers for judgment.
Only Israel prayed such prayers. The church-age saints are instructed to
pray for her enemies, not against them (Lk. 9:51-56). These prayers of
Revelation are those of the Psalms and are based on God's promise to
Abraham to curse those that cursed Israel (Gen. 12:1-3).
(d) The scorpion-like creatures of Revelation 9 are given freedom to
hurt all earth-dwellers except those Jews who were sealed by the angel
of Revelation 7; if church-age believers were on earth, they would be
subject to this horrible judgment of God.
(e) Revelation 10 identifies the events of Revelation 4-18 with those
foretold by Old Testament prophets--the days of the Great Tribulation,
the "day of the Lord." The church age was never in the view of these Old
Testament prophecies; it was an unrevealed mystery. The church has a
different purpose and program than national Israel. It is Israel that is
in view in Old Testament prophecy and in Revelation 4-18.
(f) The ministry of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 identifies them
with national Israel and with Old Testament prophecies of the "day of
the Lord." The two witnesses minister from Jerusalem, Israel's capital.
The churches have no such capital, her hope being heavenly, not earthly
(Col. 3:1-4; Phil. 3:17-21). The two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth,
typical of Old Testament Israel, not New Testament believers. Nowhere
are the churches seen in sackcloth. They are told, rather, to "rejoice
in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4). The church-age
believer's judgment is forever past, and he is to keep his mind centered
in the heavenlies where, in position, he is seated eternally victorious
with Christ (Eph. 2:5-10). Revelation 11:4 identifies the two witnesses
with Old Testament prophecy. Zech. 4:3, 11, 14 is a prophecy of Israel,
not the church. Further, the two witnesses call down judgment upon their
enemies in Rev. 10:5-6. Jesus rebuked his disciples for desiring to do
just this and instructed the church-age believer to pray for the
well-being of his enemies, not for their destruction (Lk. 9:54-56; Rom.
12:14, 17-21).
(g) The devil persecutes Israel, not the church, during the Tribulation
(Rev. 12). There can be no doubt that the woman in this chapter is
identified as national Israel. Verse 5 shows the woman bringing forth
Christ; it is obvious that Jesus was brought forth by Israel, not by the
churches (Isa. 9:6-7; Rom. 9:5). Also, the symbols of Rev. 12:1-2 recall
familiar Old Testament typology of Israel. She is referred to as a woman
(Isa. 54:5-7). The sun and moon and the 12 stars of verse 2 remind us of
Joseph's dream regarding Israel (Gen. 37:9). The words of Rev. 12:2 are
almost an exact quote from Micah 5:3, again referencing Israel's
delivery of the Messiah. These symbols are not used in the New Testament
of the churches.