The Pre-Tribulation Rapture of The Church

Commentary

The Rapture Will Be Real Event

Here we have two New Testament passages which teach a “word or revealed mystery that is directly from the Lord”, as the apostle Paul states, all believers alive at the end of this age will be caught up with those believers who went before us, whose souls and spirits are already perfected.

The Greek word for “caught up” is harpazō, which is translated in Latin as rapturo, which is where we get our English word, rapture. Its meaning is, to seize, carry off by force or to take or snatch away. Scripture teaches that this is a real and true event that will take place.

In these passages, we learn that the dead in Christ will experience bodily resurrection and that those believers who are already alive will experience the transformation to perfection of their body, soul, and spirit. The result will be, all the believers at that time being fully perfected in Christ.

We’re told that this event will take place extremely quickly, in the “twinkling of an eye” and that it will be in the “air” or atmosphere of Earth. There is no mention of Jesus even touching down to the ground during this special event. This is the time of transformation and resurrection of the current and previous age saints. It is a separate event from Jesus‘ Second Coming.

We’re told, from that point on, we’ll always be with the Lord. Which points us to His words recorded in the Gospel of John. This is a picture of a groom preparing a home for him and his bride, a place where they can come together as one.

We have two examples of God rapturing others, Enoch (before the flood) and Elijah.

In this study, we’ll continue to look to Scripture for details about the rapture and its timing.

Commentary

The Tribulation Is God’s Wrath

Scripture teaches both in the Old Testament and New that there will be a time of God’s wrath upon the entire Earth. Like the flood of Noah’s day, God’s wrath will once more affect the entire world. This will be a time when God pours out His judgment upon a world filled with wickedness and rejection of Jesus. Many books of the Bible either mention or give in-depth teaching on it, including Daniel, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Revelation, and more.

Specifically speaking of the book of Revelation, we should understand it as Jesus’ revelation to us regarding details of this coming time of wrath and ultimately our victory in Him.

God has been providing details of His coming time of wrath for thousands of years, through Scripture. He revealed bits here and there to the Prophets, and during the captivity in Babylon, God had given Daniel a small glimpse of what would later be revealed in greater detail through the apostle John in the writing of Revelation.

As the events of the Tribulation seemingly kick off in Revelation chapter 6, it’s Jesus who opens these seals. It’s understood by those on the Earth, according to verses 16 and 17, that these events signify that it is the wrath of God they are experiencing.

Though the events of the first four seals of chapter 6 are the result of man’s wickedness, Jesus is the one who triggers these events by opening the seals of the scroll. Aside from the seals, God commands the angels to rain down judgments and allows Satan to possess a man who will be the final Antichrist.

2 Thessalonians 2:6 refers to a restrainer of this coming lawless one or final Antichrist. This restrainer is referred to as a “he”. I believe that the “he” is a reference to the Holy Spirit working through believers in this current age. Jesus’ removal of His Church through rapture would be a trigger event to begin God’s time of wrath on the earth. Even though Antichrist is powered by Satan, he is still a judgment from God upon this world, just as any wicked leader is a judgment sent by God upon a rebellious nation.

Commentary

God Promises To Keep The Church From His Wrath

In Jesus’ letter to the church in Philadelphia, He promised to them that in their endurance in the faith, He would keep them from the “hour of testing coming upon the whole world”. We should understand that it was not just a promise for those believers, but to anyone who is a born-again believer. That is made clear when Jesus says in verse 13, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches”.

There are several verses in the Bible which promise that the follower of Jesus will be spared from God’s wrath. Since Scripture teaches that the 7-Year Tribulation period is God’s wrath on the whole earth, we can expect to be kept from that, as well as His eternal wrath.

In Jesus’ teaching regarding the Tribulation period, He is recorded by Luke stating that believers must stay alert, essentially saying that we should see the signs and know when this time of wrath is approaching. In addition, the CSB translates His words, “praying that you may have strength to escape all these things…”. Others say it like this, “counted worthy to escape all these things…”. These two mean the same, worthiness or strength is given to the believer entirely from Jesus Himself, through our faith. If you’re alive at that time, you will be given the worthiness to escape from the time of God’s wrath, because of your trust in Jesus.

It makes sense that Jesus would rescue His Church from such a time. Jesus taught that it would be the worst time this world has ever seen. A time that He will cut short so that humanity will not be completely wiped out.

Understanding God’s character and His love toward those who are His, could we really believe that He will put us through such horrific events? I certainly don’t think so. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus paid the price of our all sin, past, present, and future; that once we’re saved, we are adopted into God’s family; that upon salvation, we are instantly made into a new creation in Christ Jesus. If we are already “new” and belong to Him, then why would we need to endure such wrath from God — a wrath meant to turn people to Him?

Commentary

The 7-Year Tribulation Is Primarily About Saving Israel

In God’s prophecy to Daniel, He tells Daniel that He has set aside seventy weeks, which we can understand as 490 years (each day equaling one year) to accomplish all things regarding the Jewish people (Daniel’s people).

That 490-year prophecy kicked off when Nehemiah received the decree to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah chapter 2). With Jesus’ crucifixion came the fulfillment of 69 of those weeks. The final week, or set of seven years, has not come to pass in history yet.

As the apostle Paul states, we’re currently in a time of partial spiritual hardening for the Jewish people. God is focusing His salvation efforts on the Gentile world. We can look at this as a pause in the Daniel prophecy, a time of grace, which the Bible told us would come prior to Jesus entering into the world the first time (Isaiah 49:6).

In this verse, we can see that the final Antichrist will make firm an agreement with Israel and presumably other nations. He will then desecrate a new temple in Jerusalem. This final Antichrist will affect the entire world; however, his heart will be set on establishing Jerusalem as his. Sadly, we learn from Zechariah that two-thirds of the Jewish people at that time will die.

Zechariah also makes it clear that this time of God’s wrath is focused on the purification of God’s elect from Israel. The remaining one-third of Jewish people will be the remnant who God promises to save in the end.

While Scripture teaches that there will be “Tribulation Saints” (Revelation 7:13-14), those who come to Jesus during that horrific time, God’s primary focus will be back on the Jewish people, as the “fullness of the Gentiles” will have come. This 7-Year Tribulation, also known as the Time of Trouble for Jacob, is the final prophetic period before God establishes His Kingdom on Earth, which has yet to take place at the time of this writing.

Commentary

The Church Comes Back With Jesus At His Second Coming

The idea that Jesus will return to Earth for a Second Coming is clearly taught in Scripture. It’s a core tenant of the Gospel, that He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Along with that, Scripture clearly teaches that He will bring with Him all His saints (His bride), that’s all true believers.

In the verses above, it’s stated that “The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen”. Who is this army? Well, verses 7 and 8 tell us who wears pure bright white linen, the saints.

This is not the only place in the Bible that describes Jesus coming back with His saints. Here are a couple of other verses which describe just that.

It would be hard to imagine that Jesus would put us through His wrath for seven years, then call us up to the atmosphere and immediately have us follow Him back here. Instead, I believe Scripture teaches that He will have already taken us out of the world before the time of wrath, and then we come back with Him at the end of it, no longer betrothed to our Groom, but united forever.

Scripture also makes it clear that God deals with the Gentiles and the Jews in different “ages” or periods of time. Currently, we’re in a time of God’s grace, specifically toward the Gentile world. That doesn’t mean that Jews cannot come to Jesus. They can, and several are, but this time is a time when the Gospel of Christ is working through the entire world.

There will be a day when Israel makes a deal with the devil. And they (those in unbelief, on the Earth) will face sudden destruction, while we (Christ-followers) will not be surprised by that day. I believe that we will be with the Lord in the place that He has prepared for us (John 14:1-3). Let that be a comfort to you, as God has fully intended it to be. For the believer, the 7-Year Tribulation will be our victory in Christ Jesus, over evil. The blood of the saints will be avenged by God.

The verses below speak of Israel during the Tribulation time.

In summary, we’ve looked at Scripture to see that the rapture will be a real event, that the entire 7 years of Tribulation is God’s wrath, that Jesus promises to keep His bride from God’s wrath, that the Tribulation is focused primarily on Israel, and that we, as believers, come back with Jesus at His Second Coming. With all that Scripture has to say about this, I think it’s clear that the rapture of the Church is an event that happens before the 7-year Tribulation takes place.