The rapture is the next event on God's prophetic calendar. It has always been the timing of the rapture in relation to the Tribulation that has brought great debate. I personally believe in the pre-Tribulation view of the rapture. I want to explain it from this viewpoint. There are several other views on this that I will not get into but you can find info. on the web or books for your reading pleasure.
Let's look at some major rapture passages in scripture.
The Resurrection:
I Cor. 15:23-24, 51-52 - "But in this order: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom of God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power."
"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."
I Thess. 4:13-18 - "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words."
I Thess. 5:1-11 - "Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord iwll come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'Peace and safety', destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. SO then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."
I will list other passage references and the subject with which they correspond too.
Hope and comfort - John 14:1-3; James 5:7-9; Phil. 3:20-21
Change - I John 3:2-3; I Thess. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:51-52
A return to heaven - I Thess. 1:9b-10; II Thess. 2:1; John 14:1-3
Taken directly by Jesus Himself - James 5:7-9; Titus 2:13; I Thess. 2:17-19
Living Godly because He is coming - I Tim. 6:14; Titus 2:12-14; I John 2:28
The pronouns we, you, and us as a proof that the rapture could have happened to Pauls own generation - John 14:1-3; James 5:7-9; I Thess. 1:9-10; 2:17-19; 3:13; 4:13-18; II Thess. 2:1-2; I Tim. 6:14; I Cor. 15:23-24; I John 2:8; 3:2-3
The term "parousia" to describe the rapture - James 5:7-8; I Thess. 2:17-19; 3:13; II Thess. 2:1-2; I Cor. 15:23-24; I John 2:28, 3:2-3
Other terms:
"at hand" - James 5:8
"again I am coming" - John 14:3
"decends" - I Thess. 4:16
"gather together" - II Thess 2:1
"appearing" - II Thess. 2:8
The pre-Tribulation rapture view is not new just to the 20th and 21st century. Ephraim the Syrian in 373 AD said, "For all the saints and the Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins."
Dr. John Gill, Calvanist theologian (1748) - "Gill calls the translation of the Saints, "the rapture", and he calls for watchfulness because it will be sudden and unknown before hand, and when the least thought of and expected."
The shepherd of Hermas (110 AD) declared that the elect will escape the Great Tribulation.
It must be a pre-Tribulation rapture because of the nature of the church. Christ is the head of the church. (Eph. 1:22. 5:23; Col. 1:18)
Revelation 13:7 is clear - the earth and all in it are subject to the beast. Satan is not the head of the church and never will be.
To be continued.........
Let's look at some major rapture passages in scripture.
The Resurrection:
I Cor. 15:23-24, 51-52 - "But in this order: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom of God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power."
"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."
I Thess. 4:13-18 - "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words."
I Thess. 5:1-11 - "Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord iwll come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'Peace and safety', destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. SO then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."
I will list other passage references and the subject with which they correspond too.
Hope and comfort - John 14:1-3; James 5:7-9; Phil. 3:20-21
Change - I John 3:2-3; I Thess. 4:13-18; I Cor. 15:51-52
A return to heaven - I Thess. 1:9b-10; II Thess. 2:1; John 14:1-3
Taken directly by Jesus Himself - James 5:7-9; Titus 2:13; I Thess. 2:17-19
Living Godly because He is coming - I Tim. 6:14; Titus 2:12-14; I John 2:28
The pronouns we, you, and us as a proof that the rapture could have happened to Pauls own generation - John 14:1-3; James 5:7-9; I Thess. 1:9-10; 2:17-19; 3:13; 4:13-18; II Thess. 2:1-2; I Tim. 6:14; I Cor. 15:23-24; I John 2:8; 3:2-3
The term "parousia" to describe the rapture - James 5:7-8; I Thess. 2:17-19; 3:13; II Thess. 2:1-2; I Cor. 15:23-24; I John 2:28, 3:2-3
Other terms:
"at hand" - James 5:8
"again I am coming" - John 14:3
"decends" - I Thess. 4:16
"gather together" - II Thess 2:1
"appearing" - II Thess. 2:8
The pre-Tribulation rapture view is not new just to the 20th and 21st century. Ephraim the Syrian in 373 AD said, "For all the saints and the Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins."
Dr. John Gill, Calvanist theologian (1748) - "Gill calls the translation of the Saints, "the rapture", and he calls for watchfulness because it will be sudden and unknown before hand, and when the least thought of and expected."
The shepherd of Hermas (110 AD) declared that the elect will escape the Great Tribulation.
It must be a pre-Tribulation rapture because of the nature of the church. Christ is the head of the church. (Eph. 1:22. 5:23; Col. 1:18)
Revelation 13:7 is clear - the earth and all in it are subject to the beast. Satan is not the head of the church and never will be.
To be continued.........
Comments
The NEWEST Pretrib Calendar
Hal (serial polygamist) Lindsey and other pretrib-rapture-trafficking and Mayan-Calendar-hugging hucksters deserve the following message: "2012 may be YOUR latest date. It isn't MAYAN!" Actually, if it weren't for the 179-year-old, fringe-British-invented, American-merchandised pretribulation rapture bunco scheme, Hal might still be piloting a tugboat on the Mississippi. roly-poly Thomas Ice (Tim LaHaye's No. 1 strong-arm enforcer) might still be in his tiny folding-chair church which shares its firewall with a Texas saloon, Jack Van Impe might still be a jazz band musician, Tim LaHaye might still be titillating California matrons with his "Christian" sex manual, Grant Jeffrey might still be taking care of figures up in Canada, Chuck Missler might still be in mysterious hush-hush stuff that rocket scientists don't dare talk about, John Hagee might be making - and eating - world-record pizzas, and Jimmy ("Bye You" Rapture) Swaggart might still be flying on a Ferriday flatbed! To read more details about the eschatological British import that leading British scholarship never adopted - the import that's created some American multi-millionaires - Google "Pretrib Rapture Diehards" (note LaHaye's hypocrisy under "1992"), "Hal Lindsey's Many Divorces," "Thomas Ice (Bloopers)" and "Thomas Ice (Hired Gun)," "LaHaye's Temperament," "Wily Jeffrey," "Chuck Missler - Copyist," "Open Letter to Todd Strandberg" and "The Rapture Index (Mad Theology)," "X-Raying Margaret," "Humbug Huebner," "Thieves' Marketing," "Appendix F: Thou Shalt Not Steal," "The Unoriginal John Darby," "Pretrib Hypocrisy," "The Real Manuel Lacunza," "Roots of (Warlike) Christian Zionism," "America's Pretrib Rapture Traffickers," "Pretrib Rapture - Hidden Facts," "Dolcino? Duh!" and "Scholars Weigh My Research." Most of the above is written by journalist/historian Dave MacPherson who has focused on long-hidden pretrib rapture history for 35+ years. No one else has focused on it for 35 months or even 35 weeks. MacPherson has been a frequent radio talk show guest and he states that all of his royalties have always gone to a nonprofit group and not to any individual. His No. 1 book on all this is "The Rapture Plot" (see Armageddon Books online, etc.). The amazing thing is how long it has taken the mainstream media to finally notice and expose this unbelievably groundless yet extremely lucrative theological hoax!
One thing about the mid-tribulationist view, which I hold, is that we believe the tribulation, as Jesus promised, began at the birth of the church. We live in the time of the tribulation now - it's been going for almost 2,000 years. But yes, there will be a time of punishment which can not happen as long as the church is still here. This occurred to me when I realised that in Revelation, John was told to "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later." (Rev. 1:19) That is, Revelation is about PAST, PRESENT (John's present) and FUTURE. We misunderstand it when we think it's all about the future.
As far as the beast making war with the Saints, I don't see that in the same context as the church. I am actually going to talk more about this in my next post but I believe there will be Christians on the earth who are saved after the rapture due to the ministry of the 144,000 Jews but they are not refered to as the church anywhere after chapter 3 in Revelation. That is because I believe the church will be with Christ in heaven during that time. I base this off of the text in 2 Thess. 2:5-8 about the "restrainer" must first be removed. Then the anti-christ can be revealed.
Is God's word less true because we because we may have not seen this until recently? No. If Jesus is the same "yesterday and today and forever" and Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.), Than the Bible is absolute and unchanging. The doctrine of the trinity is a hard teaching and in fact the word trinity isn't even in the Bible. But when you take the Bible as a whole and begin to study these doctrines you find they piece together. The Bible clearly teaches a pre trib view (the scriptural references are too numerous to list) regardless of what Dave MacPherson claims.
It is true that John Darby popularized this teaching in the 1840’s but it is also true that a pastor in Philadelphia was writing about it and preaching it as early as 1742. He may have been influenced by John Gill before him. According to Grant Jeffrey’s discovery of the “Sermon on the End of the World” by the author designated as Pseudo-Ephraim, he wrote of the pre trib view as early as (A.D. 306-373). There is some question as to the date being A.D. 565-627 but that is beside the point. It shows that it was taught prior to the 1800’s.
Before we start trashing Jeffrey, LaHaye, Missler, Hagee and other respected prophecy scholars, look closer at the character of Mr. Macpherson.
I also pointed out a few who have held to this view, and it's not new, the Apostles taught it too.