Pre-Tribulation Rapture

May 8, 2020

 

It’s Friday again. Not just any Friday, it’s the Friday before Mother’s day. Let’s jump into our study with a theological discussion. Put your “thinking caps” on and buckle up.

 

Revelation 4:1 begins; “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” [NIV]

 

The expression, “after this” occurs six times in Revelation (4:1, 7:1, 7:9, 15:5, 18:1, 19:1).  This is a formula that allows the reader to understand that the events of the book are sequential.  Sometimes prophecies are difficult to place, because there are no clues to the sequence of the events.  This formula also allows the reader to understand each section as distinct and connected.  These are natural section breaks but allow us to see them as a whole and how they relate to each other.

 

Revelation 4:1 continues “…and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.”  Notice that heaven is open… not shut.  God seems to always be issuing an open invitation to “whosoever will” (KJV). The feel of the book is the “wrath” is mixed with opportunity to repent. By contrast the feeling I get when Jesus talks about the “gates of hell” (see Revelation 1:18) is they are locked. God is not willing that ANY spend eternity in “Hell.” “The LORD is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” [2 Peter 3:9 NIV]

 

Revelation 4:1’s statement, “Come up here…” is a possible reference to the “rapture,” as Dispensationalists understand it. “Rapture” is a theological expression to describe an event. The actual word is not used in Scripture. One picture of the rapture comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “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.” [NIV]

 

There are three main positions about WHEN the rapture will occur.  The first is the “PRE-tribulation rapture.”  Among the ideas behind this stand is the “tribulation” is a time of God pouring out His wrath on humanity.  Revelation 6:17 states, “For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” [NIV] The idea here is Christians will not suffer wrath.  This position refers to 1 Thessalonians 5:9: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” [NIV]

 

Another idea behind the Pre-tribulation rapture position is the identity of the “restrainer” found in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.” [NIV] The main arguments have to do with the church and the Holy Spirit.  The thought is that if the individual that restrains (holds back) is the church, then the rapture will occur before the tribulation.  The problem is understanding the church as a singular person (such as “the bride of Christ” or the “body of Christ”). If the restrainer is the Holy Spirit, it makes sense to think that if the Holy Spirit is in the believer, then the believer is taken as well.  The problem here is the restrainer is “taken out of the way,” not out of the world.

 

Another key thought in the Pre-tribulation rapture position is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:1 – 3. “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 will 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.” [NIV] Here the idea is the tribulation is not obvious, and we cannot date Jesus’ return.  The problem is it may be arrogant to think we KNOW times and dates and can accurately identify the events in the book of Revelation. However, we are told about these events. A mark of that day will be a false sense of peace and safety.

 

Think you have a handle on all that? Stay tuned for tomorrow when I cover the other two. I “hate” to do this, but Biblical we must honestly consider the plausibility of the other two positions. A mind that is all unexamined and unchallenged, may be mixed up and permanently set. The danger is one that might find they have bet their soul on the wrong possibility. Or as the Bible says, “In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines.” [Proverbs 18:17 NIV]

 

The fine print: Optimistically looking forward, the isolation will slowly be relaxed and we will be able to meet as a congregation, hopefully soon. If you are reading this and are in need of a church family, please join us at Faith Alliance Church of Fuoss Mills. (Just search "Fuoss Mills" and you will find us.)