The truth of the pre-Tribulation Rapture is under siege in our day. The enemy is working overtime to try and discredit this precious truth in an hour when it is needed more than ever. The burden of these articles has been to defend this truth with sound Biblical arguments. In our first article we looked at some plain promises that guarantee the church will be spared the Tribulation wrath (e.g., 1 Thess. 5:9 & Rev. 3:10). In the previous article, we considered three Biblical reasons for a Pre- Tribulation Rapture. They were:
- The purpose of the Tribulation is for Israel, not the church (Jer.30:7; Dan. 9:24).
- The doctrine of imminency requires a pre-Tribulation Rapture (Rom.13:11-12; Phil.4:5; 1Thess.5:4-9; Titus 2:13; James 5:8-9; 1 Peter 4:7; 1 Thess.1:9-10; 1 Cor.1:7 and Phil.3:20).
- The structure of the Book of Revelation shows the church is not on earth during the Tribulation (Church absent from chap. 4-18).
In this article, we will explore a further three Biblical reasons why we can continue to hold onto the Pre-Trib Rapture as absolute truth.
Is it a Comfort to Think we Go Through the Tribulation?
The Rapture is a message of comfort and hope.
“Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess.4:18).
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).
Perhaps the most well-known Rapture passage is in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. It is significant to note that after outlining the blessed details of the rapture, it ends with the words “wherefore comfort one another with these words.” The message of the rapture was intended to be a message of comfort to the Thessalonian believers. If the Thessalonian believers were to anticipate going through the terrors of the Tribulation that would not be a message of comfort at all!
It is also very significant to note the placement of this rapture passage in the structure of 1 Thessalonians. Immediately following the comforting message of the rapture, Paul goes on to speak about the day of the Lord in chapter 5 so plainly the Rapture precedes the day of the Lord! What sort of message of comfort would the Rapture be if any one of the mid-trib, pre-wrath or post-trib Rapture theories were the truth!? Look at the following chart that details the 5 main rapture views and ask yourself the question, which one represents a message of true comfort?
No Comfort in a Mid-Trib Rapture
Can the prospect of going through the first half of the Tribulation period bring you comfort (mid-trib view). How could it be comforting to be here on earth when the following conditions prevail?
- Peace is removed and there will be a great sword (Rev.6:4).
- One quarter of earth will experience death by the “sword”, “hunger” and “wild beasts” (Rev.6:8).
- Many will be martyred (Rev.6:9).
- A global earthquake will destroy cities; the sun will be darkened and the moon turned blood red (Rev.6:12-14).
- One third of the earth’s trees and grass will be burnt by bushfires, one third of drinking water contaminated, one third of oceans turned to blood and one third of ships destroyed? (Rev.8:
- The bottomless pit will be opened and demonic activity abound stirring up an Asian war that will slay one third of men!
Will those who expound the Mid- Tribulation Rapture theory please tell me how it is a comfort to know they will endure this awful period of history and only be raptured after these things have happened?
No Comfort in a Pre-Wrath or Post-Tribulation Rapture
And what about those who espouse the pre-wrath Rapture theory and teach that the Rapture occurs approximately three quarters of the way through the Tribulation? Or even those who think the Church will go all the way through the Tribulation (post-Trib) when the Beast will achieve global control and nobody will be able to buy or sell without the mark of the Beast?
How would we “comfort one another with these words” if we expect to go through part, if not all the way through the Tribulation?! No dear friends, the only promise of God’s deliverance for the church is BEFORE the start of the entire Tribulation period i.e. a pre-Trib. Rapture.
The Rapture is a “Blessed Hope”
Further, the Rapture is described in Titus 2:13 as the “blessed hope” that we are to anticipate as believers. What sort of hope would the message of the Rapture be if you knew you had to endure the Tribulation period only to experience a quick elevator ride at the end – a quick uptake into the air and then down again (the Post Trib view)! That is of course if you happened to be one of the few who survived!
The loss of life in the Tribulation will be horrific. Isaiah wrote that there would be “few men left” (Isa.24:6) and John indicated that those who stand with redeemed Israel will be special targets.
If the Church goes through the Tribulation then Christians will be the prime target for every evil force. They will be hunted down mercilessly and multitudes martyred just as we know the 144,000 Jewish witnesses and all who turn to the Lord will be. John foresaw
“a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne” (Rev.7:9).
He was told by one of the elders:
“These are they which came out of (the) great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev.7:14).
What foolishness to suggest that the Rapture of the Church can be described as “the blessed hope” of Christians if they have to pass through the greatest blood-bath in human history! John wrote:
“The winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs” (Rev.14:20).
The Rapture is a “blessed hope” because Christ will rapture His church before the Tribulation begins. We are not appointed to wrath (1Thess.5:9).
The Wedding Must Come Before the 2nd Advent
Jesus Christ returns to the earth after the wedding (Luke 12:35-36).
“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.”
These verses reveal that the second coming of Christ will take place after the wedding. This obviously means the marriage of Christ to His bride the church (Eph.5:32) must take place before the second coming of Christ to earth. And that is exactly what the Book of Revelation shows. John is caught up in Rev. 4:1, prefiguring the rapture of the church. The church is absent during the entire Tribulation period (Chap. 4-18) and then re-appears in chapter 19 where she is pictured returning with Christ at the second coming. Revelation 19:7 reads,
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
The phrase “is come” is in the aorist (past) tense which indicates the marriage has already taken place in heaven. The wife of the Lamb is already in heaven so the rapture had to take place before Christ returns to earth! Luke 12:36 plainly declares that Christ returns “from the wedding”.
This Scripture raises a number of interesting questions. If the second Advent occurs “immediately after the tribulation” as Matthew states (Matt.24:29) and the Second Advent is after the wedding then the wedding must occur while the Tribulation is on earth. And since it is unthinkable that the wedding could be on earth during the Tribulation, it must be in heaven.
Also, how long does the wedding take? Since the Church is only partially on earth at any one time and the “general assembly and church of the firstborn” is only in heaven (Heb.12:23); and the whole Church makes up the Bride of Christ, How does the complete Bride, including living saints on earth, get to the wedding if it is in heaven before the Second Coming if Jesus comes “after the wedding”?
Only one explanation will suffice. The Bride, consisting of all the living and deceased church-age saints, must be raptured before the Tribulation begins!
The Biblical Sequence of Events
So, the Biblical sequence of events is as follows:
- i) The rapture of the church takes place before the start of Daniel’s 70th week (the 7-year tribulation).
- ii) The wedding takes place in heaven after the Rapture.
- iii) The church returns with Christ at the Second Coming.
- iv) The marriage supper of the Lamb takes place on earth.
This sequence follows the Jewish wedding customs of Christ’s day. In a Jewish wedding, a marriage contract was drawn up and a dowry paid for the bride. The groom then returned to prepare a room in his father’s house. At a time only known to the father, the groom would be sent to get his bride. The procession would proceed through the streets with the blowing of trumpets and the shout “Behold the bridegroom cometh!”
Upon arrival at the bride’s house, the groom would stand outside and call her forth to meet him. She would then sit on a sedan chair and be lifted into the air and carried to the father’s house. In fact, it was even termed “flying to the father’s house.” At the father’s house the marriage would be consummated in the bridal chamber where the groom and his bride would be hidden away for 7 days. Then they would come out of the bridal chamber, guests invited, and the bride would be presented before the wedding feast commenced.
Do you see how this beautifully pictures Christ and the church? Christ came the first time and purchased His Bride with His precious blood (Eph.5:25). At conversion we are “espoused” to Christ as a “chaste virgin” (2Cor.11:2).
Christ is preparing a place of us in the Father’s House in heaven and at the time appointed by the Father, He will come to rapture His bride. The Church is lifted into the air and taken to the Father’s house where the wedding takes place. Similar to the Jewish wedding where the bride and groom were hidden away for 7 days, the church will be hidden away in heaven with Christ for the 7-year tribulation period. At the end of the tribulation, the church accompanies Christ at His second coming back to earth where the marriage feast will be celebrated. (To be continued in next article)