Not only are we concerned about the timing of our meeting in the clouds, but how we can really know for sure, what our position is as born again believers? Let's look at what other researchers have discovered. The Pre-Trib Research Center, Editor
Thomas Ice, April 1995, wrote: "Critics of pretribulationism sometimes state that belief in the Rapture is a doctrinal development of recent origin.They argue that the doctrine of the Rapture or any semblance of it was completely unknown before the 1800s.. and the writings of John Nelson Darby.. Dave MacPherson, argue that, during the first 18 centuries.. believers were never `Rapture separaters' [sic]; they never separated the minor Rapture aspect of the Second Coming of Christ from the Second Coming itself."
(1) .. More recently, pre-trib opponent Robert Van Kampen proclaimed, "The pretribulational Rapture position with its dual `parousias' was unheard of in church history prior to 1830"" (2). Marvin Rosenthal also advocates a pre-Armageddon theory (being Jewish, for him it is correct where a resurrection is concerned. "Christian reconstructionalists.. almost universally condemn premillennialism and pretribulationism favoring instead, postmillenialism. {Christian Research Institute seems to be defending that position}..
Gary North's derisive description of the Rapture as "the Church's hoped for Escape Hatch on the world's sinking ship," (3)..A research of Dave MacPherson's book: The Rapture Plot was weighed and found wanting by Frank Marotta. He writes: "Here are a few of the many deficiencies that I found in "The Rapture Plot:" 1. MacPherson states that the key symbol of the pretribulation Rapture for Margaret MacDonald is the catching up of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 (p.47-49). If this is true, one wonders if MacPherson has ever read Revelation 11.
Before the witnesses are caught up (verse 12), the beast makes war with them and kills them (verse 7). Thus the two witnesses go through tribulation before they are killed, raised and caught up. So if MacDonald's teaching is based on this passage, she is certainly posttribulational! Actually there is no doubt that the woman who said, "The trial of the Church is from Antichrist" was posttribulational.. MacPherson is the lone "historian" who has argued a connection between MacDonald and Darby..
The Rapture Plot is a defective work which distorts history. There is no plot. It
misrepresents godly men such as Darby and Kelly.." (4) William Bell has formulated three criteria for establishing the validity of a historical citation regarding the Rapture..
(5) .. the.. criteria.. that Christ's second coming was to consist of more than one phase, separated by an interval of years.., the view of imminency.. the movement is from the earth toward the Lord who is apparently in heaven.. that the gathering takes place "prior to the tribulation that is to come.."The purpose for the gathering was so that they would not "see the confusion that is to overwhelm world because of their sins.".. a concern with how Christians would survive the time of severe persecution by Antichrist.. written well over a 1000 years before 1830."
Another good source to establish that clergy discovered a pre tribulation Rapture long before 1830 are the writings of Morgan Edwards born in 1722. As a student at Bristol Baptist Seminary in England (1742-44), he wrote an essay for an eschatology class on his view on Bible prophecy.."Another event previous to the Millennium will be the appearing of the `Son of Man' in the clouds, coming to raise the dead saints and change the living, and to catch them up to himself, and then withdraw with them, as observed before [i.e.,p.7]. This event will come to pass when Antichrist be arrived at Jerusalem in his conquest of the world; and about three and a half years before his killing the witnesses and assumption of godhead.." (p.21).
(6) The verse "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," (Titus 2:13) loses it's significance if the Tribulation must intervene first," declared Dr. Walvoord. The Rapture is signless and the
Tribulation would be a sign. It would destroy the `Blessed Hope' and the imminence of the event. Imminence means to be prepared continuously. The event hangs overhead, is constantly ready to befall or overtake one. As soon as a date is set, it destroys the imminency of it. Only tribulation saints will be looking for signs because they are set forth in perfect order.In example the second advent, the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, will
happen exactly 1260 days from the day the Mark of Beast was given in exchange for worship of the Antichrist, proving no imminency in that case. The pre-tribulational interval is called the `Bema' judgment when all believers of this age must appear before the seat of Christ."For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10, see also Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 4:2-5)
The second advent brings with it God's judgment of unbelievers called the krino' judgment. "Whatever the view one holds in regard to our Lord's return, one thing is clear in prophetic Scripture, the marriage occurs in heaven (Rev. 19:7-9) before the
triumphal return of Christ with His redeemed church at His side." (Rev.19:11-16) (7)
Dr.Charles Ryrie explains the 24 elders of Revelation 4:1-5:14: "..twenty-four elders were appointed by King David to represent the entire Levitical priesthood (1Chron.24).. redeemed human beings included.. in heaven before the tribulation begins."(8) These are Old Testament saints resurrected when the Rapture occurs: the dead rise first. There is a tendency to omit Israel completely from the second coming, leaving just the Church. In fact there has been a decided effort from the beginning to erase the nation of Israel, probably due to the unexplainable miracles that meander throughout the history of the Jews. The nation is unique, the only one founded on a Father's faith in God, a miracle from God, a new name from God and a close relationship with God that brought the nation into existence and so far has prevailed over 4000 years.
The highlights are the voluntary move to Egypt due to famine, enslaved by Pharaoh and rescued with miracles. The miracle of the ministry and the crucifixion of our beloved Lord and Savior, the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. by Romans, followed a world-wide scattering of the Jews possibly for survival purposes. Amazingly this was all prophesied in the Holy Bible, just as the present regathering. In spite of the scattering, many Jews lost their lives and their heritage through persecution and intermarriage with Gentiles.
It is extraordinary that the forces are still alive wanting to destroy the nation of Israel. Another holocaust is predicted during the tribulation. Thank God, God is able: "to miraculously resurrect" their bodies, they should not fear death. "I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land."..
"Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great.Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD [is] near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. (Joel 3:2, 12-15) note Joel does not mention the Church because it is gone.
The following vision is explicitly concerned with God's renewal of His promises to Israel (Ezekiel 37:14), the reign of Messiah begins (Ezekiel 37:24,25) Prior to this, the revival of the Jews has taken place and the Antichrist has overcome them. They have been martyred. Ezekiel wrote the following: "The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold,
[there were] very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they were] very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live?And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.
"So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but [there was] no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live."
"So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones
are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts."Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken [it], and performed [it], saith the LORD." (Ezekiel 37:1-14) Ezekiel was told that Judah and Israel would become one once again. (see Ezekiel 37:17)
Ezekiel leaves no doubt that Israel and the Church have a different function relative to the Day of the Lord. The name Israel was given to Jacob approximately 180 years after Abraham's birth. And the tribulation is not the "time of the Church's trouble," but the "time of Jacob's trouble." The Church is absent from the Tribulation. Not one Old Testament passage on the tribulation refers to the church, nor does the New Testament ever speak of the church in relation to the tribulation, except as present in heaven. (9)
Before the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, nobody knew about the Body of Christ. God's program was to offer the Kingdom to Israel.Rejected, He purchased by His own blood all of humanity and from it is building the Body of Christ, the true Church, invisible, not of any denomination nor any other human organization. Soon the body will be complete, which represents the end of the Church Age. Each of us is a member of this Body, membership in a church has nothing to do with it. The message of salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
If you are not already part of the Body of Christ, when you do come in, you are becoming a member simply by believing in Jesus Christ as your personal savior. You become part of the greatest entity, the greatest institution, the greatest living thing in the whole universe, the Body of Christ, whom God finds totally acceptable. The Rapture of the Body of Christ not only ends the Church Age, but it begins the Day of the Lord.
Peter describes to us: "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day
[is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Peter 3:8-10)While still on earth, the Body of Christ is a source of protection for this world against the wrath of God. The wrath is being stored up and growing. The Divine condemnation that is due upon the world cannot happen because of the Church. Rather, it will come during the Day of the Lord. It is described in Revelation from Chapter 6 through 21. The world will discover what protection they had due to the Body of Christ. The Rapture clears the way for the Antichrist.
"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8) `He who now letteth refers to the Body of Christ, since the Holy Spirit will remain throughout the Tribulation.
The Antichrist will get away with his lies, because a strong delusion will have come upon the whole world. (see 2 Thess. 2:11) Up to now the world was under Grace (forgiveness) and with the Rapture, Grace will be ended. With the Church gone the fiber of society will begin to unravel. The world will be completely lost in confusion, heresy, anarchy, lying, stealing, and desecration of every kind. The people's opinion will be, that they don't need God. God is irrelevant and to them probably non-existent.
Of great importance is the fact that the Rapture will restart God's program for Israel. Jesus said to the Jews: "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate," (Matthew 23:38) reason being the crucifixion. Paul, through the Holy Spirit promised them eventual deliverance in Romans 11:26-27: "And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For
this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." "God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.." (Romans 11:2) Foreknowledge on the part of God cannot be changed.In the Tribulation, Israel will make an alliance with the Antichrist but that covenant will be broken in the middle of the Tribulation which will invite tremendous persecution and drive them to God. Dave Breese wrote a couple of booklets about the Rapture (1993/ 1994) (10) He divides events from the birth of the Church, the Body of Christ, until the end of the Millennium, into three segments.
The Gospel of Grace is the church age which began with Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was released on people of faith and culminates with the Rapture. Scripture to confirm: ".. now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:" (2 Timothy 1:10)
"For we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:" (2 Corinthians 5:1-2) "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17)
"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)