David Cloud (www.wayoflife.org)
The word "rapture" does not appear in the Bible, but
it is the term used by many Christians to describe the catching
away of the saints described in 1 Th. 4:13-18. The term "caught
up" in 1 Th. 4:17 is also translated "pluck" (Jn.
10:28), "take by force" (Acts 23:10), and "pulling
[out of the fire]" (Jude 23). It refers to a forceful seizing
and a snatching away. It is used of the devil snatching the word
of God from the heart of the foolish (Mt. 13:19) and of the Spirit
of God snatching away Philip after the conversion of the Ethiopian
eunuch (Acts 8:39). This is exactly what Christ will do to the
New Testament believers before the onslaught of the Great Tribulation.
Notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:
1. The Rapture is (1) a resurrection of the dead in Christ (v.
14-16), (2) a catching up and translation of the living New Testament
saints (v. 17).
2. The dead in Christ are with Him in heaven (v. 14).
3. The Rapture is the believer's hope (v. 13). It is what we
are looking forward to.
4. The Rapture is certain. (a) It is as sure as Christ's resurrection
(v. 14). (b) It is the word of the Lord (v. 15).
5. The Rapture is a comfort (v. 18). If this translation did
not occur until the end of the torments of the Great Tribulation,
it certainly would not produce solace for the Christian standing
on this side of the Tribulation.
6. The Rapture is before the day of the Lord's wrath (5:1-5,
9).
This event is also described in 1 Corinthians 15:51-58.
1. The Rapture is a mystery that was not revealed in the Old
Testament (v. 51). The Old Testament prophets taught about the
resurrection, but they did not teach that some would be caught
up without dying. The translation of the New Testament saints
will involve an instantaneous change from morality to immortality.
Those believers living at that hour will never see death.
2. The translation of the church-age saints is said to be a source
of comfort and encouragement (1 Co. 15:58). Again, if this translation
did not occur until the end of the torments of the Great Tribulation,
it would not be a comfort.
Among those who believe in a literal Rapture of church-age saints,
there are three general positions. All of these pertain to the
timing of the Rapture in relation to the Great Tribulation. The
three views are (1) Pre-tribulational, meaning the church-age
saints will be raptured before the Great Tribulation. (2) Mid-tribulational
(also called Pre-wrath Rapture), meaning the church-age saints
will go through the first half of the Tribulation. (3) Post-tribulational,
meaning the church-age saints will go through the entire Tribulation
period.
THE EVIDENCE FOR THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE
For the following reasons we are convinced the Bible teaches
a Pre-tribulational Rapture. In the following study, we are using
the term "church" in a general, institutional sense:
1. CHURCH-AGE BELIEVERS ARE PROMISED SALVATION FROM WRATH (1
Th. 1:9-10; 5:1-9; Rom. 5:9; Rev. 3:10).
The Great Tribulation is expressly called the day of God's wrath.
Today the Lord is withholding His anger; He is seated upon a
throne of grace, but the day approaches when He will take the
seat of judgment. Then "the day of his wrath" will
be upon all the world (Ps. 110:5; Isa. 13:6-13; Rev. 6:16-17).
It is true that in every century, Bible-believing churches have
been subjected to persecution, but this is quite different from
the Great Tribulation. The general persecutions of the saints
are caused by the wrath of wicked men and the devil, whereas
the seven-year Tribulation is a period especially pertaining
to God's wrath (Rev. 6:16-17; 14:10). Some feel that the church
will not be saved out of the time of wrath, but will be saved
through it. This cannot be true, since the Bible clearly reveals
that those who are on earth during the Great Tribulation will
not be delivered from wrath but will be overcome (Rev. 13:7).
The Scriptures that promise church-age believers deliverance
from wrath must refer to salvation out from the very presence
of the wrath. Concerning the Great Tribulation, we are told that
"as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the
face of the whole earth" (Lk. 21:35). Therefore, church-age
believers must either be physically removed from the earth, or
they will be involved in the day of wrath. God promises removal.
"... I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon
the earth" (Rev. 3:10). This verse does not say that God
will keep the church age saints through the temptation but from
it.
2. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS TO BE REMOVED BEFORE THE TRIBULATION (2
Th. 2:1-8).
In other passages of the Bible, the Holy Spirit is said to be
the restrainer of sin (Ge. 6:3; Is. 59:19). The Holy Spirit came
into the world in His present dispensation at Pentecost (Acts
2), when He came to empower the church for the Great Commission
(Acts 1:8). He will remove the church-age believers before the
time of God's great wrath. This does not mean the Holy Spirit
will not be present in the world at that time. He is God and
is omnipresent. It means that He will not be present in the same
sense that He is in this age.
3. CHURCH-AGE BELIEVERS ARE PROMISED MANSIONS IN HEAVEN (Jn.
14:1-3).
When the Lord Jesus returns to the earth at the end of the Tribulation,
He sets up His Messianic kingdom. If the Rapture occurred at
the end of the Tribulation, the promise to church-age believers
pertaining to Heaven would not be fulfilled. Church-age believers
are a heavenly people with a heavenly hope (Eph. 1; Ph. 3:20;
Col. 3:1-3). Some dispensationalists teach that the church-age
saints will live in heaven during the millennium. I believe they
will live both in heaven and in earth. Jesus promised the apostles
that they would reign with Him over Israel (Matt. 19:28).
4. THE TRANSLATION OF CHURCH-AGE SAINTS IS SAID TO BE IMMINENT
(meaning that it could happen any moment) (Matt. 24:42, 44; 25:13;
Mk. 13:33), whereas the Second Coming is said to be preceded
by specific signs (1 Th. 1:9-10; Tit. 2:12-13; Jam. 5:8,9; 1
Jn. 2:28; Rev. 1:3).
The apostle Paul instructed the church at Thessalonica that they
did not need to heed signs and times, because the New Testament
believer has been promised redemption from the "day of darkness"
which shall overcome the whole world (1 Th. 5:1-9). The church
is waiting, not for the appearing of the Antichrist, but for
the redemption of the Son of God.
5. THE CHURCH IS A MYSTERY UNREVEALED IN THE Old TESTAMENT (Eph.
3:1-11).
The New Testament church has no part in the chronology of events
foretold by the Old Testament prophets. They clearly foretold
the first coming of Christ, His miraculous birth, life, death,
resurrection, and ascension. The same prophets described Christ's
Second Coming in glory, preceded by a time of unprecedented worldwide
tribulation, and followed by the establishment of the glorious
Messianic kingdom centered in Jerusalem. But these prophets did
not see the present church age--"which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto
his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (Eph. 3:5).
Between the first and second coming, there is a time gap that
was not seen by the Old Testament prophets. This gap is the church
age. The prophets did not see that Israel would be set aside
temporarily while God called out from among all nations a special
body of people. After He has accomplished this purpose and the
fullness of the Gentiles is come in, God will restart Israel's
prophetic clock and will fulfill all Old Testament prophecies
in relation to His ancient chosen nation. "... blindness
in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles
be come in" (Rom. 11:25).
The Great Tribulation deals with Israel, not with church-age
believers. This present mystery period will end with the removal
of the church-age believers from the earth; and the Lord will
then take up His plan for the nation Israel as He fulfills the
Old Testament prophecies of the time of Jacob's trouble, the
coming of Messiah in glory, the regathering of the remnant, and
the establishment of the Messianic kingdom.
6. THERE ARE EVENTS INTERVENING BETWEEN THE TRANSLATION AND RESURRECTION
OF THE CHURCH AND THE SECOND ADVENT.
According to 1 Cor. 15:51, EVERY saved person will be translated
at the Rapture. Yet Mat. 25:31-46 shows that when Jesus returns
to the earth at the Second Advent He will find many true believers
in their natural bodies. There must, then, be a period of time
between the Rapture of the church-age saints and the Second Coming
to allow for these folk to be saved. It is reasonable to believe
that this period is the seven years of the Great Tribulation.
7. THE BOOK OF REVELATION SHOWS THAT THE CHURCH IS NOT ON EARTH
DURING THE TRIBULATION.
(a) The church is not seen on earth in chapters 4-18.
(b) The witness for God in the earth during the Tribulation is
Israel, not the church (Rev. 7).
(c) The prayers of the saints in Revelation 8 are prayers for
judgment. Only Israel prayed such prayers. The church-age saints
are instructed to pray for her enemies, not against them (Lk.
9:51-56). These prayers of Revelation are those of the Psalms
and are based on God's promise to Abraham to curse those that
cursed Israel (Gen. 12:1-3).
(d) The scorpion-like creatures of Revelation 9 are given freedom
to hurt all earth-dwellers except those Jews who were sealed
by the angel of Revelation 7; if church-age believers were on
earth, they would be subject to this horrible judgment of God.
(e) Revelation 10 identifies the events of Revelation 4-18 with
those foretold by Old Testament prophets--the days of the Great
Tribulation, the "day of the Lord." The church age
was never in the view of these Old Testament prophecies; it was
an unrevealed mystery. The church has a different purpose and
program than national Israel. It is Israel that is in view in
Old Testament prophecy and in Revelation 4-18.
(f) The ministry of the two witnesses of Revelation 11 identifies
them with national Israel and with Old Testament prophecies of
the "day of the Lord." The two witnesses minister from
Jerusalem, Israel's capital. The churches have no such capital,
her hope being heavenly, not earthly (Col. 3:1-4; Phil. 3:17-21).
The two witnesses are clothed in sackcloth, typical of Old Testament
Israel, not New Testament believers. Nowhere are the churches
seen in sackcloth. They are told, rather, to "rejoice in
the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4). The
church-age believer's judgment is forever past, and he is to
keep his mind centered in the heavenlies where, in position,
he is seated eternally victorious with Christ (Eph. 2:5-10).
Revelation 11:4 identifies the two witnesses with Old Testament
prophecy. Zech. 4:3, 11, 14 is a prophecy of Israel, not the
church. Further, the two witnesses call down judgment upon their
enemies in Rev. 10:5-6. Jesus rebuked his disciples for desiring
to do just this and instructed the church-age believer to pray
for the well-being of his enemies, not for their destruction
(Lk. 9:54-56; Rom. 12:14, 17-21).
(g) The devil persecutes Israel, not the church, during the Tribulation
(Rev. 12). There can be no doubt that the woman in this chapter
is identified as national Israel. Verse 5 shows the woman bringing
forth Christ; it is obvious that Jesus was brought forth by Israel,
not by the churches (Isa. 9:6-7; Rom. 9:5). Also, the symbols
of Rev. 12:1-2 recall familiar Old Testament typology of Israel.
She is referred to as a woman (Isa. 54:5-7). The sun and moon
and the 12 stars of verse 2 remind us of Joseph's dream regarding
Israel (Gen. 37:9). The words of Rev. 12:2 are almost an exact
quote from Micah 5:3, again referencing Israel's delivery of
the Messiah. These symbols are not used in the New Testament
of the churches.
|