Those who affirm this view of the time of the rapture believe that the visible revelation of the second coming of Christ and the rapture of the Church are parts of the same event. The second coming will be a day of judgment for the beast, the false prophet, and the armies of the nations. For the Church and repentant Israel, it will be a day of glory. The Church will not be raptured until the manifestation of Christ at the end of the Tribulation period. While believers will not be subject to the outpouring of the "wrath of God," being sealed in protection, they will be exposed to the "persecution of the Antichrist" during the Tribulation.
The Scriptures which refer to this coming of Christ includes various expressions: "parousia," "the day of Christ," "the day of the Lord," "the day of our Lord Jesus Christ," "the coming," "the revelation," "the epiphany" or "appearing," and "the coming of the Son of Man." The pre-tribulationist's claim that this terminology supports their teaching of the two separate events of the Second Coming of Christ. The post-tribulationists claim that it does not support the pre-tribulationist's teaching of two separate events in Christ's Second Coming.
There are three words that are used in the Greek New Testament to describe the second advent of Christ. The Scriptures speaks of His coming (parousia), His revelation (apokalupsis) and His manifestation (epiphaneia).
"Be patient, brethern, unto the coming [parousia] of the Lord. ...In these verses, it is the coming, the return, the advent of the Lord which is needed there; "presence" does not fit the context. It is not the "presence" as much as the "coming" of Christ which is required in these verses. It is at the coming of the Lord, the advent of Christ, that the dead will be raised and the living caught up; "presence" does not fit.
Be ye also patient; establish your hearts;
for the coming [parousia] of the Lord draweth nigh." (James 5:7-8 KJV)."Where is the promise of his coming [parousia]?" (II Pet. 3:4 KJV).
It is at His coming, His advent, not just His presence, that He will be accompanied by His saints. His coming, His advent, will be a bolt of lighting. The parousia of Christ is His second coming that make Him present on earth, and it will bring salvation and judgment: salvation of the saints, and judgment of the world.
This word parousia is used in the passage that the pre-tribulationists claim to teach the Rapture of the Church.
"14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,This is not a secret coming of Christ. His coming is attended "with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God" (I Thess. 4:16 KJV). Someone has said that the shout and the sound of the trumpet will be loud enough to wake the dead!
even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord,
that we who are alive, and remain until the coming [parousia] of the Lord,
shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God;
and the dead in Christ will rise first:
17 Then we who are alive and remain,
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air:
and thus we shall always be with the Lord."
(I Thess. 4:14-17 NAS).
According to II Thess. 2:8, the parousia of Christ will occur, not only to rapture the Church and to raise the righteous dead, but also to destroy the Man of Lawlessness, the Antichrist.
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed,This is clearly not a secret event, for the parousia of Christ is a shining whose brightness destroys the Wicked one, the lawless one, the Antichrist. And this takes place after the revelation of the lawless one which occurs during the Great Tribulation. By comparing this verse just cited with I Thess. 4:15, since both events occurs at the parousia of the Lord, then the Rapture of the living saints, after the resurrection of those who have died, and the judgment upon the Antichrist will all take place at the same time, namely, at the parousia of Christ at the end of Tribulation.
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth,
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming [parousia]."
(II Thess. 2:8 KJV)
Futhermore, it is at His parousia that Jesus will be accompanied
by all His saints. According to I Thess. 3:13,
Paul prays that God may establish the hearts of the Thessalonians
"unblameable in holiness before our God, even our Father,
at the coming [parousia] of our Lord Jesus with all his saints."
That is, at His parousia, the Lord will come
to bring His saints with Him, to raise the righteous dead, to rapture
the living believers, and to destroy the Antichrist.
If this view is correct, then the apokalupsis of Christ would not be the Blessed Hope of the Christians. The Rapture would then be the Blessed Hope of the Christian. According this view, when the Revelation occurs, the saints will have been raptured and will have received from the hand of the Lord their rewards for the things that they have done in the body. They will already have entered into the full enjoyment and blessedness of the life and fellowship with Christ. According to the pre-tribulationist teachings, the apokalypse of Christ is only for the judgment of the wicked, not for the salvation of the Church. According to pre-tribulationism, the Rapture as the second coming of Christ for the saints is our Blessed Hope and the object of our fond expectation, not the Revelation.
But this is not what we find in the Scriptures. We are "waiting for the revelation [apokalupsis] of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 1:7). But according to pre-tribulationism, we are not waiting for the Revelation but for the Rapture. But the Church is to suffer affliction until the time of the apokalypse of Christ. Paul says that
"6... it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to them who afflict you,According to pre-tribulationism, this rest from persecution has already been experienced at the Rapture; it does not await the Revelation of Jesus Christ. But the Word of God says it is received at the Revelation. The verb "to repay" controls two objects:
7 and to you that are afflicted rest with us,
at the revelation [apokalupsis] of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven,
with the angels of his power in flaming fire." (II Thess. 1:6-7 ERS).
Peter uses the same expression.
"But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings,That is, now we are partakers of the sufferings of Christ, so that "at the revelation of His glory" we may rejoice with exceeding joy. This suggests that the fiery trial will be terminated at the apokalypse of Christ. Peter said earlier that
in order that also at the revelation [apokalupsis] of His glory,
you may rejoice with exceeding joy."
(I Pet. 4:13 ERS).
"...the genuineness of your faith,According to pre-tribulationism, this praise and glory and honor have already been experience at an earlier time at the Rapture of the Church and did not have to wait for the Revelation of Christ. But this verse asserts that the apokalypse or Revelation of Christ will bring praise and glory and honor because of their steadfastness in their faith.
more precious than gold though perishable is tested by fire,
may rebound to praise and glory and honor
at the revelation [apokalupsis] of Jesus Christ."
(I Pet. 1:7).
"And then the lawless one will be revealed,It is clear that His epiphany will occur at the end of the Tribulation.
and the Lord Jesus will destroy him by his appearing [ephphaneia]
and his coming [parousia]." (II Thess. 2:8).
This epiphany of Christ, like His apokalypse, is the object of the believer's hope, as it could not be if the Church received the object of its hope at an earlier time at the Rapture. Paul exhorts his readers to keep the commandment without spot and without reproach "until the epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Tim. 6:14). At the end of his life, Paul expresses confidence that he has fought a good fight, and looking forward to the day of rewards at the judgment seat of Christ, he says,
"Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,One can only conclude from such a passage that "that Day" which Paul anticipates as a day of rewards is the day of Christ's ephiphany. It is therefore a day upon which Christians have set their affection, the object of Christian hope. And it is the day of giving rewards to believers. Pre-tribulationism places the judgment of rewards between the Rapture and the Revelation. Here in this verse, the day of judgment is located at the epiphany, which is the same as the Revelation, at the end of the Tribulation.
which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day,
and not only to me but also to all who loved his appearing [epiphaneia]."
(II Tim. 4:8).
This line of thought is clinched by Titus 2:13-14.
"13 awaiting our blessed hope,The Blessed Hope of the Church is the epiphany of the glory of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. If, according to pre-tribulationism, the Rapture of the Church, when we are caught up to meet Christ in the air, is separated by a considerable period of time from His apokalypse and His epiphany, then the language of this verse is strange. For according to pre-tribulationism, the coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation has nothing to do with the reward of His saints or with the salvation of the righteous. The dead believers have have already been raised and the living believers have been translated into their resurrection bodies. The judgment of works is now past and the rewards of Christ to His faithful servants have been distributed. According to pre-tribulationism, the apokalypse and the epiphany of Christ at the end of the Tribulation have as their object the judgment of the nations and not the completion of the salvation of believers. Yet according to the Word of God, this epiphany is our blessed hope (Titus 2:13-14); it is the time when we shall be rewarded; it is the time when we shall be redeemed from all iniquity and purified to become God's perfect possessions; it is the Blessed Hope of perfect personal relationship of fellowship with Christ. Does it not seem then that the Rapture of the Church is to take place at the epiphany, not seven years earlier?
the appearing [epiphaneia] of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity
and to purify for himself a people of his own
who are zealous for good deeds."
(Titus 2:13-14).
If one can make anything of language at all, in these passages no distinction as separate events can be made between the parousia, the apokalypse, and the epiphany of our Lord. They are one and the same event. And, as we have already indicated, although it is argued that the parousia means "presence" and therefore covers the entire period of time introduced by His coming to rapture the Church, it is clear from Scripture's use of the words apokalypse and epiphany that the Revelation of Christ is not an event which has to do exclusively with judgment. It is also the day upon which the believer's hope is set when he will enter into the completed blessings of salvation at Christ's second coming.
We can only conclude that the distinction between the Rapture of the Church and the Revelation as separate events in time is an assumption which is nowhere asserted by the Word of God and not required by the terminology used in speaking of the second coming of Christ. On the contrary, if any inference is to be drawn, the terminology suggests that the Revelation of Christ is, like the Rapture, the day of the believer's salvation when he enters into consummated fellowship with the Lord and receives his reward from the hand of the Lord. The parousia, the apokalypse, and the epiphany appear to refer to a single event. Any division of Christ's coming into two separate events is an unproven hypothesis.
There are three passages ( Matt. 24; II Thess. 2; Rev. 8-16) which describe the Great Tribulation that will show the place of the Rapture with respect to the coming of Christ.
"And he shall send forth his angels with a sound of a trumpet,There are striking similarities between this verse and Paul's teachings concerning the Rapture of the Church in I Thessalonians 4:16.
and they shall gather his elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other." (Matt. 24:31 KJV).
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout,In both these passages, there is the mention of the coming of Christ, the sound of the trumpet, and the accompanying presence of angels. Furthermore, the Greek word episunago, translated "gather together" in Matthew 24:31 is the verb whose noun (episunagoge) is used in II Thess. 2:1 of our "gathering together" unto the Lord at the Rapture. If this is not the Rapture of the Church, then our Lord was altogether silent about the subject in His Olivet Discourse; the pre-tribulationist assert that this is the case. But for many pre-tribulationist teachers, it is customary to assume that the Rapture is to be placed somewhere before verse 14 of Matthew 24; for "this gospel of the Kingdom" is taken to be the announcement of the millennial, Davidic kingdom which is about to be established by the return of Christ, and whose establishment is be proclaimed throughout the world by a Jewish remnant which is to be gathered by the angels after Christ returns and after the Church which has been raptured at the beginning of the tribulation. But there is no hint in the Gospels that this is the case. The Rapture of the Church before the Tribulation is an assumption; it is not taught in the Olivet Discourse. Clearly, since there are striking similarities between this verse and Paul's teachings concerning the Rapture of the Church in I Thessalonians 4:16, and since both these passages mention the coming of Christ, the sound of the trumpet, and the accompanying presence of angels, this passage in Matt. 24 is clearly Jesus' reference to the Rapture. And since Jesus places this event after the tribulation of those days, the Rapture occurs after the tribulation.
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:...."
(I Thess. 4:16 KJV).
"29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days
the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;
30 and then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven,
ans then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the Son of man coming on clouds of heaven
with power and great glory;
31 and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather his elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other."
(Matt. 24:29-31).
"1 Now we beseech you, brethern,Paul writes his second letter to them to correct this impression, and to reveal that the great apostasy and the appearance of the Man of Lawlessness (the Antichrist) must occur before the Lord comes.
with regard to the coming [parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and our gathering together to Him,
2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or
be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us,
to the effect that the day of the Lord has come."
(II Thess. 2:1-2 NAS).
"3 Let no one in any way deceive you,This passage (II Thess. 2:3-5) presents the following facts concerning the revelation of the Antichrist: The Antichrist will not be revealed until after the "falling away" comes. According to II Thess. 2:3, two events will precede the Second Coming of Christ:
for it will not come unless the apostasy come first,
and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or
object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God,
displaying himself as being God.
5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you,
I was telling you these things?"
(II Thess. 2:3-5 NAS).
The definite article before the Greek noun apostasia, used in the Greek text of verse 3, specifies the first happening as "the falling away". The Greek verb of this noun here translated "the falling away" is sometimes translated in the New Testament as "to depart". Hence, this II Thessalonian passage has been interpreted as:
One should naturally conclude from reading Paul's words in II Thess. 2:1 that the coming of the Lord and our gathering together unto Him, and the day of the Lord are one and the same event that will be preceded by the apostasy and the appearance of the Man of Lawlessness. Since the Man of Lawlessness had not appeared, one can know that the Lord had not yet come. Clearly, Paul does not assert here in II Thessalonians that the Rapture of the Church must occur first in this succession of events. There is no affirmation of a pre-tribulation Rapture here in II Thess. 2.
Some pre-tribulationists find the "door opened in heaven" and the voice which said to John, "Come up hither" (Rev. 4:1) as a reference to the Rapture of the Church; but this is an interpretation, a human opinion, and not the direct declaration of Scripture. Some influential writers of this school tell us that the Church is raptured between the close of chapter 3 and the opening of chapter 4, but John does not record this event, but simply takes it for granted. This is the point. To find a pre-tribulation rapture in the book which says most about the Great Tribulation, one must take it for granted. This is an assumption and is not the express teaching of the Word of God.
The "rapture" of John in Rev. 4:1, if we may call it that, is John's way of indicating that he entered into an ecstatic experience when, in the Spirit, he was given visions of the last things. Paul speaks of a similar experience when he was "caught up into the third heaven" (II Cor. 12:2). So completely overwhelmed was he, so utterly were his faculties under the control of the Holy Spirit that he was not sure whether he was "in the body or apart from the body." (II Cor. 12:3). The open door and the voice from heaven in Revelation 4:1 have nothing to do with the Rapture of the Church but only with the experience of the Apostle John.
The argument that the Church must be in heaven after Rev. 4:1 because the view-point of the book thereafter is heavenly is not sustained throughout the rest of the book. In Rev. 10:1, John sees an angel "coming down out of heaven"; John is apparently on earth (see also Rev. 18:1). In chapter 11, he is on earth to measure the Temple. But in Rev. 11:14ff, he is in heaven again. In Rev. 13:1, he is on earth and sees the Beast arising out of the sea; and in Rev. 14:1, he sees the 144,000 in Jerusalem in the millennial kingdom. John's view-point alternates between heaven and earth; but throughout the entire experience, he is in ecstasy beholding visions imparted to him by the Spirit of God. Both view-points refer to the subjective visions of the inspired Apostle and provide no clue for the interpretation of the book.
If a pre-tribulation rapture is a Biblical doctrine, it ought to be clearly set forth in the Scriptures which prophesies the Rapture of the Church. In fact, pre-tribulationists tell us the Rapture is a mystery, first revealed to Paul; and we are to assume that this mystery, this new truth now divinely revealed, is the time of the Rapture, that is, that the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation.
Only one passage in the Word of God describes the Rapture by name ("caught up" in I Thess. 4:17). Other passages describe the change that will take place in the living saints at that day, especially I Cor. 15:51-53 and Phil. 3:20-21. But these verses contain no indication of the time of the Rapture. The Thessalonians were concerned about the fate of believers who died before the coming of Christ. Paul assures them that they need not sorrow as do men who have no hope. The dead believers will be raised from the dead at the parousia of Jesus, before they, the living believers, are "caught up" with them to meet the Lord in the air ( I Thess. 4:17). The only aspect of the parousia which Paul has in mind is its relationship to believers. In these passages, he says nothing about its relationship to the world and the Tribulation. The object of the parousia of Jesus is the personal relationship of Christ with all believers, whether they are dead or living. The dead "in Christ", that is, believers only, will be raised in their glorious resurrection bodies. Then the remaining believers, those who are still alive, will be caught up, raptured, to meet the Lord in the air. The Rapture means two things:
The resurrection of the saints at the parousia of Christ is not a physical resurrection, although it is a bodily resurrection. It is not a restoration to physical life; it is an introduction into a new level of life which transforms the very bodily existence. At His coming, Christ will "fashion anew (literally, metamorphose) the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory" ( Phil. 3:21). Our Lord's resurrection body was the same and yet very different from His physical body before His death. It was a real body, visible, palpable, recognizable; and yet it moved on a higher level of life. Apparently, from our Gospel accounts, we are to conclude that it was no longer limited to what we call natural laws. Jesus could go and come at will as He never did in the days of His flesh.
So it will be with the resurrection body of believers at the coming of the Lord. Paul describes it as an incorruptile, glorious, powerful, spiritual body (I Cor. 15:42-44). This is not a body made out of spirit or constituted of spirit, but a body perfectly designed for the enjoyment of eternal life. What a glorious realization that even our bodies are to be redeemed from weakness, pain, decay and death.
This transformation will occur for the dead saints at the first resurrection; it will occur for the living saints at the Rapture. The Rapture, the catching up to meet the Lord in the air, is the sign that the living, as well as the dead have put on the glorious resurrection body. They are no longer earthbound, mortal creatures but have entered into the fulness of life, which means a new level of existence, a new creation, whose character we can now only faintly discern.
"51 Behold, I show you a mystery;
We shall not all sleep [in death],
but we shall all [dead and living saints] be changed.
52 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 [the living] shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality."
(I Cor. 15:51-53 KJV)."20 For our citzenship is in heaven,
from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ;
21 who will transform the body of our humble state
in conformity with the body of His glory,
by the exertion of the power that He has
even to subject all things to Himself.
(Phil. 3:20-21 NAS).
This glorious event, the Rapture of the Church, is a mystery ( I Cor. 15:51). A mystery is a divine truth, purposed by God ages ago, but revealed to men only in due time (Rom. 16:25-26). The mystery of the Rapture is not the time of the Rapture as pre-tribulationists assume, but it is the fact of the Rapture. God had never before revealed to men what would be the particular lot of the living saints at the end of the age. The doctrine of resurrection had long been taught (cf. Dan. 12:2), but the fact that the living are to put on their resurrection bodies at the moment of Christ's return without passing through physical death and join the resurrected dead in the presence of Christ is revealed for the first time through the Apostle Paul. There is an intimation of it, we believe, in Matthew 24:31 when Jesus spoke of the angels gathering the elect from the four corners of the earth; but this prophecy lacks the details which give to the Rapture its specific character. How the elect are to be gathered together is not indicated by our Lord.
The mystery of the Rapture therefore is not the truth that the Rapture is to occur before the Great Tribulation. It is the fact that the living believers will be bodily transformed at Jesus' parousia and as a result of the transformation will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and so be ever with the Lord. There is no affirmation in the Scriptures that the Rapture will take place before the Tribulation begins. Such a teaching is an assumption, not the assertion of the Word of God.
To continue press here
[3] In writing this part of the paper, I have relied very heavily upon
George Eldon Ladd's book,
The Blessed Hope, pp. 62-104
[Grand Rapids, Michigan: Em. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956, 1992]
so that maybe I should put quotation marks around this part of the paper.
Thank you, Dr. Ladd.