Dear True Life,
Here are the questions and answers from Sunday’s message, and after that, three different viewpoints regarding when the rapture will take place. Will Roach wrote a defense of the post-trib (meaning the rapture occurs at the end of the tribulation in conjunction with the return of Christ to earth) position, David Dollar submitted some materials from the Internet about the pre-wrath position (meaning the rapture takes place during the 7 year tribulation period but before the time when God begins to pour out His wrath on the earth), and I am sharing why I believe in the pre-trib (rapture takes places and then the tribulation period begins) viewpoint.
1. Is the anti-Christ the devil, a demon, or human? I would recommend reading Revelation 13 to see the answer to this question. The anti-Christ is a human, but he is empowered (I think probably possessed) by Satan.
2. Will he know he is the anti-Christ?
3. Will the anti-Christ think he is God or just want to be worshiped as one? I put these two questions together because I believe that they are connected, and I think the answer is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:4.
It says, “Who [the anti-Christ] opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” It seems to me that this is saying that he is deluded into believing that he is god so he will certainly not see himself as the anti-Christ then. This seems to indicate that he believes he is the real thing.
Tribulation Positions Post Trib Viewpoint
It must be stated from the start that after countless hours of research and conversations over many years I am and have been uncertain as to the timeline by which our Lord will be revealed. The viewpoint I express will be one that has evolved over time and one that is hopefully amenable to further change with further revelation. Admittedly, I confess that I often hope my belief in a post-tribulation rapture is incorrect and quite possibly time and a more complete understanding will oblige that hope.
Preface:
That being said, I will present the facts and assumptions upon which my understanding is framed, and very briefly summarize a post-tribulation position based on those facts and assumptions.
Facts and Assumptions:
1. Fact: “Day” is interpreted literally as one 24-hour day several hundred times in scripture.
Assumption: “The day of the Lord” is no different, and does not entail any amount of time greater than one 24-hour day.
2. Fact: Christians have suffered at the hands of evil people since the day Christ died on the cross, and indeed are suffering today in various places across the face of the earth.
Assumption: The suffering Christians will have to endure at the hands of the antichrist during the tribulation, while much more widespread, will not be more severe than that which our brothers and sisters have endured from the time of ancient Rome until the present day. As such, any argument based on a belief that God will not allow his children to undergo suffering like that described as coming from the antichrist in Revelation ignores the basic facts of history and is out of touch with our suffering brothers across the earth today.
3. Fact: There will be believers on earth during the time of the great tribulation when God’s wrath is being poured out on the earth (whether by the witness of the 144,000 Jewish converts, the two witnesses, or otherwise, is up for contention).
Assumption: Although due to the death of Christ and his resurrection we will never inherit the eternal damnation we deserved, believers are not promised that we will not indirectly suffer from the judgments God inflicts upon the inhabitants of the earth. To say that God would never force his children to be present when his wrath is poured out during the tribulation either fails to take into account the fact that believers will be on earth during that time, or fails to realize that we and the ones who will be converted during that time are each children of God.
4. Fact: Biblical prophecy is often misunderstood, undeniably bewildering, and divinely appointed to be intentionally mysterious and often sealed from the understanding of men. Thus, it follows that different viewpoints have for generations been held by brilliant, god-fearing men and women on scores of different aspects of end-times theology.
Assumption: I cannot, at this point, see how anyone can definitively trace the time of the antichrist to the time of the second coming, although admittedly, there does appear to be several clues as to how this could happen in Daniel and other passages. Therefore, I presently must reject the view that there must be a pre-tribulation rapture or otherwise everyone will know the day of Christ’s return due to the exact calculation of the days the antichrist will rule.
5. Fact: Paul does not state in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 who the restrainer is that withstands the entry of the antichrist onto the world scene.
Assumption 1: It is not the Holy Spirit. This would appear to be one of the most promulgated myths of our generation. Nowhere in scripture does it directly, nor in my opinion indirectly state that the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth. If the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth, then by what spirit will the 144,000 from the tribes preach? By what spirit will the two witnesses preach? By what spirit will the saints who are handed over to the antichrist and are beheaded be brought to a saving knowledge of Christ?
Assumption 2: It is not the church. Any person who comes to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is part of the church, and is part of his body. Those who come to Christ
during the tribulation are part of the church. The argument is often made that it is the gentile portion of the church that is raptured, ending the “times of the gentiles.” This is admittedly a plausible argument, however, once again, nowhere do I find in scripture that only Jews will be saved during the time of the tribulation.
Position
It is my belief that the Second Coming does not occur partly in one day and then partly again 3 1⁄2 or 7 years later when Christ comes to earth, but rather, the day of the Lord comes at the end of the great tribulation and is one sky-splitting, rapture encapsulating, earth-shattering day upon which we shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye, the antichrist shall be destroyed, and the 1000 year reign of Christ shall begin.
Pre-wrath Viewpoint
The Prewrath is one of several views on the end-times events among evangelical Christians, and states that Christians will be raptured at the end of the great tribulation, and before the day of the Lord’s wrath (God’s wrath), sometime during the second half of the seventieth week of Daniel. The prewrath position emphasizes the biblical distinction between tribulation (which Christians have been promised) and the wrath of God (which Christians have been promised deliverance/salvation from).
Pre-trib Viewpoint
Here are some of the basic reasons that I believe the rapture will take place before the great tribulation.
1. The immanence of the return of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and other verses refer to the return of Christ as “a thief in the night.” Immanence means that it could happen at any moment. However, I believe this has to refer to the rapture and the rapture has to be before the great tribulation (I don’t believe that Christians are delivered from all tribulation, in fact, we are promised tribulation, but I believe we are delivered from this time of great tribulation where God’s wrath is poured out) because the return of Jesus could be dated otherwise. The reason I believe this is because we know the 2nd coming will be three and a half years from the abomination of desolation where the antichrist demands to be worshipped in the temple so if the rapture happens at the same time then the return of Christ is dated. As far as the pre-wrath position, I don’t see any scriptural evidence for it but also this same principle would apply because the event mentioned above would basically date it.
2. God has not appointed us to wrath, and the great tribulation is the time of the outpouring of God’s wrath (Revelation 6:16-17). 1 Thessalonians 1:10 says, “And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I personally believe that the whole tribulation period is a time of God’s wrath, although it clearly intensifies in the 2nd half.
3. 2 Thessalonians 2 tells us that the antichrist will not be revealed until “He who now restrains…is taken out of the way.” I can’t absolutely prove this, but many Bible scholars believe this refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the church. This is the only thing that makes sense to me. Some people would object and say that the Holy Spirit is omnipresent so He cannot be removed. I agree with that, but the way He ministers could certainly change, and He could work like He did before coming to indwell the church on the Day of Pentecost. I believe this happens at the rapture and the antichrist rises to power.
4. The church is the focus of Revelation 2 and 3 but not really seen again until chapter 19. The intervening chapters coincide with the time of great tribulation. The church is then pictured in heaven at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in chapter 19 and afterwards returning with Christ. The only saints pictured on earth during the tribulation are ones saved and martyred during this time. The most logical explanation of these facts seems to be that the church was raptured before the tribulation.
5. A pre-trib rapture seems to fit with Daniel’s 70 week prophecy (Daniel 9), and the fact that God clearly returns His focus to the nation of Israel during this time of tribulation (Revelation 7, 12; Ezekiel 36-37). I believe the removal of the church clears the way for this.
