Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
The
Rapture: Pre-Tribulation Verses Post-Tribulation
“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.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”[1] The Apostle Paul here is very certain that
there will be a catching away sometime in the future. But, we just do not know for certain when it
will take place. There are three main
points of view on this subject: The Pre-Tribulation period, The Mid-Tribulation
period, and the Post-Tribulation period.
Here we will discuss the Pre-Tribulation theory or the Post-Tribulation
theory.
The
Pre-Tribulation Rapture is in my humble opinion the correct position. It just makes logical since to me. Why would Jesus Christ suffer and die on the
Cross for His saints only to put them in the Tribulation period. Why would God pour out His wrath on His Church
which has already gone through such tribulation on this earth before the final
judgement? But, some believe in a Post-Tribulation view. So, as with all doctrine, let’s look at the
hermeneutics to come to that conclusion.
I will prove the Post-Tribulation theory once and for all!
“I
John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the
kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos,
for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”[2]
Wow, there you go, this is great proof! Wait a minute! The letter was written at the time when
Christians were being persecuted because of their faith in Christ. The writer’s main concern is to give his
readers hope and encouragement, and to urge them to remain faithful during
times of suffering. There is a
difference of “tribulation” and the “Day of the Lord.” Throughout church history there have been
many time of church persecutions. John was exiled to the isle of Patmos during
one of these times. The Roman Emperor
Domitian instituted a policy of emperor worship just before this time period.
Christians refused to worship him, so they were persecuted. The elderly Apostle John was caught up in
this persecution. This is what he was talking about when he mentioned “tribulation”
in his letter to the brethren. If John
was referring to the Great Tribulation he would have specified such. The
historical-grammatical context indicates John referring to his current
tribulation.
“…But
Jesus turning unto them said, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep
for yourselves, and for your children.
For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, blessed
are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the pap’s which never gave
suck. Then shall they begin to say to
the mountains, fall on us; and to the hills, cover us…[3] Jesus is saying that great tribulation is
coming their way. Wow, there we go, this
is great proof! Wait a minute! Nowhere does it say because they would
experience the Great Tribulation. Jesus was talking to the crowd and their
children. Jesus was referring here to
the destruction of Jerusalem twenty-seven years in the future, which most of
the people in the crowd in which Jesus was talking to would witness
themselves. An event in which several
million Jews were violently killed.
“And
to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus,
which delivered us from the wrath to come.”[4] Well, this pretty much sums it up. The
Apostle Paul tells the Thessalonians that they have been delivered from the
wrath to come. They were under persecution at the time, so he was not specking
in the present tense. And since Paul used the term “wrath,” which is reserved
for the Great Tribulation period, that is what he meant. So, the
historical-grammatical context gives the meaning of the Great Tribulation.
“…Then shall
they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated
of all nations for my name’s sake…”[5] Wow, there we go! Real proof of the Post-Tribulation
theory! Wait a minute! These two large blocks of verses is a general
description of the difficult days leading up to the Great Tribulation? Hundreds of Christians have recently been
beheaded in the Middle East and in Asia.
Christians everywhere are being persecuted, fulfilling this prophecy.
The
Great Tribulation period is all about God pouring out His wrath and judgement
upon the unbelieving world. The
believers will not be around to experience it. The saints will not be judged
because we are covered by the Blood of Christ.
As God breathed on His saints to give them the gift of the Holy Spirit,
God will inhale to bring His saints up to Glory. “…Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and
shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake…”[6] Wow, there we go! Real proof of the
Post-Tribulation theory! Wait a
minute! These two large blocks of verses
is a general description of the difficult days leading up to the Great
Tribulation? Hundreds of Christians have
recently been beheaded in the Middle East and in Asia. Christians everywhere are being persecuted,
fulfilling this prophecy.
The
Great Tribulation period is all about God pouring out His wrath and judgement
upon the unbelieving world. The
believers will not be around to experience it. The saints will not be judged
because we are covered by the Blood of Christ.
As God breathed on His saints to give them the gift of the Holy Spirit,
God will inhale to bring His saints up to Glory.
“After this I looked, and, behold, a
door was opened in heaven; and the first voice which I heard was as it were of
a trumpet talking with me; which said, come up hither, and I will shew thee
things which must be hereafter.”[7] The Church is mentioned about a couple of
dozen times in the first three chapter of Revelation and is not mentioned
afterwards. We only read about wrath and judgements from then on. If the Church was to be a part of the Great
Tribulation, then they would probably be mentioned.
