A Pre-Tribulation Rapture?

“Then they will hand you over to suffer affliction and tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred.” Matthew 24:9-10

Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first [unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come], and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition), 2 Thessalonians 2:3

2 Thessalonians 2:3 has been used so much in my life to teach on the concept of a pre-tribulation rapture. But this verse does not teach us of a snatching away, or a rapture, but a great falling away of many false believers. They will fall away because of the affliction and tribulation that will arise for Jesus’ Name sake. Those who will fall away have no root in Christ and as soon as the trials of this life come they will wither up and fall away, just as they do today. There is a great Truth for the truly saved and it is this: when trials come, especially great ones, and we are weak, Jesus becomes strong within us and we actually become victorious. But for those who are only acting saved, they will fall away during the great Tribulation, because Jesus is not within them. They will become offended at the trials and they will flock to the anti-christ.

“And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end.” Matthew 24:14

Notice that Jesus teaches us in Matthew 24 that after the great falling away of false Christians, then will the Gospel be preached to every nation and then the end will come. In Matthew 24:9 Jesus proclaims that all nations would hate us and in Matthew 24:14 He teaches that the end will be known by the fact that the Gospel is being preached in every nation. In Revelation 14:6-7, Jesus shows us that the Gospel will be preached to every nation, tribe, and tongue with a loud and powerful voice. “Then I saw another angel flying in midair, with an eternal Gospel (good news) to tell to the inhabitants of the earth, to every race and tribe and language and people. And he cried with a mighty voice, Revere God and give Him glory (honor and praise in worship), for the hour of His judgment has arrived. Fall down before Him; pay Him homage and adoration and worship Him Who created heaven and earth, the sea and the springs (fountains) of water.” Remember that in the Book of Revelation an Angel often refers to a human messenger or message, read what Jesus says to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3.

So the question for me is why would God rapture out His mature believers, Who are His Body, His flesh and His bones when for the first time the Gospel is being preached in every nation and the people of the world needs His ministers of Truth the most? How will they hear without a preacher, so our Father, Who is love, will take His mature preachers out? If this where the case, it would be like our Father is taking His body out of the world to torture the non-believers for 3 ½ years before He sends them to hell.

So also [it was the same] as it was in the days of Lot. [People] ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But on the [very] day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed [them] all. That is the way it will be on the day that the Son of Man is revealed Luke 17:28-30

Lot and Noah were both delivered from the wrath of God, Lot and his family escaped to the mountains and Noah and his family to the Ark. But remember that the destruction and wrath of our Father came right when His families were taken out. According to the pre-tribulation rapture concept there is still 3 ½ years of tribulation to come. With Sodom and the Great Flood God was swift and no one left was saved. But during the Great Tribulation we can read that many will be saved, Rev. 6:11, Rev. 7:3, Rev. 7:14, Rev. 9:4, Rev. 20:2-4 and several other verses. So if the end of times is as it were with Lot and Noah, then the end will only come right after we are removed, when there is no chance for anyone else to be saved.

Who then is the faithful, thoughtful, and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household to give to the others the food and supplies at the proper time? Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is that servant whom, when his master comes, he will find so doing. Matthew 24:45-46

Jesus teaches us that when the master comes, not when the master calls the servant to him. What better and proper time for us to be used by our Father to give food and supplies to all nations and people in need than during the Great Tribulation? Wars, natural disasters, diseases, plagues and inflation will be devastating the population at this time. And as the world always has, they will hate us and want to kill us for being used by God, just as with Jesus, Stephen, Peter, Paul, and John.

And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end of the universe to the other. Matthew 24:31

Winds is translated from the Greek word Anemos, Strongs 417, it means the four corners of Heaven. And the Universe translates to mean world, Ouranos, Strongs 3772. So when the trumpet sounds the Angels will gather all saints both in Heaven and earth. So with these translations in mind let’s go to Corinthians.

Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed). In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 The dead in Christ will rise first!

The seventh angel then blew [his] trumpet, and there were mighty voices in heaven, shouting, The dominion (kingdom, sovereignty, rule) of the world has now come into the possession and become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah), and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)! Revelation 11:15 The Angel has sounded the seventh trumpet, the last trumpet, and the end has come!

For this we declare to you by the Lord's [own] word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede [into His presence] or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep [in Him in death]. 1 Thessalonians 4:15 (The living in Christ shall in now way precede those of us who have died in Christ!)

The Truth about the end times is that the last Trumpet will sound, and after it does the first thing to happen is that the dead in Christ will be raised and then after they are raised up, the rest of us will then be transformed. If there is a pre-tribulation rapture before the last trumpet, then 1 Corinthians would be false, because we who are living in no way precede those who have died, and the dead in Christ will not be raised until the last trumpet! 1 Thess. 4:15 clearly shows us that we will in no way precede those who have died before us.

Beloved, we are [even here and] now God's children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall [as God's children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He [really] is. 1 John 3:2 clearly teaches us that when Jesus comes and is manifested that we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. So if Jesus is made known when He is manifested, then we haven’t been transformed to be like Him when we were raptured. So that would mean that we never saw Him during our rapture. Because we are only made like Him, when He appears and is manifested, the pre-tribulation rapture theory teaches that we are just caught away, and Jesus is not manifested until His return. So wouldn’t our rapture just be to rescue us from the tribulation and why do we need to be rescued from tribulation when we are one with God, more than Conquerors through Christ Who loves us, and Greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world?

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first. Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord! 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Notice that the Holy Spirit has Paul write that we, the living ones, not those living ones. God has Paul write that he is part of the ones participating in this event. God also has Paul write that we shall be changed in 1 Corinthians 15:52. I just like that and wanted to share it with you.

For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) 1 Thessalonians 5:9

This is the scripture that I used all of the time to say that there was a pre-tribulation rapture, but I also use the Truth that salvation means to be saved right now from all earthly ills, deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation, deliverance from the molestation of enemies, salvation as the present possession of all true Christians Fourfold salvation: saved from the penalty, power, presence and most importantly the pleasure of sin. This meaning of salvation I get all of this from is found in the Strong’s Concordance for the word salvation, Soteria, Strong’s 4991. We don’t need to be raptured out of trials and tribulations to enjoy these things of salvation now, why then would we during the Great Tribulation? The Israelites still lived in Egypt during the time of God’s wrath on Pharaoh and the instruments of our Fathers wrath never harmed them.

And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah). 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Actually this verse tells us that God will keep us spirit, soul, and body until Jesus returns. So even if the Tribulation is great, our Fathers power is always greater. So if it is true, as the scriptures have stated that we aren’t transformed until the last trumpet, and yet we are raptured away from the great tribulation, it would suggest that God couldn’t keep us spirit, soul, and body through the time of Jacobs trouble? Yet He kept the Israelites during Egypt’s great trouble? God doesn’t need to rescue His flesh from His own wrath. Think about it, when America used the atom bomb on Japan did we cause our own people to suffer the radiation and blast? So if God is pouring out wrath, is He going to pour it out on His own Body, His Own Flesh, His Own Bone? Remember the Tribulation is God pouring out His wrath, not satan pouring it out. Satan is on the receiving end!

The Marriage Supper of The Lamb:

Let us rejoice and shout for joy [exulting and triumphant]! Let us celebrate and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has come, and His bride has prepared herself. She has been permitted to dress in fine (radiant) linen, dazzling and white--for the fine linen is (signifies, represents) the righteousness (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds, and conduct, and right standing with God) of the saints (God's holy people). Then [the angel] said to me, Write this down: Blessed (happy, to be envied) are those who are summoned (invited, called) to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me [further], These are the true words (the genuine and exact declarations) of God. Revelation 19:7-9

In Revelation 19:1-7 John hears roars of praise, but God never says that the roars are from the Saints who have been raptured. And then in Rev 19:7-9 notice what the beings are saying: His Bride has prepared herself, She has been permitted to dress in fine linen. If the roars of praise were from us, or even those of us who had been killed for His Name’s sake, then wouldn’t John have heard something like glory to God we have finally been prepared and we have been permitted to dress in fine linen. The voices are speaking praises to God about someone else. There are millions of angels in Heaven, so they could be the voices. And just a quick thought, wouldn’t John have ever felt like he was part of the Marriage Supper, that He was part of the Bride that was giving praise, and then been permitted to write that He felt that He was. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. and in 1 Thess. that we will be transformed, he saw it and was writing as being active in it. Yet John only observes others giving praise. To me, and this is just a thought, if I was seeing something that I knew that I was going to be part of, it would somehow come out in my writings that during all this praise that I too joined in the praise, that I too spoke the words with my brothers and sisters, as Paul wrote.

After that I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse [appeared]! The One Who was riding it is called Faithful (Trustworthy, Loyal, Incorruptible, Steady) and True, and He passes judgment and wages war in righteousness (holiness, justice, and uprightness). His eyes [blaze] like a flame of fire, and on His head are many kingly crowns (diadems); and He has a title (name) inscribed which He alone knows or can understand. He is dressed in a robe dyed by dipping in blood, and the title by which He is called is The Word of God. And the troops of heaven, clothed in fine linen, dazzling and clean, followed Him on white horses. Revelation 19:11-14

Immediately after the praise for the time for the Marriage Supper has arrived, we read in Revelation 19:11-21 that Jesus Rides off on a white horse with the troops of heaven to go and conquer the beast and false prophet. Now that sounds like Jesus appearing in the sky like lightning and then as He returns to earth the dead in Him are raised first and then those of us that have been left shall be caught up with Him to attend the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I may be wrong but it only sounds like the praise is being given because the time of the Supper has arrived, not that it is taking place? Also when Jesus was going to the Cross, He spoke about being able to summon a legion of angels to rescue Him. Sounds like the Troops of Heaven? I believe this is the first place in Revelation that we read of Jesus actually physically returning, so this is the first time the dead in Him could be raised. In 1 Cor. and in 1 Thess God writes that the dead will rise when Jesus returns, then we that remain shall be caught up in the sky. Here we read this is when Jesus returns.

Revelation 11:15 the last Trumpet, Revelation 8:1 last Seal, Revelation 16:17 last Vial

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed). 1 Corinthians 15:52

And he gripped and overpowered the dragon, that old serpent [of primeval times], who is the devil and Satan, and [securely] bound him for a thousand years. Then he hurled him into the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and closed it and sealed it above him, so that he should no longer lead astray and deceive and seduce the nations until the thousand years were at an end. After that he must be liberated for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom authority to act as judges and to pass sentence was entrusted. Also I saw the souls of those who had been slain with axes [beheaded] for their witnessing to Jesus and [for preaching and testifying] for the Word of God, and who had refused to pay homage to the beast or his statue and had not accepted his mark or permitted it to be stamped on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived again and ruled with Christ (the Messiah) a thousand years. Revelation 20:2-4

The Marriage sounds like it happens somewhere around Revelation 20:4, when we have our thrones given to us and we begin to reign, after the dragon has been cast into the bottomless pit, not during the rapture as I have always been taught. There couldn’t be a marriage if the dead in Christ cannot be raised until the last trumpet and we who are alive in no way can precede them.

I had always thought how can satan gain such power if we were still on the earth during the great Tribulation. But the hot will be hot and the cold will be cold, there will be no lukewarm Christians anymore. So if we are as Jesus is, 1 John 14:17, and our Father is working through us as He worked through Jesus, John 14:12, then of course satan could be permitted to be stronger than ever, because our Father will have made us stronger than ever.

Also Jesus’ yoke is easy to be born and His burden is light, Matthew 11:13. God will never place on us more than we can handle. And remember that when Stephen was stoned for preaching, he shined, he saw Heaven open up, and he asked for those who stoned him to be forgiven.

When the Holy Spirit began this study for me I believed and wanted to believe that there is a pre-tribulation rapture, but the scriptures that have always been used to show it to me don’t teach it and I have looked for ones that do, and as of yet I cannot find them. And as I think about a pre-tribulation rapture I think, why? Do we need rescued, that makes our Father seem weak if you ask me? And it seems that God has always been about giving people every last chance and then at the Great Tribulation He takes away the very instruments that have been used to show forth is grace. I know our Father can choose new ones to be used and empower them with Himself. But why aren’t we part of it and the one thing that keeps coming up to as why is we need rescued from a really bad time. But that just doesn’t seem right to me.

In Revelation we never read about those John sees in Heaven are those who were overcome with disease, pestilence, or famine that is the wrath of our Father, only that these are those that were martyred during the Great Tribulation. And Jesus clearly tells us that some of us will be used by God to be martyred. But once again look at how great of an experience it was for Stephen. God will even empower us during being killed, He is that great!

But when the grain is ripe and permits, immediately He sends forth [the reapers] and puts in the sickle, because the harvest stands ready. Mark 4:29

The Angels come and gather us for a rapture, but yet there are still millions to be saved, was the harvest ripe? Does a farmer go into a field and only take some of the wheat and leave some?

The seventh angel then blew [his] trumpet, and there were mighty voices in heaven, shouting, The dominion (kingdom, sovereignty, rule) of the world has now come into the possession and become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah), and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)! Then the twenty-four elders [of the heavenly Sanhedrin], who sit on their thrones before God, prostrated themselves before Him and worshiped, Exclaiming, To You we give thanks, Lord God Omnipotent, [the One] Who is and [ever] was, for assuming the high sovereignty and the great power that are Yours and for beginning to reign. And the heathen (the nations) raged, but Your wrath (retribution, indignation) came, the time when the dead will be judged and Your servants the prophets and saints rewarded--and those who revere (fear) Your name, both low and high and small and great--and [the time] for destroying the corrupters of the earth. Revelation 11:15-18

The last trumpet blows immediately after the two witnesses are killed. Notice as soon as the power of God stops flowing mightily through man the time of this world is over. This is the time when God’s saints are rewarded. If there had been a time of reward before this, a pre-tribulation rapture, when some teach is the time of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, than these verses in Rev. 11 would be wrong. The time of the Marriage Supper is after the last Trumpet and not before.