THE LAST DAYS (Part II)
RAPTURE VIEWS
1. Post-tribulationism: The belief that the rapture will occur at the end of the Tribulation and at the same time that Jesus returns to judge the world.
- • The Second Coming and the Rapture are a single event (They believe that Matt 24:27,30,31 & I Thess 4:16,17 are the same event - in both are found the presence of angels and the gathering together of believers.) (Jesus will not come like a "thief" to Christians – I Thess 5:1,2. The surprise return of the Lord like a thief is the Second Coming in judgment in I Thess 5:3-6.) (Matt 24:42 & Lk 12:35-39 seem to refer to the rapture, but the Pre-Trib viewpoint is that these verses refer only to Israel.)
- • They do not believe the return is imminent (Jesus predicted that His
return would take a long time – Matt 24:14; 25:19.) (II Peter 3:11-13 does not refer to an imminent return of Christ, but it still can produce a godly life.)
- • They believe the "elect" in Matt 24:31 is the Church.
- • They believe that "watch" and "keep alert" refer to the tendency for Christians to go to sleep and not be busy in God's work, and not to the fact that Jesus could come at any time and catch us doing something wrong – Eph 6:18; I Cor 16:13; Col 4:2; I Pet 5:8.) (In Matt 24:36-44 Jesus urges His listeners to "watch," but He is clearly referring to the 2nd Coming in judgment.) (Rev 16:15 exhorts believers to "watch," but it is clearly referring to a time in the middle of the Tribulation.)
- • The mystery is not the time of the Rapture, but the fact of the Rapture (I Cor 15:50-53).
- • The Church and Israel will go through the Tribulation (Acts 14:22; I Thess 1:6, 3:4; II Thess 1:5-8) (Matt 24:14 says the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world during the Tribulation. If this is a Jewish Gospel preached by Jews, then the Jews of the Tribulation will be more successful in a few years than the Church has been in 20 centuries.)
- • The Church will be protected from God's wrath like Israel was protected from God's wrath during the 10 plagues in Egypt (They believe that the 144,000 in Rev 7:1-8 are symbolic of the Church being protected during the Tribulation – The tribe of Dan is not present in this list but is found in Ezek 48:1, so the list in Rev 7 does not describe Israel.).
- • Converts from the Second Coming go into the Millennium (Believers in a Post-trib rapture who hold an A-mill view do not believe this because they do not believe in a literal Millennium.).
- • The Church is in both the Old and New Testaments (Josh 8:35 & Joel 2:16 – the word "assembly" is translated ekklesia in the Septuagint; Acts 7:38) (Israel and the Church are united – Eph 2:11-16; Rom 11:17-21).
- • Classic Post-tribulationalism – the Tribulation already took place in 70 AD (Acts 8:1, 11:19) (J. Barton Paine)
2. Mid-tribulationism: The belief that the rapture will occur in the middles of the
Tribulation just prior to the persecution by the Antichrist.

- • The Rapture is said to occur at the sounding of the seventh Trumpet and the catching up of the two witnesses (Rev 8:1; 11:12,15; I Cor 15:52); the Great Tribulation begins in Rev 11:18)
- • The Restrainer in II Thess 2:6-8 is the Church. The Great Trubulation will begin when the Church is raptured.
- • They believe that the Tribulation period is only 3 ½ years in length (Matt 24:21).
- • Revelation 4-11 describes the first 3 ½ years and Revelation 12-19 the last 3 ½ years of the seven years described in Daniel 9:27.
- • The Trumpets in Revelation 11:15 is the same trumpet as decribed in I Corinthains 15:52 and I Thessalonians 4:16-17.
- • They call themselves pretribulationalists because they see the Rapture as coming before the Great Tribulation.
- • They believe that Israel and the church overlap.
- • The believe that the imminent return of Christ is not taught in the Bible.
3. Pre-tribulationalism: The belief that Jesus will rapture the Church before the
Tribulation begins.

- • The Second Coming is divided into two events: the Rapture before the Tribulation and Jesus' return in judgment at the end of the
Tribulation.
- • The Lord's wrath includes the persecution of the Antichrist and Seals 2-4 of Revelation (Lev 26:21-28)(famine: Ezek 14:12-13; Deut 11:17; Ezek 4:16-17; pestilence: Numb 11:33, 16:46)
- • The Church will be raptured before the "the time of trial" as promised to the Church of Philadelphia (Rev 3:10).
- • The Church is a parenthesis separating two stages in God's plan for Israel (Dan 9:27).
- • The Church is a mystery (i.e., it is not mentioned in the O.T.) (Eph 3:1-13, 5:32; Col 1:26-27).
- • Matthew 24 says nothing about the Church, but is describing God's plan for Israel (Matt 24:30-31).
- • The rapture of the Church is a mystery ( I Cor 15:51-52).
- • Promises to Israel are distinct from the Church (Isa 1:25-27, 2:1-5, 27;13, 61:1-7, 62:1-4; Jer 3:14-18, 33:14-22)
- • There is no mention of the Church in Revelation 4-18.
- • The restrainer in II Thessalonians 2:6-7 is the Church.
- • The Church is raptured in Revelation 4:1-2 and is in heaven in the rest of the book of Revelation ("Come up here" in Rev 4:1 is the Rapture).
- • The Day of the Lord is the whole 7-year Tribulation period (Isa 2:12-
21, 13:9-16; Joel 1:15-2:11, 28-32, 3:9-21; Amos 5:18-20; Obad 15-
17; Zeph 1:1-18).
- • Believe that Jesus can return at any time – it is imminent; there are no signs that precede (I Cor 1:7; Tit 2:13; I Thess 4:18) (not a blessed hope if the time of Tribulation precedes it)..
- • Convents during the Tribulation period go into the Millennium.
- • The 24 Elders of Revelation 4:4 are Elders of the Church after the Rapture.
- • If the Rapture occurs inside or after the Tribulation, we would know when it was going to occur. The Bible teaches that we will not know when it will occur (Matt 24:36,42).
4. Pre-wrath Rapture: The belief that the Rapture will occur immediately before the Day of the Lord and that the Day of Lord will occur during the Great Tribulation.

- • The Day of the Lord occurs during the 3 ½ year time of "great distress" or "great tribulation" described in Matthew 24:21 (Dan 12:1).
- • The Day of the Lord is not the total seven-year Tribulation period or even the 3 ½ year period of "great distress," but God's horrible judgment on the Antichrist and his followers at the end of the time of "great distress."
- • The Day of the Lord begins with the Seventh Trumpet of Revelation (Rev 6:16-17, 8:1-5; 11:18, 14:10, 15:1,7, 16:1,19).
- • The sign preceding the Lord' return for His saints and the Day of the Lord (II Thess 1:5-10, 2:1-4) is the heavenly disturbances described
in Joel 2:30-31, 3:14-16; Matt 24:3,29-31; Isa 13:9-10; Rev 6:12-14 (the sixth Seal).
- • God's plan for both the Church and Israel will be completed even though they will both be present for part of the Tribulation period.
- • The Restrainer of II Thessalonians 2:6-8 who will stop holding the Antichrist back is the Archangel Michael (Rev 12:7-9, 13:1-2; Dan 12:1).
- • The time of "great distess" begins immediately after the Restrainer is removed (Dan 12:1).
- • The Tribulation seven years is never called this anywhere in the Bible. It is, instead, a technical term given to the seven-year period in Daniel 9:27 by theologians. The Biblical name is "great distress" or "great tribulation", and it describes only the last 3 ½ years of this seven-year period.
- • The last 3 ½ years will be shortened for the suffering believers when the Church is raptured (Matt 24:22).
- • God's plan for the Church and Israel will be completed even though they will both be present during the Tribulation period.
- • The Rapture of the Church, the Day of the Lord, and Jesus' return in judgment are one event (II Thess 1:5-10, 2:1-4).
- • God's promise that we will not go through His wrath does not mean that we will not go through the time of persecution led by the Antichrist (Acts 14:22).
- • The description of end-time events in Matthew 24 describes what the Church will go through, and the return of the Lord to gather the elect in Matthew 24 describes the Rapture of the Church (Matt 24:30-31)
- • Matthew 24 is meant for the Church and Israel, as the disciples were both Christians and Jewish.
Thought QuestionS:
1. List the two main strengths and two main weaknesses of each of the four views that you see:
Post-trib: Strengths 1)
2)
Weaknesses 1)
2)
Mid-trib: Strengths 1)
2)
Weaknesses 1)
2)
Pre-trib: Strengths 1)
2)
Weaknesses 1)
2)
Pre-wrath Strengths 1)
2)
Weaknesses 1)
2)
2. Which view do you believe is what the Bible teaches?
RESOURCES: Post-trib: THE BLESSED HOPE by Ladd; THE CHURCH AND THE TRIBULATION by Gundry; Pre-trib: THE RAPTURE QUESTION by Walvoord; THINGS TO COME by Pentecost; BIOGRAPHY OF A GREAT PLANET by Ellison; THE END TIMES by Hoyt; Pre-wrath: THE RAPTURE QUESTION ANSWERED and THE SIGN by Van Kampen; THE PRE-WRATH RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH by Rosenthal