Now note this - All the Biblical Jewish Feasts have prophetic significance - The Feast of Tabernacles relating to Christ's birth, The Passover relating to Christ's death, Pentecost relating to the coming of the Holy Spirit, - The Feast of Trumpets relating to Christ's Second Coming. The Feast of Trumpets occurs in the seventh month of the Jewish Year:
There will be believers living on earth when the Lord returns
That there are saints on the earth at this time is beyond question.
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." - Luke 21:27-28
"And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." - Revelation 7:13-14
"And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. .... And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. .... And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." - Revelation 12:13,17 & 13:7
"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." - Daniel 7:21-22
"And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them." - Revelation 14:13
Note that these saints "have the testimony of Jesus Christ and that a number of them "die in the Lord". Now we know from I Thessalonians 4:16 that "the dead in Christ shall rise first, so these saints must participate in the rapture. All the saints mentioned above are members of Christ's body - members of Christ's church.
"Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:" - I Corinthians 1:2
"Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" - I Corinthians 6:2
The saints in the Corinthian Church are numbered amongst those who shall judge the world - just as are those who were beheaded for the witness of Christ during the Great Tribulation period:
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." - Revelation 20:4
Further evidence that the resurrection has not occured before this Great Tribulation period is given by the following passage which speaks of the souls of those slain for the word of God who are told to rest a little longer (no marriage feast in heaven here yet!) until their brethren join them. The pre-tribulation rapture teaching however, requires that the church has already been raptured to heaven (in Revelation 4:1) and is seen in heaven in the form of the twenty-four elders in Revelation 5:9.
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." - Revelation 6:9-11
Now some say that the church is in heaven as the 24 elders in Revelation 4. However, these elders are seated on thrones and wearing crowns, whereas the saints in Revelation 6 (by definition members of the church) are resting under the altar.
One further argument raised is that the "elect" mentioned in Matthew 24 only refers to "saints who have come out of Great Tribulation", implying that the church was removed from the earth beforehand. But is this valid? Who are the elect?
The elect have been chosen by God:
"And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days." - Mark 13:20
The words are applied in scripture to four things:
- Christ
"Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law." - Isaiah 42:1-4
"Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded." - I Peter 2:6
- Angels
"I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, ...." - I Timothy 5:21
- Israel
"For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me." - Isaiah 45:4
"For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." - Deuteronomy 7:6 and 14:2
- The Church
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely
give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." - Romans 8:31-33
"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." - Colossians 3:12-13
"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied." - I Peter 1:1-2
There is no biblical justification for restricting the use of "the elect" to "saints who have come out of Great Tribulation".
Neither is their any biblical evidence to separate Old Testament believers from the church. In fact, the reverse is true. Old Testament believers are included within the church.
"This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, in the church in the wilderness the angel which spake to him in the
mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:" - Acts 7:35-38
"Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." - Hebrews 2:12
Hebrews 2:12 is here quoting Psalm 22:22, and equating the New Testament "church" to the Old Testament "congregation".
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The day of the Lord shall bring sudden destruction upon unbelievers
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." - I Thessalonians 5:2-3
"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: .... And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts." - Malachi 3:1-2 & 5
The pre-tribulation rapture theory teaches that the world will experience a period of Great Tribulation for some years (seven or three and a half) before Christ's return. However, note carefully, that Christ will return suddenly, when the world is not expecting it - "when they shall say, Peace and safety". Life on earth will continue "as normal". This will be the case, even though the world will have experienced "earth-shaking" events. Even now, the world is being prepared to experience an "extra-terrestrial invasion". The world is being prepared to receive these visitors as the creators of mankind through some genetic experiment. However, these "extra-terrestrial invaders" will in reality be demons cast out of their heavenly abode. (For more on this subject see Why was there an Alien Link on this Site?)
And despite this, despite the effects of the six trumpets before the seventh heralds Christ's return, life will go on "as normal":
"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." - Matthew 24:37-39
Noah is here representative of the church. He enters the ark, is lifted up on the waters, and is saved. And so will the church be lifted up, caught up to meet the Lord in the air, the same day in which destruction will come upon the earth, which thought itself at peace and in safety.
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Believers are saved from the wrath of God
"For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." - I Thessalonians 1:9-10
"For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." - I Thessalonians 5:9-10
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." - Romans 5:8-9
The plain teaching of Scripture is that believers do not experience the wrath of God. However, the plain teaching of Scripture is that we shall suffer tribulation in the world.
"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." - John 17:15
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." - John 16:33
"Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." - Acts 14:22
"Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." - Revelation 2:10
It is not the wrath of God that the saints experience - but the wrath of the devil. This is what is called tribulation. And it is the saints who are alive on earth when Satan has been cast down to the earth from his heavenly abode who experience his greatest wrath - great tribulation. (For an examination of this casting out, see Why was there an Alien Link on this Site?)
This Great Tribulation period is sometimes said to last seven years. However, there is not ONE SINGLE scripture from which the inference can be drawn. We are, however, given the following:
"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." - Daniel 7:24-25
"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. .... And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." - Revelation 13:4-5 & 7
That makes two witnesses that the Great Tribulation will last three and a half years.
"In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." - II Corinthians 13:1b
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The day of the Lord is one day (or a thousand years)!
One could possibly make an argument that a day in scripture can represent one year, or a thousand years (see below)
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." - II Peter 3:8
- but not SEVEN years, or even THREE AND A HALF years of Great Tribulation as this teaching would have us believe. What is clear throughout is that Christ's Second Coming is frequently described as a day.
"And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day;" - Isaiah 10:17
"For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates." - Jeremiah 46:10
"The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers." - Zephaniah 1:14-16
What is often overlooked is that this day occurs the same day that the believers are removed from the earth at the sound of last trumpet:
"Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." - Luke 17:28-30
"And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." - Luke 17:26-27
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;" - Genesis 7:11-13
Can anything be more plain? The very day that believers are removed from the earth is the "day of the Lord" - the day in which God pours his wrath out upon the earth.
"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a
great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the
moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" - Revelation 6:12-17
Notice that the day of wrath occurs after the sixth seal is opened - after the sun has become black, and the moon turned to blood, and the stars have fallen from heaven - all in agreement with the sequnce of events in Matthew 24.
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." - Revelation 11:15-18
Here we have the seventh trumpet sounding. It heralds the time of God's wrath - not before! It is at this point that believers are removed from the earth to meet the Lord in the air. Note also here that the time of God's wrath could be said to last one thousand years, for it covers the rewarding of the saints and the destruction of those which destroy the earth. The latter are judged at the Great White Throne judgement, one thousand years after the former receive their reward, according to Revelation 20.
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." - Revelation 20:4-5
This is the first resurrection - the only resurrection that is blessed - the only resurrection unto life. Whoever is not part of the first resurrection is part of the second and is cast into the lake of fire. ALL believers are part of this first resurrection including "The Church", Old Testament believers, and the "saints who come out of Great Tribulation"
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." - II Peter 3:10
The above is another example of a case where "the day of the Lord" can be said to last a thousand years. It comes "as a thief in the night" which occurs when the believers are caught up to meet the Lord in the air and ends when the heavens and earth pass away - a thousand years later, according to Revelation 20:1-21:1.
There is one further aspect of this day that needs commenting upon. It is the day in which the remnant of the nation of Israel will look upon the "one they have pierced" and be saved. This event will happen BEFORE the resurrection.
"For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree." - Zechariah 3:9-10
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." - Zechariah 12:10-13:1
"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." - Revelation 1:7
Comparing Zechariah 12:10-13:1 with Revelation 1:7, we see that the remant of the nation of Israel will be saved when they see the Lord Jesus Christ returning in the clouds. It will happen in one day - "in that day". This remnant will be the last believers to be saved before the resurrection. Paul writes of this to the Gentile church in Rome.
"I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" - Romans 11:11-15
When the remant is received into the body of believers, this will be life from the dead - the resurrection. The fulness of the Gentiles has alreay come in. As was mentioned earlier, the times of the Gentiles have been fulfilled. When the fulness of the Jews have been received, ALL ISRAEL (Jew and Gentile, both having the same father, Abraham) will have been saved. All beleivers, Old Testament and New Testament, are saved the same way, through faith - see the whole of Hebrews 11.
"Therefore sprang there even of one {i.e. Abraham}, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." - Hebrews 11:12-13
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." - Romans 4:16-17
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:" - Romans 11:25-26
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The origin of this doctrine
The theory of a "pre-tribulation rapture" was first propounded in a book entitled, The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty, by Juan Josafat Ben Ezra, supposedly a converted Jew. An abridged version of two volumes was first published in Spain in 1812, and in 1816, a complete edition in four volumes was published in Spanish in London. In 1826, the librarian of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Maitland, published a series of pamphlets on prophecy propounding the theory that the whole of the Book of Revelation referred to the future - a theory contained in Ben Ezra's book. Strange to say, the library contained a full set of Rabbi Ben Ezra's work, and had done for some ten years since its publication in London.
Now Edward Irving comes on the scene. He translated Rabbi Ben Ezra's work into English - and revealed that the author was not a Jew at all - but a Jesuit monk by the name of Lacunza! Irving's translation was published in 1827, and was followed in 1833 by an abridged version in the form of pamphlets.
The theory was passed into the Brethren Movement by the "Irvingites" at meetings held at Powerscourt Castle to study prophecy, and from there rapidly spread throughout Protestant Christianity.
The Free Church of Scotland minister, Duncan McDougall has done an excellent job in researching the whole process in his work, The Rapture of the Saints - available on this site in the 1970 Revised Edition. I can only suggest that you read it.
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The reason that this doctrine was necessary
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." - II Thessalonians 2:3-4
I was recently given a tape of a talk by David Hocking on the pre-tribulation rapture to listen to. He concluded his talk by saying:
"I am not looking for any more signs to take place ..."
This is the whole point of the doctrine. It has lulled Protestants to sleep. They are not looking for the Antichrist - because they think that they will not be here when he is revealed. They are not looking out for the signs of the trumpets. (If we are going to be here till the seventh, we must experience the other six!) Listen to the Jesuit Lacunza on the subject:
"If we expect to see accomplished in one man all that is said of the beast, with all that is announced to us in so many other parts of Scripture; it is much to be feared, that, all which is written will take place, and such an Antichrist not appearing, we shall be looking for him when he is already in the house. Likewise it is to be feared, that this idea which we have formed of Antichrist may prove the chief cause of the very great carelessness in which men shall be found, when the day of the Lord arrives." - The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty, by Juan Josafat Ben Ezra (actually the Jesuit monk Lacunza); Dublin, 1833, Wm Curry Jun., & Co. page 114
This Futurist doctrine was necessary in order to remove the stigma from the Papacy, expounded by the Reformers, of being the Antichrist. Protestants would be seduced into accepting the antichristian papacy as Christianity - Roman Catholics as brothers and sisters in Christ. The "falling away" would have occurred and the "day of Christ" would be at hand.
Looks rather like the church of today!
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