For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not as a result of works, so that no one can boast. ~Ephesians 2:8-9


CLICK FLAGS FOR PAGE TRANSLATION OPTIONS
Google
WWW As My World Turns - Prophecy Style

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Three Views of the Rapture, Part Three

In the previous post we talked about the doctrine of mid-tribulationism as one of the three views of the Rapture. In this post we are discussing another possible Rapture view, which is called post-tribulationism.

Once again my thanks goes to Jack Kinsella of the Omega Letter for the information contained within. For further information regarding the Rapture, a completely fascinating online and downloadable ebook that discusses the world-wide vanishings that will occur in the future can be found at Hal Lindsey’s website. The book is appropriately entitle "Vanished". It is available to download for any denomination/donation amount. Just follow the link and it is the second book available on that page.

Also, if you are looking for further information you may want to check out such websites as Harpazo.net, RaptureAlert.com, DivineIntervention.ws, Prophecy Central and (my personal recommendation) RaptureReady.com.

So let's go ahead and jump into the second part of the discussion on the three differing views of the Rapture.
===========================================
Post-Tribulationism holds to the view that the Church goes through the entire seven year Tribulation Period, together with the 'earthdwellers' and Israel, but then is Raptured at the end of the Tribulation, just before the 2nd Coming of Christ.

As in the case of the other views, this view can be supported by Scripture. Supporters of the post-Tribulation position are sincere, as are those who hold to either the pre-trib or mid-trib scenarios.

As mentioned in my first post regarding the timing of the Rapture, the timing of this event is a subject of great division among Christians. Those who take the post-trib view think that pre-tribbers are preaching a 'Great Escape' that won't happen.

They believe that teaching a pre-trib Rapture does a disservice to the Church and when the Tribulation comes, Christians expecting a 'Great Escape' will not be prepared to endure and might succumb to the Mark of the Beast.

Consequently, to many who hold the post-trib view, pre-tribbers are false prophets preaching a lie of Satan, and, some from that camp believe pre-trib teachers are deliberately spreading error.

In Matthew 24:30-31, Jesus speaks of a great gathering.

"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

It certainly sounds like the Rapture, and it sounds like it occurs at the end of the Tribulation. But Matthew 24, as I pointed out previously, is given, not from the perspective of the Church, but from the perspective of the Jews.

Jesus spoke of the abomination of desolation (25:15) -- a distinctly Jewish blasphemy, followed by a warning to those in JUDEA (16) to flee, and for them to pray their flight be not on the Sabbath Day (20).

Now compare Matthew 24:30 with Zechariah's description of the coming of Christ from the perspective of the Jews. "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." (Zechariah 12:10)

In Matthew 24:31 we see that the 'elect' gathered by His angels are gathered, not from the earth, but from 'one end of HEAVEN to the other'.

Revelation 19:14 says "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." Stated in Revelation 19:6-9, those in white linen are the Bride – the True Church comprised of all those people who have accepted God's saving invitation to be joined to Him at this marriage feast and have prepared themselves (as seen by their garments).

The post-trib position is that 'one end of heaven to the other' really means the Rapture of earthbound believers at the end of the Tribulation Period.

But reading what Scripture SAYS, rather than interpreting what it 'really means', indicates the elect gathered AFTER the Tribulation are gathered FROM heaven, which is consistent with the pre-trib view that says that is where the Church was all along.

Bible prophecy is unfolding according to a systematic theology that shows that God dealt at different times throughout history in different ways through a system of progressive revelation. This systematic theology is called Dispensationalism.

The main points of dispensationalism are:

1. The recognition of a distinction between Israel and the Church.

2. A consistently literal principle of interpretation -- particularly of Bible prophecy.

3. A basic working and conception of the purpose of God as His own glory rather than as the single purpose of salvation.

Dispensationalism demands:

1. The O.T. prophecies of the restoration of national Israel to the land in the last days will be literally fulfilled. (Any newspaper confirms that prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes.)

2. The 70 weeks of Daniel spoken of in Daniel 9 refers to a period of 490 years and apply only to Israel. The first 69 weeks have been fulfilled historically, ending at the first coming of Christ.

3. When the Jews rejected the Messiah, the 70 weeks were suspended and a new age or dispensation called the Church age began. The Last or 70th week of Daniel, the last seven years, has yet to be fulfilled.

4. This last week will immediately precede the second coming of Christ.

The book of Revelation after the letters to the seven churches is a prophecy concerning events that will occur during the last seven years before the second coming or 70th week.

This 70th week is called the tribulation period. The last half of this week (the last 3.5 years) is the Great Tribulation spoken of in Dan. 9 and in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24). This tribulation period is a time when God will pour out His wrath on a sinful world (earthdwellers).

It is at this point that the mid-tribulationists believe the Rapture occurs.

The coming of Christ will occur in two phases. The Rapture, and His Second Coming at the conclusion of the Battle of Armageddon.

Dispensationalism concludes the Church cannot be here during the tribulation period because God has ended the Church age and resumed dealing with Israel.

The Church is also Raptured to keep the Christians from the wrath of God which according to Romans 5:9 Christians will not experience.

The second phase is Christ's second coming at the end of the tribulation with His saints to begin the Kingdom Age dispensation.

History consists of different dispensations or 'economies'. A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God.

Systematic theology reveals seven distinct Dispensations of God:

•Creation to fall - Innocency
•Fall to flood - Conscience
•Flood to Abraham - Human Government
•Abraham to Moses - Promise
•Moses to Christ - Law
•Church Age - Grace
•Millennium - Kingdom

A new period or dispensation begins when God introduces a change in the principles or ordinances valid up to that time. For example a number of ordinances are introduced at the time of Noah. With the coming of the Church Age, the Mosiac Laws or ordinances are annulled.

In order to hold to a mid or post position it is necessary to deny Dispensationalism, claiming it is a recent invention. But at the same time, all three scenarios recognize the Church Age as a distinct dispensation.

The post-Tribulation view shares the same glaring problem as the mid-Tribbers; the denial of imminency. It will be even easier to pinpoint the return of Christ, given the Bible gives the exact number of days between the 'abomination of desolation' (Matthew 24:15; 2nd Thessalonians 2:4) and the return of the Messiah.

"And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days."(Daniel 12:11)

Compare that to Jesus' Words; "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Matthew 24:36) If the post-Trib view is correct, that secret is hidden only until the revelation of Antichrist. So it shares the same second flaw with the mid-Trib view; both of these interpretations make the coming of Antichrist the seminal event in prophecy, with the secret coming of Christ for His Church a secondary Plan.

The post-Tribulation view also doesn't pass the logic test. The post-Trib interpretation is that Jesus Raptures the Church, who then return with Him at the Battle of Armageddon. "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." (Revelation 19:14) The 'fine linen, white and clean' are the garments of those Washed in the Blood of the Lamb.

So, Jesus leaves heaven with 'ten thousands' of empty white horses. As He descends, God's people are Raptured, presumably translated from this earth to the back of a white horse on its way back!

Scripture tells us that, as the return of the Lord for His Church draws near, it will be as in the days of Lot and Noah. Noah warned of impending judgement for 120 years without a single convert. Life went on as normal, until the floods came, and 'took them all away'. (Matthew 24:39)

Similarly, Lot lived in a big city, surrounded by immorality so repugnant to God that He decided to judge the wicked city with Divine judgment. Lot was secretly removed from the unsuspecting city before judgment was executed. But to the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, life went on as usual until the moment of judgment fell.

Consider the consequences of the Tribulation Period. Widespread death and destruction, the annihilation of 3/4's of the human race, miraculous judgments like the sea turned to blood and a ruined ecology, disease, famine and catastrophe . . . hardly fits with the days of Lot OR Noah.

"And as it was in the days of Noe (Noah), 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 (Noah) entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:28-30)

The next problem with this view is what happens next. According to Scripture, the earth is repopulated during the Millennial Kingdom period.

If all God's people are Raptured as the Lord Jesus returns that will leave only the wicked on earth when He returns. The wicked will be destroyed as they will NEVER inherit the kingdom of God.

So if the wicked are destroyed and God's people are all Raptured then who will be left to enter into the 1000 year Kingdom?

When people go into the 1000 year kingdom they will not have their eternal bodies but will be just like we are today.

They will marry and have children. After the Rapture all God's people will have their eternal bodies leaving no mortals left on earth to go into the 1000 year kingdom.

The post-Trib view is widely received, despite its problems. It's adherents generally also believe that Israel plays no important role in the last days, since the promises of God to Israel were passed on to the Church after the Jews rejected their Messiah.

That is also one of the reasons that post-Tribulationists are so hostile to Dispensationalists and pre-Tribulationists; our 'wrong-headed' support for Israel based on our belief that God has a Plan for Israel that doesn't include the Church. It explains the blatantly anti-Semitic nature of many mainstream churches. It is at the root of the 'Christian anti-semitism' that was responsible for centuries of persecution of the Jews by the Church.

It explains the 'Christ-killer' label that is used to incite anti-Semitic actions and to justify anti-Semitism as a worldview. To some Christians, the crowd's demands, "Then answered all the people, and said, His Blood be on us, and on our children," (Matthew 27:25) carries more weight than Jesus Himself, when He said, " Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," (Luke 23:34)

That is not intended to characterize all people who hold to a post-Tribulation worldview, but explain the teachings of post-Tribulationalism and some of the reasons for their hostility to the pre-Tribulationist view.

I began this series on the Rapture with the intent, not to change anybody else's view, but to explain why I hold to the view that I do and also to explain to others what will happen in the very near future (or if this is being read after the Rapture has occurred to explain what has already occurred).

The Rapture will happen when it happens and nobody will know for sure who was right until it doesn't matter any more anyway.

My purpose is not to argue FOR a pre-tribulation Rapture so much as it was to clearly outline what I believe and why I believe it.

I view unfolding prophecy through the systematic theology of Dispensationalism because, without rightly dividing the Word, prophecy makes no sense.

For example, Jesus said the Comforter would remain with the Church until He comes. Yet the only reference to the Holy Spirit during the Tribulation is Revelation Chapter 7 when Jewish evangelists are miraculously 'sealed' (indwelt) by the Holy Spirit the way Church Age believers are now. That indwelling gives the Jewish evangelists 'power' to preach.

Together with 2 Thessalonians 2:7 we see the Restrainer is taken out of the way, saying that once that is accomplished, "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." (vs. 8)

If the Church goes through the Tribulation, then Jesus' promise of a Comforter until He comes needs rewriting to say, "I will send you a Comforter Who will stay with you until you need Him most, and then you are on your own for seven years."

Without an understanding of the divisions between the Dispensations, (like the Church Age and Daniel's 70th Week) prophecy is contradictory.

Jesus promised the Church in Matthew 16:18 that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." But we then read in Revelation 13:7 "And it was given unto him (the religious beast) to make war with the saints, and to overcome them."

Which is it? Do we prevail, or does the Antichrist? Apart from Dispensationalism, the two statements contradict.

But if the Church Age is over and the Tribulation period is the time of 'Jacob's Trouble' and judgment against 'them that dwell upon the earth' rather than for the Church, then Scriptural harmony is restored.

As I pointed out in the previous post, the major problem with the mid-trib view is that it fails to explain what role the Church plays in the time of Jacob's Trouble -- even the first half.

The major problem in the post-tribulational view adds to that problem the problem of mathematics.

Revelation 13:15 says of those who do not worship the beast and accept his mark that he would "cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed".

So we see two kinds of people in the Tribulation period. Those who take the mark and those who are killed. When the Tribulation is over, where are the living believers who get Raptured?

For there to be believers left to Rapture, they will have to escape the Antichrist's global positioning surveillance systems, satellite thermal imaging systems, police and military dragnet, unable to buy or sell, living in caves for seven years.

A couple of decades ago, that seemed at least possible. But not so likely today. We saw how effective a strategy that was for al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. And the Antichrist is unlikely to follow the same civilized rules of engagement Washington must observe today to avoid global condemnation.

I conclude the pre-tribulation Rapture scenario is the view that is most harmonious with Scripture, particularly when given the added dimension of actually watching the preparations unfold before our very eyes. I will be making my last post on the Rapture regarding the pre-tribulation doctine of the Rapture and specifically why it makes the most sense.

But our faith isn't in WHEN Christ comes, it is in the fact that Christ IS coming soon. And the Rapture Debate is one more evidence of that fact.

Notice that the debate isn't over whether or not the Lord will come in this generation. For most, that is not even an issue.

A century ago, they were debating over whether He was coming at all. Today, we're fighting over His coming within a seven-year time frame.

Regardless of what you believe concerning the timing of the Rapture, the soon coming of the Lord is proved by the fact such a debate exists at all. And no matter what you believe about the timing of the Rapture, and no matter who turns out to be right in the end, the important thing to remember is WHAT we are debating.

We are living in the last generation in history. There are people reading my words -- right now -- who will never, ever die in the traditional sense, but will be caught up bodily to be with the Lord.

"Wherefore comfort one another with these words" - (1st Thessalonians 4:18)
==========================
In the last post we will discuss the doctrine of pre-tribulationism and why that really is the only view of the Rapture that scripturally, logically and mathematically makes sense. Or at least to me anyway. After that we will get into the discussion of what the Tribulation is and what will happen during it, who the key players are and why you really don't want to go through it.