It may come across that I am being 'Debbie Downer' here but I believe this needs to be said. I firmly believe that the doctrine of the rapture has lulled much of the modern church into complacency because we have blindly accepted the belief that we will be taken into heaven before the Great Tribulation.
Here in the western world we have had it pretty easy because we enjoy freedom to worship and for the most part, we live in a land that is friendly towards Christianity. But in many parts of the world we have brothers and sisters who are being tortured and murdered because of their faith. God isn't sparing them. Why would He necessarily spare us?
Maybe if we knew that there was no guarantee that we would be spared tribulation we would live our lives differently before God and men.
"Proof Texts" to Support The Rapture
The first text used to support the rapture is found in Matthew 24:40-41:
"Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left."
You may remember the old saying, "A text without a context is a pretext." This certainly applies when attempting to properly interpret scripture. On the surface it does appear to be saying people will be simply going about their day and suddenly, randomly some will be wisked away into the presence of Jesus. But is that really what this passage is saying? Let's back up a few verses. Verse 38-39:
"For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
Notice that it says that when the flood came the people were 'taken.' TAKEN IS JUDGMENT! That is the context of verses 40 and 41. The ones who are taken are those who are going to their judgment. You don't want to be taken. You want to be the one that is left behind.
The other point in this passage is that it says this is what will happen at the return of the Son of Man. This is when Jesus returns. There is no mention of the Great Tribulation.
This passage has nothing to do with the rapture.
The second passage is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17:
"After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."
Again it is vital to look at the context of this passage and understand what Paul is actually talking about. Beginning with verse 13 Paul is explaining what happens to those who have passed away and the hope of the resurrection.
Verse 13-16:
"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first."
The real emphasis is that those who have passed away will rise again in glory. It is almost as if he adds that those who are still alive when Jesus returns will then join those who are resurrected. Notice that they are not taken into heaven. They rise up to the clouds. Also notice that it says we will 'meet' him. This is kind of like the welcoming committee going out to meet the king who is returning.
To put it simply, this is not about a rapture. It's about the resurrection.
(It is also worth noting that it says that we who are 'left.' Compare back Matthew 24:40-41)
Again it is crucial to realize that this 'rising to meet him in the air' occurs when Jesus returns; not at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.
The third support of the premillenial rapture requires a dispensational view of end time prophecy. This is a rather large subject that I don't have time to adequately address here but in a nutshell, dispensational theology/view of history is the idea that God has a separate plan for his church and those who are ethnically Israelite, the nation of Israel. This view interprets the book of Revelation as being strictly about the very end. As such, it makes much of the fact that the 'church' is never mentioned again after chapter 3 and assumes that the church has been raptured.
This view is problematic for a number of reasons:
1. It assumes that because the church is not mentioned as such that it has gone missing. The fact that it is not named doesn't necessarily mean it is not present.
2. It assumes that the book is strictly about the very end times. But we must remember that the book of Revelation is actually a letter that was addressed to the seven churches in Asia Minor. It is not just the individual notes in chapters 2 and 3 that are addressed to these churches but the ENTIRE book. (Chapter 1:4,11)
An important key rule of interpretation is to understand that the text had an original audience and to discern what it would have meant to that original audience. Almost all of modern interpretation of Revelation is centered on the very end of the age. But it is unlikely that the 7 churches would have understood it that way especially because Chapter 1:1 says, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place." The original audience would have understood this to mean that this was the unfolding of history from that point until the end.
The point is, that even though the church is not specifically mentioned as such after chapter 3, the church has existed for the entire time since then. Much of what is described in Revelation has taken place and is continuing to take place, and the church has been on this earth the entire time.
The church was not raptured before the events in Revelation took place. And there is no place in this letter that describes the church being raptured. The church will rise at the time of Jesus Christ's return.
But God Promises that His faithful Ones Would be Spared From The Tribulation
Revelation 3:10:
"Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth."
It is important to realize that this verse is specific to the church at Philadelphia. His message to the church in Smyrna was quite different.
Revelation 2:10:
"Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown."
Not every believer will be spared from hard trials and persecution. Some will be spared and others will be given the grace to endure it.
In the Bible we see examples of people who were spared catastrophe because of their faithfulness. Methuselah died and then the flood came. King Josiah was told he would be spared the calamity that would fall upon Judah. How? He would die first. Daniel was told he would die before the events he described. Even wicked Ahab, because he humbled himself when confronted by Elijah regarding Naboth's murder was allowed to die before the destruction of his house. Even during the church age St. Augustine died and a few months later Hippo was sacked. Martin Luther died before the wars broke out in Germany. Isaiah 57:1-2 explains:
"The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."
Death for those who are in Christ is completely different than for those who are not. As John Flavel mentions in his book Keeping the Heart, death for the believer simply means you have completed your race and now you receive the victor's crown and hear those coveted words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
So What is The Point
My point is that many have been lulled into a false sense of security believing that we who follow Christ will not have to endure the tribulation of the end times. But there is nothing in the Bible that suggests that. We who are God's people need to be busy about our Father's business. Matthew 24:46-47:
"It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions."
Our hope is in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It is not in a pre-tribulation rapture. As followers of Christ we are to be about our Father's business as long as we have breath or until he returns. May it be that when he returns he will find us so doing.
Blessings to you all.
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