WHEN WILL THE RAPTURE HAPPEN?
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Question: "When is the Rapture going to occur in relation to the Tribulation?"
Answer:
The timing of the Rapture in relation to the Tribulation is one of the
most controversial issues in the church today. The three primary views
are Pretribulational (the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation),
Midtribulational (the Rapture occurs at the mid-point of the
Tribulation), and Posttribulational (the Rapture occurs at the end of
the Tribulation). A 4th view, commonly known as Pre-wrath, is a slight
modification of the Midtribulational position.
First, it is
important to recognize the purpose of the Tribulation. According to
Daniel 9:27, there is a seventieth “week” (7 years) that is still yet
to come. Daniel’s entire prophecy of the seventy weeks (Daniel 9:20-27)
is speaking of the nation of Israel. It is a time period in which God
focuses His attention especially on Israel. The seventieth week, the
Tribulation, must also be a time when God deals specifically with
Israel. While this does not necessarily indicate that the church could
not also be present, it does bring into question why the church would
need to be on the earth during that time.
The primary Scripture
passage on the Rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. It states that all
living believers, along with all believers who have died, will meet the
Lord Jesus in the air and will be with Him forever. The Rapture is God
removing His people from the earth. A few verses later in 5:9 Paul
says, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive
salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Book of Revelation, which
deals primarily with the time period of the Tribulation, is a prophetic
message of how God will pour out His wrath upon the earth during the
Tribulation. It would seem inconsistent for God to promise believers
that they will not suffer wrath and then leave them on the earth during
the Tribulation. The fact that God promises to deliver Christians from
wrath shortly after promising to remove His people from the earth seems
to link those two events together.
Another crucial passage on
the timing of the Rapture is Revelation 3:10. There, Christ promises to
deliver believers from the “hour of trial” that is going to come upon
the earth. This could mean two things: (1) Christ will protect
believers in the midst of the trials, or (2) Christ will deliver
believers out of the trials. Both are valid meanings of the Greek word
translated “from.” However, it is important to recognize what believers
are promised to be kept “from.” It is not just the trial, but the
“hour” of trial. Christ is promising to keep believers from the very
time period that contains the trials, namely the Tribulation.
The
purpose of the Tribulation, the purpose of the Rapture, the meaning of
1 Thessalonians 5:9, and the interpretation of Revelation 3:10 all give
clear support to the Pretribulational position. If the Bible is
interpreted literally and consistently, the Pretribulational position
is the most Biblically consistent interpretation.
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