I don’t believe in the pre-tribulation rapture. That said, if there is one, I am all aboard. Many say Christians will not suffer God’s wrath, wrath and tribulations are different. Paul, John, Peter, and many, many Christians have suffered tribulations.
The saints that judge with Jesus during the 1000 year reign come out of the tribulation.
Revelation 20:4 NASBS
Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Jesus told us:
Matthew 24:21-22 NASBS
For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. [22] Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Jesus also said:
Matthew 24:9-10 NASBS
“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. [10] At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
I am also aware of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, but many stop and don’t include 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 are the verses that many base their belief in the rapture. Reading 5:1-6 sheds some light on 4:13-18.
Here’s my position. If I expect to go through trials and even though the tribulation and there is a rapture and I don’t have to go through the tribulation, no harm.
On the other hand, if someone believes they will not have to go through the tribulation because they expect the rapture and find themselves in the middle of the tribulation, they may fall away. They may become those Jesus spoke of:
Matthew 24:10 NASBS
At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
I pray that all come to faith in Jesus and stay true to that faith that their names are not erased.
Revelation 3:5 NASBS
He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
We must remember, there are those that will fall by the wayside. The Bible says so. It even says:
Proverbs 16:4 NASBS
The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil.
Many share that belief.
Most Christians have a very difficult time wrapping their head around the difference between Tribulation and Wrath.
Just like they do with Salvation, Regeneration, and Sanctification.
Acts 14:22 states this:
“strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Scripture clearly lays out the case for The PreTribulation Rapture. It’s not some phony doctrine that Darby made up either since Jesus, Peter, John, and Paul all wrote about it long before.
You are free to believe whatever you want and may you go in peace doing so.
I however, will continue to “Watch the Day Approaching” like I was admonished to by The Lord Jesus Christ.
A thousand years isn’t really that long in history. What comes after?
Again, there is the failure to distinguish between general tribulation and persecution, and the Great Tribulation, which is God’s dealing with Israel and the world inn judgment.
If you conflate the two, then Bible prophecy makes no sense. When you recognize the difference, then it does.
Matthew 24 sounds like what happen in China’s cultural revolution where people betrayed one another in order to save their own skin from the communist regime. Not a stretch to think that our future could be one of communist rule, something like what China has now with total surveillance and neighbors spying on each other.