In A Moment: 10 Reasons I Believe In A Pre-Trib Rapture

Unsealed World News ^ | 6/9/17 | Gary

[amessenger4god]

1. The rapture is plainly taught in Scripture.  Believers will be physically removed from the earth according to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.  As soon as I hear someone say, "the rapture is not in the Bible," I know they've already lost the argument.  If you think 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is just allegory then there is nothing further to discuss.  If we can't agree on the basic meaning of words then we are not going to agree on anything.  The passage says Believers will be "caught up" from the earth and will meet the Lord in the sky.  Some even go so far as to argue that the word "rapture" is not in the Bible.  I'm utterly dumbfounded by that argument, which is the logical equivalent of saying there is no God because the word Yahweh is not in the Bible.  The word Yahweh is in the Bible - in the original Hebrew, just as the word rapture (specifically rapturo) is in the Latin Bible.  In the original Greek passage of 1 Thessalonians 4, the rapture is called the harpazo.  It's the exact same thing and silly word games and semantic-twisting will never change that fact.

2. Constant expectancy (a.k.a. imminency).  The early Church was well aware of the many events that had to transpire during the final years before Jesus returned to Israel.  The Apostles were intimately aware of these details because Jesus had shared the knowledge with them in His Olivet Discourse.  They knew that an antichrist (called the "man of lawlessness") would arise, the Temple would be rebuilt, and several years of great tribulation would ensue.  Yet the consistent sense of New Testament Scripture is that early Believers lived with a constant sense of expectancy for the Lord's imminent appearing.  Mid-trib, pre-wrath, and post-trib proponents handle these "imminency" Scriptures in a variety of creative ways, but I have never been presented with a satisfactory argument.  Only the pre-trib doctrine interprets the many Scriptures that describe an imminent appearing of Christ with their prima facie meaning.  More about this here.

3. Believers are going to Heaven.  Jesus told His disciples in John 14:2-3 that He was leaving them, but would come back and take them to be with Him in His Father's house (see also Hebrews 12:22-24).  This promise is as clear as day.  We know where Jesus went - He went to His Father's house in Heaven and sat down at His right hand.  The prophecy in Hosea 5:15 makes this even more clear.  While this promise doesn't necessarily rule out mid-trib or pre-wrath views, it does rule out many if not most post-trib theories.

4. The pre-trib rapture is built on promises.  Pre-tribbers are often mocked as being proponents of "easy-escapism", but the mockery doesn't change what the Bible plainly says in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Luke 21:36, and Revelation 3:10.  Believers escape before the Time of Jacob's Trouble.

5. The Church is conspicuously absent from Revelation chapters 5 through 19.  The Book of Revelation is primarily about the events transpiring during the Tribulation and the Church is not mentioned one time between chapters 5 and 19.  Even more, Revelation 4:1 is a type or shadow of the rapture where the Apostle John is "caught up" to Heaven at the sound of a trumpet.  The 24 elders, which most biblical scholars consider to be a picture of the glorified Church in Heaven, are already present in Heaven in chapter 4 and from Heaven John and the elders are able to witness the Tribulation events occurring "below" on earth.  The only allusion to the Church in these chapters is found in Revelation 12, specifically Revelation 12:5, where a male child that represents the corporate Church is raptured to Heaven before Israel (the woman) enters into Tribulation.

6. Consistency in symbolism.  Noah and his family escape before the Flood comes.  As a matter of fact, God commanded Noah and his family to enter the ark seven days before the Flood came (Genesis 7:1-10) just as the Church will escape seven years before God's wrath is fully poured out.  Similarly, Lot and his family escaped from Sodom before the city was destroyed.  Furthermore, it wasn't just happenstance that Noah and Lot escaped before judgment - in Genesis 18:22-33 we learn that the reason they escaped beforehand was because God's very character was at stake.

Also, Joseph was a "type" of the Church and he was removed from his land and ended up in Egypt where he became royalty just as the Church will be raptured from this lowly earth and enthroned in Heaven (Revelation 3:21, 4:4).  Then the land of Israel underwent seven years of terrible famine while Joseph was tucked safely away in palaces of splendor.  A foreshadowing of the Time of Jacob's Trouble if there ever was one since Jacob himself, and his other sons, were suffering in the famine.

Another example was the Prophet Daniel who had been elevated to a high position in Babylon when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were a shadow of Israel being protected during the Tribulation while Daniel was a shadow of the Church, which will be far away from harm.  Though later, Daniel himself becomes a shadow of Israel when he is protected in the midst of the den of lions.

Additionally, Jewish wedding customs at the time of Christ were a perfect parallel to the pre-tribulational rapture: the groom came and "purchased" his bride, making a binding, unbreakable agreement to return for her, he then went away to prepare a place for her in his father's house, and then around one year later returned for her with a "shout".  The groom and the bride went into the bridal chamber in the father's house where they remained hidden away for seven days while wedding guests celebrated outside.

7. The "departure" of the Church.  2 Thessalonians 2:3 contains the smoking gun: the Greek word apostasia here simply means "departure" rather than "falling away".  The first English Bibles all translated this word as "departure" as did some of the earliest Bibles such as the Latin Vulgate.  The context in the passage (gathering of the Church, removal of the restrainer, and revealing of the antichrist) in addition to the use of a definite article in verse 3, make this Scripture almost certainly a description of the rapture of the Church.  While translating apostasia as "departure" in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is not necessary to believe in a pre-trib rapture and some pre-tribbers think the rapture is not mentioned in verse 3, if apostasia does refer to the rapture in this verse then on the basis of this passage alone, mid-trib, pre-wrath, and post-trib theories would be completely disproven.  J.D. Farag recently expressed some doubt about this, but I think he needs to study this out on his own.  I've read the various rebuttals to the 2 Thessalonians 2:3 rapture argument, such as those presented by Robert Gundry, and none of them seem particularly convincing.  You can read more about this here, here, and here.

2 Thessalonians 2 has another strong bit of evidence for the pre-trib rapture, which can be found in verses 6-7.  We learn quite clearly that the man of lawlessness (the antichrist) cannot be revealed until a certain restrainer is removed.  Most commentaries regard the restrainer to be the Holy Spirit working in and through the Church.  The removal of the restrainer necessitates a pre-tribulational rapture.

8. It upholds a proper dispensational understanding of Scripture.  Jesus was sent "only to the lost sheep of Israel", yet when His own people rejected Him, God turned His attention to the Gentiles - primarily through Paul, Barnabas, and company, but also through the Apostles themselves.  Daniel's 70 weeks of years, a period set by God to redeem Israel, paused at the end of the 69th week when Jesus was crucified.  This pause is commonly called the Church Age or the Age of Grace and it won't end until the 70th week begins (see Acts 15:12-16).  This 70th week serves two primary purposes: first, the national salvation of Israel (Romans 11:26), and second, a cataclysmic global judgment on the Gentile nations.  The Church is not in view anywhere in Daniel's 70th week.  Even more - the Tribulation is called the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7).

9. The pre-trib rapture was not invented in the 19th century.  Nearly as silly as arguing that the rapture is not in the Bible, is arguing that the pre-trib rapture was invented in the 19th century.  Detractors have often attributed the pre-trib rapture's origins to a supposed vision from one Margaret MacDonald in 1830, yet MacDonald never described a pre-trib rapture.

Additionally, it is well known among Bible scholars that whether wrong or right, pre-trib beliefs go back at least to the 18th century, and likely to the early Church.  You can read more about this here, here, and here.

10. The woman in labor seals the deal.  The discovery of a literal astronomical alignment that fits with what is described in Revelation 12 has personally ended the debate for me.  Once we discovered that Revelation 12 should be taken for what it plainly says rather than allegorized and that it describes an actual, future event, the passage suddenly unlocked the meaning of a whole host of Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments that refer to a "woman in labor" as the primary symbol of the beginning of the Tribulation (see Isaiah 13:6-13, Isaiah 26:17-21, Isaiah 66:7-11, Jeremiah 30:4-11, Jeremiah 49:23-27, Micah 5:3, Matthew 24:8, Mark 13:8, and 1 Thessalonians 5:3).  The woman represents Israel and the child in Revelation 12:5 appears to be a symbol of the Church and this particular child is said to be "raptured" to Heaven.  The timing of this child's birth and rapture?  Before the woman goes into labor (Isaiah 66:7-8).

This is by no means an exhaustive list, as there are many other reasons, but these are some of the particular points I find the most convincing.

VIDEO HERE

[ransomnote]

Got Christ.

[Mom MD]

You are assuming Christ will only come once. Christ will come for His Church and appear only to them at the time of the rapture When brush returns at the end of the tribulation all eyes will see Him. Do you think the Church will mourn at the sight of their Lord as is depicted if the people’s response in this passage?

[Mom MD]

That is all that matters

[free_life]

Later when Peter was born again and had the Holy Spirit he willing submitted to martyrdom.

The goats who call Jesus Lord will deny Christ, the sheep will go to the slaughter willingly.

Rev 12: 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

Rom 8: 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[free_life]

He does only return once, for the living and dead in Christ receive new resurrected bodies at Christ’s return. Why because he is headed to earth for the end of days, the binding of satan and the beginning of his millennia rule. No need of new bodies in heaven, they are for here on earth in the new Jerusalem. There is not two resurrections of the saints (pre trib and post trib) or two marriages of Him and His bride! One return, one resurrection after tribulation.

This 2 returns belief is not possible according to timeline of scripture.

[Mom MD]

We must agree to differ There is only one marriage teast which occurs in heaven with the bridegroom while the tribulation is occurring on earth And there are 2 resurrections one of the saints at the time of the rapture and one of the unbelievers at the white throne judgement

[free_life]

He does appear only to his elect at his return... all the tribes of the earth will see him, Matt 24:30. Read what He has written not what false teachers have written. Satan would want the church not to be ready for the tribulation, thus this Jesus will whisk us away before the persecution of the church. God has never whisked the church away from persecution, we overcome persecution by the blood of the Lamb unto death gladly.

Matt 24: 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

[ransomnote]

You are behaving like you have the authority of a prophet; you consider your belief about the date of the rapture to have the authority of God and you quickly denounce one who disagrees with you as Satan.

[Jan_Sobieski]

Exactly...no argument here.

[free_life]

So there is a second marriage of those saved after this pre-trib rapture? I read of only one marriage to the Lamb of God. Please provide scripture for two marriages. Doesn’t the Lord teach to only marry once? Does He divorce first bride? Is second bride concubine? Think about what you are proposing!

[Mom MD]

it is possible to miss the marriage feast and still be saved The Bride of Christ are those saved during the Church age The OT saints are the friends of the Bridegroom Those saved during the tribulation have their place in Heaven but are not part of the Bride as the Church age ends with the rapture

As I said before we all see through a glass darkly and no one is 100% right not me, not you the important thing is where we spend eternity.

[free_life]

1 correct 4: 50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

For we shall ALL be changed at the THE LAST trumpet! One trumpet not two. ALL will be resurrected.

John chapter 5 also says there is but one resurrection.

[SubMareener]

Anyone who calls themselves a “Christian” believes that the Scriptures say:

Romans 10
8 But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith that we preach),
9 for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
11 For the scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

http://www.usccb.org/bible/romans/10

Now, that is clear and simple, plain text, prophecy. Jesus always added that one shows one believes by following His Commandments.

Since we now know that the Revelation 12:1-2 sign in the heavens is a real astronomical configuration that is happening this September 23, 2017, is that more prophetic than articulating how one must be saved?

In Genesis 3:15, Satan gets Eve to doubt the Word of God. So, one could easily come to the conclusion that anyone who tries to get one to doubt the Word of God is an agent of Satan.

[mdmathis6]

“apostasia”.....”apo” in the greek root meaning “from’ as in “farthest point from”(think apogee) snd “stasia” from the greek ROOT “sta” or “to stand”
and stasia is place or a state of “ standing” as in a state of acceptable moral equilibrium.(as in moral stasis)!!

The term apostasia in the Thessalonians context literally means then that the world comes to a state of morality and lawlessness farthest from what God can ever accept.

There are other verses in Thessalonians that support the rapture(such as “harpazo” as you mention correctly which means to be “caught up”) but apostasia should not be teased into a Rapture definition.

If anything there is a harmonic contrast in the greek between the two words and in the context of the Thessalonians passage. As the world “falls away” from all moral standards of decency, Christians are “harpazo” or carried away or “caught up’ from this dark world!

Otherwise an excellent exposition of the Pre-trib doctrines though I think you stretch things a bit for example by citing Daniel symbollically as “ the raptured church” while Shadrach, Meshak, and Abednego are “suffering” Israel”, going thru the tribulation. You have a fine composition without those examples. Mentioning Noah and Lot how ever strengthens your arguments and were proper to mention!!

Anyway my opinions and a dollar 59 gets me only coffee at McDonalds... so good work! (and keep looking up, Christ may be coming this very day!)

[free_life]

Those saved during tribulation are not part of the bride of Christ but still saved? What!? Scripture support please? How can you teach such obvious false stuff? Is there two body’s of Christ? Paul tells there is only one body, and it all married to one Lord!

Eph 4 : 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.

[Dave W]

Whatever happened to no man shall know the time? You are one of many farces. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[SubMareener]

As we approach the time of the end, this is looking as if it is one of those Mysteries that was hidden in plain site, to be revealed at the time of the end.

Mark 23:32 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. [1]

Instead of telling us that we could not know when He was coming back, Jesus was telling us WHERE TO LOOK FOR THE ANSWER! (Sorry for shouting, but this is just too good!)

In the Book of Creation, the Jewish mystics recorded: “And He created His universe with three books (Sepharim), with text (Sepher) with number (Sephar) and with communication (Sippur).” [2}

“With three books Sefer Yetzirah now begins to define the word Sefirah, the Hebrew designation for the divine emanations that form the basis of creation. The Hebrew word for book, Sepher (), has the same root as the word Sephirah (), except that the former is masculine and the latter is feminine. These three books are said to be “text, number, and communication.” The Hebrew word for “text” here is Sepher (), which literally means “book.” “Number” is Sephar (), from which the English word “cipher” is derived. “Communication” is Sippur (), which more literally is “telling.” These three divisions respectively represent quality, quantity, and communication. These are the letters, numbers, and the manner in which they are used. 49 These three books correspond to the three divisions of creation defined by Sefer Yetzirah, namely, “Universe, Year, and Soul.” In more modern terms, these would be called space, time and spirit. “Universe” refers to the dimensions of space, “year” to time, and “soul” to the spiritual dimension.” [3]

Jesus is the Word (text), the Holy Spirit is obviously “communication”, so that leads to the Father being associated with Number!

When I told this to my wife, She said: “No one comes to the Father but through me!” BINGO! One can’t get to the numbers except by reading and believing the text!

1. Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (p. 987). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
2. Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation in Theory and Practice (Kindle Locations 445-449). Red Wheel Weiser. Kindle Edition.
3. Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Creation in Theory and Practice (Kindle Locations 719-721). Red Wheel Weiser. Kindle Edition.

[Mamzelle]

The woman in travail is about to deliver the remnant, the 144k — is the conclusion I draw from my studying.

[mdmathis6]

“Matt 24: 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Of that I have no doubt which makes the other passages in the New Testament rather interesting in terms of this verse’s impact upon scriptural context and vice versa. It suggests a rather dynamic, prolonged and much more personalized interaction and intervention in latter day events by THE Holy One than what has often been preached! You can’t divorce this scripture from the rest of what the bible says of endtimes events but you can’t just push this passage out to the exclusion of other passages as well. Thus, since the Bible is Truth, one is led to certain conclusions that may challenge the cherished doctrinaire notions that everyone of us may hold about endtimes events. Then again Jesus has a way of doing that...”coming like a thief”, challenging our inner vanities, dragging us out of our selfishness!(Don’t forget Matthew says....”those days were cut short lest there be no flesh saved, but for the sake of the elect, those days were cut short.’

Interesting, indeed!

[Mom MD]

And no matter the timing or manner let us raise our voices with the Church from its beginning in earnestly saying and praying Come Lord Jesus

Maranatha