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

[SubMareener]

I am not claiming to be a Prophet. I am claiming to be a student of Abba Father YHWH's Word. I have listened to the Bible being read for several years now, and studied the text in Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek at the same time. When you get that familiar with the whole story, you begin to see connections that are often missed.

For example: Why did Jesus walk on the sea to catch up to his disciples? (Matthew 14:24) Just to show that He could? No! He did it to tell us that He was "the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river" (Daniel 12:08) This means that the key to understanding the end-times is in a proper dividing of Daniel 12:11-12.

Daniel 12
8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?”
9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 “Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.
11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days.
12 “Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
13 “But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.”

Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (p. 875). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

The words in italics were added by the translators, verse 11 reads: “And from the time the daily is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, one thousand two hundred and ninety days." So 1260+30 days after "the daily" is taken away, the anti-Christ will set up the abomination of desolation, and we know that that is 1260 from the start of Daniel's 70th week and 1260 days from the end.

So what is "the daily" that will be "taken away"? Well, it is certainly not the daily sacrifices that the Jews will present in the Third Temple, because that is what the anti-Christ will do at the midpoint. So who offers themselves as "living sacrifices" (Romans 12:1) and asks for "daily bread" (Matthew 6:11) but those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and LORD?

Luke 21:36 “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Nelson, Thomas. Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) (p. 1023). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

So, if I am still here in October, 2017, it will be because I was not "found worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass." How about you?

Here is the schedule of coming events. Get ready!

If this doesn't happen, then these dates have all been one big coincidence:

1. Only 2 remaining unfulfilled feasts, Trumpets & Atonement are fulfilled in exact correlation to the number of days given Daniel by the angel Gabriel.
2. Our timeline BEGINS EXACTLY on the beginning of the new Jewish year 5778.
3. 5778/Rosh Hoshana/Feast of Trumpets/Revelation 12 Sign Alignment/Jesus Birth Month.
4. 30 DAY GAP/New Moon again. /Tribulation Begins.
5. Midpoint Passover/AOD/IS THE HISTORIC Crucifixion Date of Jesus Christ.
6. 3.5 years from 1st blood moon 4/15/14 to beginning of trib on the timeline.
7. 7 years (-14 days) 1st blood moon to trib midpoint on the timeline.
8. 10 years from the second blood moon to the Blessed Day Kingdom Age on the timeline.
9. 10 years from first blood moon 4/15/14 to 9/13/24 (Atonement/ 2nd coming) on the timeline.
10. 11/29/47 UN Partitions Palestine to 11/27/2024 on our timeline = 77 years exact.
11. 7 years EXACTLY TO THE DAY from when Jupiter exits the womb of Virgo, to the Second Coming of Christ on our Alpha to Omega Timeline.
12. From the Blood Moon on Feast of Trumpets Sept 13,2015 to Sept 13, 2024 (Second Coming date on our Alpha to Omega Timeline) 9 Years Exact.
13. Exactly 1335 days from Sept 21, 2017 to Pentecost 2021.
14. Balfour Declaration Nov 2 1917 to 10/20/17 (trib begins) on our timeline is 12 days short of 100 yrs exact.
15. 8/21 2017 solar eclipse to the beginning of the tribulation 9/ 20/17 on our timeline: 60 days.
16. Beginning of timeline September 21, 2017 to 2nd Day of Tabernacles 9/21/2024: 7 years exact.
17. Eclipse August 21, 2017 forward 33 days to the Rev 12 Sign.
18. 40 days from the Aug 21, 2017 eclipse to Atonement.
19. Beginning of year 5778 9/21 2017 to the exact time of the Rev 12 Sign alignment = 40 hours.
20. Jesus returns to establish His Kingdom ON THE VERY DAY of the anniversary of which the UN broke ground to establish THEIRS. September 14, 1948.

[MosesKnows]

10 Reasons I Believe In A Pre-Trib Rapture

One 10 Reasons reason I don't believe In A Pre-Trib rapture.

My one reason is that the notion that it lies ahead conflicts with scripture's words that it has already passed.

It was a warning to Christians of that day, not for today's Christians.

[ealgeone]

I will ask again...if this does not happen...will you admit to be a false prophet?

[ransomnote]

Matthew 24:36New King James Version (NKJV)

No One Knows the Day or Hour
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,[a] but My Father only.

[Carriage Hill]

Bmk.

[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.

[sasportas]

Typical pretrib tactic, they try to psyche you out, they lay the burden of proof on you, while it is they that have the burden of proof. It is they that have the truth, or so they say, and it is our job to prove all their assertions wrong.

In actuality, the pretrib rapture is built upon nothing but inferences, they have no scripture that actually states that the second coming is to take place in two stages.

It is they that have the burden of proof, give us the scripture that actually states a two stage second coming. Yes, we are aware of the scriptures that may INFER such a thing. But, for such an important concept, the very hope of the church, we need more than a inference, we need proof in black and white.

The pretrib rapture is a theory read into the word of God. The singular second coming of Christ to take place after the tribulation, however, we don’t need a theory for, it IS stated in black in white by none other than the greatest authority on the matter - Jesus Christ...in Matt. 24:29-31.

He said absolutely nothing about any other coming in that discourse than the one “immediately after the tribulation of those days.” Subsequent NT writers - like Paul - simply followed Jesus’ lead. When they wrote of the second coming it was Jesus’ singular coming after the tribulation that was being referenced.

Pretribs, of course, say otherwise. They say Paul revealed an additional coming, a coming before the tribulation, he revealed a two stage second coming. It is the pretribs, then, who have the burden of proof.

They need to bring us the scripture where Paul introduces a two stage second coming. No inference, we want to see it stated in black and white.

[ealgeone]

They need to bring us the scripture where Paul introduces a two stage second coming. No inference, we want to see it stated in black and white.

If you're Roman Catholic you just wiped out a great deal of the reasoning behind many of the RCC's teachings as they are not found in Scripture.

[faucetman]

Too DEEP for me. I’ll just wait for Jesus to come, whenever that is. Although I do believe in “Pre” Trib. Who wants to go through the Tribulation?

[SubMareener]

No! I am not a Prophet so I can’t be a false one.

The question for you is, by not believing the Scriptures and the signs of the times, will He consider you to have been a “foolish virgin”? When it comes to the actual moment, will you have the strength to have your head cut off, or will you take the Mark and be doomed to the Great White Throne Judgement and the Eternal Lake of Fire.

Remember, Peter swore that he would never deny Jesus, and did three times. Are you stronger than Peter?

[sasportas]

I agree with you about the reasoning behind RCC teachings, but the subject of this thread is the pretrib rapture. I’m obviously not RCC.

[ealgeone]

You are a prophet in that you are using Scripture to predict a future event.

Again, I will ask....if you are wrong, will you admit to being a false prophet?

In either case, we're going to find out if your prediction is correct or not.

If it is, all believers will be raptured.

If not....then you are exposed as a false prophet for which all will be able to see.

[Just mythoughts]

Do you even know what the first tribulation is that you expect to avoid? Do you even know who the ‘anti-Christ’ literally is?

[Jan_Sobieski]

We are all hoping and praying for a pre-trib rapture! But you better be prepared spiritually for a mid-trib/pre-wrath rapture because if it comes to it, it is going to be difficult...

[SubMareener]

No! Get thee behind me, Satan! I am not going to look behind after I have applied my hand to the plow.

[Mom MD]

We do not know the day or the hour but we are commanded to know the season. When Christ lamented over Jerusalem one of the reasons he gave for her judgement is that they “did not know the time of their vieitation” they should have known the general timing of the appearance of the Messiah.

I’m not a date setter and do not think anyone knows when the rapture and tribulation will occur. I do know we are in the season of its occurrence. Israel is back in their land as long prophesied. The birth pangs have begun and are accelerating More important than when these things will occur is for each person to know their eternal destination and stand ready for the sudden return of the Bridegroom. Got Christ?

[SubMareener]

Yes. No.

[Mom MD]

After years of study I am convinced the pre tribe rapture is the best and most scripturally consistent interpretation of the events about to come. HOWEVER we all see through a glass darkly and I am sure no one has it 100% right. What I do know for sure is that the One returning is the One who died to save me and I am eternally secure whether he comes pre mid or post trib or the amillinialists are right. What is important is that I am hidden in Christ, not what I think the timing of His return is

[free_life]

God's word proves you wrong.

Matt 24: 29 “

Immediately after the tribulation

...... of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 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. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

When will the Lord return for His elect? Immediately after the tribulation! The word of God is clear on the matter....all your references do not refer to when, you add the when in to fit your theology.