The Rapture Controversy (1-16-13)

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 - "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord."

When it comes to the timing of the rapture, there are three basic views that are held. I just want to begin by laying out a basic understanding of eschatology, or the sequence of end times events as laid out in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is often considered a very difficult book to understand, and I'll confess that I don't understand all the pictures and typology and the significance of all the details that are given to us in this book. However, the book of Revelation has a divine outline given to us in chapter 1 and verse 19, and if we'll simply follow the outline given to us we can get a basic understanding of the book of Revelation and the sequence of end times events.
In Revelation chapter 1 the apostle John has been exiled to the isle of Patmos, because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. During his exile the Lord Jesus came to him on the island and gave him this Revelation. In Revelation 1:19 the Lord Jesus said to him - "Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things." This verse outlines, very simply, the book of Revelation. John was told to write "the things which he had seen." John saw the risen glorified Christ and recorded that interaction in chapter 1. Secondly, he was told to write the "things that are." In chapters 2 and 3 the Lord Jesus writes seven letters to seven churches. These letters, like much of Scripture, have various levels of application. First of all these were seven literal churches in Asia Minor to which the Lord Jesus was giving an individual message. Second, we can read the descriptions of these churches, consider which one best describes my life individually and then act according to what the Lord Jesus said. And another way that these letters can be seen is the thread of church history can be traced throughout these two chapters. Here we see the church age, "the things which are." 
And finally, John is told to write "the things which shall take place after these things." That is what chapters 4 through 22 contain. The phrase that the Lord Jesus used in 1:19 when He said "after these things." are the Greek words meta-tauta. These are the same words that begin chapter 4. The entirety of chapters 2 and 3 regard the church age, and right at the beginning of chapter 4 you have the words "after this..." John is then taken up into heaven at the beginning of chapter 4, and in chapters 4 and 5 you see the church in heaven. When you get to chapter 6 you have the beginning of the seven year tribulation period which is described in chapters 6 through 19 which ends with Christ's return to the earth. In chapter 11, halfway through the tribulation period the anti-christ breaks his covenant with Israel and sets up an image in the reconstructed temple. In chapter 20 we have the millennial reign of Christ, 1000 years of peace on the earth with Christ physically reigning on the throne. At the end of this time a final rebellion rises up against Christ and they are completely wiped out and consumed in an instant, after which comes the great white throne judgment, where the unsaved dead are judged based on their works and then thrown into the lake which burns with fire forever and ever. When we get to chapters 21 and 22 we have the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Like I said, this is a very simple and basic overview of the book of Revelation. There is obviously much more that could be said and there are many sections that I haven't touched on at all, but my purpose is simply to lay out the sequence of end times events as recorded in the book of Revelation based on the outline given to us in Revelation 1:19. So just to simplify it even more and hopefully get it to stick in our minds, here is the basic overview of the book:  
Revelation 1:19 - "Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things."
 
Chapter 1 - "The things which you have seen." The risen Christ

Chapters 2-3 - "The things which are." Church history

Chapter 4:1 - "After these things.."

Chapters 4-5 - The church in heaven.

Chapters 6-19 - The tribulation.

Chapter 20 - The millennium.

Chapters 21-22 - The new heavens and new earth.

Now, the three basic views on the timing of the rapture are called the pre-tribulation view, the mid-tribulation view and the post-tribulation view, or pre-trib, mid-trib and post-trib. You can tell by the names what each one means. Those who hold to the post-trib view hold the belief that the rapture will happen after the tribulation, after Revelation chapters 6-19 and make it simultaneous with the second coming of Christ. Those who hold to the mid-trib view have the opinion that the rapture will happen with the sounding of the 7th angelic trumpet of judgment in Revelation chapter 11, halfway through the tribulation period, at the time when anti-christ breaks his covenant with Israel, enters the reconstructed temple and sets up what Daniel calls the "abomination of desolation." And finally, those who hold to the pre-trib view say that the rapture will happen before the tribulation. That the Lord Jesus will meet His church in the air before the wrath of God is poured out on the earth. The church, the bride of Christ will spend a seven year honeymoon with Christ during the seven years of tribulation on the earth and then return with Christ to the earth in Revelation chapter 19.
So what does the Scripture say concerning these things? Only one of these views can be correct, and only one of these views is biblical. God doesn't desire us to be confused or believe something that is incorrect, and there is absolutely no value in holding to a belief that isn't true. In considering these things I don't desire to tell you my view on the timing of the rapture or argue for a particular opinion, but rather in looking at these things it should be our intention to see what is the clear teaching of the Word of God, and then hold to that teaching without wavering and without apology. Keep in mind that God never contradicts Himself. There is complete harmony in the Word of God.

Since each view is directly tied to the tribulation period, I think we should begin by looking at the Lords purpose, or purposes, for that seven year period. The tribulation has a dual purpose. The first, described in detail in Revelation 6-19, is that God uses this time to pour out His wrath on a Christ rejecting, sinful world. In Revelation 3:10 the Lord Jesus says to the church of Philadelphia - "Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." In this verse the Lord mentions a time of trial or testing that is about to come upon the whole earth. The purpose of this time, He says, is to try those that dwell on the earth. And notice that Jesus says when this time comes He will keep His church from that time of trial. He doesn't say that He will keep them through that time, as some suppose, but that He will keep them from it. This is obviously not conclusive, but we do have our first hint here in this verse. When we come to Revelation chapter 6 we see the beginning of this time of testing, this seven year tribulation period, and we read this in verses 15-17 - "Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”" Twice in this statement that is made by those on the earth they make a reference to the wrath of God. They cry out to the mountains and rocks to fall on them to hide them from the "wrath of the Lamb." Then they say "For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" Twice the wrath of God is mentioned, and that's not all. throughout chapters 6-19 the wrath of God is mentioned time and again. It's obvious that this tribulation period is not just an economically and environmentally difficult time on the earth, but far greater than that, it's the time of God directly pouring out His wrath on a world that has rejected Him.
This information is very significant and we'll see why as we connect it to the classic passage on the rapture, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. In Revelation 6 they cried out "the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" When we turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 we see who is able to stand. Paul lays out the truth of the rapture in verses 16 and 17 when he says - "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." In the context of these verses Paul is informing the Thessalonian believers about those who have died, and he tells them that those who have died before the Lords coming will also be raised up at the rapture. Those who have already gone to heaven will be reunited with their bodies, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds, and thus we shall ever be with the Lord. He continues this train of thought as he goes into chapter 5. He begins chapter 5 by talking about the day of the Lord coming like a thief in the night. He talks about the destruction that will come upon the earth during that time, the wrath of God that will be poured out in that day, and then he says in verses 9-10 - "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him." He talks about the rapture of the church, then he goes on to talk about the great and terrible day of the Lord when the Lords wrath will be poured out on the earth, and then he makes this statement - "For God has not appointed us to wrath." God has appointed a time to pour out His wrath but He has not appointed us to that wrath. Why not? Because the wrath that we deserved was absorbed by Christ on the cross. When Jesus was on the cross He cried out "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" God the Father turned His back on the eternal Son because "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." When Christ was on the cross, Isaiah 53 tells us that "The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all." and "It pleased the Lord to crush Him." Christ bore our sins in His own body on the cross, He took the punishment that we deserved, and because of Him God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The justice of God demands that His righteous wrath be poured out upon sin. If you do not accept Christs payment then you must take the wrath of God yourself. It's not an accident that Paul brings this up in the context that he does. All Scripture is divinely inspired, breathed out by God, and everything in its structure and order was breathed out in the way it was on purpose. God talks about us not being appointed to wrath in the context of telling us about the rapture. Someone may well say "I understand what you're saying, but didn't the Lord Jesus say in John 16:33 - "In the world you have tribulation"? So if the Lord directly said that in the world we would experience tribulation, then why are we saying that the church is going to be raptured before the tribulation?" And that's a fair question. If I say that the Bible teaches that we will be raptured before the seven year tribulation am I contradicting the words of Jesus in John 16? The simple answer is no, and I'll explain why. The Lord Jesus made several statements like this throughout His earthly ministry, especially in the gospel of John, but all of these statements have something in common. Back in chapter 15 the Lord Jesus said not to be surprised if the world hates us. He said that if they persecuted Him they would persecute us as well, because we are His servants, and no servant is greater than his master. When He was here they put Him to death, should we be surprised that they hate us as well? But the common denominator in all these statements is that the tribulation we as believers face is tribulation from the world, that is, those who live in the world according to the course of this world. The tribulation we will experience will come from those who hate the Lord. The difference is that during the seven year tribulation period it's not man bringing tribulation on other men, it's the wrath of God being poured out. As long as we are in this world, yes, we will have tribulation, but that tribulation comes from those who hate the Lord. It doesn't come from God because, as we've seen, Christ absorbed the wrath of God on our behalf. The world is going to persecute you, but we will be spared from the wrath of God.

So the first purpose for the tribulation is it's a time when God pours out His wrath on a Christ rejecting, sinful world. Secondly, the tribulation period is used by God to wake up the nation of Israel. In Jeremiah 30:7 the tribulation period is called "the time of Jacobs trouble." All the way back in the book of Genesis God chose a man, a man by the name of Abraham, and He made a promise to him that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. To Abraham was born Isaac and to Isaac, Jacob. The Lord changed Jacobs name to Israel, and Israel had twelve sons who became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Israel is a special people, Gods chosen people. All throughout the Old Testament we see God working with and through this nation, and we also see them constantly turning away from God. Nevertheless, through this nation God brought His only begotten Son into the world in order to fulfill His promise to Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
Well, because of Israel’s rejection of Christ and their hardness of heart, the Lord has set aside the nation of Israel for the time being and He began a work that He purposed before the foundation of the world. He called out a new people, not one nation or race, not one locality, but an international organization called the church. A group of individuals that are united only in Christ and are called out for His purpose to present the light of salvation to the world. The mystery of the church was not foreseen in the prophets, but it's something that God has revealed to us in the New Testament. It began in Acts chapter two and it consists of all Christians throughout the whole world from the time of Acts chapter two until the rapture takes place. Once the Lord has fulfilled His purpose for the church He will pick up again with the nation of Israel and draw them back to Himself. God is going to use this time of intense tribulation to accomplish this. In Romans chapters 9-11 the apostle Paul clearly lays out the case that the Lord is not done with Israel, and he says that there is coming a time when all Israel will be saved. At the beginning of the tribulation the anti-christ is going to sign a peace treaty with Israel. There will at last be peace in the Middle East and the Jews will be able to reconstruct the temple once again. However, halfway through the tribulation the anti-christ is going to break his treaty with Israel, he is going to set up an image in the temple and demand worship. At the same time Satan, the accuser of the brethren is going to be cast down to the earth, and it's at this time that the persecution against the Jews is going to be very severe. Satan is going to set his sights on destroying Israel, and the Bible tells us that things are going to get so bad that two thirds of the Jewish people are going to be killed. After this the remnant of the Jews will have their eyes opened, they'll recognize Jesus as the Messiah and all of Israel will be saved. God is going to take that remnant to a secret place on the earth and protect them from the severe persecution. So this tribulation period is not just a time of God judging the world, but it's also used by God to wake up the nation of Israel and draw them back to Himself.

I think it's significant to note that all through the tribulation period the church is not mentioned one time. Why is that? It's because it's not here. These chapter are dealing with what's going on on the earth, and the church isn't on the earth. In the last half of the tribulation Satan really wants to get at God's people and He goes after the Jews. If he wants to get at Gods people then why doesn't he go after the church? Because it isn’t here. So he goes after the next best thing, Israel, the woman (Israel) who brought forth the man child (Christ). The nation through which Christ came, Israel.

Based on the purposes for the tribulation stated in Scripture, there is a great amount of weight to say that the rapture happens before the tribulation, and we'll get into many more reasons and many more Scriptures next time, but I want to touch real quick on some of the misunderstandings and misinterpretations that will cause people to come to the conclusion that the rapture will happen either in the middle or at the end of the tribulation.
One big misunderstanding that people have concerns the word "elect." In Matthew 24:22 Jesus was speaking about the tribulation and He said - "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." So people will take that verse and say "See, the church has to be on earth during the tribulation because it's going to be cut short "for the sake of the elect."" It's true that the church is called the "elect of God." but the church is not the only group of people called the elect in Scripture. In Isaiah 45:4 God refers to Israel as "My elect." And when you look at the surrounding context of Matthew chapter 24 it becomes obvious that the Lord is talking about those days being cut short for the sake of Israel, not the church. Context is very important, and if we're faithful to look at Scripture in light of its context we can be saved from a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. All Scripture must be taken in light of all Scripture. You can't hold up one Scripture in opposition to another. 
Another common misunderstanding has to do with trumpets. In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, another classic passage on the rapture we read - "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 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 will be changed." This passage talks about the resurrection happening at the last trumpet. So people say that the rapture has to happen halfway through the tribulation because there are seven trumpet judgments in the book of Revelation and the last one is halfway through in Revelation 11. They say that this is the last trumpet so this is when the rapture has to happen. Well, if you look at it that way you have a problem, because there's a trumpet even after that halfway mark. Matthew 24:31 talks about the angels sounding trumpets after the Lord comes a second time in Revelation 19. So the last angelic trumpet isn't sounded halfway through the tribulation. But what do we do with this statement about the last trumpet? If the angels sound their trumpets after Christ comes back at the end of the tribulation, is that when the rapture happens? Well, the "last trumpet" in First Corinthians 15 isn't talking about an angelic trumpet, for in 1 Thessalonians 4 we know that the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. This isn't an angelic trumpet, we're not told that it's sounded by an angel. In Exodus chapter 19 when the Lord descended on Mount Sinai the people heard a very loud trumpet sound, and all of the Lords people assembled together at the bottom of the mountain. They all came together to God at the sound of the trumpet of God. The same thing is going to happen when the last trumpet, the trumpet of God, sounds. Gods people, the church, are going to be gathered together at the sound of the trumpet. We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall ever be with the Lord.

I think there's a real danger in holding to the belief that the rapture is not going to take place until the middle or the end of the tribulation, and perhaps we'll consider why next time. This writing and the last one have just been the foundation of the teaching of the rapture, and hopefully next time we can get into several portions of God’s Word that we can use to give a reason for the blessed hope of the church.

Titus 2:13 - "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus."