The Timing of the Rapture of the Church continued
copyright by Arthur Manning, 2002
James - Jude
James 5:7,8 tells us to "be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming
of the Lord...(8)...for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh". "Coming" in
verse seven and in verse eight is the Greek term "parousia" (presence).
As has already been mentioned, this same term is used in II
Thessalonians 2:8 to describe Christ’s post-tribulation return.
I Peter 1:7 mentions the appearing of the Lord. The Greek word used here
for appearing is "apokalupsis". As has already been discussed, this same
term is used in II Thessalonians 1:7 to describe Christ’s
post-tribulation, pre-wrath return.
I Peter 5:4 states that, "and when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye
shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." The Greek word used
here for appear is "phaneroo". It is also translated as "appear" in I
John 3:2 and in Colossians 3:4. In all three of these usages Christ’s
appearance is said to coincide with our glorification, which happens at
the resurrection / rapture. This usage has already been examined in the
section on Colossians. None of these verses indicate when that
glorification shall take place in respect to the tribulation. However, in
I John 2:28 we read "...when he shall appear ("phaneroo"), we may have
confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming." The Greek term
for "coming" here is "parousia", a word that is used to describe the time
of the resurrection /rapture in such verses as I Thessalonians 4:15 and
is also used to describe the return of Christ to earth (II Thessalonians
2:8). Therefore it is not unreasonable to conclude that these two events
coincide. However, a pre-tribulation or mid-tribulation interpretation of
I John 2:28 might be something like the following: "we desire to have
confidence at Christ’s appearing to His Church at the rapture and not to
be ashamed before Him seven or three and one-half years later at His
return." Even though the word for appear (phaneroo) is different from the
word for coming (parousia), this does not automatically mean that these
are two events separated by three and one-half or seven years. There is
no indication in this verse of how much time, if any, there will be
between Christ’s "appearance" and His "coming". In addition, the word for
appear ("phaneroo") in I John 2:28, I John 3:2, Colossians 3:4, and I
Peter 5:4 is the same word translated as "appeared" in Hebrews 9:26. In
Hebrews 9:26 this word is used for Christ’s first appearance when He died
for our sins. This was not a secret appearance only for His own. His
first appearance was to the world, so it is not unreasonable to assume
that His second appearance will likewise be to the world, not to just His
believers, as maintained by adherents to the pre-tribulation and
mid-tribulation rapture theories.
Revelation
The book of The Revelation is, for the most part, a book of prophecy
regarding the end times. Chapter one, verse seven describes Christ’s
coming with clouds, visible to everyone. However, there is no mention of
the rapture in this verse. Some believers seem to strongly emphasize the
departing of the Church. However, the Bible emphasizes the coming of the
Lord. In Chapter one the apostle John has an encounter with Jesus Christ.
In chapters two and three the Lord dictates to John messages to seven
churches in Asia. Some believe these seven churches are symbolic of seven
church ages; but this is pure speculation. There are no scriptures
stating this to be the case. Some of those that accept this speculation
note that the sixth church, at the Asian city of Philadelphia, will be
protected from "...the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the
world..." (3:10). They see this as a picture of the sixth church age
ending with the rapture of the church before the tribulation. The seventh
church, at the Asian city of Laodicea, is , in this scenario, regarded as
a picture of the seventh church age, which supposedly takes place during
the tribulation. This tribulation church is supposedly composed of those
who were not saved before the rapture, but who became believers
afterwards. Again, all of this is pure speculation, unsupported by any
scriptures.
In Revelation chapter four John is called up to heaven where he has many
visions, comprising the rest of the book. Some claim that John’s
transport to heaven in verse one is a picture of the pre-tribulation
rapture of the church. In support of this claim they note that John heard
a voice (verse one) which sounded like a trumpet saying, "Come up
hither...." Since there is a trumpet at the rapture (I Corinthians 15:52)
and since John is called before the judgments described in succeeding
chapters, John’s experience is said to be a picture of the
pre-tribulation rapture. However, basing doctrine on assumed types is a
very poor, if not dangerous, practice in Bible interpretation.
Chapters five through ten describe how our Lord opens seven seals on a
book in heaven. The first four seals result in John seeing visions of
four horsemen: the first a conqueror, the second resulting in violence,
the third indicating famine, and the fourth representing death. When the
fifth seal was opened John saw the souls of Christian martyrs. When the
sixth seal was opened there was a great earthquake, the sun and moon were
darkened, and the stars fell. This is called in Revelation 6:17, the
wrath of God. Christians will not suffer the wrath of God depicted in the
sixth seal; but God’s people have suffered the things of the first five
seals all through the ages. This opening of seals seems to parallel
Matthew 24 in which are described wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes
(verses six and seven), followed by martyrdom of Christians (verse 9) and
then the post-tribulation wrath of God (verse 29). Matthew 24:29 may
safely be considered to depict God’s wrath described in Revelation
chapter six since both include sun and moon being darkened and stars
falling.
In Revelation chapter seven are two more visions before the seventh (and
final) seal is opened in chapter eight, verse one. In the first of these
two visions the servants of God are sealed: 144,000 from the twelve
tribes of Israel. Since this apparently includes all the servants of God
on earth at that time (Revelation 7:3 f.), then perhaps the church is
raptured before this takes place. When does this sealing take place? It
is described after the description of the wrath of God (Revelation 6:17),
but does that mean that it takes place after the wrath begins? The answer
is no, since the 144,000 are sealed to protect them from the harmful
activities of angels which are described under the seventh seal as taking
place before the wrath of God. The seventh seal consists of seven angels
sounding seven trumpets, the last of which coincides with the wrath of
God (Revelation 11:15, 18). So the first six angels’ activities (that the
144,000 are sealed against) happen before the wrath of God. So the
144,000 are sealed before God’s wrath. So the order of John’s visions can
not be considered to be an exact indication of the chronological order of
the events they depict. So it seems apparent that the 144,000 are sealed
well before the wrath of God. This is supported by the fact that they are
sealed before the seventh seal’s seven angels’ destructions, six of which
precede the wrath of God (which is the seventh) and one of which (the
fifth) lasts five months (Revelation 9:1,5). So when does this sealing
take place? All we can say is that it is well before the wrath of God. Is
it three and one-half years or seven years before God’s wrath? We can not
tell that from the context. When this sealing takes place, since there
seems to be no other servants of God present on earth (Revelation 7:3,4)
does this indicate that the Church will have been raptured by that time?
That would seem to be a logical conclusion; however in the absence of any
clear statement we should be wary of drawing such a conclusion. Arguments
from silence do not carry very much weight. Just because the Church is
not mentioned in a particular context, does that mean that the Church has
been raptured? Not necessarily.
John’s second vision in chapter seven consists of a great multitude
standing before Christ (7:9). In verse 14 we find that these came out of
great tribulation. Apparently this scene takes place in heaven, since the
multitude stands before the throne of God in His temple (verse 15). Since
they came out of great tribulation the timing of this event is apparently
after the tribulation. Since this apparently takes place after the
tribulation, the entire Church should be present in heaven, according to
believers in a pre-, mid-, or post-tribulation rapture. But since not all
Christians have gone through great tribulation, it seems as if the rest
of the Church must be somewhere else in heaven at the time of this scene
(rather than before God’s throne in His temple). But this is contrary to
the promise that Christ made in Revelation 3:12, "Him that overcometh
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more
out...". An alternative interpretation could be that this multitude
includes the entire Church. According to this interpretation, even though
every person in the Church does not go through the great tribulation, the
Church does and when the Church is raptured after the tribulation, in a
manner of speaking the Church will have come out of tribulation. In
support of this interpretation is the fact that the multitude was
exceedingly vast and came out of every nation, kindred, people, and
tongue. This sounds like a description of the entire Church; but it could
also apply to the believers who get saved during the tribulation.
However, in Revelation 7:15 this multitude is said to be continually in
God’s temple. Jesus told the church at Philadelphia that " Him that
overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go
no more out..."(Rev.3:12). So this blessing is not just available to
those who actually endure the great tribulation, but apparently to all
believers ( I John 5:5 tells us who the overcomers are: "Who is he that
overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God?"). Further support of the interpretation of the multitude being the
entire Church is found in Revelation 7:17 where we are told that Jesus
will feed the great multitude that came out of great tribulation. In
Revelation 2:7 Jesus told the church at Ephesus that "...to him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life...". Again, in
Revelation 2:17 Jesus told the church at Pergamos that "...to him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna...". These statements
to these churches tell us that Christ will feed all who overcome. So we
see that this vast multitude is apparently not getting something
different from what has been available to the entire Church throughout
the ages. Therefore it is possible that this vast multitude is the entire
church, resurrected and raptured up to God after the tribulation. In
addition, if this vast multitude in heaven only consists of saints that
have gone through the great tribulation, then they all must have been
raptured after the tribulation. So those who believe that the Church will
be raptured seven or three and one-half years before the end of the great
tribulation must also believe that there will be another rapture of a
vast multitude after the tribulation. So, to be consistent, adherents of
the pre- and mid- tribulation rapture views must also believe in a
post-tribulation rapture. Also, since the vast multitude had to be
raptured up to heaven after the tribulation, then those who had died
during the tribulation would have to have been resurrected at the end of
the great tribulation as well. This has to be the case since when Christ
returns He will be accompanied by "...all his saints." (I Thes. 3:13). So
apparently there is a rapture and a resurrection after the tribulation
for at least the saints living during the tribulation. So those who
believe in a rapture and resurrection before or in the middle of the
great tribulation, must also believe in another rapture and resurrection
after the tribulation. This seems contrary to I Corinthians 15:23 which
tells of just two resurrections: the first one is Christ’s and the second
is "...they that are Christ’s at his coming."
In Revelation chapter eight Christ opened the seventh seal. After a
period of silence, seven angels sounded on trumpets. What happened when
each angel sounded is recorded in chapters eight through ten. The first
four trumpets heralded horrible calamities on earth. The fifth trumpet
heralded a period of five months when those on earth who were not sealed
were tormented. The sixth trumpet heralded the slaying of a third of
mankind (9:13-15). Chapter nine, verses twenty and twenty-one tell us
that those who were not killed repented not of their sins. This would
seem to indicate that the Church must have been raptured by this time
since the only survivors were unrepentant. Yet there is no record in the
book of Revelation up to this point describing any rapture. The only
possible candidate for the raptured Church would seem to be the great
multitude before God’s throne (Rev. 7:9, 14); but these came out of great
tribulation (verse 14).
Chapter ten does not seem to have any thing in it related to the time of
the rapture. The first part of chapter eleven describes the activities of
God’s two witnesses. These will apparently be active for three and
one-half years (Rev. 11:3). It is interesting that after this account of
these two witnesses verse 14 announces that "...the second woe is
past...". The "second woe" is another name for the sixth trumpet (Rev.
8:13; 9:12,13). This would seem to indicate that the events heralded by
the sixth trumpet lasted until the end of the three and one-half year
activity of the two witnesses. In verse 15 the seventh angel sounded his
trumpet. This is when God takes over the ruling of earth. Verse 18 calls
this time the wrath of God, indicating that the first six trumpets, as
horrible as they were, were not part of God’s wrath. So to review, there
were seven seals on a book. The sixth seal dealt with the wrath of God.
The seventh seal dealt with seven trumpets. The seventh trumpet heralded
the wrath of God. So the last trumpet goes with the wrath of God. This
agrees with God’s people being resurrected / raptured at the last trumpet
(I Corinthians 15:52) in order to miss God’s wrath (Romans 5:9, etc.).
Chapter twelve deals with the woman in the wilderness. She will be there
for three and one-half years, according to Rev. 12:6. Matthew 24:15-21
tells us that when the abomination of desolation takes place then shall
be great tribulation. Since Daniel 9:27 tells us that the abomination of
desolation will occur at the mid point of the last seven years, we can
conclude that there will be three and one-half years of great
tribulation, equal to the amount of time the woman spends in the
wilderness, being protected and provided for. Rev. 12:17 tells us that
during this time the dragon (Satan) "...went to make war with the remnant
of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ." Apparently there will be Christians on earth during the
last three and one-half years. In chapter thirteen we see the beast
(antichrist ) making war against the saints and overcoming them (13:7).
This goes on for three and one-half years (13:5) and is in agreement with
Rev. 12:17.
In Revelation chapter 14, apparently during the time of the mark of the
beast (verse 9; also see 13:16-18), which doubtless occurs in the last
three and one-half years when the beast is in authority, we find verse
12: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." This is another evidence of
Christians being on earth during the tribulation. Also in this chapter we
see a vision of Christ reaping a harvest (verses 14-16). Our Lord
compares souls to a harvest in John 4:35. This harvest that He reaps in
Rev. 14:14-16 is immediately before verses 17 through 20 which describe
the wrath of God. This agrees with the rapture occurring just prior to
God’s wrath.
Chapters 15 and 16 describe in more detail the wrath of God, consisting
of seven last plagues. God’s people shall not experience this. Chapters
17 and 18 describe the great whore and her judgment. Chapter 19 describes
the marriage supper of the Lamb. This occurs after the judgment of the
whore (Babylon), according to verses two and seven. In verses 11 through
21 we see the Lord returning to earth with His saints to execute wrath
(verse 15). Apparently, during the first six plagues of God’s wrath the
marriage supper of the lamb and His wife (the Church) will take place.
Then Christ and His saints will complete the wrath of God as they return
to earth.
Chapter twenty deals with our Lord’s thousand year reign on earth. Verses
4, 5, and 6 tell of two resurrections: one in which the tribulation
saints will be involved at the time of Christ’s coming and a second
resurrection after Christ’s thousand year reign. The one which includes
the tribulation saints is called the "first resurrection". However this
would actually be the second resurrection if there is another
resurrection before or in the middle of the last seven years. It seems
most reasonable that there is only one resurrection of the Church before
Christ’s thousand year reign; and it must take place after the
tribulation in order for the saints who died in the tribulation to be
included in it. The book of Revelation concludes with chapters twenty-one
and twenty-two describing the new heaven and earth.
The Timing of the Rapture of the Church part three
Conclusion
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