The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

God would like his children to know they are not the object of his wrath.  Like any loving Father God’s desire is to protect his children and he wants them to be confident in his love for us. 

I would like to go over what the rapture of the church is, that God’s wrath cannot be poured out on his children, how we can know the rapture will occur before the tribulation begins and I will address a couple common questions about the rapture.

What is the rapture?

The rapture is when God takes the Church out of the earth before the wrath of God is poured out on the unbelieving world.  When we take cover in God’s son we are no longer under the wrath of God.  There is one generation of believers that will not experience the death of their bodies.  It is the members of the church who are living at the time of the rapture.

The church will be pulled out of the earth before the 7 year tribulation begins.  The tribulation can follow quickly or it may take a year or two before it begins.  The timeframe between the two are not given.  The start of the tribulation comes when a man the Bible calls the Anti-Christ confirms a 7 year covenant with Israel. 

When Jesus comes to collect his church he will first raise the bodies of those that have died believing in him then he will gather up all those on the earth who are still alive that believe in him.  Our bodies will be changed to immortal and we will meet Jesus in the air.  This will all happen in a very quick moment.

Bible has used the word sleep in multiple places to describe death. You can see some examples of this in Psalm 13:3, and Acts 13:36.  Here are some Bible verses that describe the rapture.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, We who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:51-53, Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall 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 shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

It will happen without warning.  It will occur for some while they are working and others while they are sleeping.  This will be a world-wide event.

Matthew 24:39-41, they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.

Luke 17:34-35, I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.

The Body of Christ

How does someone become a member of the church to escape the coming tribulation?  You need to fully give your heart to Jesus.   If you want to let God into your heart just speak to him out loud where ever you are right now. You don’t need a set prayer to give God your heart. Here is an example of a prayer if you are not sure what to say.

Dear Father God, I come to you in the name of Jesus. Please forgive me for all the wrong things that I have done, all the known and unknown sins in my life. I am willing to follow in the ways you have taught knowing that this will please you. I believe that your son Jesus willingly sacrificed himself on the cross for all my sins. He took my punishment because he loves me and wants to bring me home to be with him. I believe that God raised Jesus up from the dead and He now sits at His right side in heaven. I ask you Lord to transform me into a new creation. Help me to have eyes to see and ears to hear what you say. Make your presence known to me as I draw closer to you. In Jesus’ name.

See my article on Salvation Explained.  I go over salvation in more detail.

When you are saved the Holy Spirit will in-dwell the believer.  At that time we become a member of the church.  The church as a whole is the body of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and all were made to drink of one Spirit.  For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

When the tribulation starts the wrath of God is poured out upon the whole world.  Because the body of Jesus took the wrath of God, Jesus will remove His body from the earth.  The Church as the body of Christ needs to be pulled out from the earth for the wrath of God to come down to this world.  This is why the rapture of the church needs to occur prior to the tribulation.  God cannot dish out a double punishment upon the body of Christ. 

Saving us from the wrath to come

We will experience tribulation and wrath caused by our fellow man, but not from our own Father.  The 7 year tribulation period involves God pouring out his wrath on the earth.  God’s wrath is for the unrighteous.

Romans 1:18, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Those who accepted Jesus as their Lord are made righteous by his sacrifice.  God’s wrath does not abide on us.

2 Corinthians 5:21, For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The day of the Lord is the 7-year tribulation period.  Zephaniah 1:15 describes the day of the Lord. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness.

This day involves the wrath of God.

Revelation 6:17, For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?

Romans 2:5, But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

These next verses re-assure us that God’s wrath is not for those of us who have allowed the blood of Jesus to cleanse us of our sins.

Romans 5:9, Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

1 Thessalonians 1:10, And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Revelation 3:10, Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.

1 Thessalonians 5:9, For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

God has us hidden

 God loves us!  Like a Father He wants to hide His children from danger and trouble.   

Psalm 27:5, For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

Isaiah 26:20-21, Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.

Zephaniah 2:2-3, before the decree takes effect before the day passes away like chaff  before there comes upon you the burning anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the LORD.  Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD.

Hide yourself with the Lord and he will take good care of you.

Common Questions

I would like to address two common questions about the rapture.

Where is the word rapture in the Bible?

I am going to explain where the word rapture comes from because people will argue that the word rapture is not in the Bible.  1 Thessalonian 4:17 describes how we will be caught up with those who have passed to meet the Lord in the air.  The New Testament was written in Greek.  The Greek word for caught up is Harpazo. The definition for this word is to catch away, pull, take by force.  When the Bible was translated into Latin they used their word for caught up and that is the word Rapturo.  This is where we get the word rapture.  So, while the word is not in our English Bible the meaning is still the same. Jesus will pull us out of the earth.

Enoch Elijah

The rapture has been taught since the Church began.  It is not a new doctrine.  God has already raptured two people.

Genesis 5:24, Hebrews 11:5, By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. 

2 Kings 2:11, And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

These two men never died.  God pulled them off the earth.  Enoch and Elijah were two individual events in the Old Testament.  The rapture will be a world-wide event.

Isn’t the rapture at the end of the tribulation when Jesus returns?

The Rapture and the second coming are two different events.  Some critics of the pre-tribulation rapture believe that God will rapture us at the second coming.  The rapture and the second coming are two different events.  The rapture is when Jesus pulls the church up to meet Him in the air.  The second coming is when Jesus returns to the earth riding on a white horse with the Church following him (Rev 19:11-14). 

Jesus comes as a thief in the rapture.  A thief does not announce his coming. It catches people off guard and they come to snatch and take something.  Jesus is coming to snatch his church from and unsuspecting world.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

The verses right before these, are talking about the rapture.  Then in chapter 5 it starts talking about how the Lord’s coming will be a surprise when people are talking about peace and security.  After this sudden destruction and it says they will not escape.  This is consistent with a pre-tribulation rapture.

Here is another verse that is saying life is happy and going on as normal when Jesus comes.

Luke 17:26, Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.  They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,  but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

During the tribulation, more than half of the world will die.  It will be worse than any other time in history. When Jesus returns, he must stop the war, or everyone in the world would die. Matthew 24:21-22, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved:  

The rapture cannot happen after the tribulation because when the bible describes the rapture life is normal and people are surprised by it.  The second coming will not be a surprise for those who know the word of God.  The Bible tells us that the tribulation will last 7 years in Daniel 7:25 9:27. The 7 years are divided into two sections.  The first half is called the tribulation and the second half is called the great tribulation.  Revelation 11:2-3 mentions the number of days in the first half as 1,260. We are also told in Daniel 9:27, 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 that at the mid-point of the tribulation the Antichrist will go into the Temple and claim to be God.  Once this occurs the time frame of 42 months is given in Revelation 13:5. 42 months is 3 ½ years, 1,260 days is 3 ½ years.  The days and years stated are based on the Jewish calendar of 360 days.  This gives us a total of 7 years.  We will know exactly when Jesus will return from the point the peace agreement with Israel is confirmed.  The second coming will not be an unexpected surprise.  At the end the tribulation the world will be in complete and utter chaos.  This is not consistent with how Luke 17:26 describes it.  The rapture and the second coming are two different events.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 does not say there will be destruction before the rapture but destruction will occur after the rapture.

The second coming has a lot happening and it is not in a quick moment event.  Jesus is coming back on a white horse with the saints following him.  He is putting an end to the world-wide war and destruction.  He is locking up the Antichrist and False Prophet.  Many things are happening when he returns. 

The rapture will occur in a moment in the twinkling of an eye per 1 Corinthians 15:52. 

Matthew 24:27, For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Pulling us out prior to judgement

God has a history of pulling out the righteous prior to judgement.  Noah and his family were saved from the world-wide judgement of the flood.  Lot and his family were pulled out of the city prior to God destroying Sodom Gomorrah.  He never said to them I will protect you in the city as I destroy it.  No, he physically pulled them out prior to anything happening.

Genesis 19:16 22, says the angels came and forcibly grabbed Lot and his family.  They said that the city could not be destroyed until they were safely out.  If God would not rain down his judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot was safely out, he will not rain down his judgement on earth till we are safely out.  We can also see that with Noah. The rain did not start until Noah and his family was safely inside the ark.

Revelation 3:10 is addressing the faithful church and says…. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.  We cannot be dwelling on the earth if he is keeping us from the trial of those who dwell on the earth. 

God will once again pull the righteous off the earth before his judgement comes and I believe, that will be very soon. 

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