Regarding the Pre/Post Tribulation Rapture I'd like to offer some thoughts. From what I see, of the verses that may suggest a post-tribulation rapture, none specifically rules out a pre-tribulation rapture. I made this as brief as possible, excerpts from a longer article, but may post other direct Scriptural references in following posts.
Here the words used in description are the Greek ‘harpagesometha’ or ‘harpazo’, which is translated as ‘caught up’, and ‘apantesin’ which means ‘to meet with or come into the presence of’. In the Latin Vulgate translation the ‘harpagesometha’ or ‘harpazo’ is rendered ‘rapturos’, the root of our English word rapture, and a lot easier to pronounce!
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we which are alive and remain shall be ‘caught up’ together with them in the clouds to ’meet the’ Lord in the air: so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1Thessalonians 4:16-17
1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 describes the rapture of the saints taking place. That silences those who say there's no rapture at all. The introduction to it comes in 1Thessalonians 1:8-10 as a prelude:
"For from you sounded out the Word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything.
For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. 1Thessalonians 1:8-10
To be delivered from the wrath to come surely means to be spared from it before it happens. The wrath to come is 'The Great Tribulation'. It is not the forthcoming wrath of the world that was to come, when all of the apostles except John were martyred. Can we connect the dots here?
The concept and teaching of a rapture is historic church doctrine because it has been taught since long before the time of Moses! In Genesis 5:21-24 a rapture event is described, maybe 650 or so years after Adam's creation, though of course it’s not the same event of rapture we address here:
"And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
And the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years:
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."
Genesis 5:21-24
Enoch walked with God, and then God raptured him! This is prophetic of the Christian experience: as only those who walk with God in Jesus shall be caught up in Rapture to salvation’s reward, to be the bride in the wedding to Jesus Christ. Hebrews 11:5 corroborates this event in the New Testament:
"By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."
Enoch was raptured, and spared from death.
There is at least one other Old Testament reference to one who was raptured:
"And it came to pass, as they went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."
2Kings 2:11
Wow, what a way to go! Hard telling what exactly a chariot of fire is, but I could sure use one for the freeway at rush hour. As for Elijah, he got on the freeway to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah was raptured, and spared from death.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
Matthew 24:29-31
Note: the elect, as the saints, are where? From where are they gathered? They are found and gathered by the angels from one end of heaven to the other, in the four winds of the air. That would not be from the smoldering battlefields of earth after the great tribulation, right? The saints are already in heaven in the air with their Lord! How did they get there, and when did they get there? They got there at the rapture, which has occurred BEFORE the sign of the coming of the Son of man in the heavens. The saints are raptured, and spared from death.
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark.
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
Matthew 24: 36-37
Note the linguistics here: that Noah and family had entered into the safety of the Ark of God, and the other people didn’t much notice. Ho-hum, business as usual until the clouds gathered and the storm of God poured out His fury. Then, and only then, when the horrors of the flood were later realized and lived to their deaths, did those who had been left behind come to know that the end had come. God’s elect were safely taken out of the way, long before the tribulation, death and destruction began! So the coming of the Son of man shall be as this; that after the deluge of the great tribulation’s battles, then He comes and His saints with Him who were previously whisked away in rapture. Noah and his family were 'raptured' in a sense by the ark, and spared from death.
"Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."
Matthew 24:40-42
Note that it doesn’t seem likely that any would be peacefully working in the field or grinding in the mill when the horror of the Great Tribulation is unleashed on the world? Instead that is a time of world cataclysm such as has never been known. Therefore it seems this speaks back to the event of a rapture at an earlier time, when one is taken and another not, before the time of tribulation. The ones taken are spared from death.
"But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
Matthew 24:43-44
This again implies that one who was prepared and fully living in Jesus in their life and belief would be spared the breaking up of their house in the great tribulation. Jesus is cautioning them to stay right with God, to escape the destruction to come, which means there must be a taking away of the saints before it does begin.
Something very notable in that verse: "...for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh..." So, anybody who has ever head of the Rapture and of the Tribulation, if the Rapture had NOT taken place before the Tribulation, would surely be expecting the Lord to come to rapture His saints as His bride after the tribulation! But, it says He comes in a time ye think not...as in before the Tribulation! Otherwise He would surely be coming in a time people think He would come.
I have several pages of references such as these. One thing seems out of place for those who believe in a post tribulation rapture: why? The Lord comes from from heaven and draws His saints to himself. It's my belief that the wedding feast may well be during the time of the tribulation, while great misery occurs on earth. Christ and His raptured bride the church are far away, celebrating and feasting after the wedding in the heaven of heavens, as one body and so shall we ever be. This wedding feast begins immediately after the rapture, which event is a consumation of the marriage!
Following this, at the end of tribulation, that's cut short in God's mercy, Christ returns to earth with His bride the church, and sets His foot down on the Mount of Olives which is split asunder. We would note: that Mount of Olives is the same place He most liked to resort to in quietude with His apostles and disciples, His future bride! Almost like His favorite place of courtship.
He then sets up His Millenial Kingdom, and the Holy City descends from heaven. So, now comes that question: WHY? Why, if the tribulation is over, and Christ is returning to earth, and He is staying to set up His kingdom on earth for a time: why would He stop, leave, go back up into heaven, rapture the saints to heaven, and turn right around and come back with them/us? What would be the point of that rapture, if He had just returned to earth, where the saints already were, and where He was going to stay???
Let's take one more look at Enoch:
"Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." Jude 14-15.
So, we know that the judgement comes after the Tribulation, right? And who comes with Jesus when He arrives to execute judgement? Last question: and from where?
Here the words used in description are the Greek ‘harpagesometha’ or ‘harpazo’, which is translated as ‘caught up’, and ‘apantesin’ which means ‘to meet with or come into the presence of’. In the Latin Vulgate translation the ‘harpagesometha’ or ‘harpazo’ is rendered ‘rapturos’, the root of our English word rapture, and a lot easier to pronounce!
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; Then we which are alive and remain shall be ‘caught up’ together with them in the clouds to ’meet the’ Lord in the air: so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1Thessalonians 4:16-17
1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 describes the rapture of the saints taking place. That silences those who say there's no rapture at all. The introduction to it comes in 1Thessalonians 1:8-10 as a prelude:
"For from you sounded out the Word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything.
For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
And to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. 1Thessalonians 1:8-10
To be delivered from the wrath to come surely means to be spared from it before it happens. The wrath to come is 'The Great Tribulation'. It is not the forthcoming wrath of the world that was to come, when all of the apostles except John were martyred. Can we connect the dots here?
The concept and teaching of a rapture is historic church doctrine because it has been taught since long before the time of Moses! In Genesis 5:21-24 a rapture event is described, maybe 650 or so years after Adam's creation, though of course it’s not the same event of rapture we address here:
"And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
And the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years:
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."
Genesis 5:21-24
Enoch walked with God, and then God raptured him! This is prophetic of the Christian experience: as only those who walk with God in Jesus shall be caught up in Rapture to salvation’s reward, to be the bride in the wedding to Jesus Christ. Hebrews 11:5 corroborates this event in the New Testament:
"By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."
Enoch was raptured, and spared from death.
There is at least one other Old Testament reference to one who was raptured:
"And it came to pass, as they went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."
2Kings 2:11
Wow, what a way to go! Hard telling what exactly a chariot of fire is, but I could sure use one for the freeway at rush hour. As for Elijah, he got on the freeway to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah was raptured, and spared from death.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
Matthew 24:29-31
Note: the elect, as the saints, are where? From where are they gathered? They are found and gathered by the angels from one end of heaven to the other, in the four winds of the air. That would not be from the smoldering battlefields of earth after the great tribulation, right? The saints are already in heaven in the air with their Lord! How did they get there, and when did they get there? They got there at the rapture, which has occurred BEFORE the sign of the coming of the Son of man in the heavens. The saints are raptured, and spared from death.
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark.
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
Matthew 24: 36-37
Note the linguistics here: that Noah and family had entered into the safety of the Ark of God, and the other people didn’t much notice. Ho-hum, business as usual until the clouds gathered and the storm of God poured out His fury. Then, and only then, when the horrors of the flood were later realized and lived to their deaths, did those who had been left behind come to know that the end had come. God’s elect were safely taken out of the way, long before the tribulation, death and destruction began! So the coming of the Son of man shall be as this; that after the deluge of the great tribulation’s battles, then He comes and His saints with Him who were previously whisked away in rapture. Noah and his family were 'raptured' in a sense by the ark, and spared from death.
"Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."
Matthew 24:40-42
Note that it doesn’t seem likely that any would be peacefully working in the field or grinding in the mill when the horror of the Great Tribulation is unleashed on the world? Instead that is a time of world cataclysm such as has never been known. Therefore it seems this speaks back to the event of a rapture at an earlier time, when one is taken and another not, before the time of tribulation. The ones taken are spared from death.
"But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
Matthew 24:43-44
This again implies that one who was prepared and fully living in Jesus in their life and belief would be spared the breaking up of their house in the great tribulation. Jesus is cautioning them to stay right with God, to escape the destruction to come, which means there must be a taking away of the saints before it does begin.
Something very notable in that verse: "...for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh..." So, anybody who has ever head of the Rapture and of the Tribulation, if the Rapture had NOT taken place before the Tribulation, would surely be expecting the Lord to come to rapture His saints as His bride after the tribulation! But, it says He comes in a time ye think not...as in before the Tribulation! Otherwise He would surely be coming in a time people think He would come.
I have several pages of references such as these. One thing seems out of place for those who believe in a post tribulation rapture: why? The Lord comes from from heaven and draws His saints to himself. It's my belief that the wedding feast may well be during the time of the tribulation, while great misery occurs on earth. Christ and His raptured bride the church are far away, celebrating and feasting after the wedding in the heaven of heavens, as one body and so shall we ever be. This wedding feast begins immediately after the rapture, which event is a consumation of the marriage!
Following this, at the end of tribulation, that's cut short in God's mercy, Christ returns to earth with His bride the church, and sets His foot down on the Mount of Olives which is split asunder. We would note: that Mount of Olives is the same place He most liked to resort to in quietude with His apostles and disciples, His future bride! Almost like His favorite place of courtship.
He then sets up His Millenial Kingdom, and the Holy City descends from heaven. So, now comes that question: WHY? Why, if the tribulation is over, and Christ is returning to earth, and He is staying to set up His kingdom on earth for a time: why would He stop, leave, go back up into heaven, rapture the saints to heaven, and turn right around and come back with them/us? What would be the point of that rapture, if He had just returned to earth, where the saints already were, and where He was going to stay???
Let's take one more look at Enoch:
"Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." Jude 14-15.
So, we know that the judgement comes after the Tribulation, right? And who comes with Jesus when He arrives to execute judgement? Last question: and from where?
