1. Peripheral Thoughts
• Some Christians think the rapture could occur at any moment as of right now. This is wrong. This piece doesn’t state when the rapture will occur and it doesn’t define the tribulation.
• Pre-tribbers, have to make 2 huge leaps. They have to say Jesus has 2 second comings, an assumption one could only come to if they were presupposing a pre-trib rapture. The other assumption is that people are being converted after the church has left-to explain all the verses indicating Christians are still on earth when their version of the rapture occurs.
• The seals and trumpets don’t necessarily have to be all in one hit. Because they are vague they could have happened/be happening for the last 2000 years. Which could explain why NT authors and Christians all throughout history were so expectant.
• Pre-tribbers seem to think Satan manifests as human in the antichrist only to further deceive unbelievers. There’s lots of verses on apostasy and being deceived “if possible even God’s elect”, seems quite easy to be deceived if you’re not anticipating it. All of the antichrist talk and mark of the beast warnings would seem moot if Christians won’t even be around.
2. Matthew 24
• These birth pains that Jesus talks about (the same ones that Christians will be around to experience), are very similar to the seals. Good reason to think we will be here for them.
• Lots of deceptions, apostasy and falling away. This is also what 2 Thessalonians 2 says needs to happen before the rapture.
• “The one who endures…” More language of Revelation, there's no reason to think Christians are going to be caught up to avoid everything Jesus is warning of.
• We will see the sacrilegious object Daniel spoke of.
• Complete lack of mention of a secret rapture here. Just “the whole earth will know and mourn” seeing Jesus “coming with great power and glory” and God sending his angels to gather his people.
3. Letters to Thessalonica
Book 1 Ch 1: "They speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's son from heaven...He is the one who has rescued us from the coming judgment."
Book 1 Ch 3: "May he make your hearts strong and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people."
Book 1 Ch 4: "We want you to know what will happen to those who have died...when Jesus returns God will bring back with him the believers who have died." "We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from Heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever."
Book 1 Ch 5: "Now concerning how and when all this will happen we don't really need to write you. For you know that the Day of the Lord's return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying "everything is peaceful and secure" then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman's labor pains begin." "But you aren't in the dark and you won't be surprised when the Day of the Lord comes like a thief. "Now may the God of peace make you holy...and be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus comes again."
Book 2 Ch 1: "And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from Heaven, He will come with his mighty angels in flaming fire, bringing judgement on those who don't know God" "When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people."
Book 2 Ch 2: "Now let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus and how we will be gathered to meet him. Don't be so easily shaken by those who say it has begun. Don't be fooled, that day won't come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed-the one who brings destruction. He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship....and you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. For this lawlessness is already at work and will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming." "This man will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them."
Summary:
In 1 Thess 5:4, the "day of the Lord" IS the "coming like a thief." So the dichotomy that pre-tribbers create is sewn up right in this verse. Same event.
You could read every reference to the event in two whole books/letters and still see them all talking about the same event. Pre-tribbers MUST split them up without sufficient cause other than to maintain their view, not because the text actually implies two different events.
3. Revelation • Chapter 6 In the 5th seal, martyred souls are asking God how long until he judges them, clearly meaning these seals aren’t the judgement. God says wait until the rest have been martyred, meaning all the souls in Heaven didn’t get sucked up by God but were killed! • Chapter 7 A vast crowd of people in white robes who “Were killed in the great tribulation.’ • Chapter 11 If the two witnesses are symbolic of the Jews and the Gentiles (2 olive trees/2 lampstands) then they’re resurrection and ascension could be the rapture…? The 7th trumpet also seems to confirm the idea that rapture time is now. • Chapter 12 The witnesses prophesy for 1260 days. And the woman fled to the wilderness where God prepared a place for 1260 days.
one good question for them is can they use just one passage with the bones of their view? Because they have to jump around to build it when they shouldnt have to.
7. Other Mentions
• 1 Cor 15 says the rapture comes at the last trumpet.
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