Case for The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

The Bible lays out a plan for human history. In this plan there will be a time called 'The Great Tribulation.' I present the following article to show that Christians will not go through The Great Tribulation. We might suffer some trials and tribulation but will be raptured before things get real bad. I offer four reasons for this --

(1)

Rom 5:9 says, "We shall be saved from wrath." I Thess 5:9 "God has not appointed us to wrath"

Rev 11:18 declares, "Thy wrath is come." And Rev 6:17 says, "For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

If Christians are not subject to God’s wrath and the Great Tribulation is God’s wrath, the conclusion has to be: The Church will not experience the Great Tribulation.

(2)

The Great Tribulation is God's judgment upon the Earth: e.g. Rev 6:12 says those on the earth try to hide and they call for the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of His [God's] wrath has come, and they question, "Who shall be able to stand?"

God has never judged His people along with the unrighteous:

e.g. God couldn't judge Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot was gone see Genesis 19:22. God's judgment didn't flood the Earth until Noah and his family were on board the ark

(3)

In 1Thes 4:16-18 Paul, speaking of the rapture says,

16 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:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The church is the Bride of Christ. God is going to marry us one day (technically, He already is married to us). Notice in verse 18 Paul says to "comfort one another with these words." Suppose we do go through the tribulation, what is comforting about saying, As the Bride of Christ we will forever be with the Lord, but first God is going to come and beat the tar out of us (during the great tribulation), comfort one another with these words.

(4)

In Rev 3:10 God says, "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." (NKJV)

(Notice, He says He will keep you from the hour of trial, you won't go through it or even go through part of it, but you will be kept from it. You will be removed before it begins.

Moreover, Thomas Ice reminds us that there are two events which are sometimes confused (the rapture, and the second coming of Christ - see chart) and gives us additional reasons the Bible supports a pre-tribulation rapture.

The Rapture	The Second Coming of Christ
Translation of all believers	No translation at all
Translated saints go to heaven	Translated saints return to Earth
Earth not judged	Earth Judged & righteousness established
Imminent, any moment, signless	Follows definite predicted signs
Affects Believers only	Affects all men
Before the day of wrath	Concluding the day of wrath
Christ comes for His own	Christ comes with His own
Christ meets us in the air	Christ comes to the Earth
Only His own see Him	Every eye shall see Him
Great Tribulation begins	Millennial Kingdom begins

POST-TRIB PROBLEMS

One of the strengths of the pre-trib position is that it is better able to harmonize the many events of end-time prophecy because of its distinction between the rapture and the second coming. Normally, posttribulationists do not even attempt to answers such objections and the few that try struggle with the biblical text. Yet, pretribulationists do not encounter difficulties in providing answers. What are some post-trib problems?

First, posttribulationism must deny the New Testament teaching of imminence (that Christ could come at any moment). Pretribulationism does not have a problem with these New Testament passages, since they believe that no signs must precede the rapture.

Second, premillennial posttribulationism has no answer to their problem of who will populate the millennium if the rapture and second coming occur at the same time. Since all believers will be translated at the rapture and all unbelievers judged, because no unrighteous shall be allowed to enter Christ's kingdom, then no one would be left in mortal bodies to start the population base for the millennium. The pre-trib viewpoint does not have a problem at this point.

Third, posttribulationism is not able to explain the sheep and goats judgment after the second coming in Matthew 25:31-46. As in the previous problem, how would there be any believers in mortal bodies, if they were raptured at the second coming, who would be available to enter into Christ's kingdom? Pretribulationism does not have such a problem.

Forth, since Revelation 19:7-8 indicates that the church, Christ's Bride, is made ready to accompany Christ to earth (Rev. 19:14) before the second coming, how could this reasonably happen if part of the church is still on earth awaiting Christ's Advent? If the rapture of the church takes place at the second coming, then how does the Bride (i.e., the church) also come with Christ at His return? There would not be sufficient time for this to happen within a posttribulational sequence, but the pre-trib position has no such problem.