your sting?"
1
Corinthians 15:5
Posttribulationalism
From: Answers To 200 Of Lifes Most Probing Questions by
Pat Robertson, p.156
I do not find in the Bible the teaching that Christians will be
raptured prior to the Tribulation.
The Bible teaches two comings of Jesusone, His birth; the second,
His coming again in triumph. There is no third coming for a secret rapture.
The book of Matthew specifically says, Immediately after the
tribulation of those days.... Then the sign of the Son of Man will
appear in heaven...and He will send His angels...and they will gather
together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other.
This is just one of many references that indicate we will be going through
a time of tribulation until Jesus Christ comes back.
I do believe that Christians will be protected in the midst of tribulation,
however. After all, the Israelites were protected when the plagues fell
upon Egypt.
Throughout history there have been successive martyrdoms of Christians,
and it is the height of arrogance to assume that only twentieth-century
Christians in the United States of America will be spared any kind of
persecution. That goes against the flow of history for the last two thousand
years. Jesus said, He who endures to the end shall be saved.
Persecution is simply part of living as a Christian in this world. The
saints in China, Russia, and other communist countries have been tortured,
have suffered privation, have had their jobs and their families taken
away from them. Many of them have already died because of their witness
for Jesus. It is hard to contemplate much worse tribulation than these
great men and women of faith have already endured.
The posttribulational rapture position teaches that the current church
will go through the Great Tribulation, and among other passages, cites
the Messianic eschatology of Matthew 24 in support of its view.
Matthew 24:29-31
29 "But immediately after
the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon
will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the
powers of the heavens will be shaken,
30 and then the sign of the
Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth
will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
the sky with power and great glory.
31 "And He will send forth
His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together
His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."
Okay, so lets take it apart.
Does
the Posttrib Position Have an Eschatological Trumpet?
1 Corinthians
15:51-52
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery;
we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 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.
Yes. The posttrib trumpet prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24:30 appears
to sound as the last literally recorded trumpet in Scriptures eschatological
texts. Christ prophesied its sounding will signal a gathering together
of His elect from the four winds, after the Great Tribulation.
The
Last Day
Corresponding to this timing hermeneutic, the posttrib position believes
Jesus eschatology in John 6 reveals a rapture grand finale.
The Rapture will happen, proponents say, at the last possible moment
of premillennial history because of Christ's literal declarations
to raise His believers on the last day.
John 6:38-40
(also see v. 54)
38 "For I have come down from
heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
39 "And this is the will of
Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but
raise it up on the last day.
40 "For this is the will of
My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may
have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
Synchronizing the simultaneous resurrection/rapture revelation of 1 Thessalonians
4:17 with the first resurrection of the tribulation martyrs
in Revelation 20, the posttrib position interprets them as one in the
same.
Revelation 20:4-5
4 And I saw thrones,
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus
and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the
beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead
and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for
a thousand years.
5 The rest of
the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.
This is the first resurrection.
Posttrib
Hermeneutic Critique
That Jesus will raise up His believers on the LAST DAY (John 6:38-40)
and gather His elect from the four winds after the Tribulation
to be a part of the Eschatons first resurrection (Matt.
24:29-31; Rev. 20:4,5), is a hermeneutically tenable position. So is the
last trumpet position blown after the Great Tribulation.
The trumpet prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24:29 blows after the Great
Tribulation, and in a key word search of trumpets throughout Scripture,
none appear to blow last after it. So if this trumpet will be a combined
Armageddon battle/rapture trumpthe upward gathering
interpretation of this rapture position is true. The present church
still living at the time of the Great Tribulation will go through it.
And those enduring it to the end will be raptured at its close.
There is also a key word case to be made for the first resurrection
in this position. If it is the first of those to come for the church,
the pos-ition has a lock on its timing.
But there are some hermeneutic concerns to deal with in the theory.
Where
the Word of God Is Bound So Are We
Where
Its Not, We Are Free
First of all, the trumpet prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24 does appear
to sound as the last recorded anywhere in eschatological texts. And Jesus
prophecy in vvs. 29-31 does specifically acknowledge a coming gathering
of His elect that will occur immediately after
the Great Tribulation. But it is only heremeneutically fair to point
out that in Jesus chapter 5 sermon (the day before he prophesied
the last day raising of His faithful), He prophesied a resurrection only,
not a rapture.
John 5:25-29
25 "Truly, truly, I say
to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live.
26 "For just as the Father
has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in
Himself;
27 and He gave Him authority
to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
28 "Do not marvel at this;
for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear
His voice,
29 and shall come forth; those
who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed
the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
Also, when Jesus prophesied the last day raising of His saints in John
6:39,40, He didnt speak of a harpazo, but used the word, ANISTEMI
to raise, erect, raise up.
John 6:39
39 "And this is the will of
Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but
raise (anistemi) it up on the last day.
Taking note of these scriptural observations, Jesus could have beat Paul
to the punch by introducing a synchronized rapture with the resur-rection
prophesied in this verse by saying, I lose nothing, but raise
and snatch (anistemi and harpazo) it up on the last day.
But He didnt. So a rapture inclusion is deductively inferred.
Also, the direction from which His believers will be gathered, up,
or down is not defined. Jesus prophecy in vv. 29-31 simply states
this gathering will occur from out of the sky, from the four winds.
So it is equally possible to interpret this gathering as the downward
Armageddon second coming accompaniment of an already raptured church
because of a lack of any directional adjective. And many do (Jude 1:14;
Rev. 19:11-14).
There is also a chronological question in regard to the first resurrection
applied from Johns Revelation 20 text. An inductive search of eternal
Bible resurrections shows that the first resurrection listed in Revelation
20 is not technically the first. Christs went before it.
1 Corinthians
15:22-23
22 For as in Adam all die,
so also in Christ all shall be made alive.
23 But each in his own order:
Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming,
There is also the very little spoken of resurrection/Jerusalem appearance
of "many" of the saints that took place at the point of Jesus death
(Matt. 27:50-51).
Matthew 27:52-53
52 and the tombs were opened;
and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53 and coming out of the tombs
after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
Who
Are These Folks?
There is nothing else said about this startling resurrection. Because
it happened in connection with Christs resurrection, it is possible
that the raised saints in this passage are the captives led captive
when Jesus ascended on high, spoken of in Psalm 68:18
and Ephesians 4:8. And that they now join the company of the two
other immortal embodied saints spoken of in Scripture, Enoch and
Elijah, who were both taken by God before experiencing death (Heb.
11:5; 2 Kings 2:11). It is all very de-ductive, but possible.
The other possibility is that they
were raised and died again. But you would think Luke would have something
to say about that in the Book of Acts. Nothing inductive about any of
it. It is a great mystery that we are at least given a glimpse of in Matthew's
gospel. If you've never thought about it, you've probably never engaged
a systematic study of Bible resur-rections. So think about it now...and
welcome to the club!
Other raisings from the dead recorded in Scripture were not eternal, but
should be counted when scientifically observing the Bibles text.
The widow of Zarephaths son (1 Kings 17); the Shunammite widows
son (2 Kings 4); the dead man raised when thrown in to the ditch touching
Elishas bones (2 Kings 13); Jesus raising of the widows
son at his own funeral (Luke 7), Jairus daughter (Mark 5), Lazarus
(John 11); and Tabitha (Acts 9)were all miraculously raised from
the dead but would experience death again to await the promised eternal
resurrection.
This may seem a little much in weighing the biblical evidence, but it
is only good biblical science to take them all into account. First
resur-rections and last trumpets should provoke the serious student
of Scripture to break out Strongs and Vines, and start an
intelligent word search. Once you have discovered and considered the nature
of every raising, you will find that the first resurrection
recorded in Revelation 20:5 will take place as number three in a sequence
of recorded events.
It is also hermeneutically fair to say the two other eternal resur-rections
extraneous to Revelations text may have nothing to do with the context
of Revelations redemptive events. And that the direction of Johns
prophecy is set in context of the local truth of earths last-days
events. If so, the posttribers could be right. The whole idea is to think,
and count.
Local
Trib-truth
Most important when critiquing the posttrib position is interpreting the
local truth that surrounds its last day raising. Eschatologys
Great Tribulation will come to pass in a devastating future epoch, and
there is a very real problem in determining just exactly who within the
timeframe could triumphantly overcome to experience a rapture at its end.
Because the position synchronizes with the first resurrection
in Revelation 20, proponents believe a living church will survive
to accompany these martyrs. But it's hard to find one. Let's take a look.
Revelation 20:4-6
4 And I saw thrones,
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus
and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the
beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead
and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ
for a thousand years.
5 The rest of
the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.
This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed
and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these
the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of
Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
A key word search of this key passage reveals three contextual people
groups:
1.
The souls of those who had been beheaded because
of the testimony of Jesus.
2.
Those who had not worshiped the beast or his image
and had not received his mark upon their
forehead
and upon their hand (v. 4).
3.
Resurrected Christ rejecters who according to verses 5 and
6 will be doomed to face a second resurrection at
the Great White
Throne of Judgment.
The
Great Tribulation: the Nature of its End
Because the Word of God is bound in these verses of Johns prophecy, the
posttribulation rapture position must believe the raptured church will
be the second group (mark rejecters) who will be alive and well when the
martyrs are called up. An eschatological study of the era, however, reveals
only one symbolic possibility of a surviving Tribulation era
church.
Wilderness
Hiding?
One of the most powerful demonstrations of prophetic symbolism in
Scripture is contained in Revelation 12. In it we are given a parabolic
view of Israel and her twelve tribes (woman and twelve crowning stars
v. 1); Satan and his followers casting out of heaven and Satans
hatred for Jesus (vv. 3,4); the birth, resurrection, and rapture of Jesus
(v. 5); and finally, a predicted escape of the prophetic woman from the
eschatological presence of the serpent (vv. 6, 14).
Revelation 12:6,
14, 17
6 And the woman
fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that
there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty
days.
14 And the two wings of the
great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into
the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and
times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
17 And the dragon was enraged
with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring,
who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
If this visual parable alludes to the protection of the church during
the exact time period given of three and one half years (2,260 days: 42
months); time (one year); times (two years); half a time (one half year),
the church will be kept in hiding during the Great Tribulation. We could
then be raptured post-tribulation in synchronization with the first
resurrection as this position submits.
But if the vision of Revelation 12 speaks of converted natural Israel
only (prophetic symbolism will be covered next issue) the testimony of
Scripture simply doesnt bear witness to a surviving Tribulation
era church. The political and spiritual climate of the Great Tribulation
described in Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation challenge the notion.
Both the teachings of Jesus and Johns Revelation warn of a catastrophic
time for all who oppose the Antichrist during this apocalyptic season.
The
Abomination of Desolation
After connecting Daniels Abomination
of Desolation with the Great Tribulation, Jesus prophesied the eschatological
period would be an unprecedented era of destruction and death.
Daniel 11:31-36
31 "And forces from him will
arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular
sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.
33
"And those who have
insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they
will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder, for many
days.
34 "Now when they fall they
will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy.
35 "And some of those who
have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge, and make them pure,
until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.
36
"Then the king will
do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every
god, and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he
will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed
will be done.
Matthew 24:15-22
15 "Therefore when you see
the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the
prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)
16 then let those who are
in Judea flee to the mountains;
21
for then there will
be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning
of the world until now, nor ever shall.
22 "And unless those days
had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake
of the elect those days shall be cut short.
Comparing Daniels Abomination of Desolation that will be earmarked
by the kings speaking of monstrous (NAS) things (Blasphemies,
NKJV), with the Beasts blasphemous words and actions in Revelation
13forty-two months (3.5 years) of pure terror will be granted this
coming despot over the saints.
Revelation 13:5-10
5 And there
was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and
authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.
6 And he opened
his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His
tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
7 And it was given
to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority
over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.
8 And all who
dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been
written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the
Lamb who has been slain.
9 If anyone has
an ear, let him hear.
10 If anyone is destined for
captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with
the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith
of the saints.
The word overcome in verse 7, (Strong's 3528, Arnt & Gingrich 539A:
nikao) means to conquer, subdue, overcome, vanquish.
So if there will be an overcoming living church at the Tribulations
end, it would have to be hidden away from the Antichrists presence.
Or it would have to be presumed, because the revelation of the Tribulation
era provides no literal evidence of an overcoming, living church.
Jesus opening of the fifth seal in Revelation 6 substantiates this
truth through its revelation of the tribulation martyrs. (In future issues
we will make a case for the seals Book of Revelation table of contents
purpose.)
Revelation
6:9-10, 14
9 And when He
broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those
who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony
which they had maintained;
10 and they cried out with
a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain
from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
14
"These are the ones who
come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Mark-rejecters who can be found during this horrible period
will die by the sword; famine (forced); pestilence, death (Strongs
2288, Arnt and Gingrich 350D thanatos: death and the
fear of it). And by the wild beasts of the field (possibly wild
animals crazed by demonic possession, or even a re-opened Roman coliseum)
as revealed by the sickly green horseman in Revelation 6:8:
8
And I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the
name Death; and Hades was following with him. And authority was given
to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine
and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
In next issue we will examine the sequence and key words of this seal
to determine how it relates to the Tribulation event.
Eschatology
Today Conclusions
The posttribulational rapture positions applies a mix of literal and free
interpretations in developing its conclusions.
The
Last Trumpet
Matthew 24:31
31 "And He will send forth
His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect
from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
The last trumpet prophesied by Jesus in Matthew gathers His elect from
the four winds after the tribulation. So this position definitely has
a lock on the chronology of a last sounding trumpet.
But the direction from which we will be gathered, up,
or down, isn't distinguished. So a downward gathering
to accompany Christ to the Battle of Armageddon can just as easily be
inferred.
The
Last Day
John 6:39
39 "And this is the will of
Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but
raise it up on the last day.
The last day prophesied by Jesus on which He will raise His be-lievers
in John 6:39,40 speaks of a resurrection only anistemi: to
raise, erect, raise up; not a rapture,
though a rapture can be deduced.
The
First Resurrection
Revelation 20:4-5
4 And I saw thrones,
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus
and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the
beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead
and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for
a thousand years.
5 The rest of
the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.
This is the first resurrection.
Bearing in mind the deadly nature of the Great Tribulation, it is probable
that the first resurrection revealed in Revelation 20:4 refers to the
first of two eschatological resurrections prophesied within the context
of chapter 20 text. The first at the end of the Tribulation involving
those who are saved during the epoch and lose their lives for it. The
second at the end of the Millennium consisting of the resurrection of
Christs rejecters throughout the ages who will face the second death.
Revelation 20:6
6 Blessed and
holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these
the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of
Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
If the rapture of an overcoming, living church will take place in sync
with the first resurrection, it would have to be kept protected, as possibly
described in the prophetic symbolism of Revelation 12: 6,14.
Revelation 12:14
14 And the two wings of the
great eagle were given to the woman, in order that she might fly into
the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and
times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Or it would have to be freely inferred, because the nature of the Great
Tribulation leaves little room for interpreting an overcoming, surviving
church.
Revelation
13:7, 10
7
And it was given to him to make war with the saints
and to
overcome them; and authority over every tribe and
people
and tongue and nation was given to him.
10
If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes;
if anyone
kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the
perseverance and the faith of the saints.
Amillennialism
and Preterism
FYI
Two final rapture, or rather, anti-rapture
views that deserve at least mentioning in this critique are the amillennial,
and preterist views. Amillennialism ("no"-millennium) believes the post-rapture
thousand year reign of Christ to be a spiritual analogy of the church
and interprets Revelation 20 as a recapitulation of the church age. Preterism
believes the plagues, politics, and a "spiritual" Second Coming of Christ
were fulfilled during the 70 A.D. sack of Jerusalem.
Neither of these positions give
literal credence to the resurrection/ rapture eschatology of Paul.
So an overall hermeneutic of Scripture rejects both. But we have included
them to give you at least a working understanding of the positions if
the subject is ever brought up.
Where
the Word of God Is Bound, So Are We
Where Its Not, We Are Free
Study,
Pray, and Think!
So,
there you have it. The Rapture, all three views. When and why will
the Rapture trump blow? Will it happen because of the Great Trib-ulations
deliverance, or as its reward? You decide!
If
youve read all six of our offered articles, take some time to study
and restudy the concerned texts. If you havent read "Interpreting
the Rules of Revelation" and "Discerning Key Words the Inductive Way,"
youve put the cart before the horse as so many who glibly believe
their favorite "prophecy expert" and parrot their views.
Become
Your Own Eschatologian
Its Up to You!
Eschatology Today is the thinking
Christians eschatology journal. That you have taken the time to
read and consider our content shows you are a thinker. So please continue
to study, pray, and think! Too many of us within the church today
(both readers and writers) approach the study of Gods Word through
the eyes of a favorite expert or commentary rather than through an honest
observation of what has actually been said. Especially our views of the
Rapture. Because this is true, many passages when "studied" go completely
"unstudied" as words are sloppily overlooked and even unconsciously
inserted to substantiate previously formulated doctrines or beliefs.
Eschatology is very evangelistic
when you know what youre talking about.
So come out from among those huddled
in the prophecy parrot cage who simply repeat what their favorite expert
teaches, regardless of studying the Bibles texts. "Polly want a
rapture
squawk!!!"
Start a Rapture Sunday school
class at your church that studies all three views.
We have given you the tools.
The rest is up to you.
Pretrib, midtrib, or posttrib...which
are you?
The decision is up to you!
Mark Norris
Eschatology Today Sr. Editor
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