Eschatology The Rapture – When? Part 1

Rapture Positions Partial Rapture Mid-Tribulation Rapture Pre-Tribulation Rapture Partial Rapture Mid-Tribulation Rapture Pre-Wrath Rapture (a relatively new position popularized by Marvin Rosenthal) Post-Tribulation Rapture

One may hold any one of these positions and still be a Christian One may hold any one of these positions and still be a Christian. However, the implications of the position taken are profound. Anyone taking a position other than the Pre-Tribulation position must inevitably find himself looking for signs rather than the Second Coming. He will also find himself struggling with fear with reference to things that are prophesied for the Tribulation Period since he believes that he will experience some or all of those events.

Briefly defined the Pre-tribulation Rapture position believes that the church will be translated in its entirety just prior to the beginning of the Tribulation period. Partial Rapturists believe that only faithful Christians will be translated, leaving those who are not “fully processed” to pass through part or all of the Tribulation in order to complete their preparation for heaven.

The Mid-Tribulation position believes that Christ will come for the church at roughly the mid-point of the Tribulation. The Pre-Wrath position is a variant of the Mid-Tribulation position and is dependent upon a rather strained definition of the wrath of God. The Post-Tribulation position sees no difference between the Rapture and the Revelation, seeing the Rapture just prior to the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation period.

God Spared Noah and His Family

God spared Rahab

God Spared Lot

The Bible Pattern of Deliverance from Judgment We have the clear examples in Noah, Rahab, and Lot. Noah was a godly man whom God saved with his family from the flood. Rahab was an ungodly woman who had just come to faith in Jehovah and was spared in the destruction of Jericho by Joshua. Lot was hardly a paragon of virtue. If ever a believer deserved to be left behind to suffer judgment with the ungodly it was Lot. Yet, God delivered him from the fiery judgment on Sodom. (2 Pet.2:4-9)

The Absence of the Church from the Prophetic Account of the Tribulation The church is very much in view in Revelation chapters one through three. It is not mentioned again, not even by allusion, until Revelation chapter nineteen. The church as the subject from Acts to Revelation three indicates its importance as an entity. Its absence form the prophetic record in the balance of Revelation is significant.

The Doctrine of Grace Much of the argument surrounding the Partial Rapture position centers upon the unworthiness of carnal believers. It is theorized that such believers cannot go to heaven while in a state of disobedience. Hence they will have to endure a portion of the tribulation until brought to the obedience of spiritual maturity. The entire fabric of the position flies in the face of the doctrine of the grace of God.

No one is going to heaven because he deserves to be there No one is going to heaven because he deserves to be there. We do not believe in a works salvation (Eph. 2;8,9; Tit. 3:5). Every inhabitant of heaven will be there solely on the basis of the grace of God. We are saved by grace and we are kept by the same grace of God. (Eph. 1:13,14; 1 Pet. 1:5) To make participation in the Rapture dependent upon works is to demean the grace of God. (John 5:24; Rom. 5:6-9; 8:1)  

The Timing of the Judgment Seat of Christ There is clearly a very different purpose for the church as opposed to God’s purpose for Israel during the time of the Tribulation. There are several passages that call attention to the fact that the works of believers will be judged. (1 Cor. 3:11-15; Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10) The timing of this judgment seems to necessitate a Pre-Tribulation Rapture Position.

The Exodus of the Holy Spirit A very compelling argument for the Pre-Tribulation position is the departure of the Holy Spirit from the earth. (2 Th. 2:1-11) This is not to say that He ceases to be omnipresent, for He is God. It does mean that His interaction in the world changes at the Rapture. Believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. As salt and light the church holds back evil in the world. When the church is raptured, the hindering effect of the Holy Spirit is removed and the Antichrist is revealed.