Prophecy Outline 8
The Rapture - When Will It Be?

Evidence that the Rapture is Before the Tribulation

1. The Distinction Between Israel and the Church

• To suggest that the church remains on the earth for Daniel's 70th week confuses God's dealings with Israel and His dealings with the church
• The church resides in the parenthesis between Daniel's 69th and 70th weeks
• God stopped Israel's clock to introduce the church and He won't start Israel's clock until the church is removed

2. The Jewish Nature of the Tribulation

• Eph 2:11-22; Gal 3:28; etc. make it clear that in the church there is neither Jew nor Gentile
• Yet in the Tribulation this distinction reappears (Rev 7, 11; Jer 30:7)

3. The Absence of the Church in Revelation 6-18

• The church is key to the Acts through Jude
• The church is key to Rev 1-5 and Rev 19-22
• But the church mysteriously disappears for Rev 6-18 - the Tribulation

4. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb Occurs Before the Second Coming

5. The Absence of Teaching About the Tribulation in Church-related Bible Passages

• When Israel was central in the Old Testament, the church was a mystery
• When Israel was central in the gospels, the church is virtually unmentioned
• When the church is central in Acts through Jude, Israel is unmentioned (except to talk of God's future purposes for them and to say that there is neither Jew nor Gentile in the church)
• When the church is central in Revelation 1-5, Israel is unmentioned
• When Israel is central in Rev 6-18, the church is unmentioned
• Only when God's purposes for the two are fulfilled does He speak of them together (Rev 19-22)

6. The Contrasts Between the Rapture and the Second Coming

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7. The Restrainer (2 Th 2)

• v.3 - the man of lawlessness must be revealed before the Tribulation begins
• vv.6f - the man of lawlessness can't be revealed until the Restrainer is removed
• The Restrainer is the Holy Spirit - He will be "removed" at the rapture of the church

8. Imminency

• The Bible makes it clear that the rapture could happen at any moment (Jn 14:1; 1 Th 4:18; Jas 5:8) not after a seven-year period of tribulation

9. We Are Not Destined for Wrath

• The Tribulation is the time of God's wrath (Rev 6:17)
• But God promises the church won't endure His wrath (Rev 6:17; 1 Th 1:10; 5:9; Rom 5:9; Rev 3:10)
• God doesn't judge the righteous with the wicked (Gen 18:25, Enoch, Lot, Philadelphia)

10. Who Will Populate the Millennium?

• If the Rapture happens at the same time as the Second Coming, who will populate the Millennium?
• We know that at the Rapture all believers are taken to be with Christ and reign over the earth
• We know that at the Second Coming all unbelievers are cast into the eternal fire (Mt 25:41)
• If all believers are taken to be with Christ and all unbelievers are sent to the fire, who will enter the kingdom?

Objections to a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

• "No verse in NT says Christ's Second Coming would be in two phases"
  • "No verse in OT says there will be two comings!"
• "The same words are used of the rapture and the Second Coming - e.g. 1 Th 4:15 speaks of the Rapture as 'the coming of the Lord'"
  • This is a logical error - similarity does not mean identity
  • "Mark has hair. Kangaroos have hair. Therefore Mark is a kangaroo."
  • "Christ is described as a lion. The devil is described as a lion."
  • People who make this error have noticed comparisons but ignored contrasts

Importance of Believing in a Pre-tribulation Rapture

• We learn important lessons in Bible interpretation
• We properly distinguish between Israel and the church
• Imminency
  • Encouragement (1 Th 4:18)
  • Holy living (Mt 24:42-51)
• The blessed hope (Tit 2:13)
  • If we believe in a post-tribulation rapture, really believe it, we live in fear for ourselves & those we love
  • If we believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, really believe it, we look for Christ (1 Th 1:10)
  • Let's "wait for His Son from heaven" (1 Th 1:10) and thank Him that He "delivers us from the wrath to come"