Some arguments against the Pre-Trib view of the rapture.

All Scripture quotes are in bold and taken from the ESV

After studying my Bible and reading multiple books from different angles, I have come to the conclusion that the Bible does not teach a Pre-Trib Rapture. I see some excellent points from the Post-Tribulation view in their responses to the Pre-Trib view, but there are also some flaws in their view that I can see as well. I don't plan on focusing on those since this note is focusing on why I don't believe the Pre-Trib view, and why I do believe the Pre-Wrath view. I don't mean to pick on the Pre-Trib view, but that is what I grew up with and that is what most people I know believe.

Why did I even start looking into this? I always saw contradictions in the Pre-Trib view. No one could ever show me any passage in Scripture that solidly defended the Pre-Trib view of the rapture and so I started to study the matter. I was somewhat surprised to find that one of the great proponents of the Pre-Trib Rapture, Dr. John F. Walvoord in his book The Rapture Question, said "neither posttribulationism nor pretribulationism is an explicit teaching of Scripture. The Bible does not, in so many words, state either."

First of all, let me say that all of the views teach in accordance with 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9 that we as believers will be delivered from the wrath of God. But there is also disagreement on this topic as well. Pre-Tribbers for the most part seem to believe that the entire 7-year period of the tribulation is the wrath of God. However, Pre-Wrath, Mid-Trib and Post-Tribbers believe that there are two separate wraths in Daniel's Seventieth Week - the wrath of man/Antichrist (or the wrath of Satan) and the wrath of God. Nowhere in the Bible can we find any Biblical support that backs up the claim that the entire time is the wrath of God. I ask anyone that wants to defend the Pre-Trib view to show me if they know of one.

THE PRE-WRATH RAPTURE

Let me first give a very brief summary of the main premise of the Pre-Wrath view. Daniel's Seventieth week will begin, and then there will be 3.5 years of peace. Then the Antichrist begins his persecution of Christians - the Great Tribulation. Somewhere near the end of his 3.5 years of persecution, his time is cut short - Matthew 24:22 - for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. How is the persecution cut short? With the Rapture - he no longer has Christians to persecute. The Christians are in heaven at this point and the remnant of Israel will be protected. This gives enough time for God's wrath (the rest of the Seventieth week) to be poured out on the earth, the one-third remnant of Israel prophesied by Zechariah, and it gives time for some of the others who refused to take the mark of the Antichrist to be saved. I know this isn't very thorough, but it gives you the main gist of the view.

DEALING WITH SCRIPTURE

1 Thessalonians 5:2 - "For you yourselves are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night."
Revelation 3:3 - "Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you."
2 Peter 3:10 - "But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up."

Pre-Tribbers will say that these verses teach that the Day of the Lord immediately follows the rapture, so the entire seventieth week has to be the Day of the Lord or the wrath of God. They are correct that this passage teaches us that the Day of the Lord is the time of the Wrath of God. However, they are reading into these verses the idea that the rapture begins the Seventieth week. But I believe their logic is correct that the Day of the Lord immediately follows the rapture. But who is Christ coming to like a thief? Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:4, "But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief." So, he will not be coming as a thief to us.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 - "Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the Day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God."

This passage of Scripture says very plainly that the Day of the Lord will NOT BEGIN until after the Antichrist is revealed and sits in the temple claiming to be God. So building on 2 Peter 3:10, we see that Christ comes as a thief in the night AFTER the Antichrist is revealed. So any talk of Christ's Pre-Tribulation coming like a thief CONTRADICTS Scripture. 1 Thessalonians tells us we WON'T be surprised like a thief. In Matthew 24:32-33, Christ says, "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates." A few verse later in verse 36, he goes on to tell us that we don't know the day or the hour, but in 1 Thessalonians 5:1, Paul tells us that we DO know the times and the seasons.

THE OLIVET DISCOURSE

Grab your Bible and turn to Matthew 24. Please read that chapter before continuing because I am not going to write out the entire chapter. Pre-Tribbers try to explain this passage away saying that because Christ was talking to the disciples, he was speaking to Jews, and since this passage contradicts the Pre-Trib view, it MUST only apply to Jews, meaning that that there are now 2 Second Comings, but there is no mention in Scripture of Christ coming secretly to rapture and then coming back again seven years later with the Church (all believers) in tow. There are over 20 parallels between Matthew 24 and 1&2 Thessalonians showing that these are speaking of the SAME coming. When Jesus is speaking to his disciples right before his ministry on earth ends, he tells them to go and teach others ALL that he had told them. So, I would say that this passage would fall under that all.

Now to discuss Matthew 24. In verse 3, the disciples ask Jesus what sign they will see that will signify his coming and the end of the age. Verse 6 speaks of wars and rumors of wars and that these must take place before the end. Then in verse 7 there will be nations rising against nation and famines and earthquakes. Verse 8 says these are just the beginning of the birth pains meaning that these may be bad, but it is going to get worse. In verse 9, Jesus tells them they will be delivered up to tribulation and put to death and hated by ALL nations. Then in verse 10 people will begin to fall away and verse 11 brings false prophets. Verse 12 speaks of lawlessness being increased. Verse 13 tells us that those who endure to the end (assuming based on other Scripture that this will be the ones that don't take the mark of the beast and live) will be saved. Verse 14 speaks of the gospel being proclaimed throughout the world, and then the end will come.

In verses 15 and following, he expands on what he just said. He tells them that when you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, flee to the mountains. For then the great tribulation will come - worse than anything before it, and he states that THERE WILL NEVER BE ANYTHING WORSE THAN THIS LATER. (This refutes those that say this is speaking of persecution that came late in the first century.) Then in verse 22, those days of the tribulation are cut short for the sake of the elect. He then warns of false teachers. Verse 27 states that his coming will be very noticeable (not secret) because it will be like lightning that comes from the east but it shines to the west.

Verse 29 says that immediately after the tribulation of those days (the wrath of Antichrist), the sun will be darkened, and the moon will be dark and the stars will fall from heaven. Then the world will see Christ coming on the clouds of heaven with power and glory and the angels will be sent out with a loud trumpet call and gather the elect from all over. If that isn't the rapture, I don't know what is. But notice that Christ tells them they will go through the Great Tribulation of the Antichrist.

Now on to verses 36 and following. Verse 36 is where Christ says that we will not know the day or hour Christ will come. Then he begins to compare the end times with the days of Noah. The world is extremely wicked at the time, and the unbelievers were unaware of their follies until the day when Noah entered the ark. He says his coming will be just like this. This brings us to another sub-discussion before we continue on in Matthew 24. When did Noah enter the ark, and when did the judgment of God begin?

Read Genesis 7:1-16 before continuing on. In verses 1-3, God tells Noah to gather the animals and in verse 4 he continues the discussion by telling Noah that in seven days, God will send the rain. Verses 5-9 tell us that Noah went out and gathered the animals and then entered the ark with his family. Verse 10 says that after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. Many Pre-Tribbers say that if you look at verses 4-10, they say that Noah entered the ark seven days before the rain began which symbolizes Christians being taken to safety for the seven years. However this argument falls flat on its face.

Verse 10 doesn't say that seven days after Noah entered the ark, the floods came. It just states that what God told him came true. God told him when he commanded Noah to gather animals that after 7 days, the flood would begin, and verse 10 verifies that it happened. Verses 11 and following prove that Noah wasn't on the ark 7 days before the rain started. Verse 11 tells us the exact day of Noah's life that the floods started. Verse 12 tells us the rains continued for 40 days and nights. Verse 13 is the key here. It says "On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark." On the very same day that the flood began, Noah entered the ark. So there goes that symbolism argument. Instead realize that if this is supposed to be symbolic, Noah was taken to safety on that seventh day, but we are not told what time of day. This would symbolize Christ rapturing his elect sometime during the seventh year, but we don't know the day or hour. This fits Scripture.

Back to Matthew 24. Verses 40-41 tell of people being together and all of a sudden one is not with them. And Jesus speaks again of the coming of a thief and that we must be ready.

So, from this quick look at Matthew, you can see why Pre-Tribbers want to throw this passage out of the mix. It completely refutes the idea of a Pre-Trib Rapture. Here is a fun test I learned from some other Pre-Wrathers. Ask a Pre-Trib believer when Christ is coming back. How will he/she respond? We can't know the hour or the day that he is returning. Now where did they get that idea from? Matthew 24:36&44. But I thought Matthew 24 wasn't speaking of the rapture but was speaking only to the Jews that would be present during the Tribulation. Here you see what I like to call the Pre-Trib Double Standard. You take a passage that you say doesn’t apply, but there are a couple verses that you like the sound of, so you use them to defend your point of view. Is that a good way of doing things?

HOW LONG IS THE GREAT TRIBULATION?

You hear it taught as the seven years of the tribulation in many Pre-Trib circles. Ask yourself where this is taught in the Bible. Yes Daniel speaks of the Seventieth week. But this doesn’t say the whole time is the tribulation. Instead, we know that there will be peace for 3.5 years - hardly tribulation. Then at the mid-point of the Seventieth week, we have the abomination of desolation. Then begins the Great Tribulation. If the Antichrist reigns for the full 3.5 years, then we would know the exact day of the Day of the Lord - 3.5 years after the abomination of desolation. But Christ says that we can't know the exact day. Jesus also tells us that those days will be shortened. So, the only thing we can say about the length of the tribulation is that it is less than 3.5 years, not 7.

DOES JESUS COME WITH HIS SAINTS OR FOR HIS SAINTS?

Pre-Tribbers tell us that the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ are 2 different events. They say that at the rapture, He is coming FOR His saints, and at the second coming, He is coming WITH His saints. They used Jude 14 to try to support this. Jude 14 tells us, "Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints." Pre-Tribbers tell us that this means he is coming after the tribulation with his raptured saints. However, Jude 14 is quoting Enoch. Pre-Tribbers also teach that the Church is a mystery not revealed in the Old Testament. See a contradiction? Enoch is actually speaking of Christ coming with his "holy ones." What else could his "holy ones" be? If you look at Matthew 24, he comes with his angels and gathers the elect and the Day of the Lord begins. I believe Jude 14 is speaking of the angels. So, the answer is that Christ comes WITH his angels FOR us.

IMMINENCE

Pre-Tribbers tell us that the coming of the Lord is imminent - He can come at any moment, and that this has been taught from Paul until now. They then go on to say that there are signs that precede the coming of Christ, such as the reestablishment of national Israel. Now, how could Christ's coming be imminent before the reestablishment of Israel? CONTRADICTION! Matthew 24 tells us that Christ will come after the cosmic disturbances.

DOESN'T REVELATION 4 CONTAIN THE RAPTURE?

This is one of the things that has really bugged me every time I was taught about the Pre-Trib Rapture. I was told that Revelation 4:1 was the rapture. What does that verse say? "After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.'" Why does God calling John up into heaven have to be the rapture? There is no mention of the resurrection of the dead, he does not meet Jesus in the air, no angels are present, and no ceremony takes place in heaven. Later on, when John goes back to earth long before Armageddon, why doesn’t this speak of Christian coming back to earth? That would be consistent. The fact that John goes back and forth does serious damage to his idea.

Revelation chapter 6 describes something that sounds exactly like the cosmic disturbances in Matthew 24 that occur right before Christ comes with his angels and gathers his elect and the Day of the Lord is ushered in. Notice that in Matthew 24, the angels gathered the elect from the 4 corners of the earth. Revelation chapter 7 starts out with the four angels at the four corners of the earth. They seal the 144,000 of the tribe of Israel that will be protected on earth during the wrath of God, then verse 9 and following shows us a great multitude that no one can number from every nation standing before the throne of God and rejoicing about their salvation. One of the elders present asks who this multitude is. The answer in verse 14 is "these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Therefore, I believe, and the Pre-Wrath view teaches, that the rapture occurs in Revelation 7, not 4.

But others argue that since the word "Church" isn't used after Revelation 3, then the church must not be present. Notice that the word Church is only mentioned when John is giving a direct quote of Jesus and then he isn't talking in a universal sense. Now, leaving out only where he quotes someone else, when does John say the word Church in all of his writings? Nowhere. He speaks of the saints and sometimes the elect. And also, John describes events in heaven as well, but doesn't mention the church. By the Pre-Trib logic, the church can't be in heaven at this time either. Where are they? So you see the argument that the word Church isn't mentioned does not hold water and I think it is really quite a stretch.

DOESN'T SCRIPTURE SAY WE WILL BE SPARED FROM WRATH?

Revelation 3:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, and Isaiah 26:19-21 say that we will be spared from wrath or the testing to come. Pre-Tribbers say this is the entirety of the seventieth week. Where is the basis for this? There is none in Scripture. It is entirely consistent with Scripture to say that this wrath or testing is the same as the Wrath of God.

CONCLUSION

Well, I haven't given every response against Pre-Trib that I can think of. That would require a book. This is just a short summary of a few of the things that I have issues with in the Pre-Trib view and how they don't contradict the Pre-Wrath view of the rapture.

If you want to comment on any of my arguments or throw out any other arguments for the Pre-Trib view that I have not already raised, feel free. I will take a look at them and get back to you on what you write. See, I am trying to be like the Bereans - searching the Scriptures daily to see if these things are true. I urge you to do the same. Don't just believe something because it is what you have been taught all your life. Search the Scriptures and if you don't understand something seek out help. But if you look to books, don't just look at those that agree with what you already believe. See what the responses are to what you believe, and if you can defend it or if someone else can. That is what makes you stronger in what you already believe or points out your errors.

If you want to research the PreWrath view further, please check out this site.

Or purchase this book.