The Rapture Question Answered, Part 5

Mr. John Little summarizes his argument as he has given it so far in his letter of April 28, 2014:

The Rapture happens AFTER THE TRIBULATION. There is NO OTHER WAY TO INTERPRET THOSE VERSES!

Period. End of Statement.

So, we have three passages that offer complete evidence that the Antichrist MUST come first, that the Resurrection of the Just MUST come first, that the Tribulation MUST come first.

Is there any part of this that you did not understand?

These Three Happen Before The Rapture

Let me say this again. I have offered you three passages that cannot be argued with, and they tell us that these three things MUST happen before the Rapture:

The Antichrist
The Resurrection
The Tribulation

There will be no Rapture until after those three things. Period.

Get This Right, Or Die

Now, there’s a reason why I am so passionate about this, and it’s the same reason why this website exists. If you don’t get this, and if you don’t prepare, you are going to die a terrible death.

When I proved to you that the Resurrection must happen before the Rapture, the verses that almost immediately follow that passage, say this:

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

Now, I would respectfully disagree with Mr. Little’s understanding of the three passages he believes prove that the Rapture follows the Great Tribulation.

Paul appealed to the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 on the basis of the teaching he had already given them to argue that the Rapture must come before the Antichrist, before the Tribulation. That is unmistakable. I discussed this in some detail in my prior posts on this theme.

Second, I pointed out that every time the Rapture is mentioned, it is mentioned before the events of the Day of the Lord, so the Rapture must take place first, not after.

Third, I pointed out that the passage Mr. Little refers to in Matthew 24 makes no reference to the Rapture of the Church (or living believers) taught by Paul, so the expression “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” (Matthew 24:29, in reference to Matthew 24:21) has no bearing upon the Rapture. The mistake Mr. Little and many interpreters make is to equate the “elect” mentioned at Matthew 24:31 with the elect of the Church age or Christian believers. The passage rather pertains to the elect of Israel who are supernaturally and completely gathered back to their national homeland in Israel as promised in the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenant provisions in the Old Testament. I discussed this in full in my prior post answering the evidence Mr. Little presented in his letter on its first two pages as saved in my file.

Mr. John Little expresses the motivation for his concern next, as follows:

Right now, the people who speak the loudest about ‘peace and safety’ are those who either 1) support Obama or 2) believe in a pre-tribulation Rapture.

At the beginning of his letter Mr. Little said,

The problem is that if you believe that the rapture will happen before anything bad comes… well, you won’t prepare. And, history is full of what happens to people who believe that nothing bad can happen to them.

Now, there well may be some Bible-believing Christians who won’t prepare for future eventualities. If so, they have not studied their Bibles carefully enough and then put into action what the Bible recommends. First, it is most clear that Christians of this Church age will suffer tribulation and persecution (Acts 14:22).

Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Here are the cross references for Acts 14:22 as I have developed them so far (Don’t just glance at this–take the few moments required to hover your mouse pointer over each highlighted verse and read it as it pops up or is displayed):

Acts 14:22. Confirming. *Ac 15:32, 41. *Ac 18:23. *Is 35:3. Da 11:1. 1 Cor 1:8. 1 Th 3:2-4, 13. 1 P 5:10. souls. Gr. psychē, FS121A9A, +Mt 11:29. the disciples. ver. +Ac 14:20, 28. +Ac 11:26. exhorting. +Ac 15:32. 16:40. 20:2. +1 Cor 14:3. to continue. Ac 2:42. +*Ac 11:23. *+Ac 13:43. +*Jb 23:12. Je 32:40. **Jn 8:31, 32. *Jn 15:4-6, 9, 10. **+Ro 11:22. +*1 Cor 15:1, 2. Ga 3:10g. Phil 1:25. 4:1. +**Col 1:23. +*1 Th 5:21. 1 Tim 4:16. He 8:9g. +*He 10:35. +*1 J 2:3. Jude +*1:3, 20, 21. in the faith. +Ac 6:7. 13:8. and. FS63B1A, +Ge 26:7. Supply by ellipsis (saying). we must. FS15F, +Jn 13:29. Ac 4:12. +Ac 9:6, 16. 16:30. through. +*Ps 84:6. %Re 3:10. much tribulation. Ac 7:10. 9:16. 20:23. Ge 12:10. 32:7. 49:23. Nu 21:4. 1 S 26:24. Ps 34:19. 66:12. +*Ps 119:75. Ec 2:23. 7:14. Song 1:6. Is 30:20. 54:11. *Mt 6:34. +*Mt 7:14. 10:21, 22, 38. *Mt 16:24. Mk 8:34. 10:30. Lk 6:48. 9:23. 14:27. 16:25. *Lk 22:28, 29. *Lk 24:26. Jn 12:25, 26. 15:18, 20. 16:1, 2, *Jn 16:33. Ro 5:3. **Ro 8:17, 18, 35. 12:12. 1 Cor 15:19. +*2 Cor 1:4. 4:17. 6:4. 11:23-28. Ep 3:13. 4:12. **Phil 1:29. 4:14. 1 Th 1:6. 3:3, 4, 7. 2 Th 1:5. 2 Tim 1:8. +*2 Tim 2:11, 12. **2 Tim 3:12. He 12:7. 1 P 1:6. 2:21. *1 P 4:12-16. 5:9, 10. Re 1:9. 2:9, 10. 7:14. enter. Ac 1:3. +*Mt 7:14, +Mt 7:21, *Mt 7:25. 18:9. *Mt 19:23, 24. *Mk 9:47. *Mk 10:24, 25. *+Jn 3:3, 5. +*1 Cor 15:50n. 1 P 4:18. *2 P 1:11. kingdom. +Ac 1:3. Mt 8:11. 18:3. 19:23. Lk 6:20.

Second, it is most clear that the Bible counsels us to be thoroughly prepared for any possible contingencies as God makes it possible for us to do so, according to Proverbs 22:3,

Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Here are the cross references as I have prepared them so far for Proverbs 22:3,

Proverbs 22:3. prudent. Pr 12:16, 23. 13:16. 14:8, 15, *Pr 14:16, 18. *Pr 15:5. 16:21. *Pr 18:15. *#Pr 27:12. *Ex 9:20, 21. Ps 112:5. Is 26:20, 21. +Je 8:7. *Ho 14:9. +*Mt 7:6. *Mt 24:15-18. *1 Th 5:2-6. He 6:18. *He 11:7. forseeth. T#1843. Pr 6:8. 14:15. 24:27. 2 Ch 34:21. +*Ps 34:4. +*Ps 112:5. Lk 12:33. **Lk 14:28. *Lk 22:36. Ro 11:20. 2 Cor 5:9-11. He 4:1, 11. 11:7. the evil. Is 50:11. Mt 25:41. hideth. Pr 14:16. 18:10. 27:12. *Pr 28:12. Ex 12:12, 13, 21-23. Nu 5:13. 35:11-13. Jsh 20:7n. 1 S 19:12, 18. 20:5, 19. +1 S 21:10, 14. 23:19-21. 26:1. *1 S 27:1. +1 K 17:3. 19:3. Is 26:20. +*Je 36:19. *Je 37:12. Am 5:13. +*Mt 10:23. 24:15-18. Mk 3:6, 7. +Lk 4:30. *Jn 8:59. 10:39. *Jn 12:36. Ac 4:12. 9:23-25. 17:14. 23:12-24. *He 6:18. the simple. FS108K54, +Pr 1:4. Pr 1:4, 22, 32. *Pr 7:7, 22, 23. *Pr 9:16-18. *Pr 14:15, 16. *Pr 29:1. Ps 116:6. Is 26:11. punished. Pr 27:12. Ex 21:22. Mt 25:46.

I would venture to suggest that you will not find such a thorough Bible study directly from the Bible in its words only as I have presented above on the fact that all Bible-believing Christians must (1) be prepared for and expect to suffer tribulation (Acts 14:22), and (2) be prudent to foresee coming evil and be prepared to hide or protect themselves (Proverbs 22:3). It is the “simple,” the care-free, the otherwise distracted individuals who “pass on,” or go on their usual way, and are punished.

People today are distracted by the mainstream media, by sports, by entertainment, when they ought to be paying close attention to what is going on in the world, and in the economy here at home. The laws of mathematics cannot be violated with impunity. National debt is a curse (Deuteronomy 28:43, 44, 45). If the United States of America continues to disregard the Word of God, it will continue to suffer the consequences, and conditions will only get worse, drastically worse (Psalm 9:17; Galatians 6:7, 8). We cannot take God’s protection for granted when our nation has of late not supported the nation of Israel to the degree it once did (Genesis 12:3). We cannot continue to support and advocate for the sin of Sodomy and the death of unborn children and suppose God does not pay attention (Numbers 32:23; Romans 12:19).

I think that on these specific matters, Mr. John Little and myself are likely in agreement.

There is more to examine from Mr. John Little’s letter against the Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine. I believe Mr. Little is sincere in his belief and sincere in his concern. But sincerity is not enough. When we study the Bible, we must carefully weigh all the evidence. This post is already long enough for most readers, so, Lord Willing, I’ll continue this discussion about the Rapture in the next post in this series, The Rapture Question Answered, Part 6. You can and should read all the previous Parts in this series. Access them easily by clicking on the Category to the right for Bible Prophecy.

This entry was posted in Bible Prophecy and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect with Facebook

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.