The Pre-Tribulation Rapture Lie

I am borrowing Mr. John Little’s title from his July 28, 2014 article I just received in his “The Shock Letter,” http://www.omegashock.com/2014/07/28/the-pre-tribulation-rapture-lie/

I trust the title alone is shocking enough.

In part, Mr. Little states we must start with the truth.

When judging a lie, you must always start with the truth, and you will find it in the Bible. It’s really quite simple, as the truth often is, and it won’t require lots of verbal gymnastics to say what is… the truth.
Let me summarize the points first:
• Truth ALWAYS trumps THEORY – ALWAYS
• The Antichrist must come before the Rapture
• The Tribulation must come before the Rapture
• The Sun and Moon Must be Darkened before the Rapture
• The Lord Must descend from Heaven with a Shout before the Rapture
• Jesus Must Return before the Rapture
• The Resurrection must happen just before the Rapture (or, at the same time)
• There is only one resurrection for those who are God’s people
• God promised that Christians would suffer
• There IS a Place of Safety on this Earth

(1) That truth always trumps theory is certainly true. Notice it is John Little who is calling the Bible doctrine of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture a theory.

Every time the Rapture is mentioned in the New Testament, it is always mentioned BEFORE any reference is made to the Day of the Lord, therefore it takes place before the day of the Lord and before the Great Tribulation.

PROOF:

The Rapture is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The Day of the Lord is not mentioned until 1 Thessalonians 5:2. As surely as chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians comes before chapter 5, so most certainly the Rapture comes before the Day of the Lord. Since the Great Tribulation takes place after the Day of the Lord begins, the Rapture takes place before the Great Tribulation. Therefore, the Rapture is called the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. This is not theory. This is direct Bible fact.

The Rapture is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 under the term “our gathering together unto Him,” which is mentioned before the reference to the Day of the Lord found in 2 Thessalonians 2:2. As surely as verse 1 comes before verse 2, so most certainly the Rapture comes before the Day of the Lord and its accompanying appearance of the Apostasy and the Antichrist. This order of events is the point of Paul’s argument: the Thessalonians could not have then been in the Day of the Lord because the Rapture had not taken place yet, and the Day of the Lord could not have started because the great apostasy had not taken place, nor had the Antichrist yet appeared, both of which events Paul states come first before the Day of the Lord begins. This is directly stated Biblical fact.

(2) The tribulation must come before the Rapture.

Wrong. The Great Tribulation (Revelation 7:14; Revelation 6:17) takes place during the Day of the Lord, and the Day of the Lord takes place some time after the Rapture, as proven in my point (1) above.

(3) The Sun and the Moon must be darkened before the Rapture.

Not so. Those events come before the Second Coming of Christ in power and great glory in the Day of the Lord. Signs in the heaven are a mark of the Day of the Lord, and therefore take place after the Rapture which comes before the onset of the Day of the Lord.

(4) The Lord must descend from Heaven with a shout before the Rapture.

Actually, the Lord descends from heaven with the shout of the archangel at the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17).

(5) Jesus must return before the Rapture.

Indeed He does, because He comes to take us to be with Himself (John 14:3) at that time, when all those who are dead in Christ and those alive in Christ at His return will meet Him in the air, the saved dead receiving their resurrection bodies at this time (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52), the living receiving their glorified bodies without experiencing physical death (1 Corinthians 15:51; Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:2, 3).

(6) The resurrection must happen just before the Rapture (or, at the same time)

This is true for all the living and dead who are in Christ at the time of the Rapture, but note this is the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 23, 51, 52; John 11:25, 26) of this age. This is the only resurrection which is accompanied by a Rapture.

(7) There is only one resurrection for those who are God’s people.

This may be labeled “the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:5, 6). Yet this “first resurrection” contains separate components which take place at different times, but always pertains to the resurrection of the righteous at those times. It is the unsaved dead who experience the “second resurrection,” or as Jesus called it, “the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29). The “first resurrection” includes these four components: (a) The resurrection of Christ Himself, the “firstfruits,” 1 Corinthians 15:23; (b) The resurrection of saints or believers of this church age at the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, 1 Thessalonians 4:16; (c) The resurrection of the saints saved during the Great Tribulation period after the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, Revelation 20:3-5; together with (d) The resurrection of the Old Testament saints (Daniel 12:2; Isaiah 26:19). Isaiah 26:20 places the resurrection of Isaiah 26:19 at the time after the indignation is past. The “indignation” is the day of wrath, the Great Tribulation. These four components constitute the First Resurrection. So while “there is only one resurrection for those who are God’s people,” that one resurrection, the “first resurrection” (Revelation 20:5) has the indicated four separate components which take place at different times.

(8) God promised that Christians would suffer

That is certainly true (Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:12), but that is not equivalent to saying all Christians will suffer the Great Tribulation. There is a clear difference! No Christians alive during this Church Age will be involved in suffering during the Great Tribulation, for they will all have been raptured to be with Christ at the Pre-Tribulation Rapture which takes place before the onset of the Day of the Lord. To suggest otherwise is to fall into the error, even heresy, that Paul wrote the book of 2 Thessalonians to address (2 Thessalonians 2:1, 2, 3).

(9) There IS a place of safety on this earth

Mr. John Little brings up a most interesting point in Bible prophecy. There is a place of safety for those who become believers on this earth after the Pre-Tribulation Rapture has taken place. These believers are never spoken of in the book of Revelation as the Church. The book of Revelation does not mention the Church throughout all the chapters depicting the events of the Day of the Lord and the Great Tribulation–chapters 4 through 18 or so, as I recall. How account for this strange omission? I believe the best explanation is that this proves the Church as we know it today is not present, but believers surely are. There are many interesting passages of Scripture which may apply to this time: Zephaniah 2:3; Habakkuk 3:16; Isaiah 16:3, and numerous other passages which may be readily found by consulting the cross references I have furnished in either The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible. They make for a most interesting study.

Note that I have addressed in full Mr. John Little’s mistaken stance about the Rapture in what is so far a seven part series under the category “Bible Prophecy” just to the right on this page.

To get more truly Biblical answers about the Pre-Tribulation Rapture that address Mr. John Little’s claims read more there. You will learn more about Bible prophecy than you may ever have thought there was to learn.

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9 Responses to The Pre-Tribulation Rapture Lie

  1. Jerry says:

    I have never figured out how to make a “link” work in the main post, so here is the link in a “live form” (I hope) that will get you directly to Mr. Little’s article of today which I have answered above:

    I am borrowing Mr. John Little’s title from his July 28, 2014 article I just received in his “The Shock Letter,” http://www.omegashock.com/2014/07/28/the-pre-tribulation-rapture-lie/

  2. Jerry says:

    Here is the response to John Little’s letter of today which I posted as a comment on his website. In the past he has allowed my comments to appear, so once he approves it, if he does, it will be there. But here it is as I have saved it:

    http://www.omegashock.com/2014/07/28/the-pre-tribulation-rapture-lie/#comment-7421
    Dear John,

    I appreciate your commentary. I wrote a commendatory post in support of your position last week in a “Daily Bible Nugget” on a passage from Revelation that proved you were correct in asserting no one who takes the Mark of the Beast can be saved.

    But today’s post about the Pre-tribulation Rapture I totally disagree with. I have already answered your position about the Pre-tribulation Rapture in an eight-part series under the category “Bible Prophecy,” under my title “Rapture Question Answered” at my website, http://www.realbiblestudy.com, which I invite you and your readers to visit.

    It is so far obvious to me that you did not read any of what I posted for you at http://www.realbiblestudy.com, but the material is still there, and I urge you to study what I have written most carefully.

    I believe I have demonstrably done my homework on this issue. May I kindly suggest that you may not have done your homework on this issue.

    The very verse you began this current article with, 2 Thessalonians 2:1, fully disproves your position.

    “Our gathering unto Him” is a reference to the Rapture.

    Therefore, in this very passage (since it is mentioned first!) it is mentioned BEFORE any events of the Day of the Lord, and takes place before the great apostasy as well as before the appearance of the Antichrist–the main point of Paul’s argument here.

  3. Jerry says:

    I visited Mr. John Little’s website just now.

    He did allow my comment to post, minus the reference to this website, which of course is his privilege.

    Here is his response to what I wrote to him:

    Hi Jerome Smith,

    I have seen your ‘proof’, and it grieves me to see you take such an obviously twisted path. I know that you mean well, but you have chosen the path of a lie.

    All that you have been able to do is offer vague interpretations that are out of context.

    The Bible says that:

    The Rapture will not come until after the Antichrist appears.

    The Rapture will not come until after the Tribulation.

    The Rapture will not come until the resurrection.

    Yet, you have chosen to follow the lie, instead of believing the truth.

    Jerome, this will not end well for you. I’m so sorry.

    Yours in Christ,

    John Little
    omegashock.com

  4. Jerry says:

    Dear John Little,

    We do differ on some issues of prophetic interpretation.

    You believe you are right about the Rapture timing.

    I believe you are wrong about the Rapture timing.

    I took precious time to answer what you have said about the Rapture, and in detail have answered it point by point with direct reference to the Bible itself. I quoted you fully and I’m sure accurately from what you sent me.

    I am a retired reading specialist. May I kindly suggest that one of us must surely have a reading comprehension problem.

    On Judgment Day we will both be privileged to find out who–it could be you, it could be me, it could be both of us.

    In any case, the readers here at my website have the link to your website, though the reverse may not be true.

    I trust the readers here to come to a sound, Biblical conclusion, based upon their careful reading of the evidence.

    We are both believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the most important issue.

    Not all who believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture think that the Rapture will keep true believers from experiencing tribulation. The Bible clearly says otherwise (Acts 14:22).

    Not all who believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture fail to prepare as God leads both spiritually and physically.

    The truth or falsity of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine taught in the Bible does not depend on the impact of that belief upon the physical preparedness of its adherents for those things that are surely coming upon us.

    Surely Bible believing, Bible studying Christians are aware of Proverbs 22:3. That verse is warning enough at all times for careful Bible readers. I have featured the presentation of a very full cross reference study of that verse on this site which can be readily found by entering “Proverbs 22:3” in the “search box” in the extreme upper right hand corner of this page.

    Thank you for your care and concern for the preparedness of your fellow believers. I trust the Lord through His Holy Spirit will direct both of us to a more accurate understanding of His written Word found only in the Bible.

    Your brother in Christ,

    Jerome Smith

  5. Diane says:

    Hi . I have been reading and studying Habakkuk
    and the times around that book which clearly point to where the world is at today.
    The church will be raptured , when?
    when God says so !
    we cannot predict except know and recognise the season.
    He even tells us not to. We will know the signs of the times and He say’s
    “Look up for your redemption is near.”
    A lot of what is written in these books around Habakkuk refers to Israel and its enemies and those who are plundering other Nations for their own gain.
    I am ready and waiting just as he has commanded and will carry on doing his plan and purpose for my life until that glorious day when we see him face to face. Thank you for you input may God bless you. Diane. You may contact me by email..

  6. Jerry says:

    Dear Diane,

    Thank you for such a fine comment. Habakkuk is an amazing book of prophecy, indeed. Habakkuk 3:16 is an especially interesting verse of prophecy. Check out the cross references associated with this verse. You will be delighted with what you find in God’s Word as a result!

  7. Jerry says:

    Dear Josh,

    Thank you for visiting my Real Bible Study site and leaving what should prove to be most interesting links.

    I have not read or visited the links you gave yet, but I hope to do so soon, and to respond with my comments in turn.

  8. Jerry says:

    Dear Josh,

    I visited your link to the “Counterfeit Rapture” site.

    Its position is evident from this statement:

    “The Pre-tribulation rapture position is one that asserts that the Church will be raptured to Jesus prior to a seven year tribulation period which is initiated when the Antichrist comes to power and makes a seven year covenant with the, “many,” usually identified as Israel. This site seeks to inform and edify brothers and sisters in Christ that there is no biblical foundation for the Pre-tribulation rapture doctrine and to warn the same of the persecution that is coming upon them unawares so that we can better prepare for such a time and withstand the deceptions and attacks of the enemy.

    Copyright © 2014 by Counterfeit Rapture. All rights reserved. ”

    I believe I have thoroughly addressed the claims against the Pre-tribulation Rapture position made on the site thoroughly here on my site in several articles archived here in the category to the right about Bible prophecy.

    If you are aware of any important specific issue on the subject that I have not addressed, leave a comment pointing it out, and I will address it for you from Scripture.

    I checked out the “recommended reading” provided. I noticed there is given a link to the Steve Quayle website, which I do check almost daily. I also saw a link to a book I have and also highly recommend about what went on at Jekyll Island, when our nation unfortunately set up the Federal Reserve, the income tax, and the required Constitutional amendments needed to establish those unfortunate and misguided institutions which are at the heart of some of our economic troubles.

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