Evidence of Pre-Tribulation Rapture
by Michael Aprile

Recently, a person came to my home and asked that I listen to a tape of a prophetic message about the end times, requesting that I just listen to it for awareness. The premise of this person's message was based on Revelation 13 and suggested, among other things, that we are now in the beginning of the Tribulation period. The tape explained, citing some excerpts of Scripture, that Christians would have to endure to the time when the Antichrist came on the scene, in mid-tribulation, and then would be snatched from the midst of it all (before the terrible part started). This article, therefore, is taken from the letter of response I delivered to this person, for sake of edification and to refute error through the Word.

First of all, it is important to understand that there are no more "prophets" through whom God chooses to give dreams and reveal special revelation today. This error in thought has brought many people to doom and confusion and still often deceives even the elect, from time-to-time. This was how the Mormon religion came into being, leading many people down a primrose path of subtle deception. It is essential to know that the devil is the "father of lies" and deception. Just keep in mind that all prophecy has been stated, for these last ages, and most of them have been fulfilled to date. Know this: if anyone appears to say different, he, she, or it has not come from the Lord.

I suppose just as good a place as any to start is by stating the three groups of people relevant to end-time Biblical prophecy: The Jews, the Gentiles, and the Church (of believers in Jesus Christ). The Jews are, of course, God’s chosen seed of Abraham. They were, are now, and ever shall be His chosen people. Though many Jews have become Christians today (called Messianic Jews), most Jews are not believers in Jesus Christ, the Savior. The Gentiles are people who do not believe in Jesus Christ any more than the unsaved Jews, but are not Jews. The true Church is made up of saved Jews and Gentiles. While it is true that the human institution we know as the church contains an element of unbelievers, the true Church is made up of only genuine believers in Christ their Savior (see 1 Corinthians 10:32; and 1 Corinthians 1:2). This Church of true believers was begun at Pentecost and will end abruptly at the time of the Rapture.

The premise that this "saved" Church lives at least halfway through the Tribulation period.

It is my belief that the people who are saved during the Tribulation are not a part of the believer Church that will be raptured, even though these people will eventually be brought to Christ through this same belief. I have here, as my primary task, to demonstrate why the Rapture of the church-age believers (and not the chosen or remnant) occurs just prior to the seven-year Tribulation period. I hope I am correct that, if I can do this, more people will understand this and be ready to restudy the Scripture, in light of this evidence, and will eventually dispose of those ideas that run contrary to Biblical reason.

First of all, you might want some direct revelation, from Scripture (not me), that shows God’s program for Christ’s believer Church, made up of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation, that begins at Pentecost and ends with the Rapture. Revelation 4:1-3 shows the Apostle John being invited to see the future of Christ’s Church played out before him. Here we see John actually invited up (Raptured) into heaven to see and speak to these seven churches who were there worshipping God prior to the opening of the seals (scrolls) that began the wrath of the Tribulation period. When Christ (The Lamb) breaks the seals in chapter 6 through chapter 8 verse 4, John is allowed to witness the “saints” that were “too many to count” and “people from every nation, race, tribe, and language” who were “dressed in white robes” that were “washed in the blood of The Lamb” who are standing in font of the throne of heaven praying. These saints cannot be mistaken for any other besides the saints of the rapture. The Jews (144,000), who were written in the Book of the Lamb, are mentioned quite separately in chapter 7. The saints proclaimed loudly there before The Throne, “Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!”(Revelation 7:10.) This is the succinct language and the heavy indications of none other than born-again believers. What is important to note here is that this was John being shown by God the future of the church-age believers, who were praising God for saving them (Revelation 7:10), and receiving their reward (Revelation 7:15-17), before the trumpets were sounded (Revelation 8:5 through Revelation 11:19). These trumpets were, in fact, depictions of the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation period.

As if that is not enough to bring the pre-tribulation evidence to the forefront, then let’s examine some more direct Scripture in evidence to the fact. The New Testament teaches that the Church (true believers) will be removed by the Rapture before the Tribulation begins (1 Thessalonians 1:10). This verse tells us that the “saints” are waiting for “Jesus” to “come from heaven” to “save them from the Retribution which is coming.” Now, is it just me, or is that not extremely clear? If there is some question still, then read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. The Retribution, the Apostle Paul explains in Romans 1:18 through 3:20, is meant for the unbelievers among the chosen Jews and the Gentiles, but not the faithful (who simply wait for the Rapture). Then, there is 2 Peter 2:4-9 that emphasizes how God always rescued the faithful from circumstance where He poured out His wrath, before they had to face it. This is the nature and history of a God that is the "same yesterday, today, and forever" (always). Still other verses of Scripture add evidence to evidence that the saints will be kept from the Retribution, such as 1 Thessalonians 5:9; and Revelation 3:10. Yes, it is definitely true and evident that the church-age believers will be in heaven during the Tribulation. We see them, in Revelation 4:4,9-11; 7:13-14; and 19:4, as the “24 elders.” These saints will undergo the judgment seat of Christ, during the seven year Tribulation period in preparation (Revelation 19:4-10,19) for accompanying Christ at His Second Coming (Revelation 19:14). We see the heavenly preparation of the Church, during the Tribulation period (Revelation 19:7). As the story seems to go, in God’s scheme of things, the true Church is Raptured to heaven and those unbelievers left in the organized church (the institutional church) will pass into the Tribulation and form the base for the apostate super church. This is the church that the False Prophet will use to aid the worldwide rule of the Antichrist (see Revelation 13; 17-18). Once again, the true Church of Jesus Christ will not go through the Tribulation.

Before I keep my promise and show why the Rapture must be Pre-Tribulational, let’s quickly look at the four known viewpoints on the Tribulation period.

The Pre-Tribulation View is that Christ comes in fulfillment of His promise in Revelation 3:10.

The Partial Rapture View is that Christ will only rapture those who look for Him (Hebrews 9:28) - this one is not well accepted, because Rapture teachings in Scripture do not support it.

The Mid-Tribulational View is that Christ raptures His Church in the middle of the tribulation with the rapture of the witnesses in Revelation 11 serving as an illustration of it. One problem with this is that the two witnesses are Jews and have come to minister to Jews in Jerusalem, and are not members of the Church. Following this view simply skips over the concept that John is taken up into heaven as an illustration of the Rapture of the Church (see Revelation 4:1-3).

The Post-Tribulational View is that Christ will come at the end of the Tribulation period. This gives the saints no time to visit the Father’s house, before the 1000 year reign, nor time for the judgment seat of Christ, and no time for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Of course, this view overlooks that Jesus keeps believers from the time of trial (Revelation 3:10). One more problem is that a vast majority of the saints would be martyred - which is not born out in Scripture.

With this in mind, let’s now examine why the Rapture must be Pre-Tribulational.

The Lord Himself promised to deliver us.
There is a clear promise in Revelation 3:10: “Since you have my command and endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live upon the earth [emphasis added].” The word “from”, in Greek, is “out of.”

Only the Pre-Tribulation View preserves imminency.
The Bible instills in us that Christ could come at any moment. More specifically, it says Christ will come to call His bride to be with Him in His Father’s house. This expectancy is what God expects the Christian to have. That is why there are so many admonitions in Scripture to watch, be ready, and to look for Christ to come at any moment. Placing the Rapture at any point other than before the Tribulation destroys the immediate, at-any-time coming verses in Scripture. The other Tribulation views have Christians looking for the Antichrist and the events of the Tribulation, instead of for Christ. This is flat wrong and contributes to the devil’s plan, instead of God’s.

The Church is to be delivered from the wrath to come.
The promise in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 was given by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul. This promise was delivered to a church that needed to be quickly grounded in the Word of God before Paul was driven out of town. These teaching pertained to Bible prophecy and end-time events. The letter centered on the Second Coming, the imminent return of Christ, the Rapture, the Tribulation, and other end-time subjects. Aside from the points about turning from idols to the true and living God, Paul stressed waiting for the Son “Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10.) The context of that Scripture is the Rapture, for Christians are not waiting for the glorious appearing. Paul tells these people, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, that the latter will not occur until the Antichrist ( or “the lawless one) is revealed (verse 8). The Christians in Thessalonica were awaiting the coming of Christ for His Church - that is, the Rapture. We see where they already knew the Tribulation (or “wrath to come”) would follow the Rapture, and that God had promised to rescue them from the wrath to come.

Christians are not appointed to wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 points to the fact that “God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” This verse follows the strongest passage in the Bible on the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4) and must be taken strictly in light of its context. There seems to be a need for context, in interpretation, but no less a need for understanding word usage and meaning. The phrase “the day of the Lord,” in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, refers to the period when the Lord saves His church from wrath (the Rapture), puts the unbelieving through His wrath (the Tribulation), and then makes His glorious appearing (the Second Coming) to set up His kingdom - in that order. In short, the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation, while the glorious appearing occurs after it.

The Church of Believers is absent in Revelation 4-18.
The Church is mentioned 17 times in the first three chapters of Revelation, but after John (a member of the Church) is called up to heaven, at the beginning of chapter 4, he looks down on the events of the Tribulation, and the Church is not mentioned or seen again until chapter 19, when she returns to earth with her Bridegroom at His glorious appearing. Why? The answer is obvious: she isn’t in the Tribulation. She is raptured to be with her Lord before it begins!

May you now be at ease about any sense that we are now in the time of the Tribulation. Over the last twenty years or so, I have heard several seemingly well-founded themes that would fool “even the elect, if that were possible” ( Matthew 24:23-24). There is an importance for gaining wisdom over knowledge, where it comes to studying the Word of God. We must spend as much of every waking hour each day as we can rightly dividing the Word, so that we are not deceived by every wind that blows through (Acts 20:30; 1 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:6-9; and 2 Peter 2:1-3). Even Jesus warned of the wickedness of always looking for signs rather than having hope of salvation. As it has been said, there is nothing that Satan would like better than to have Christians keeping an eye out for the Antichrist rather than for Christ.

Finally, I want to relate one other concept that I feel has been hindering our understanding and has been used to create confusion among Christians about the last days. This thing that was brought to the forefront of Christian concern by Hal Lindsay, in his book The Late Great Planet Earth, concerning the dates 1948 and 1967. There is no doubt that, in the scope of Israel’s history, these dates have great import and significance. However, I am now convinced that these dates cannot be used, and indeed are falsely used, to determine dates in relationship to the end times. There is one important factor that has been continuously ignored and overlooked about these dates, where they might have significance to the end times and to Israel once again becoming a nation. That is, the verses related to this incident as a sign of the beginning of the time of great sorrows (the Tribulation), when placed contextually, read that, at this time Israel will, as a nation, “repent.” Repent certainly does not mean believe in God, because Israel had never stopped believing in God, prior to the 1948 and 1967 dates. Repent actually means to "turn around." One has to ask the vital question, “Turn around from what?” What direction are they going that God does not want them to be going? The answer is that Israel, to date, has been in disbelief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Savior (The Messiah). So, we must conclude that, within context, the verses say that Israel has not become a nation and repented. This means that the “time of great sorrows” (the Tribulation) has not yet begun. In fact, the Bible relates that God may look like He is slow to come, but rather He loves His chosen people Israel and being very merciful, has not brought the end times so that “not one [He has chosen] will be lost.”

We, as born-again, Spirit-filled, believers in Jesus Christ feel the closeness of the end, just as the Apostle Paul did. However, that is mostly because we long for Him to come as a bride does for the groom. As it is, Christ, in His mercy may not come for a long time yet. According to the teaching of dispensational truth (the study within ages of God’s overall plan), there are two ages, the Church Age (wherein we now strive) and the Millennium age (the Thousand Year Reign of Christ on earth after Christ's return), wherein there is an immeasurable spanse of time. We don’t know the day or the hour - but we have the hope of the Rapture when we will be taken up with Christ and will receive our reward, every saved person according to what they deserve.

May God bless you until we meet Him there.