Raise your hand if you have ever seen the Left Behind series. I love those movies, and I honestly believed in them wholeheartedly for many years! And, if you have visited a church recently, you have probably heard about the traditional view of the rapture depicted in those movies, too. This view is called the pre-tribulation rapture. Since it is the most popular view of the end times, there are volumes of books on the rapture from this perspective. This is the belief that Christians all over the world are simultaneously removed from all geographic corners of the face of the earth before the takeover of the antichrist and his world government assumes control. Since the pre-tribulation rapture is a very popular topic, the corrupt and satanic Hollywood system is willing to invest in movies about it to falsify the actual truth. To prove my point, there was a Left Behind movie made in 2014 starring Nicolas Cage. According to IMDB, it had a budget of $16,000,000. This fact alone should spark your interest in this topic if you are a truth seeker. Hollywood would not spend a budget of this magnitude on actual bible-based truth! So, I hope you will consider the plausibility of a different scenario with me. I call this the not-so-left-behind scenario.
Before I explain my belief in a post-tribulation rapture, I first have to admit that I did not always disagree with the conventional pre-tribulation rapture view. A perspective that espouses that Jesus will return before the 7-year tribulation period and then return once again in the very end. It is not so much that I did or didn’t agree with it; I just never really considered it from a deeper perspective. Then, about five years ago, my wife got me to think more deeply about it. She felt inspired by the Holy Spirit and brought this new perspective home to me. Once I heard about it, it made sense to me, and I began to see this new perspective with fresh eyes, and my view shifted. I was moved by what is a much more biblical understanding of the rapture topic.
Although there is not much literature on the tribulation from the standpoint of the rapture at the end of time, when Christ defeats death—the way the Bible depicts it—there are a few good books on the topic. A book I recommend is: Not Afraid of the Antichrist: Why We Don’t Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture. The book is written by Brown and Keener (2019), and the authors indicate that the pre-tribulation rapture did not appear on “the theological radar” until the 1830s. The 1830s! It is a recent inclusion in Christology, and it is only a theory. It was introduced by a pastor named John Nelson Darby. The statements he shared were not even his own, but the restated vision he had heard in the writings of Margaret MacDonald (a presumed member of his congregation). The book provides context for the scripture and for verses that support the post-tribulation rapture. So, with Brown and Keener (2019), we can see how hollow this pre-tribulation rapture theory is and how it is really a recent addition to our culture.
To better understand the Biblical view of the rapture and to see it in more detail, it is essential to view the topic from various angles. By looking at both the Old and New Testaments, you see a robust image of this event. When looking at Daniel 12:2 and 1st Thessalonians 4:16, we see a lot of detail on this topic, but also two very drastically different viewpoints.
If you read Daniel 12:2, you see that everyone will wake up from being dead during this final time period. The scripture clearly states in this verse that some of the people who rise, unfortunately, discover that they have awakened to “everlasting contempt.” In other words, some people did not choose Christ and will be faced with eternal disappointment. Of course, there are even fewer people, as implied here, awake to eternal paradise. We know from scripture citations that the total number of believing people is going to be very, very small. We see statements from Jesus about how only a few believe. Narrow is the gate, etc. Only a few can enter Heaven because Jesus said so. It is an unfortunate fact, but it is true nevertheless. Some movies and books make it look like whole civilizations are raptured up into Heaven. This is not only not true, regarding the timing of events, but also the sheer quantifiable numbers of people who are saved are inaccurate according to scripture.
In the 1st Thessalonians 4:16, you see a very different viewpoint. It only speaks about people who have “fallen asleep” and they are set-apart and join Jesus. In the context of the previous statements, the surrounding sections encourage the living friends, in Paul’s lifetime, to have hope about the future when these deceased friends who trusted in Jesus will awake (Brown & Keener, 2019). The verse should be seen as coordinated with Daniel’s text and as providing greater contextual detail.
To put all other arguments to rest, since Jesus is the “…author and finisher” (Hebrews 12:2) of all things, I take the words of Jesus as the ultimate authority. In scripture, in Matthew, Jesus really elaborates on the timing of the final rapture. In Matthew 24:29, Jesus says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” And in Matthew 24:30, Jesus states, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Taken together, these two verses alone state that He will return after the tribulation. He will not return before then because He would make several trips. He contextually arrives, so to speak, after the 7-year tribulation period, and He clearly states this in these verses in Matthew.
As we can see, the Bible appears to be really clear on this topic. Yet, the present-day culture is insistent that the rapture occur before the Bible’s timing. Informatively, the Bible presents this topic from different angles, giving it three dimensions: the perspective of the not saved and the saved. Finally, Jesus Himself presents the timing of the final rapture and positions it in the context of the 7-year tribulation – not to mention other areas of scripture that clearly present facts.
To quote the late great Billy Mays, “But wait, there’s more!” A final example I often cite is the very short verse in Proverbs 10:30: “The righteous will not be removed.” In other words, it is yet another source in the Bible that clearly states that we will not be raptured out of the earth early.
Lastly, there are the thematic issues with the conventional pre-tribulation rapture. Brown and Keener (2019) argue that suffering before glorification is a scriptural pattern. It is the structure of Jesus’s own ministry. He suffered and then He was later glorified. The pre-tribulation rapture does not fit with the larger structure and themes of the Bible, which portray going through suffering and then being glorified. The pre-tribulation rapture just does not fit. Like a puzzle piece forced into place, it does not work with the larger puzzle. It is odd how this theory has become so mainstream. Just a few thoughts here on this topic. I hope you enjoy these statements. Thank you for reading my blog.
References:
Brown, M. L., & Keener, C. S. (2019). Not Afraid of the Antichrist: Why We Don’t Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Chosen Books.
Left Behind. (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2467046/