The Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the

New Testament Church

By Norman E. Colby

Copyright 2006 by Norman E. Colby. All rights reserved.

The author and copyright owner, Norman E. Colby, has given an exclusive right to Pastor Steve Anderson, at Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, to publish this article on the global Internet at www.kjvprophecy.com. This article may not be duplicated, whether in part or in whole, on any other website without prior, written permission from the author. This article may be downloaded for personal use, and for teaching or criticism, under the following conditions: (1) this article must be reproduced in its entirety, including this copyright/permissions notice, (2) this article may not be altered, modified, or appended in any way by addition, deletion, or change, whether by means of obliteration, notation, comments, footnotes, attachments, or any other means, (3) this article may not be bundled with any other material for subsequent republication, (4) this article may not be sold or traded under any circumstances, and (5) any distribution of this article must conform to all of the conditions stipulated above without any exceptions. Quotations taken from this article must be acknowledged, and must conform to accepted industry standards as well as to the conditions stipulated in 17 USC § 1.107. These limited grants must not be construed to permit any use incompatible with the author's full rights and protections under 17 USC.

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Author's disclaimer: I have earnestly endeavored to correctly and plainly set forth, in proper order, the standard arguments supporting a pre-tribulational rapture of NT churches, even though I do not (repeat: not) subscribe to the validity of that theory. Also, unlike committed pre-tribbers, I do subscribe to the final authority of every word in the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible. See my book titled The True Resurrection (© 1989, 2006) for my position on those important issues.

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The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven

with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,

and with the trump of God:

and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain

shall be caught up together with them in the clouds,

to meet the Lord in the air:

and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

(I Thess 4:16-17)

INTRODUCTION

The Kingdom of Christ on the present earth, promised in the OT (Isa 11:1 – 12:6, et.al.), will be limited to a duration of 1000 years (Rev 20:3-7); therefore, that time is referred to as the "Millennium". Since the Church will reign with Christ during that time, the Rapture of the Church must precede the Millennial Kingdom (Rev 20:6). Hence, we say that the Rapture of the Church must be "Pre-Millennial". The Millennium will also be preceded by a seven-year long period of time known as "The Tribulation Period" (Matt 24:21 & 24:29).

The length of the Tribulation period has been calculated from Dan 9:24-27, which predicts a prophetic period "seventy weeks" long. Each day of a prophetic "week" is actually one year, so one week would be seven years, and 70 weeks would be 490 years. The seventy weeks began with a decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem (which had been destroyed earlier by Nebuchadnezzar), and will end with the beginning of the Millennium. The seventy weeks are subdivided into two parts: the first sixty-nine weeks, and the last week. The first 69 weeks began on the 1^st day of Nissan (the 14^th day of March), 445 B.C., when Artaxerxes commanded the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and ended on the 6^th day of April, A.D. 32, when Jesus, coming as the predicted "Messiah the Prince" (Dan 9:26), triumphantly rode into the city while the people shouted "Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord…" (Luke 19:38). Using the Biblical 360 days per year, there are 173,880 days between those two dates – exactly 69 weeks of years. So the first 69 out of the total 70 weeks were completed long ago. Since the Millennium will begin as soon as the 70^th week ends, and since the Millennium has obviously not yet begun, we know that the last week of seven years has not yet come to pass. That means there is a “gap” between the end of the 69^th week and the beginning of the 70^th week. That gap is where the present NT Church Age fits into God's scheme of things. The last week of seven years is "The Tribulation Period" that Jesus referred to in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, & Luke 21).

The seven-year Tribulation period, which may be referred to as the "time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer 30:7), is a time set aside to prepare Israel for the Millennial Kingdom. The Tribulation period is also called "the day of the Lord" throughout the OT. That day will be the time when God pours out His wrath upon the whole world (Isa 13:1-11, Joel 2:1-11, Zech 12:1-11, & Revelation chapters 6-19). The Tribulation period is not a part of the Church Age, which began on the first day of Pentecost following Jesus' crucifixion and ends when the Tribulation period starts. The NT Church will be exempt from the Tribulation period because the Church is not appointed unto wrath (I Thess 5:9). This truth is also evident in Rev 3:10, where God promised to keep the Church from the "hour of temptation" (i.e., the Tribulation period). Since the Tribulation period is the time for God's wrath to be poured out, and since the Church is exempt from that wrath, the Church must be Raptured before the seven-year long Tribulation period starts. Hence, we say the Rapture of the Church is Pre-Tribulational, which is a doctrine commonly called "The Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the NT Church".

It is important for the student of prophecy to distinguish between national Israel and the NT Church (I Cor 10:32). Those two terms must never be confused because each of those entities has a separate program in God's Dispensational scheme of things. National Israel has certain promises in the OT that have not yet been fulfilled and that have nothing to do with the Church. At the same time, the NT Church has its own promises from God that have nothing to do with Israel. Hence, we say that OT Israel and the NT Church have two entirely separate programs, with each program being fulfilled in its own distinct Dispensation of time.

For example, we know for certain that the Church had no part in the first 69 weeks of Daniel's 70 weeks (which is a time uniquely reserved for Israel's program). Therefore, we can be equally certain that the Church will not have any part in the 70^th week either. This means the Church must be Raptured before the start of the 70^th week. Once again, since the 70^th week is the Tribulation period, we say the Rapture of the Church must be Pre-Tribulational. Those kinds of distinctions between Israel and the NT Church must be maintained in order to "rightly divide" the word of truth (II Tim 2:15).

THE SUPPORTING ARGUMENTS

There are many independent arguments supporting the validity of this preliminary analysis of Bible prophecy with respect to the Rapture of the NT Church. The cumulative strength of those arguments is found in the fact that they are each based on a "grammatical-historical" interpretation of the scriptures. "Grammatical" means that the scriptures are interpreted in their most literal sense. "Historical" means that the Dispensational context of a passage of scripture is foremost in its interpretation. In fact, a Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church is the only possible outcome when Bible prophecy is interpreted according to the rules of the grammatical-historical method. All other interpretations of prophecy require subjectively allegorizing (or spiritualizing) the scriptures to sustain themselves.

In the first place, the OT does not mention the Church at all, so it is absent from all the prophetic passages relating to "the day of the Lord". In addition, the NT passages of scripture dealing with the Tribulation period do not mention the Church either (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and the book of Revelation after v. 5:14 until v. 19:4). Since the Church is not mentioned in any of the Tribulation passages in either Testament, we can only conclude that the NT Church is not included in any of the events of the Tribulation period. Moreover, the three primary NT passages concerning the Rapture of the Church (John 14:1-3, I Cor 15:51-53, & I Thess 4:13-18) do not mention the Tribulation period by that name, or by any other names, such as the "day of the Lord" or the "time of Jacob's trouble". Since the Tribulation period is not mentioned in any of the Rapture passages, we can only conclude, once again, that the Tribulation period has nothing to do with the Church.

Another point that should be made is that there are no "signs" associated with the Rapture of the Church in any of the Rapture passages (I Cor 1:22). This means that there are no prophetic events that must occur between now and the Rapture. That's why the Church is supposed to be looking for Jesus to come back and not for signs of His coming. Those saints who are looking for His coming tend toward godliness (I John 3:2-3), whereas those who are looking for signs tend to be slothful (Matt 24:48-51).

Given that there are no references to the Church in Tribulation passages, no references to the Tribulation in Rapture passages, and no signs preceding the Rapture of the Church, we can only conclude that the next event on the prophetic calendar is the Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the NT Church. Consequently, we say that the Rapture is "imminent" – meaning that it could occur at any moment, maybe even today (Matt 24:36, Mark 13:35, Philip 3:20-21, Titus 2:13, & Rev 22:20). Imminence is the most important characteristic of the Rapture of the Church, and it is at the heart of all true prophetic interpretation regarding the Rapture.

Accordingly, there will be "two phases" to Jesus' Second Coming. At the first phase He comes for the Church at the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, and then at the second phase He comes back again at the Battle of Armageddon. The first phase is currently an "any moment" imminent event that will be carried out in "secret" before the Tribulation period starts, but the second phase is fixed on the calendar as the last day of the future seven-year long Tribulation period (Rev 1:7 & 19:11-21). At the first phase He only comes back in the clouds to Rapture the Church up into the heavenlies, but at the second phase He comes all the way back down to the earth bringing the previously Raptured Church with Him.

When we say the Pre-Tribulation Rapture will be carried out in secret, we do not mean that no one ever realizes it happened. Instead, we mean that it occurs so quickly, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (I Cor 15:52), that no one left behind will have seen it happen, and afterward will be wondering where everybody else went. But why would the Rapture be done in secret instead of letting everyone on earth see it happen? The answer is simple. If everybody saw it happen with their own eyes, then there would not be a single person left on earth who did not know that Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead, that He really is the Son of God, and that He really is going to judge the earth. Consequently, everyone on earth would be down on their knees repenting of their sins and crying out for salvation in Jesus' name. In other words, they would be saved by sight not by faith, contrary to Eph 2:8.

Another passage of scripture which necessitates a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church is II Thess 2:6-8, which refers back to the revelation of the "man of sin" in II Thess 2:3 (who is the same as the Beast in Rev 13:1). Those passages teach that the Holy Spirit is restraining the revelation of the Beast until the Spirit is "taken out of the way". Since the Holy Spirit is working through the Church to cause that restraint during the present age, it follows that the restraint will continue only up until the time the Church is taken out of the world, or Raptured. At that time the Spirit will finally be removed to allow the Beast to be revealed. Since the Beast will be revealed at the very beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period, it follows that the Rapture of the Church must precede the seven-year Tribulation period.

After the Rapture, the Church will enter into the heavenlies (John 14:3) where she will remain for the seven-year duration of the Tribulation period. During that time she will be judged (I Cor 3:13-15 & II Cor 5:6-10), after which the marriage of the Lamb will take place (Rev 19:7-9).

THE BOOK OF REVELATION

The book of Revelation is rich with many proofs of a Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church. Rev 1:19 breaks the book down into two periods of time embracing (1) the things which John has seen so far (v. 1:1-18) & the things which were then present (v. 1:20 - 3:22), and (2) the things which were then still to come in the future (v. 4:1 - 22:21). Rev 4:1-2 is the turning point between the things present in John's day and the things to come after the Church Age. Many prophecy scholars believe that the Rapture of the NT Church is depicted in Rev 4:1-2, since the picture of the Apostle John being caught up into the heavenlies is an appropriate depiction of the Rapture of the Church. Moreover, Rev 4:1-2 is the only point, chronologically speaking, where the Pre-Tribulation Rapture seems to fit into the book of Revelation.

That point is supported by the presence of the twenty-four elders in heaven immediately afterward in Rev 4:4, 4:10-11, & 5:8-14. The 24 elders represent the Church in heaven after the Rapture. That is evident from the fact that the elders were redeemed by the blood "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev 5:9) and have been made "kings and priests" and "shall reign on the earth" (Rev 5:10). Only the NT Church fits those descriptions.

Since the elders are seen immediately after the point of Rapture in the book of Revelation and immediately before God’s wrath is released upon the earth (via the seven seals, trumpets, & vials), and since the elders obviously represent the NT Church, it is clear that the Rapture of the Church must take place before God begins venting His wrath in Rev 6:1, consistent with God's promise of deliverance in Rev 3:10. That point is supported by the fact that the Church is not seen anywhere on earth while the three, seven-fold judgments of God's wrath are being vented upon both the earth and the people left behind (Rev 6:1 - 19:13).

Revelation 20:4-6 speaks of "the first resurrection". However, the context of that verse does not mean that the first resurrection must come after the Battle of Armageddon. We know that Rev 20:4-6 cannot force placing the first resurrection after that battle, because Jesus' own resurrection was truly the very first resurrection. When Rev 20:4-6 speaks of "the first resurrection", it is actually speaking of a series of resurrections, or as I Cor 15:23 describes the process, "every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." What this means is that the first resurrection will consist of several different groups of saints resurrected in a series depending on their appropriate order within the series. First comes Christ, then those OT saints seen in Matt 27:52-53, then the Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church in I Thess 4:16-17, and finally the Tribulation martyrs & the rest of the OT saints in Rev 20:4. Each of those orders is included in the first resurrection described in Rev 20:4. The ongoing Pre-Millennial process of resurrecting all of those various groups of saints is called "the first resurrection" for the purpose of distinguishing all their resurrections, as a whole, from the resurrection of the wicked that will be raised after the Millennium.

From the book of Revelation we also learn that at the end of the Tribulation period, the Church, composing the armies in heaven (Rev 19:14), will follow Jesus out of heaven (Rev 19:11) to the Battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:14, 16:16 & 19:14-21). After the battle, NT Church saints will reign on earth with Christ during the Millennium (Rev 20:6).

PROPHECIES EXCLUDING THE CHURCH

The Olivet discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, & Luke 21) describes the course of the Tribulation period on earth, which begins after the NT Church has been Raptured. As the first half of the Tribulation progresses, conditions will grow worse and worse, culminating in the abomination of desolation (Matt 24:15 & Dan 9:27). After that event, conditions in the last half of the Tribulation become so bad that the Bible calls it a time of "great tribulation" (Matt 24:21), a time that culminates in the Battle of Armageddon (Matt 24:27-28 & Rev 19:17-18). After that battle, which ends the Tribulation period, the Jews will be regathered back into their ancestral homeland (Matt 24:29-31), fulfilling God’s OT promises in Joel 2:28-32, et.al.

The Olivet discourse only concerns Israel, not the NT Church. We know this because the events occurring in the Olivet discourse occur during the 70^th week, and as noted previously, the Church has no part in that week. It is extremely significant that the Olivet discourse prophesies that the events of the Tribulation period are all associated with the reconstitution of Israel as a nation among all the other nations of the earth (Matt 24:32-33), an event which took place in 1948 when the U.N. recognized Israel as a legitimate, independent state. The current state of Israel would never have been born if the Jewish race had disappeared over the twenty centuries since Jerusalem's destruction A.D. 70. But, according to Jesus, the Jews could not pass away as a race because God must faithfully fulfill all of His promises to them (Matt 24:34).

The Jewishness of the Olivet discourse is supported by the fact that Jesus' disciples were Jewish, and being Jewish they would have represented Israel as the recipients of Jesus' discourse. So when Jesus addressed His discourse to His disciples, He was, in effect, addressing the nation of Israel through them. This point is especially clear in Luke 21:28, where the resurrection of OT Jewish saints is in view. The exclusive Jewishness of the discourse is also evident from the fact that geography locates those events in Israel. For example, the temple in Matt 24:15 will be located in Jerusalem, and the customs described throughout the discourse are all Jewish (such as the Sabbath day in Matt 24:20). All of those factors tend to make the Olivet discourse an exclusively Jewish matter having nothing to do with the NT Church. It is for this reason that the word "elect", used throughout the discourse, must be taken to refer to the Jewish race and not to the NT Church.

PROBLEM TEXTS

One problem that occasionally arises when studying prophecy concerns the expression "day of Christ" in II Thess 2:2. This day is often confused with the "day of the Lord", resulting in a misunderstanding of what II Thess 2:1-5 is actually teaching. The great Bible scholar, Donald Barnhouse, corrects the confusion with his comments on this passage as follows:

Prophecy students should not be misled by erroneous translations such as those in the King James Version.² The whole idea in II Thess 2:1-5 is not that the Rapture occurs after the abomination of desolation, as the KJV would have it (in II Thess 2:3-4), but rather that the "day of the Lord" (i.e., the "Great Tribulation" time) starts after the "lawless one is revealed", as the corrected versions have it. This should clear up any question about what's really going on in II Thessalonians chapter 2. This should also reinforce the necessity for a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church in II Thess 2:6-8.

Another problem might arise over confusing the "last trump" in I Cor 15:52 with the seventh trumpet in the book of Revelation (Rev 11:15). Those two trumpets cannot be the same trumpet because the trumpet in I Cor 15:52 sounds at the Rapture, which is Pre-Tribulational, whereas, the seventh trumpet in the book of Revelation obviously sounds no sooner than the middle of the 70^th week. Besides, the Rapture trumpet is the "trump of God" (I Thess 4:16) but an angel sounds the seventh trumpet, so they must be different trumpets. Furthermore, Paul's Corinthian epistles were addressed to the Church, but the book of Revelation is primarily concerned with Israel, not the Church. So those two trumpets cannot possibly be the same trumpet.

Also, a problem that might occur to diligent prophecy students concerns the population of the Millennial Kingdom. Pre-Tribulationalism solves this problem where all other interpretations fail. After the Church is Raptured at the beginning of the 70^th week, there will be no believers left on earth. However, God's grace will immediately convert 144,000 Jews (Rev 7:1-8) who will then immediately begin their worldwide ministry of evangelizing the Gentiles. This will result in an innumerable multitude of new converts (Rev 7:9-10), and many of them will survive the Tribulation period (in spite of the mark of the Beast in Rev 13:16-17). Those surviving Gentile converts will populate the Millennial Kingdom, along with those Jews converted under Joel 2:32.

This interpretation is reinforced by the parable of the wheat & tares in Matt 13:24-30 & 36-43, where the "good seed" is the 144,000 Israelites converted in Rev 7:4, the "wheat" is the converted Gentile multitude in Rev 7:9, and the "end of the world" (i.e., "the times of the Gentiles" in Luke 21:24) is the end of the 70^th week, and the "barn" is the Millennial Kingdom. (Some commentators erroneously teach that this parable refers to the Rapture of the NT Church, rather than to the resurrection of Tribulation saints.)

Summary of the doctrine of the

Pre-Tribulation Rapture of The NT Church

The Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the NT Church is based on a literal interpretation of Bible prophecy using a grammatical-historical method to Dispensationally analyze the prophecies. A strict separation of national Israel and the NT Church is always kept at the forefront of every interpretation. Under this method, the primary Rapture passages are determined to be John 14:1-3, I Cor 15:51-53, & I Thess 4:13-18, supplemented by II Thess 2:6-8, and Rev 4:1-4, & 5:8-14. The passages pertaining only to Israel are determined to be all three accounts of the Olivet discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, & Luke 21) and Revelation chapters 6-19. Passages which are frequently interpreted erroneously are Matthew 13's parable of "the wheat & tares", II Thess 2:1-4 (which confuses the day of Christ with the day of the Lord), and Rev 20:4-6; however, when the text is interpreted correctly, then all of those passages are also found to support the Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church.

The essential arguments supporting the Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the NT Church are these: (1) a clear-cut distinction must always be maintained between national Israel and the NT Church; (2) Daniel's 70 weeks pertain to Israel and not to the Church; therefore, the Church (which started on the day of Pentecost following Jesus' crucifixion) will not enter into the 70^th week; (3) the 70^th week of Daniel, commonly referred to as "The Tribulation Period", is the time when God will pour out all His wrath upon the earth, and since the Church is exempt from God's wrath, the Church must be Raptured prior to the start of the Tribulation period; (4) there are no prophetic events scheduled to happen between now and the Rapture, therefore the Rapture of the Church is "imminent", meaning that it could occur at any moment, even right now while you're reading this sentence; and, (5) there will be two phases to Christ's single Second Coming: first He comes for His Church at the Rapture, and seven years later He returns with His Church for the Battle of Armageddon. Once those prophetic basics are correctly understood, then everything else in prophecy automatically follows.

The bottom line is that the NT Church must be Raptured before the Tribulation period starts, not during or after the Tribulation. That promise of deliverance is truly the "blessed hope" of the Church (Titus 2:13). Maranatha!

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AUTHOR’S COMMENTS

The foregoing article seems to be a fair summary of arguments in favor of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory. I might say it sounds like a pretty strong case. Wouldn't you agree that the arguments supporting a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church are strong? Of course, I’m assuming you believe the Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church is a true and correct interpretation of Bible prophecy regarding Jesus' Second Coming. You do believe that, don't you? OK; if so, then why do you believe that? Do you believe in a Pre-Tribulational Rapture just because everybody else believes it's true? Or, do you believe in a Pre-Tribulational Rapture because its supporting arguments are actually based on a solid, literal interpretation of Bible prophecy? If you believe the Pre-Tribulational interpretation of Bible prophecy is literal, can you give some specific examples of its literal interpretations? What specific examples can you cite?

Does the Bible literally state anywhere that the entire seven years of Daniel's 70^th week is called the "Tribulation" period by that name, or even by the names of "the time of Jacob's trouble" or "the day of the Lord"? No, it doesn't actually say that anywhere, does it? Does the Bible literally state anywhere that the entire seven years of Daniel's 70^th week are the time of God's "wrath"? Well, no, it doesn't actually say that anywhere either, does it? Does the Bible literally state anywhere that NT churches began on the day of Pentecost following Jesus' crucifixion? Again, not so – after all, Jesus called out His first congregation of baptized believers the day after He was baptized, 3½ years before the end of the 69^th week (John 1:37-51). So is it literally true that there were no NT churches in any part of the first 69 weeks? No, obviously that claim could not be true. Well, if that claim is not true, then is it valid to argue on the basis of that invalid claim that NT churches cannot enter into any part of the 70^th week either? Once again, the derived claim would also be false, wouldn't it? What about the Dispensational necessity of segregating the timeframes in which national Israel and NT churches fulfill separate "programs"? Just exactly where in the Bible does it literally state that they must maintain segregated timeframes in order for them to maintain their status as distinguishable entities? Once again, the Bible does not literally state that anywhere, does it? But, does that require us to conclude that those two entities cannot be distinguished in God's prophetic work? No; in fact, the Bible forbids that conclusion as well. (Those two entities must be distinguished in terms of God's promises to each – but not in terms of the timeframes in which those entities are associated.) So how do you determine which passages of scripture refer to national Israel and which ones refer to NT churches? Do you distinguish Rapture passages from Tribulation passages according to which passages do not mention the word "church" and which passages do not mention the word "Tribulation"? If so, then can you legitimately claim that you are interpreting literally when, in fact, you are basing your argument on the absence of words in the text – rather than on literal words actually present within the text? The correct answer is "No"; you cannot truthfully make the claim of literally interpreting anything that way. That form of rhetoric is called an "argument from silence". An argument from silence cannot be considered a literal interpretation, because there are no words present in the text that can be literally "interpreted" to support any claims one way or the other. Would you say that we should base our doctrine on what God actually said, or would you prefer that we base it on what God did not say? One can imagine any possibility to fill in the blanks of what God did not say — and what would that lead to? It could lead to almost any heresy, couldn't it? Where in the Bible does it literally state that there will be no "signs" preceding the Rapture of NT churches? I Corinthians 1:22 does not say that; it only says what men want, not what God will give them. Where in the Bible does it literally state that Jesus' could return at any moment to rapture NT churches — maybe even today? How about Matt 24:36 or Mark 13:35? No; those verses refer to the time of Jesus' return as it is described within the context of the Olivet discourse, which supposedly has nothing to do with NT churches, so those verses cannot be applied to Pre-Tribulation Rapture of "the Church". Well then, how about, Philip 3:20-21, Titus 2:13, Rev 22:20, et.al.? Actually, those verses do not literally state anything at all about the time of Jesus' return. The fact is that there are no verses anywhere in the Bible that literally state that Jesus will return at any moment, except for some verses within the contextual reach of the Olivet discourse. So how are you Pre-Tribbers going to explain the verses that signify "imminence" within the context of that discourse? (Would you like to change your theory again?) Did you say that the requirement to look for Jesus to return, instead of looking for signs, necessarily means that His coming must be the next event on the prophetic calendar? If so, then why did Jesus command "all" of us to "watch" (Mark 13:37) for His return to occur after "the sign" of the abomination of desolation, as it is described within the context of the Olivet discourse? Does I Cor 15:52 literally state that the Rapture will transport NT churches from the earth up into heaven in an instant of time so brief that no one left on earth will have seen it happen? No, it does not. Actually, in context, all the verse literally says is that the corrupt bodies of both the living & the dead saints will be physically "changed" into incorruptible bodies in an instant of time. The verse does not say that anyone will be "caught up" into the clouds in an instant. If II Thess 2:6-8 refers to the Rapture of NT churches, then where does the word "church" literally occur within that passage? Well, of course, "the Church" is not even mentioned in the immediate context of that passage, is it? Again, can a Pre-Tribulational interpretation of that passage really be considered a literal interpretation? No, not really. But what about God's promise in Rev 3:10 to keep true NT churches out of the "hour of temptation", i.e., God’s promise to Rapture NT churches before the so-called Tribulation period starts? Oh, come on now; do you really think that a 60-minute "hour" is literally equivalent to the entire seven-year span of the 70^th week? Surely you do not call that a literal interpretation, do you? Is the Pre-Tribulational interpretation of Rev 4:1-2, as the physical Rapture of NT churches, a literal interpretation when John was only called up to heaven in his "spirit"? Once again, no. Instead, that is what is called an "allegorical" interpretation, i.e., a very subjective form of interpretation, not an objective form of interpretation. Well, how about the twenty-four elders in the book of Revelation – doesn't their presence prove the entire Raptured Church is present up in heaven? The Bible doesn't literally say that, does it? Again, we're talking in terms of allegories, not literal word meaning, since an "elder" is not the same thing as the whole congregation. Besides, there is no evidence from the passages where the elders are found which explicitly states that they are in physically raptured bodies. Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb? Yes, that's explicitly stated. Physically raptured bodies? No; that is not explicitly stated anywhere! So, does the presence of "four and twenty elders" up in heaven actually prove that Raptured NT churches are also present up in heaven prior to the beginning of the 70^th week? Not according to a literal interpretation of anything actually written in the Biblical text. What about the Pre-Tribulational interpretation of the literal expression "the first resurrection" in Rev 20:6? Does the grammar of the definite article "the", the literal meaning of the word "first", and the singular number of the word "resurrection" permit twisting the meaning of this expression around to mean exactly the opposite; to wit, many, many resurrections? Not really – unless God just doesn't know His grammar well enough to say what He means. But at least we can be sure that the Olivet discourse does not pertain to NT churches though, can't we? Or can we? Do the disciples really allegorically represent national Israel in the Olivet discourse and then just two days later allegorically represent "the Church" in John 14:1-3? What happened to change their representational character? Well, actually nothing happened. Shouldn't we just quietly drop John 14:1-3 from the equation then? OK. That means Jesus never even mentioned His beloved Bride's Rapture, which bumps Pre-Tribbers down to just two primary Rapture passages (a total of about seven verses) in the entire portfolio of Bible prophecy. What about Jesus' parable in Matt 24:32? Does Jesus' literal explanation of His parable in Matt 24:33 support the Pre-Tribulational claim regarding the reconstitution of Israel as a nation among other nations, circa 1948? Not by a long stretch. Did you check the dictionary to learn the definition of the words "this generation" in Matt 24:34? Or, did you just assume it meant "race"? Are we interpreting literally yet? How about the expression "day of Christ" in II Thess 2:2? Shouldn't we change that to 'the day of the Lord'? Not if the literal wording of the AV is your final authority. Of course, if you think there are errors in the AV, then go right ahead and force God's written words to conform to your own opinions. Not that you'll get any support for a Pre-Tribulation Rapture by changing the wording of the AV – for then your text would just say that the day of the Lord starts after the abomination of desolation, as per II Thess 2:3-4. But wouldn't that undermine the Pre-Tribulational notion of the day of the Lord spanning the entire 70^th week? How does that help support Pre-Tribulationalism? Did you say II Thess 2:4 is not a reference to the abomination of desolation? OK, then you tell us: what is it? Can you prove that it does not refer to the abomination of desolation? Did you find the definition of the abomination of desolation somewhere else in God's inspired word? Where? Of course you didn't find it anywhere else, because it isn't defined anywhere else. (I Maccabees 1:50 & 57 are not inspired scripture!) But perhaps you meant to switch over to a bible version that fits your theory a little better. OK; then your text would just say that the day of the Lord starts after "the man of lawlessness is revealed" (as per the NIV, 1984). So exactly when is he revealed? Did you say that he's revealed at the very beginning of the 70^th week? Where does your text literally state that as a fact? It doesn’t, does it? Consequently, you don’t have any idea when your 'day of the Lord' starts within the framework of the 70^th week, do you? Besides, your perverted text doesn't even address the original issue stated in II Thess 2:1! How is your perversion going to settle the confusion in Thessalonica? (Did you say you're not the least bit confused?) Where does the Bible literally state that the seven seals and seven trumpets in the book of Revelation are the "wrath" of God? Are you just making up your own definition of God's wrath? Or are you going to accept God's literal definition of His wrath? God literally stated that His wrath consists only of the seven vials (which includes the destruction of Babylon) and the battle of Armageddon. Are you going to argue with God about what He specifically stated? Finally, did you say the "last trump" in I Cor 15:52 cannot possibly be the seventh trumpet in the book of Revelation because they are blown at two different times? How did you establish that as a fact without assuming that Pre-Tribulationalism is correct to start with? That form of argument is called "circular reasoning", because it assumes what it is trying to prove. It's invalid logic!

So far, about all we can discern from their best arguments is that the vaunted Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory of NT churches is not a literal interpretation of anything actually written in The Holy Bible! Instead, that theory is based on arguments from silence, subjective allegories, twisting words around into their exact opposite meaning, and circular reasoning, not to mention actually changing the text of the Bible itself. Is that kind of prophetic "interpretation" credible? Any reasonable, true-Bible believing Christian would not believe the non-literal Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory of NT churches any more than Darwin's crack-brained Theory of Evolution. So, dear reader, what do you believe – the wild speculations of men, or the literal truth of God?

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¹ Barnhouse, Donald G. Thessalonians: An Exposition,

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publ., 1980, p 97-98.

(Used under authority of 17 USC § 1.107)

² The referenced statement is not the author's position (see my disclaimer at the beginning of this article). Rather the statement was written as if a scholarly pre-tribber had written it. In my book entitled The True Resurrection (copyright 1989, 2006), the present author has thoroughly defended the KJV reading "day of Christ", critically, grammatically, and theologically, against the 18 Alexandrian MSS reading 'day of the Lord'. Consequently, that issue will not be addressed here.

³ Ibid.

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