Accessible Eschatology: Why I Do Not Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

I have this vivid memory of being a little kid, sitting in a gym watching a movie about the rapture, accompanied by Larry Norman’s “I wish we’d all been ready.” Later in middle school youth group, I watched the entire series: A Thief in the Night (1972), Distant Thunder (1977), Image of the Beast (1980), and The Prodigal Planet (1980). I was terrified. Terrorized. I remember having several conversations with my dad, asking him if he really thought we’d have to choose between Jesus and the guillotine.

Years have passed. My interest in the “weird” things in the Bible has somewhat decreased. The bizarre imagery of Revelation and accounts like the Gerasenes demoniac don’t interest me nearly as much as they once did. However, that does not mean that the Bible doesn’t interest me. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I began studying the Bible in a new way, inspiring me to continue at Denver Seminary.

So what is the purpose of this blog post today? It isn’t to show off all that I’ve learned in Seminary. It isn’t to say that if you don’t agree with me, you’re ignorant or just plain set in your ways. The topic of Revelation is always controversial because the book is extremely mysterious. Sometimes the best answer to a question about Revelation is simply “I don’t know.”

However, I have learned quite a bit that certainly challenges what I learned as a child and adolescent on the topic of Christ’s return. I share that with you, readers, not to puff up, but to build up. How we think about Revelation does affect how we think about the present, not just the future. I humbly ask you to read this (well…you should probably go back and read all of Ben’s posts on this topic, too) without your guard up. We can agree that in the end, God is in control and he alone determines the manner and timing of Christ’s return.

What does the term pre-tribulation rapture mean? Well, if you’ve read Ben’s posts, he explains it in his most recent post, under the heading Dispensational Premillennialism (that’s a mouthful). Basically, this is what the movies I watched as a kid portrayed. One day, the Christians of the world will all disappear. Have you ever seen that bumper sticker: “In the event of the rapture, this car will be unmanned”? The tribulation is thought of as a time of intense suffering on earth – probably lots of war, famine, death. You get the picture. The pre-trib rapture advocates say that we as God’s people will escape this because it is God’s wrath being poured out, and we as Christians do not face God’s wrath. Remember that important point; it will come up later. (For more on the role of Jewish people in this time, see Ben’s previous post.)

At first glance, this sounds pretty awesome, right? I mean, seriously, who wants to live on earth through the terrors of extreme war, famine, natural catastrophes like hail mixed with fire falling from the sky, insane dictators, genocide, psychopath murderers, let alone any sort of spiritual horrors that we could imagine (if you can’t imagine, check out Revelation 9 which describes some really creepy, satanic scorpion creatures that sting people until they want to die, but they’re not allowed to die)? No one wants to suffer. No one invites suffering into their lives.

But, I cannot uphold the pre-trib rapture view. I’ll tell you why.

1. The nature of Apocalyptic Literature
This is Revelation’s genre of literature. We do not read a novel the same way that we read a newspaper. We do not read poetry the same way we read the sports column. In order to understand a text, we need to understand the genre. Apocalyptic literature was very common, especially in the time in between the Old and New Testaments. The purpose of Apocalyptic literature was to give hope in the midst of difficult circumstances and show that God was totally in control, no matter the situation. To talk of escaping the troubles was simply not normal in this genre.

2. The repetitive nature of troubles on earth
Ignoring the satanic scorpions for a moment (okay, and the hail mixed with fire), all those other things like war, famine, and natural catastrophes should sound pretty familiar unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last 2,000 years! That doesn’t mean we’re not in the end times. We are. But, we’ve been in the end times since Jesus’ resurrection.

This has two implications.

A. First, don’t believe all this sensational stuff about how this or that current event NOW REALLY tells us that we’re at the end.

Jesus is very clear in Matthew 24 when he talks about the end of the age. The disciples, just like us, were curious about the future. Remember that they thought Jesus was coming to overthrow Rome and establish Israel again. That was their definition of a Messiah. So, they ask Jesus for a sign. Jesus talks about all kinds of terrible things that will precede his coming: false christs, wars, famines, earthquakes, martyrdom, family division etc. But, he calls these the beginnings of the birth pains (24:8). This isn’t the birth yet. These are the first contractions that must occur, but the end is not yet! If there is really one clear message in Matt. 24, it’s that no one knows the hour except the Father (24:36), so keep watch. Keeping watch doesn’t mean tracking international events in order to crack a code. That’s the first point.

B. The second point is that many Christians have been experiencing all these horrors all over the world during these past 2,000 years. Where was their pre-trib rapture? While a rapture is very appealing to us as Christians in America, we cannot forget that there are millions of Christians throughout history who have not been exempt from suffering.

3. Theology of Suffering
This stems from B. above. As I already mentioned, no one likes to suffer. But, suffering is inseparable from our walk as Christians. We are to follow and imitate Christ, the suffering servant (see Isaiah 52-3).

However, remember that above I mentioned that proponents of the pre-trib rapture argue that we must be raptured so as not to suffer the wrath of God? I absolutely agree that we do not suffer God’s wrath. Jesus suffered that for us. But, when I say that I think we will and are experiencing the tribulation already, that is not experiencing God’s wrath.

Revelation is very clear about drawing strong lines of allegiance. Everyone’s heard of the mark of the beast, 666. Without getting into what I think that actually means, that isn’t the only mark, or seal, present in Revelation. The people of God are sealed as well (Revelation 7). It is that seal that exempts them from suffering the effects of the trumpets and bowls of wrath. The evil scorpions? They are ordered not to harm those with God’s seal (Rev. 9:4). The earth suffers, those without God’s seal suffer. And make no mistake, God’s people suffer, too. The Two Witnesses are killed because of their stand for God. But, that is not God’s wrath. That is oppression from Satan and his followers.

Suffering is a part of our walk with Christ on this earth. We have the promise of eternity (see Ben’s post on life after life after death) without suffering. We were never promised life on earth without suffering. Is a pre-trib rapture theology just an attempt for us to escape suffering?

4. 1 Thess. 4:17 – a weak argument for the rapture.
This is the primary place in scripture to which proponents of a pre-trib rapture argument point. It isn’t a good argument. Paul is writing to people who are worried about what will happen to people who have died. Remember, they were expecting Jesus’ return any day. So, what about those who died in the meantime? Paul assures them that those who are dead as well as those who are alive will meet Christ in the air. The word for caught up in the air actually describes a welcoming party. Sort of like, a movie star is coming to your town and you are assigned to pick them up at the airport and escort them to the town’s celebration for them. So, in the historic premillennial view (see Ben’s posts and diagrams), this is Christians welcoming Jesus in the air as he descends to set up his kingdom, where in some way, we will reign with him.

5. Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer
In John 17, Jesus is praying for himself and for his disciples, as well as all future believers. He says “My prayer is not that you [God] take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (17:15). This reinforces what we’ve already said about suffering not being equated to God’s wrath.

6. Redemption of Creation
Care of the Earth as God’s creation is really important. If we see the world merely as something we’ll escape, why should we care for it? However, if we see Earth as God’s creation that he called good and will come and restore and renew in his millennial kingdom, that’s a whole different story. I realize this post is more about arguments against a pre-trib rapture, but I do believe in a millennial kingdom on earth. That understanding reveals again God’s nature as one who keeps his promises, even to creation.

Next post (back to Ben): support for Israel?