In this 3-part Series, we take an in-depth look at the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, showing how it harmonises many prophetic Scriptures.
The End of the Age (the Tribulation) will be by far the worst period of time that will ever be, utterly unlike the Church Age, because it will be (1) a time when evil comes to its fullness (in the antichrist), and (2) a time of ever intensifying Divine Wrath (through the 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, 7 Bowls), leading up to the 2nd Coming, and we are not appointed to wrath (1Thess 5:9). The Judgments of the Tribulation begin with the breaking of the first 6 Seals by Christ in Heaven (Rev 6), which means the whole Tribulation is a time of Divine Wrath, that's why it is also called the Day of the Lord. God’s Wrath does not start with the Bowls of Wrath, for we are told that in them His Wrath is completed (Rev 15:1). The fact that Christ is now moving into Judgment mode is seen by the fact that He is no longer SEATED, but He now is STANDING (Rev 5:6-7, c.f Psalm 110:1). Surely a loving and powerful Bridegroom, before He bombards His Bride’s dwelling place (the earth), would first extract her from it before releasing His Wrath.
The Church Age will end with the Rapture - the Coming of Christ for His Church in which He instantly catches up all living believers to meet Him in the air and translates them into immortal bodies without experiencing death. At the same time all those in Christ who have died during the Church Age will be resurrected and will also meet Christ in the air. If the Rapture is before the Tribulation, then it is imminent, which means we should be watching for Christ’s Coming for us, which motivates us to holiness and evangelism. But if the Rapture is at the end of the Tribulation, then He will not come for at least another 7 years, and since the antichrist will come first, our main focus should be on preparing ourselves for the antichrist. Scripture teaches us to look and wait for Christ, not antichrist.
Harmonising 1Thessalonians 4:15-17 and 1Corinthians 15:51-52, Derek explains why the Rapture Trumpet is called the Last Trumpet. Christ will sound His Trumpet twice. At the 1st Trumpet, the dead will be raised, and at the Last Trumpet, we who are alive will be raptured.
To understand the significance of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, we need to understand its purpose in the Divine Plan as the climactic moment in the Divine Romance, where Christ, our Bridegroom, comes to fetch His Bride, so we might be married, fully united together forever. We see how the Divine Romance was foreshadowed in the Jewish marriage customs. Christ's promise to His Bride in John 14:1-3 fits perfectly into this scenario, and confirms a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, because He promises to come back specifically for His Bride in order to take her with Him to Heaven for a period of time, before He returns to the earth in His 2nd Coming. Rev 19:7-8 confirms the Pre-Trib view, for there we see the glorious Bride already in Heaven before the 2nd Coming, only now she is His wife. She returns with Him in the 2nd Coming (v14). Therefore, the Rapture must take place sometime well before the 2nd Coming.
Derek also shows that the 24 elders, enthroned in Heaven in Rev 4-5, before the Tribulation begins, are men who represent the whole Church in Heaven, since they sing to the Lamb: "You were slain, and have redeemed US to God by Your Blood out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation" (Rev 5:9-10). So, at the start of the Tribulation, the Church is already in Heaven confirming the Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
Rev 3:10 promises the faithful Church (represented by Philadelphia) that they will be kept from the Hour of Trial, which shall come upon the whole world. Since this Hour of Trial (the Tribulation) is world-wide and will come upon all who live on the earth, the only way they can be kept from it is to be removed from the earth in the Rapture before it begins. Notice they are not kept (protected) in the trial, but they are kept from the very Time of Trial (Tribulation) coming upon the earth.
In conclusion, the Rapture is imminent. He will come suddenly for His own, and He take us to Heaven with Him, before the Tribulation begins.
