“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. [2] In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1-3, ESV)
This first key passage deals with the promise of the Rapture and makes one key point: this “coming for the believers” was for the purpose of taking them to where He was going, namely, to Heaven. In essence, this is a coming to take the Church saints to Heaven and not to earth.
Further, this passage says nothing about the timing of the Rapture, only that the result of it is the believer’s entry into Heaven. This fits well with Pretribulationism. Whereas, in Postribulationalism, the saints meet the Lord in the air and return with Him to the earth.
A second key passage describes the program of the Rapture:
[13] But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. [14] For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. [15] For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together (the source meaning for Rapture) with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. [18] Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, ESV)
Paul spells out the chronological sequence of the Rapture event in seven stages to show that the dead believers benefit from the Rapture before the living believers do:
First: The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven of heavens and descend to the atmospheric heavens.
Second: with a shout as that of a military leader coming out of his tent and giving a command; when that happens, the resurrection and translation will occur.
Third: with the voice of the archangel to put the plan into action by repeating the command of Jesus.
Fourth: with the sound of the trumpet of God triggers the Rapture itself and summons the plan into motion.
Fifth: the dead in Christ shall rise first, which is the resurrection of the dead Church believers. Old Testament saints (not in Christ) will rise at a later time in God’s prophetic program.
Sixth: Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds includes every believer without exception who will be removed from the earth and united with the Lord Jesus in the heavens.
Seventh: to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord, thus permanently remaining with the Messiah and returning with Him to Heaven as promised in John 14:1-3 above.
A third key passage has to do with the purpose of the Rapture with the change in the nature of bodies:
50] I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. [51] Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. [53] For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. [54] When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
[55] “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
[56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[58] Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:50- 58, ESV).
From this passage one sees that mankind is living under the sentence of sin and death and his body is subject to corruption and mortality. Therefore, the purpose of the change is necessary before these new immortal, incorruptible bodies can enter into eternity and reign with Christ forever. The change described here occurs in just a moment in the twinkling of an eye, brings about “the glorious liberty of the children of God”and “the adoption, the redemption of the body” (Romans 8:2-23).
This event will happen at the time of the last trumpet. Nota Bene: this cannot be the same as the seventh trumpet in the book of The Revelation, for at the time Paul wrote this, John had not yet written The Revelation. The Corinthians would not have had any knowledge of seven trumpets of that book. Yet Paul does use the definite article with the last trumpet and expected them to know what he was talking about, namely, the blowing of the long trumpet blast after a series of short ones during the yearly Feast of Trumpets. This concluding one long blast was called in Hebrew, tekiah gedolah: the great trumpet blast; this is what Paul meant by the last trumpet. This is the same trumpet of God found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and says nothing about the timing of the Rapture; but only that when it does come, it will fulfill the Feast of Trumpets (see discussion below about Feasts).
Thus, the Scriptures reveal that the Rapture will occur before the seven-year Tribulation period. It will produce a joyful reunion “in the air” as living saints join together with the “dead in Christ.” Previously, the Rapture of Enoch, Elijah, the Old Testament saints, and Christ’s ascension were private events. The Rapture of the saints will not be a public event. For it will be for the Church, not for the world, and is private.
A fourth key is several passages that give us a model to determine the timing of when the Rapture occurs:
[37] For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [38] For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, [39] and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man (emphasis mine) (Matthew 24:37-39, ESV).
This is a perfect and exact dispensational template for determining the timing of the Rapture. For we know that Jesus’ statement can’t be referring to the time of the 2nd coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation period because the events occurring then are horrible. This passage of Scripture indicates “business as usual,” and the Tribulation is anything but, “business as usual.” So this could only be referring to the time of the Rapture where there is in place an economy, food, drink and social events.
When Noah was building his boat over a period of a hundred years, people were living and doing things in “normal” times. God had given a prophetic warning and an offer of forgiveness to the pre-flood people, but they rejected same. Yet when the judgment came in the form of the flood and God locked the door to the Ark, people were locked out of their only escape. The Ark floats up, above the flood damage below, and eventually returns back down to earth again escaping all the destruction; thus, a new dispensation begins.
Thus, people will be living in normal times with plenty of food, drink and social events. Then the Rapture happens (God shuts the door – Jesus is the door). Those Raptured are taken up, above God’s wrath below, and return to the earth after the judgments of the Tribulation, and begin the new dispensation of the millennial reign with Christ Jesus as Bride Groom, King, and Judge.
As a result, Jesus was saying in effect that just as Noah was pre-flood, the Rapture will be pre-tribulation – not mid-flood/mid-trib or post-flood/post-trib. In brief, Jesus by the words of this passage confirms the Rapture as pre-tribulation.
Likewise, in the passage of Luke 17:20-36:
[20] Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, [21] nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
[22] And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. [23] And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. [24] For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. [25] But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. [26] Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. [27] They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. [28] Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, [29] but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— [30] so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed (emphasis mine). [31] On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. [32] Remember Lot's wife. [33] Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. [34] I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. [35] There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left (Luke 17:20-36, ESV).
Jesus compares His coming with the destruction of Sodom. Two angels told Lot that God was going to punish the wicked residents of the city, and then they escorted Lot and his family to safety. As the people of Sodom went about their daily routines, God rained down upon them fire and brimstone and destroyed the entire city.
There is, therefore, a pattern here in these two passages: first, a prophetic warning is given to the wicked of that time; then secondly, God removes His people or the Church, and then finally judgment falls on the unbelieving wicked, while His beloved escape free to fulfill their destines.
There are other examples of “the principle of separation” besides Noah and Lot; they are: Rahab who was spared when Jericho’s walls fell (see Heb. 11:31), and a Jewish remnant in the coming tribulation will escape the Antichrist (see Dan. 11:41; Rev. 7:3).
In conclusion, in order for anyone to escape these judgments, that person has to be a believer, for the only means of escape for him that will become available shall be only for the one who will one day stand before the Son of Man. This standing must happen at a place off the earth, for there will be no escape on earth. Again, this is reflected in these passages of John 14:1-3 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. There believers are raptured off the earth and stand before the Son of Man.
In addition, the patterns of the “fall feasts” also reveal a pattern for the Rapture. Christ was crucified near Passover, in the tomb during Unleavended Bread, and seen alive during First Fruits. The church was born at Pentecost (see Acts 2:1-4), and the three fall feasts all have a future fulfillment. Further, the Rapture is a pattern of the feast of Trumpets, the Tribulation is paralleled to events on the Day of Atonement (when the nation of Israel was judged), and Tabernacles represents the future kingdom of the Messiah ruling on earth during the Millennium.
Another specific passage teaching pretribulation deliverance is found in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (ESV):
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, [10] and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come (emphasis mine).
The closing words are crucial, for the Church at Thessalonica was waiting for the return of Jesus, Who was coming to deliver them from the wrath to come. This wrath is future, hence it cannot refer to the general wrath of God against sin which is a present reality. While Hell and the Lake of Fire are also future, they cannot be to what this passage is referring. Jesus is not returning for the purpose of delivering the Church from Hell or the Lake of Fire, as this has already been done at the Cross. Thus, the wrath from which the Church is being delivered is the wrath of the Great Tribulation of the seventieth week of years of Daniel, i.e., the wrath to come. The believer, therefore, is guaranteed deliverance from both God’s general wrath against sin (Romans 5:9) and from the Tribulation wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
Again, another key passage in the same Epistle relates to timing (1 Thessalonians 5:1-10, ESV):
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. [2] For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. [3] While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. [4] But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. [5] For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. [6] So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. [7] For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. [8] But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. [9] For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, [10] who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
Paul tells us in verse nine that the Church in Thessalonica has not been destined for wrath. The antecedent to the word wrath is found in verse two, which is the day of the Lord, a term that always refers to the Tribulation.
This passage, of course, follows the discussion of the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, and has to do with the comfort that the Church expects as a result of not having to go through the period of the Day of the Lord. At this point, Paul uses in verse one the “contrasting” Now or But (Greek: peri de) for which the Church has been destined or appointed to obtain salvation. But this refers in the future to the redemption of the imperishable, immortal body that will occur to believers on the day of the Rapture (see: 1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
A further contrast included in this chapter five passage is to show why the Church, being the children of light, will not need to fear the coming Day of the Lord, which also refers to as a period of darkness and night (see: Zephaniah 1:1-4-18; Joel 2:1-2, 10-11). Hence, unbelievers are characterized as sons of darkness; whereas the believers are of “the day;” for the Day of the Lord will not come upon him.
An additional key passage also dealing with the timing element of the Rapture is found in Revelation 3:10 (ESV):
Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
In this passage, the Church is promised to be kept from the period of trial about to fall upon the whole earth. In the context of the Book of Revelation, chapters 6-19, it is the Tribulation that is to experience this period of trial. The Church, on the other hand, is to be kept safe, not during the trial, but from the very hour of the trial, that is, from the very time of it. In order for this to happen, the Church must be removed before the Tribulation occurs.
If, however, this passage of Revelation 3:10 only means that the Church will be kept safe during the Tribulation, then something goes very terribly wrong. Throughout the Tribulation period, saints are being killed on a massive scale (see: Rev. 6:9-11; 11:7; 12:11; 13:7, 15; 14:13; 17:6; 18:24). If these saints are Church saints, they are not being kept safe and Revelation 3:10 is meaningless.
Only if Church saints and Tribulation saints are kept separate and distinct does the promise of this passage of Revelation 3:10 make any sense.
In summary of these passages, the Scriptures all state that the Church will be removed before the wrath, or day of the Lord, when the Tribulation comes. The only way, of course, that this can happen is by the removal of the Church through the Rapture.
As a further means of understanding this principle of interpretation and in connection with the Lord’s coming to fetch and marry His Bride (the Church), this may best be seen in the light of the Jewish marriage system. This is through four steps:
1. The father of the groom arraigned the marriage and paid the bride price. The timing varied: sometime as infants, at other times just before the marriage, often with the couple never meeting until their wedding day.
2. The fetching of the bride at her home by the groom could occur weeks, a year, or decades after the arrangements of parents.
3. The wedding ceremony itself had only a few, close members invited.
4. The marriage feast had many people invited and could last as long as seven days.
A summary and “bridal paradigm” of the Marriage of the Lamb would be according to this Jewish pattern:
First, God, the Father made the arrangements for His Son and paid the bride price: the Blood of Jesus on the Cross (cf., Ephesians 5:25-27) some two thousand years ago.
Second, The Lord Jesus will come in the air to fetch His bride in the Rapture (cf., 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) to His home in heaven (cf., John 14:1-3).
Third, there in heaven the marriage ceremony in Revelation 19: 6-8 will occur showing the Bride, the Church, in white linen (after the Bema Judgment Seat) taking place and separated by a duration of time before the actual second coming of Jesus as Bridegroom, King, and Judge. This involves only the Church saints.
Fourth, the marriage feast begins right after the Revelation of the Second Coming in glory right after the end of the Great Tribulation and is inaugurated by and includes both the Old Testament saints and the Tribulation saints, as well as Church saints.
In order for this to be clearly understood, let the reader remember that the Rapture and the Revelation of the Lord’s Second Coming in Glory to the earth are not the same event. Not one verse in the Bible refers to the translation of the saints (the Rapture) and the Revelation as if they were one single event. In fact, in no biblical passage discussing the Tribulation is the Church ever mentioned.
The fact that saints are found during the Tribulation period in no way proves that the Church is there any more than the existence of saints in the Old Testament proves that Church was there. The Church came into existence when the Lord Jesus baptized the 120 Upper Room believers into the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2) on the day of Pentecost.
In contrast, the Revelation of the coming of Christ in Glory will produce a totally different reaction:
“Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30 ESV).
Remember, Jesus was talking here at the time to His Jewish deciples – not Church members – and alluding only to Jews and non-believers who will be on earth at the end of Tribulation period.
A different reaction will occur then because, at the Revelation, Christ is coming with His heavenly army to destroy His enemies. The location of Christ’s Revelation is on earth, especially at Armageddon and Jerusalem. The people involved will include all the nations on earth together with His chosen people Israel. Christ’s Revelation will occur at the end of Daniel’s seventieth week (cf.: 9:24-27) of years (see below), during the seven-year countdown to Armageddon. In every single item, the Rapture and the Revelation will differ. In contrast to the private Rapture, the Revelation will be witnessed publicly by the whole world.
A fifth key passage to understanding the timing of the Rapture has to do with the “Seventy Weeks” of Daniel, as mentioned above (cf.: 9: 24-27). This overview of seventy weeks of years has to do with God’s dealing with the Jewish peoples and begins with: “that from the going out of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” and its walls (Daniel 9:25). Here the Persian king, Artaxerxes I, gave his order in the month of Nisan, as recorded in Nehemiah 2. Using this date as a beginning point, we can determine the eventual, exact date of the final “cutting off” of the Messiah. Sixty-nine “weeks” of years is 483 biblical years (of 360-day years). Thus, the first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s vision begins with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and ends on Palm Sunday, AD 32.
In his book, The Coming Prince, Sir Robert Anderson, a noted biblical scholar and the celebrated head of Scotland Yard, wrote a fascinating analysis of Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks. He proved that the first sixty-nine weeks of years was fulfilled to the exact day – 483 years – after it commenced at the signing of Artexerxes’ decree in the month of Nisan, 445 BC. The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, UK, in the early 1890’s calculated that date to be on March 14, 445 BC. Using this date, this prophetic period of 483 biblical years contained precisely 173,880 days, at which time “shall Messiah be cut off.” In other words, this calculation reveals the date when Israel would reject its Messiah (cf.: Luke 19:37-44). And we know that was the date that the leaders of Israel rejected Jesus as their Messiah on Palm Sunday, April 6, AD 32, thereby fulfilling Daniel’s prophesy exactly.
In brief, the first sixty-nine weeks of years (483 years) focused exclusively on God’s dealings with the Jews. After an almost two thousand year “gap,” the seventieth week will again focus on God’s dealings with Israel (see Daniel 9:24).
Yet, as said before, God has not finished with Israel, but allows the Gentiles to take their place for season (cf., Romans 11:25, ESV):
Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
This expression refers to the complete number of believers that God will draw out from the Gentile nations to be part of His “royal priesthood” and “peculiar people” (see 1 Peter 2:9).
The “fullness of the Gentiles” will conclude the Age of Grace (which occurs within the “2000 year gap” between the Sixty-ninth and the Seventieth week of years) when all Christians will be raptured to heaven. At that time the Lord will once again call upon Israel to be a spiritual witness and a light to the nations during and through the seven-year Tribulation that will follow. However, to be true and consistent to His Word, the Jewish people must voluntarily surrender to His leadership – no small obstacle. Yet, for this to happen, Jesus is committed to using the least amount of pressure in order to reach the greatest number of people at the deepest level of Love without violating anyone’s free will. He is fully committed to this principle in His dealings with both Jew and the Gentile. For “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever”(Hebrews 13:8, ESV).
In due course, God will again focus on His chosen people, Israel, who have now returned to the Holy Land that began on 15 May 1948. In coming days, they will be a last-days witness to the Gentile nations still on earth about the coming Messiah. During this Tribulation period (the last and seventieth week of years) God will use 144,000 Jews (as evangelists) to witness to the world (see Revelation 7) about the coming Messiah with His approaching kingdom, as described in Daniel 11:36-45.
Before His death, Christ Jesus promised that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come (see Matthew 24:14). The Two Witnesses (see Revelation7: 4-8) will preach the gospel as well as the 144,000 Jewish witnesses during the Tribulation period. Their witness to humanity will be similar to the message that both John the Baptist and Jesus had preached previously while they were on earth. Their messages of “repentance” were an urgent call for both personal and national repentance in light of God’s warning: that the Day of Judgment (also called time of Jacob’s trouble,” see Jeremiah 30:5-7) and that the approaching kingdom of heaven will be at hand.
Despite the terrible persecutions and martyrdom, that will occur, hundreds of millions “of all nations, and kindreds, and people and tongues” will hear the witnesses proclaiming the coming of the Messiah (see Revelation 7:9). As a result, these hundreds of millions will accept Him and become the Tribulation saints (see Revelation 7:14-17):
I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
[15] "Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
[16] They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
[17] For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Just as a shepherd knows each of his sheep, the Lord knows, of course, the number and names of those following Him from all ages, whether they be Church Saints or Tribulation saints.
A sixth key point that the Scriptures clearly teach is that the coming of the Messiah for the believers is imminent; that is, He can come at any time or moment. Said another way, the word “imminent” simply means that Christ could translate His Church to heaven without the necessity of the fulfillment of any intervening prophetic events.
In other words, imminency means that His coming for the Church is an impending event that could happen without warning at any time following the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost. Even the Apostle Paul continually talked about the Rapture expressing the hope that he himself would participate in the glorious event.
Several passages demonstrate this:
For instance, in John 12:20-23, it is clear that the Lord could have returned in the days of John the Apostle.
In Romans 13:11-12, the redemption of the body of Christ is looked upon as being very near. This is a salvation that is futurist and is viewed as eschatological, rather than soteriological.
In James 5:7-9, His coming is view as being at the door, that is to say, the coming of the Lord is at hand, and the Judge is standing before the door. His appearance is certainly viewed as imminent.
The closing statements of Jesus in Revelation 22:20 point also to imminency:
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
These last four passages, of course, teach that the Rapture is imminent; namely, He could come at any moment. But only if the Rapture comes before the Tribulation can this be true.
For in Midtribulationism, the Rapture is always at least 3 ½ years away.
And in Posttribulationism, it is at least seven years away.
Never is it imminent in either of these perspectives.
Since the Tribulation begins with the Antichrist signing of a seven-year covenant (occurring in the seventieth week) with Israel (see Daniel 9:27), the Rapture cannot occur beyond that point. For that reason, it should be clear that imminency does not mean “soon”; it only means that nothing else must precede it, and that it could come at any point of time. Thus, the Rapture could occur between right now and the signing of the seven-year covenant in the future with the leadership of Israel. With this in mind, honesty requires that it be said that the Rapture could very well precede the Tribulation period by a good number of years.
A seventh passage, from Revelation 4:1-11 (ESV) tells of events in Heaven after the seven Churches of Chapters 2 & 3 and prior to the Tribulation Period:
[4:1] After this, I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” [2] At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. [3] And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. [4] Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. [5] From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, [6] and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: [7] the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. [8] And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
[9] And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, [10] the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
[11] “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
Obviously, God, the Father is the One sitting on the Throne is verses 2 and 3.
Verse 4 describes the Throne attendants. Many debates previously have occurred over who these 24 elders are. Some take them to be celestial beings, while others take and refer to them as the Church. While the text does not clearly state what these 24 elders are, there are clues within the text by which their identity can be deduced:
First, these Elders are clothed with white garments, which throughout the book of the Revelation are symbols of salvation. Celestial beings did not need salvation, yet at one time these Elders were lost and at some point needed salvation, thus their white garments.
A second clue reveals they are wearing crowns, yet these crowns are not diadem crowns worn by royalty as in the case of celestial beings. These crowns are stephanos, ones worn by overcomers and given as a reward to members of the Church at the Bema Judgment Seat of the Messiah.
A third lies in the very title of Elder. Nowhere else in Scripture does the term describe celestial or angelic beings. Only in the synagogue or church does the term describe humans in positions of authority.
A fourth is similar to that of the Tribe of Levi, the Jewish priests, where in 1 Chronicles 24, David divided the tribe into 24 courses to represent the whole.
Likewise, as the Church is a kingdom of priests, these 24 Elders represent the Church as a whole, and not angels. Hence, from these four clues, these 24 Elders may represent the Church saints. If this is true, then they provide further evidence for the pretribulation Rapture. In chapters four and five then the Church is already in Heaven before the Tribulation begins in chapter six. Thus, these fit well into the chronological sequence as outlined in the book of Revelation.
Chapters two and three view the Church on earth with a promise in 3:10 that the Church will be kept from the very time of the Revelation horror. Then, if this is correct, chapter four shows the Church in Heaven by the presence of the Elders wearing their stephanos crowns. And further, these Chapter four and five events occur after the Judgment seat of Christ, but before the Marriage of the Lamb of the few as shown in Heaven in 19:6-9. Moreover, as shown in verses 9-11 of Chapter 4, the Elders are casting their crowns (i.e., a continuous removal, like tipping one’s hat) before the Throne in worship of God, the Father.
Finally, an eighth key message was clearly shown in the writings of the early Church that expected tremendous hope, joy, and comfort in the Parousia, i.e., by their understanding of the coming of Christ, in His imminent Rapture.
A number of early writers and works include:
The Didache, a Church manual written less than 15 years after John wrote the Revelation confirms the belief of those Christians in the imminent return of Christ for believers.
Hippolytus’ Treatise on the Christ and Antichrist quotes extensively and approvingly from Paul’s writing in 1 Thessalonians 4, and reminds his readers that we should be “looking for that blessed hope and appearing of our God and Savior when having raised the saints among us, He will rejoice with them glorifying the Father.”
The Epistles of Cyprian who lived from A.D. 200 to 258, wrote extensively on Christian doctrine, especially about his belief in Christ’s ability to deliver the Church from the Antichrist’s tribulation. Cyprian promised that Christ
“is One who can deliver us from the Antichrist’s hands.”
Victorinus, bishop of Petau, lived from A.D. 240 till his death as a martyr in the last great persecution of A.D. 304 and interpreted Revelation 6 to promise the deliverance of the Church from the Tribulation period.
The Shepherd of Hermes, was an example of a widely read writing by early Christians shortly after the death of the Apostles, and shows how they viewed the return of Christ and the Church’s deliverance of from the Tribulation as a future event.
Lactantius’ Commentary on the Apocalypse (second century A.D.) suggests that the Church had an anticipation of a supernatural Rapture of the Church from apocalyptic persecutions (probably the Tribulation).
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles was composed before A.D. 120 and therefore indicates early Church attitudes.
The Epistle of Barnabus represents one of the earliest writings of Christians; although this was not included in the New Testament, yet the writer certainly expected the Lord to come shortly.
The First Epistle of Clement (a fellow laborer with the Apostle Paul in 57 A.D.) wrote of his belief in imminency of the return of Christ: “speedily will He come, and will not tarry;’ and ‘The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Holy One, for whom ye look.’”
With the above examples, hopefully, it then should put to rest the contention that the Pretribulationist’s point of view is a "late" theory of only a couple hundred years ago of explaining the events of the Rapture. Yet a French Calvinist preacher, Peter Jurieu, also wrote in 1687 about the Rapture and the premillennial return of Christ. This, thereby, should disprove the theory of posttribulation teachers that Darby and the Plymouth Brethren around 1820 invented the pretribulation Rapture.
Finally, this writer hopes that the reader may agree that this paper has demonstrated in some cogent measure that the Pre-tribulation Rapture truly was articulated in the New Testament, in the writings of some of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, and in the writings of Peter Jurieu, long before 1820.
And for now, let it be remembered that each believer is commanded: to wait, pray, and occupy until He comes:
“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worth to escape all these things that that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36, ESV).
Throughout the Scriptures, the Lord encourages His Church to live in earnest expectation of His soon return to take them ultimately to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb along with the many. For the Rapture as of now has been “imminent” for the last two thousand years.
Maranatha, Lord Jesus, come soon!
Selected Bibliography
Anderson, Sir Robert. The Coming Prince, Hodder & Stroughton, 1894, and Tenth Edition, Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, MI 49501, 1957
Andrews, Sherry. “The Rapture – Not if, but When”, Charisma, pp. 32-34, 67, January 1980
Fruchtenbaum, Arnold, G. Dr. The Footsteps of the Messiah, A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events. Ariel Press, c 1982, and revised edition 2003
Hindson, Ed. Airtight Case for Pre-Trib Rapture, Steeling The Mind Bible Conference, Compass International, CD,
Jeffrey, Grant R. Apocalypse – The Coming Judgment Of The Nations, Frontier Research Publications, Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1992, revised edition 2001
Jeffrey, Grant R. Countdown to the Apocalypse, Water Brook Press, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921, 2008
Maher, Jim. “Why the Church Is Silent On Israel” (handout), IHOP-KC Mission Base, p. 6, 2010
Missler, Chuck. “The Rapture: Christianity’s Most Preposterous Belief?”(DVD and notes), Koinonia House, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, 2008
Perkins, Bill, Executive Director. Compass International, “Communiqué”, “What Jesus Said About The Timing of the Rapture,” Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, c fall 2009
Reiter, Richard R.; Feinburg, Paul D.; Archer, Gleason L.; Moo, Douglas J. The Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post Tribulation?, Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapid, MI, 1984
Stone, Perry. “The Case for the Rapture”, Charisma, October 2009, p. 22
