The Rapture: Before, During or After the Tribulation?

Passionate doctrinal debates have been swirling around the evangelical church in recent years and at the center of many of those arguments has been the rapture question.

Simply stated it is, "When will the church be raptured and what will the nature of that rapture be?"

For some the whole issue is trivial, minor and hopelessly mired in unsolvable problems. In theological despair, they have abandoned serious study of the issue. But for the careful student of Scripture, this is a critically important doctrine which is clearly taught in no fewer than 27 passages in the New Testament using eight different Greek words. Any doctrine so normative and persistent in God's Word cannot be ignored or dismissed as unimportant.

While the word "rapture" does not occur in our English translations of the Bible, it does appear in the Latin version of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 where it translates the idea of being "caught up." In fact, our English word rapture is derived from the Latin rapere.

There are no fewer than five proposals regarding the time of the rapture of the church. We shall briefly survey four of these and then put special emphasis on the pretribulation rapture which we believe best represents the totality of biblical data.

The Postribulation view teaches that all believers will be raptured at the conclusion of the tribulation period. This has been the commonly held view of a large segment of Christendom including Roman Catholics and the Greek Orthodox. The definition of the tribulation period, however, is variously interpreted by these groups. In classic postribulationism, the tribulation is regarded as past or partially fulfilled, but among futuristic postribulationists, this period is more literally defined.

This position relies heavily on passages such as Matthew 24:31 and Matthew 24:40-41. But those "taken away" in these passages were not believers in the rapture, but those to be "taken away" in judgment as verses 38 and 39 demonstrate.

The Partial Rapture position argues that the rapture will occur before the seven-year tribulation period, but that only godly or spiritual believers will be taken. Carnal Christians will be required to go through the tribulation or some part of it until they repent of their sin and are forgiven. They will then be taken up to be with the Lord.

Warning passages like Matthew 14:40-51; 25:13; Mark 13:33-37; Luke 20:34-36, 1 Thessalonians 5:6, and 2 Timothy 4:8 are the focus of appeal, but the context of the verses is often ignored. More significantly, no distinction between Israel and the church is made which leads to this erroneous proposition.

Midtribulationism asserts that the church will be raptured in the middle of the tribulation or after 3 ½ years. This view is relatively recent and depends heavily on equating the idea of "wrath" with the "great tribulation," or the last 3 ½ years of that period.

Many defending this position argue that the events of the seven seals, as well as the judgments of the first six trumpets of Revelation, take place in the first half of Daniel's seventieth week, and are not part of the "Great Tribulation." They argue that the expression "wrath" or "wrath of God" is reserved for the final half of the tribulation period and the Church, therefore, is to be rescued from that and not the whole tribulation period.

It is interesting how often discussions of Revelation. 6:16-17 and 7:14 are either strangely missing or subjected to very creative exegesis! The word "wrath" occurs in Revelation 6:16-17 and the "Great Tribulation" is mentioned in Revelation. 7:14---both of which precede the seventh trumpet!

A modification of the midtribulation view is known as the Pre-wrath Rapture. The basic thrust of this position is that the church will be raptured before the outpouring of the "wrath of God" which will occur in the fourth quarter of Daniel's 70th week.

Important to this view is dividing the 70th week of Daniel into three parts: (1) The "Beginning of sorrows" are the first 3 ½ years, (2) The "Great Tribulation" or 21 months, and (3) the final 21 months which are designated the "Day of the Lord." The rapture of the church is calculated to take place just before the outpouring of the wrath of God or the beginning of the "Great Tribulation."

But this view erroneously asserts that the wrath of God does not commence until Revelation 8:1, the seventh seal, which immediately introduces the great judgments of the seven trumpets. The expression "the great day of his wrath is come" (Rev. 6:17, kjv) completely contradicts this assertion. The expression, "is come" (or "has come") is a translation of the Greek aorist tense and indicative mood pointing to a past not a future event as is maintained by the advocates of this theory.

When all biblical evidence is contextually weighed and interpreted literally, it is clear that the rapture of the church will occur before the tribulation period begins. This widely held view is know as the

Pretribulation Rapture.

A number of observations should be made regarding this view and its defense.

First, the Bible makes it clear that the church has not been appointed to wrath and will not suffer under it in the future. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 "And to wait for His son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come" (cf. Rom. 5:9). The tribulation is the time of God's wrath (Rev. 6:16-17; 11:18; 14:10, 19; 15:1,7).

Second, the church will not be overtaken by the Day of the Lord or the tribulation period (1 Thess. 5:1-9).

Third, the possible escape of this time is mentioned in Luke 21:36.

Fourth, the promise to the church is that it will be kept from the hour of testing or temptation (Rev. 3:10). The preposition ek used here and 800 other times in the New Testament carries the idea of "out from, from out of, forth from, or from." Crucial to the meaning of this passage is the word "hour." It is a specific time period from which the church will be delivered, not some fearful events or judgments out of which the church will be taken.

Fifth, it is characteristic of God to deliver His saints before divine judgment falls. Remember Noah, Lot, and Rahab (2 Peter 2:5-9; cf. Heb. 11:5).

Sixth, while the church is mentioned 19 times in Revelation. 1 -- 3, it does not appear at all on earth in chapters 4 to 18, passages which describe the tribulation period. Is it just coincidence that a new group appears in heaven and is described in great detail before the opening of the first seal?

The best interpretation of the evidence points to the fact that the raptured church is to be identified with the 24 elders because they have been redeemed out of many nations and clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Elders are the highest church office (Acts 15:6; 20:29). Note that David appointed 24 elders to represent the entire Levitical priesthood (1 Chron. 24).

Seventh, in the tribulation period, Jews and Gentiles are distinguished again (Rev. 7:4-8, 9-10) indicating that the age of grace had ended. No such distinctions exist in this age (Gal. 3:28).

Eighth, time is required for believers to be judged at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). The 70th week of Daniel is the logical time for this to occur in heaven while the events of Revelation 4-18 take place on earth.

Ninth, there would be no need of separating the sheep form the goats if the rapture takes place at the end of the tribulation (Matt. 25:31-46).

Tenth, we are Christ's ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20) and it is customary to call ambassadors home when a country is preparing to go to war with the enemy.

Finally, note that the apostle John is called up (Rev. 4:1) and it is in heaven that he sees the elders.

It is with overwhelming wonder and joy that we contemplate the rapture of the church. This event is imminent and requires that we live godly lives for we do not know the hour of His return.

Here are the powerfully practical dimensions to this wonderful doctrine: (1) It gives us courage for living because we are assured that God is still in control. (2) It produces a concern for the lost because every tick of the clock brings us closer to the end of the church age. (3) It causes us to purify ourselves (1 John 3:3) and (4) It gives us comfort in the time of sorrow (1 Thess. 4:16-18).

With the thrilling prospects of the rapture, we cry out with the apostle John: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20). Maranatha!

Dr. John Davis, Th.D., D.D.

Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew
Grace Theological Seminary
Winona Lake