PERILOUS TIMES

The Rapture Lesson 4

Pretribulation

4. Church's Exemption from Wrath: This view holds that the Church will be raptured before the outpouring of
God's wrath during the Tribulation, based on the promise that believers will not face divine wrath.
5. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 says we are to, "wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who
delivers us from the wrath to come."
o This verse clearly articulates the expectation that Jesus will deliver believers from the “wrath to
come”, a foundational verse for the belief in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church.
6. So, what does the word “wrath” mean? Let’s look at how it is used at the opening of the 6 th seal in the book of
Revelation. Chapter 6:12-17 “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great
earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky
fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is
being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and
the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in
the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us
from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their
wrath has come, and who can stand?”
o “Wrath” is the punitive outworking of God’s righteous indignation at sin.
▪ The prophet Isaiah calls it the “overflowing scourge” in chapter .
▪ Then in verse 27-29 he describes the threshing process as an illustration how God will treat
the whole world like a threshing floor.
▪ The tool being used is the “Tribulum” The Tribulum was typically made from a heavy board
or slab, sometimes with stone or metal spikes embedded in the underside. The board was
dragged over the harvested grain by animals or sometimes by hand, using the weight and the
embedded spikes or flints to effectively separate the edible parts of the grain from the chaff.
▪ We get the word “tribulation” from tribulum. It effectively describes how God is using the
tribulation as a threshing process to separate the righteous from the wicked.
▪ The “threshing” process is the entire tribulation period, not just the second half as is often
taught by the mid-tribulation position.
th
o The 6 seal also says the people called to the mountains and rocks “Fall on us and hide us from the
face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their
wrath has come, and who can stand?”
▪ This is very important because, up until this time, the Unbelieving were denying that the
effects of the previous 5 seals were acts of God – despite the testimony of the 144,000, the 2
witnesses, the angels flying above and the testimony of those who became Believers during
the tribulation. Now, they finally acknowledge that God the Father is the author of these
events and Jesus is His direct agent issuing the orders.
▪ Furthermore, they state “for the great day of their wrath has come…”
• The term “great day” is referring to the “Day of the Lord” is described in several
passages such as Is. 2:10-11, 2:19-21, 13:9-13, 34:4 and by Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel,
Zephania and Malachi.
• The phrase “wrath has come” is not a statement that the wrath of God has just
arrived, it is an acknowledgment that the wrath they have been experiencing up to
now has been and is the wrath of God just as the many witnesses have been
testifying.
7. Paul used the word “wrath” again in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 - "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to
obtain salvation (“deliverance) through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
o But what “wrath” is Paul talking about? Fortunately, we don’t have to look very far to find the answer.
o Earlier in chapter 5, in verse 2 says, “For you know very well that the ‘Day of the Lord’ will come like a
thief in the night.” From our study of the first tenet, we learned that the “Day of the Lord” is the same
thing as Daniel’s 70th week what we refer to as the 7-year tribulation.
o Paul equates the word “wrath” with the entire 7-year tribulation (or threshing time), not just part of
it. And he clearly tells the church that they will be delivered from it.
8. In Romans 5:9, Paul tells the church in Rome the same thing, "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by
his blood, much more shall we be saved (delivered) by him from the wrath of God."
9. Furthermore, Jesus tells the church in Revelation 3:10 - "Because you have kept my word about patient
endurance, I will keep you from the hour (time) of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who
dwell on the earth."
o The “patient endurance” Jesus is talking about here is the same those who “endure to the end” he
was referring to in Matthew 24 which is not the end of the tribulation but the end of the birth pangs
that precede the beginning of the end we just looked at in the Post-Tribulation position.
o So, who doesn’t “endure to the end”? As we discussed earlier, those who don’t endure to the end
are those who claim to be Christians but walk away from their faith because their faith wasn’t
genuine, otherwise they would have endured to the end. Therefore, they are not delivered from what
comes next, namely “the hour of trial (or time of trial) that is coming on the whole world, to try those
who dwell on the earth.”
o This means that all who dwell on the earth at the start of the tribulation will be unsaved. Those who
get saved during the tribulation are “born out of” the tribulation (the souls in white robes under the
alter of God) as we discussed in the second tenet of the Mid-Tribulation.
10. Now there is one last word we need to look at, the word “from”. There are some who say the word “from”
means “through”.
o The word “from” used in all these passages is the same Greek word “ek”. It means “out of”,
“separation from”. It implies something that once had a close connection and is now removed “out
from” that connection.
o The word “through” is the Greek word “dia” which means because of, by or by way of.
o “from” and “through” are completely different words. The word “from” is the word use by Paul in
Thessalonians and Romans and by Jesus in Revelation. It means to keep Believers “out of” or “out
from” the “wrath” of God or the “hour (time) of trial” as Jesus called it.
o Since the purpose of the tribulation period is to “try those who dwell on the Earth” and those who
dwell on the earth are defined as those whose faith wasn’t genuine because they didn’t persevere in
their faith prior to the beginning of “the Day of the Lord”, then the only ones entering the tribulation
are Unbelievers. This means that the church has been taken “out of” or “snatched away” which is the
very definition of the rapture.
o In my opinion, this tenet holds well and doesn’t leak at all.

Mid-Tribulation Position

4. Partial Exposure to Tribulation: Unlike Pre-Tribulation which believes the Church will be completely
spared from the Tribulation, the Mid-Tribulation position suggests that the Church will be present on Earth
during the first half of the Tribulation period and serve as a witness to the world for three primary goals
which we will examine individually.
5. The first goal is centered around evangelism and witnessing: The Church is seen as continuing its mission
to evangelize and bear witness to Christ's gospel during the early part of the Tribulation. This period,
despite its challenges, is viewed as a pivotal time for the Church to reach those who are lost, offering hope
and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
 a. The fact is, God does not need the church to witness for him during the Tribulation because he
has five resources, he is already using that will be quite effective:
i. The 144,000 Jewish Evangelists: Revelation 7:4-8 describes 144,000 sealed servants of
God from the tribes of Israel. 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes who are specially
commissioned to evangelize and bear witness to the Messiah during the Tribulation.
Their unique role highlights the need for repentance, the continuation of God's plan for
Israel and the fulfillment of prophecy.
1. According to Rev. 14:1, they have the name of Christ and the Father’s name
written on their foreheads symbolizing God’s ownership and protection,
identifying them with the Father and the Son, signifying their salvation and
security and providing a public validity to their witness and testimony.
ii. Two Witnesses: Revelation 11:3-12 speaks of two witnesses who will prophesy for 1,260
days, clothed in sackcloth. These individuals are empowered by God to perform miracles
and serve as a bold declaration of God's sovereignty and judgment. Their ministry, which
concludes with their resurrection and ascension into heaven, serves as a powerful sign
to the world.
1. They wear sackcloth because their message calls for repentance and they are
warning of God’s impending judgement, and they are witnessing that the
supernatural events being experienced are proclamations of Christ’s
sovereignty and power.
2. Their resurrection and ascension serve as a powerful testimony to the truth of
their message and echo’s their witness to the death, burial and resurrection of
Christ.
iii. Angels: Revelation 14:6-9 mentions three angels flying directly overhead, proclaiming
the eternal gospel to those who dwell on earth, calling for all to reverence, glorify and
worship God and, to warn against taking the mark of the Beast. This is God's personal
fulfillment that the message of salvation will reach every corner of the earth,
transcending human limitations.
iv. God's Supernatural Acts: The various seal, trumpet and bowl judgments described in the
book of Revelation also serve as a form of witness, demonstrating both God's holiness
and His wrath against sin and motivation for repentance.
1. The people on earth will know these events are coming from God and even
confess that knowledge in Rev. 6:15-17 (after the 6th seal).
2. They know these are coming from God by the witness of the 144,000, the two
witnesses in Jerusalem and the flying angels.
3. And again, in Rev. 16:9 (4th bowl) it says, “they cursed the name of God who had
power over these plagues.”
v. And finally, and most importantly, is the witness of the global body of believers who get
saved during the tribulation. Revelation 7: 9 describes them as “great multitude that no
one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages”. So
many get saved in the first half of the tribulation they could not even be numbered.
1. Their faithfulness and perseverance while undergoing the horrors of the
Tribulation and the persecution unleashed by the world against them is the
single, most powerful witness on the planet.
b. Regarding this first goal, it is very clear that the church does not need to be a witness during the
tribulation.
6. The second goal often cited by the mid-tribulation position is for the spiritual growth and proof through
perseverance of the church.
 a. While the trials and tribulations faced during the Tribulation will be opportunities for believers to
grow in their faith and to demonstrate perseverance, character, and hope, this can be said of all
Believers.
b. Christians have been challenged, persecuted, tortured and martyred for 2000 years and are still
experiencing the same today in many parts of the world.
c. Just because the trials persecutions during the tribulation are intense, does not mean the church
is there. Yes, Believers beyond number will experience these horrors and their faith will be tested.
But to claim the church will be there is a wrong assumption.
7. The third goal often cited by the mid-tribulation position is for the church to be a testimony of God’s
faithfulness:
a. The claim is that by enduring part of the Tribulation, the Church exemplifies God’s faithfulness to
sustain and protect His people through trials.
b. But, as we saw earlier in the Pre-tribulation tenet in this lesson, that is not the promise given to
the church. The promise given to the church is that God will protect them “from” the Tribulation,
not “through” the Tribulation.
c. As a matter of fact, the real testimony of the believers in the Tribulation isn’t that God protects
them through the Tribulation, but they are willing to die for their faith.
8. Based on what we have learned here, the primary three goals of the mid-tribulation position are very valid
as it relates to Believers, but simply do not apply to the church. Consequently, this tenet does not hold
water at all and leaks 100%.

Post-Tribulation

4. Rapture Coinciding with Christ’s Second Coming: The Post-Tribulation view holds that the rapture of the
church and the Second Coming of Christ are simultaneous events occurring at the end of the tribulation
period, just before the 1000-year Messianic Kingdom.
5. One of the passages used to defend this position is Matthew 24:29-31: "Immediately after the tribulation
of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 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. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and
they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Let’s break this down
a bit.
a. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not
give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man.”
i. We dealt with the post-tribulation claim that there are many events that must take place
before the rapture in the first Post-Tribulation tenant “Pre-requisites to the rapture” and
proved that none of these events can precede the rapture.
b. But what does “then all the tribes of the earth will mourn” mean?
i. This is a fulfillment of Zechariah 12:10 speaking specifically to the tribes of Israel: "And I
will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace
and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced,
they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as
one weeps over a firstborn."
ii. It is also a fulfillment of the prophesy by Jesus to the nation of Israel which further
serves as a precondition of his second coming. This is found in Luke 13:35: "Behold, your
house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord!'
1. The term “your house is forsaken” is a paraphrase by Jesus from Jer. 12:7 and
22:5 where God pronounces judgement on the nation of Israel because of their
unfaithfulness and disobedience. In this case, Jesus is using the phrase as a
judgement for their unbelief and rejection of Him as their Messiah.
2. Jesus then follows it with a statement and a quote from Ps. 118:36 “And I tell
you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of
the Lord! (a phrase that was used to denote the Messiah)”
3. This was not a statement to the church. It was a direct statement to Israel as a
nation, not to the disciples or the people, but to the nation as a whole whose
leadership had rejected him. We know this because it is immediately preceded
by “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those
who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a
hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” in Luke
13:34.
4. So, in Matt. 24:29-31, Jesus is saying that there will appear in Heaven a sign of
the Son of Man that will be seen by everyone on the earth and the Nation of
Israel in particular. Undoubtedly this sign will be the light of the Shakinah glory
of God which will be clearly visible because the whole world will be engulfed in
darkness for in “those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not
give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven”.
5. After the glory of God is revealed (remember the first five words of this book
are: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”), then the Nation of Israel will mourn
which is a national repentance and call out “Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord!”.
6. It is then “they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other."
7. Isaiah chapter 12 (and Rev. 1:7) is exactly how Israel will respond when they see
Christ.
8. To properly interpret the prophesy of the Tribulation, it must be kept in context
with Israel because it is the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” and the 70th week of
Daniels’ prophecy. It is not the church. So, the “elect” Jesus is referring to are
the dispersed tribes of Israel that have been scattered due to the intensified
persecution of the Antichrist, not the church. This relates to Israel being God’s
“chosen” or elect according to Deut. 7:6-7, Is. 45:4, 65:9 and 65:22. And the
gathering to Is. 11:11-12, Eze. 36:24-28.
9. Here, Jesus tells the nation of Israel that they will not seem him again as their
Messiah until the people say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord,” implying a future recognition of Jesus as the Messiah by the people of
Israel.
10. Another thing to notice is there is a trumpet call. This is a military term just like
Paul used for the rapture. It is a tuba, not a cornu. But, in this case, Jesus has
ordered the assembly of Israel for His return to Jerusalem. For the rapture, He
orders the assembly of the church for His return to Heaven (His Father’s house).
In both cases He orders the assembly to where He is. For the church, it is
Heaven. For Israel, it is Jerusalem. These are two different events, not the same
event.
 c. So, the scripture often referenced by the post-tribulation position of Matthew 24:29-31 has
nothing to do with the church – it is all about the Nation of Israel.
d. One last thing about this. The apostle Paul further reinforces the idea that the second coming of
Christ is for Israel, not the church in Romans 11:25-27: "Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do
not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers (meaning, God’s divine plan previously
hidden that He is now going reveal): a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of
the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, 'The Deliverer will
come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob'; 'and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.'"
e. In this passage, the “fullness of the Gentiles has come in” is referring to the domination or ruling
of Gentile’s over the land of Israel.
f. Even though Israel has taken back some of it’s land, it is only partial and they lose it again half
way through the Tribulation. It isn’t until Christ returns and establishes His kingdom at the end of
the tribulation that Israel is restored to all the land.
g. It is then that Christ returns as the “Deliverer” of Jacob, not the deliverer of the church (He did
that before the Time of Jacob’s Trouble began).
6. The post tribulation position also frequently cites 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: "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. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."
a. This passage says nothing about the timing of the rapture as the post-tribulation position claims,
but it does mention a trumpet.
b. But, as we just discussed, even though it is the same kind of trumpet mentioned at the end of the
Tribulation, it is being used for two different assembly calls.
7. Another passage occasionally used by both the mid-tribulation position and the post-tribulation position is
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4: "Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered
together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a
spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one
deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction..."
a. In Paul’s short visits to church in Thessalonica, he had obviously instructed them about the
rapture.
b. In His first letter he calms their fears that their Christian brothers and sisters who have already
died would miss the rapture. Now, in his second letter, he calms their fears that they might have
missed the rapture.
c. This is because of the suffering and persecution they were experiencing (likely both Roman and
Jewish – see Acts 17:1-10), and most of all, the teachings of the false teachers who were telling
them they had missed the rapture and were in the “Day of the Lord”. They were fearful they were
in the Tribulation and would be enduring the wrath of God contrary to what Paul had told them
they would be delivered from.
d. The first challenge to the post-tribulation viewpoint is how panicked the Believers were in
Thessalonica. If Paul had taught them to expect to endure the tribulation, even half of it, they
would not have panicked. Rather, they would be looking for the signs leading to Christ’s return.
However, they were panicked which is consistent with believing they would be raptured before
the tribulation and would not experience the wrath of God.
e. The second challenge has to do with their claim that Paul is referring to the mid-point of the
tribulation when Paul says the Day of the Lord
f. Although it is agreed by all positions that this could refer to the Abomination of Desolation and
the Antichrist being revealed in the middle of the Tribulation, there is one other time that “the
man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction” – it is at the very start of the Tribulation.
i. It is found in Daniel 9:27 where the Antichrist makes the 7-year peace treaty with Israel
(which is more of a security treaty than a peace treaty). This peace treaty is what starts
the 70th week (or the Tribulation) described a few verses earlier. All three rapture
positions agree that this is the Antichrist.
ii. When he negotiates and signs this treaty, it will be very clear to anyone who is familiar
with these passages that the person executing the agreement is the Antichrist because
he is further described in the same verse as the one who breaks the covenant halfway
through the 70th week and causes the Abomination of Desolation which is also discussed
in Dan. 11;31 and referred to by Jesus in Matt. 24:15 and Paul in 2 Thess. 2:3-4.
iii. Since Paul mentions a rebellion happening right before the Antichrist is revealed, we
need to understand what this “rebellion” is.
iv. The term “rebellion” is translated from the Greek word "apostasia," which means a
departure, defection or falling away. It relates to the idea of a belief once adhered to
that is now discarded.
v. This "falling away" is not a single event like the rapture nor will it happen nor is it a
revolting against the government as the word “rebellion” implies. Rather, it is a time of
increased spiritual apostasy or “turning away” from the authority or truth of the Gospel.
vi. It is seen as a period where there will be a noticeable decline in genuine faith and
adherence to Christian doctrine, accompanied by moral decay and increased hostility
towards Biblical principles.
vii. This is exactly what Paul describes to Timothy that the church should expect to see
happening. He outlines this in 2 Tim. Chapters 3 and 4 about the “in the last days,
perilous times will come”. In chapter 4 verses 3-4 he states, “For the time is coming
when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will
accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from
listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
viii. Since Paul is speaking to the church, we know the church will see some of this
happening. The church may not see the culmination of the total “falling away” before
the peace treaty is signed, but the church will certainly see it building up. This will be a
sign to Believers that the time of Christ’s return for the church is near.
ix. Where this becomes a challenge to the mid-tribulation and post-tribulation positions is
that 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 is more likely to be just before the tribulation not in the
middle or the end of it.
g. However, before any of that can happen, there is another event that precedes all of it and Paul
tells us what it is in verses 5-8 as he reminds the Thessalonians: “Do you not remember that
when I was still with you, I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so
that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he
who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be
revealed…”.
h. So, there is “he” who is now restraining things and preventing any revealing of the Antichrist. The
majority of all three positions agree that the “he” is the Holy Spirit.
i. If the Holy Spirit steps “out of the way”, it means the church needs to step out of the way
because, during the church age, Believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. This is exactly what
Paul has been teaching the Thessalonians namely, the rapture of the church must take place
before the Day of the Lord begins.
 j. However, just because the church is raptured does not mean the Holy Spirit’s presence on Earth is
gone. He will still be omnipresent and operating like he did before the church. It is also worth
noting that nowhere does the Bible say that Believers in the Old Testament nor those in the
Tribulation become indwelt by the Holy Spirit – further implying the church is not in the
Tribulation.
8. Revelation 20:4-6: "Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge
was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for
the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark
on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest
of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection."
a. There are three glaring problems with this for the post-tribulation position:
i. The only “souls” being resurrected are those from the tribulation. What about the rest
of the Christians who died before the tribulation? What happens to them?
ii. There is no mention of living Christians being translated or “changed in the twinkling of
an eye”. What happens to them?
iii. This is called the “first” resurrection which we know isn’t the first in time because there
have been many dead resurrected before this. But “first” can mean first in time or first in
sequence. Since first in time doesn’t work, it must be first in sequence. If it is first (or
before) in sequence, then we know it has to be first, or before, the final or second
resurrection at the end of the Millennial kingdom at the time of judgment.
9. One last point of observation is that the description of the believers who come out of the tribulation
through death are immediately found before the throne of God in white robes. There is never any
suggestion that, like the church, they must stand before the Bema seat of judgment (Christ’s judgement
seat) where their works are tried like the church Christians will have done to them.
a. If the church was in the tribulation, they would have been added to the church at salvation. Since
they weren’t added to the church, the church simply isn’t there.
10. Based on these arguments, in my opinion, the post-tribulation claim that the rapture coincides with the
second coming of Christ just doesn’t hold water. It leaks 100%.