Jesus Café Ministries - Scripture Squad - What are the different views on the end times & rapture?

From: MJGree
Jello! I've studied the end times recently and have been asked to give a firm stand on the rapture ie. when it's going to happen. I've always believed (and still do) that the rapture of our church is pre-tribulation. Could you guys maybe play the "devils advocate" and give the argument of both sides for me?

Hi Mike!
Jello to you too! LOL! We might seem like jello after you read our answer to your question! : ) Please know it's not to evade your very good questions, it's just that NO ONE knows the answer to this question and plausible Scriptural arguments can be made for all viewpoints. Therefore, we are going to endeavor to lay out all the viewpoints.

While these issues are stimulating to discuss, let's not forget the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:36 (NASB):

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."

So you see, not even Jesus knew when asked. Some believe the rapture is prophesied in Leviticus 23:24 which describes the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashana).

In ancient Jewish wedding customs, while the bride waited...and waited...the bridegroom would be building and decorating their wedding chamber with great diligence. His father would inspect the chamber from time to time to see if it was ready. If a passerby were to ask, "When's the big day?", the bridegrooom could only answer, "Only my father knows that." When the chamber was finally ready, the bridegroom would assemble his young friends to accompany him on the trip to claim his bride. All Jewish brides were "stolen" and the bridegroom and his young men would set out in the night, making every attempt to completely surprise the bride. Hmmm...sound familiar? : )

In some Messianic circles people believe that the Bride will be raptured on Shavuot (Pentecost) because it is also called a Wedding Feast. Then Jesus will return on the Feast of Trumpets The great day of Judgement will be on Yom Kippur and the Final uniting of all Nations will be the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14).

Your question did not ask about the Second Coming of Christ, but there are generally 3 views about the timing of this event and our outlining them may help put things into context a bit better.

Premillenialists (the "pre" prefix means "before") believe the second coming of Christ will come before the Millennium. * Church Age ends in the time of Tribulation * Christ returns to earth and sets up and rules His kingdom for 1,000 years * the resurrection and judgment of the unsaved happens * eternity Revelation 20 is understood literally.

Premillenialists generally follow a literal method of interpretation. There is no agreement among premillenialists as to the time of the rapture.

Amillenialists (the "a" prefix means "without") believe the second coming of Christ is at the end of the Church Age and there is no earthly Millenium. They believe that the present state of the righteous in heaven IS the Millenium, but there is no earthly Millenium. * The Church Age will end in a time of trouble * Christ will come * General resurrection and judgment * eternity According to this view, Revelation 20 describes the scene of souls in heaven during the time between the firsta nd second comings of Christ. Amillennialists spiritualize the promises made to Israel as a nation and say they are fulfilled in the Church.

Postmillenialists (the "post" prefix means "after") believe the second coming of Christ is after the Millenium. * The last part of the Church Age (the last 1,000 years) is the Millennium, which will be a time of peace and abundance due to the efforts of the Church. * Christ will come * General resurrection and judgment * eternity

Still with us? Remember the old song "Rescue Me"? We're starting to hear it as "Rapture Me!" while writing this! LOL

OK...let's talk rapture. You know there is no exact word "rapture" in the Scripture but we get this concept from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 which reads:

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord." (NASB)

The Latin for "caught up" comes from the term "rapture."

The time of the rapture is not an issue with postmillennialists and amillennialists. They both see the rapture of the Church at the close of this age and concurrent with the second coming of Christ.

There are several views among premillenialists.

Pretribulationalists believe the coming of the Lord in the air for His saints (rapture) will happen before the seven-year-period of the Tribulation. According to this view, the Church will not go through any of the Tribulation period.

Proof: * Revelation 3:10 promises to keep the Church out of the hour of trouble (Tribulation). * From 2 Thessalonians 2 we learn that if the residence aspect of the Holy Spirit in believers is removed, the believers have to be removed also. * The Tribulation is a time of the outpouring of the wrath of God and the Church is exempt from that wrath (Revelation 6:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9) * For the rapture to be imminent (likely to happen without delay) it must be pretribulation (1 Thessalonians 5:6).

Midtribulationists believe the rapture will occur after 3.5 years of the Tribulation have passed. According to this view, the Church will go through the first half of the Tribulation period.

Proof: * The last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15:52 is the same as the 7th trumpet in Revelation 11:15 and that is sounded at the middle of the Tribulation. * The Great Tribulation is only the last half of Daniels 70th week and the Church is promised deliverance only from that (Revelation 11:2;12:6). * In Revelation 11 we see the resurrection of the 2 witnesses and that pictures the rapture of the Church. This occurs in the middle of the Tribulation.

Posttribulationists believe the rapture will occur at the end of the Trubulation. According to this view, the Church will be on earth during the entire Tribulation. The rapture is still separate from the Second Coming of Christ, separated by a very short period of time.

Proof: * The rapture and the second coming are described in the same words. * Preservation from the wrath of God means supernatural protection while living during that time, not deliverance from the time (as Israel was protected from the plagues while living in Egypt). * Saints are seen on earth during the Tribulation (Matthew 24:22).

Still others believe in a "partial" rapture in which only those who have been faithful will be raptured before the wrath of God is poured out and those who haven't will have to endure the Tribulation. They cite verses like Hebrews 9:28, which require preparedness.

What happens in the rapture, whenever it happens? The rapture is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; and John 14:1-3. * Christ descends * Resurrection of dead in Christ * Change from mortal to immortal bodies of the dead in Christ * Meeting with Christ in the air to ascend to heaven

So you see valid arguments can be made for all premillenialist views. It might be a good idea to pray for pre, but prepare for post. : )

We encourage you to study the passages mentioned, using the cross references in your Bible for further study. Whenever Christ comes for those who know Him as Savior might not really be the issue here. We need to be fervently reaching souls for Christ because every moment counts.

- The Scripture Squad :
TCCaleb, TCCaff, RuthCCC & DawnCCC