THE 'RAPTURE' OF THE CHURCH, HOW 'SECRET' WILL IT BE? by: Bob Fisher. (2007) During the first forty years of our Christian experience, we listened to many preachers and teachers speaking about an exclusive 'secret rapture' of the Church, which was assumed to occur in relation to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Almost every book we studied dealing with prophecy, echoed this common theme. That, at the conclusion of this present age of God's grace, 'in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,' all living believers will literally disappear, as they are secretly 'caught up' to meet the Lord, in the air. All this will occur, we were taught, at the commencement of the last seven years of human history. This period would then conclude with a public second coming of Christ with His saints, to establish His eternal kingdom of peace and righteousness. It was this 'secret rapture' of the saints, that would initiate this seven-year countdown to the public return of the Lord Jesus Christ, a period referred to by teachers and prophetic writers as the tribulation period' (a term found nowhere in Scripture). This teaching is known as the 'Pretribulation Rapture viewpoint. It should be noted here that whilst the word 'rapture' does not occur in our English bibles, it is a term normally accepted to refer to the 'catching away' of the saints of God (believers), prior to His 'Day of the Lord' judgments. Like many others, we fully embraced this teaching and accepted it thoroughly. The bible college one attended used as its textbook, 'Systematic Theology,' a work by Louis Sperry Chafer, founder and first president of Dallas Theological Seminary. This work has recently been re-written and edited by Dr. John Walvoord. In it, the 'Pretribulation Rapture' teaching is expounded quite fully, it's author(s) obviously, much biased in favor of the view. So whilst we learned and personally held this Pre-trib view for many years, we did so only for lack of our better understanding of the Scriptures. One could see however, the view had many problem areas. Theological and chronological difficulties, have gradually surfaced over the years showing it to be indefensible from scripture. So that now it is impossible to retain it as being a scriptural based doctrine. Simply put, the view cannot be fully supported by sound and unstrained critical exegesis of relevant biblical texts, and must therefore resort to inference, typology and eisegesis (reading into Scripture that which is not really there) for its raison d'etre. This is pretty shaky ground for proponents holding doctorate degrees in theology. Let us examine for a moment, some basics;
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 It is our belief that God has revealed in the Holy Scriptures, by inspiration of His Holy Spirit, all that is necessary for us to know concerning future events which will consummate this age. Our task is to rightly divide the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 We cannot however, cherry pick our way through the Scriptures and select only texts that appear to reinforce our humanly preconceived scenarios. We must never use Scripture to reinforce or support our own ideas, but rather allow them to instruct us. This very important and instructive passage begins with, "All Scripture..." not "Some Scripture...," We must gather all relevant Scripture passages pertaining to a topic together and thoroughly digest them, until it becomes evident what the full biblical teaching concerning that topic may be. One must never attempt to establish doctrine based on isolated verses, or texts chosen at random. Nor should we ever attempt to put God on human timetables derived from our own preconceived end-time scenarios. Those who do so usually end up with egg on their face, having to eat their own words and predictions. "And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; [20] knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, (singular or unsupported interpretation) [21] for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:19-21 As a true Christian believer, my faith, hope, and trust lies in the Person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ and His vicarious sacrifice on the cross of Calvary, for once lost sinners like myself; "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." Ephesians 1:7 Our knowledge of all that He is, and all that He has done, and will yet do, is contained only in the Holy Scriptures. They alone tell us of all that pertains to God, and His dealings with mankind both in this life and the next. Our full understanding of the Scriptures is paramount to our awareness of God's plans for the closing days of this age. Young Timothy was advised by the apostle Paul his mentor; "Be diligent (eager) to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [16] But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." 2 Timothy 2:15-16
The inference here is that the word of truth can be wrongly divided, especially if studied out-of-context or strained to say something it does not actually say. Unfortunately much of this type of thing has already occurred, especially regarding the interpretation of prophecy. Consequently today there are many opposing views on almost every biblical doctrine. Scenarios of end-time events have been proposed by some teachers supported only by very flimsy biblical evidence that when examined fail to stand the test of sound critical exegesis. We strongly suggest that the 'Pretribulation rapture' viewpoint is one of these humanly preconceived scenarios. We do not accept it to be a product of sound, critical, biblical exegesis. For 180 years now, a large segment of the evangelical Christian Church, has embraced this erroneous view. The visionary dreams of a crippled and bed-ridden teenage charismatic girl, named Margaret McDonald which began it all, were acknowledged by some, as a 'special revelation' concerning the return of our Lord. Which now instead of being a single glorious ongoing event, becomes a two stage event. First our Lord's 'secret' return to the air 'for' His saints, to be followed by seven years of tribulation, wrath and judgment, and then by His return to the earth 'with' His saints. Leading teachers of the day accepted this 'new revelation', and it wasn't long before this major error of prophetic interpretation spread throughout the evangelical Christian Church. We are convinced that if these men, had fully considered its source, or the method by which this new 'revelation' came, they should have rejected it without further consideration. The canon of 'God's revelation,' the Scriptures, has been closed for over 1900 years, all that God wished to say, He has already said through His own inspired word. To suggest He might need to add more, by 'special' revelation such as 'visionary dreams,' to clarify our understanding of His written word, as it were by an afterthought, is to forget about and negate the ministry of His Holy Spirit within us; "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." John 16:13 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him." 1 John 2:27 Since it was by the ministry and inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, that the Scriptures were originally given, who better to make clear their meaning to us than He? It is truly regrettable that this spurious teaching has gained such a foothold with believers, based on such a questionable origin.
One can only surmise that it was accepted only because it offered safety and comfort to those who dreaded the future oppressions, persecutions and possible martyrdoms of Christians, instigated by the 'man of lawlessness' the 'antichrist' during the final three and half years of his reign. It would be much more pleasant to be safe and secure in the presence of the Lord, than facing the Great Tribulation of the 'beast.' It is our belief that the enemy has already done his work well, in deceiving and lulling many trusting Christians into an unjustified sense of false security, by this attractive yet deceptively false teaching. Our purpose is to alert the true Church to reality, and that it be taught afresh by the Holy Spirit, with the truths of Scripture. Not led astray by man-made scenarios, by dispensational legalism, or by myths and vain babblings of sensationalist television preachers, and the like. When considering the 'rapture' of the saints, we must remember that the most glorious happening in the history of mankind on earth, the first 'resurrection' of the dead, occurs at exactly the same time, because they are companion events. For those of us Christians who will be alive at the time, the coming of the Lord for His Church is our 'Blessed Hope,' what we tend to forget however, is that for dead Christians, those who 'sleep in Jesus.' The shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God, is their 'Blessed Hope' also. It will be their rallying cry to come forth. Countless thousands perhaps millions, of graves and tombs will be abruptly opened and their occupants will emerge, clothed in resurrected, glorified bodies, joining with the changed and immortalized living saints, to be transported by His angels into the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His glorious parousia. (coming with continuing presence) "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. [14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. [15] For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. [16] For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] 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." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 Could such a tremendous event go completely unnoticed by the unbelieving world? We think not! In the New testament epistles and gospels, we are told that the unbelieving world in general will know absolutely nothing about what is happening, when the great tribulation is suddenly without warning terminated by God s intervention, through cosmic and global catastrophes.
"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. [35] "For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth." Luke 21:34-35 "For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. [3] For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. [4] But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: [27] "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. [28] "Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; [29] "but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. [30] "Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. [37] "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. [38] "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, [39] "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. [40] "Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken* and the other left. [41] "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken* and the other left. [42] "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. *(grk. paralambano - To be received close, near or alongside)" Matthew 24:36-42 (c.f. John 14:3) One cannot accept that a monumental, earth shaking event such as the resurrection of the saved, righteous dead, and the sudden glorification and rapture of multitudes of living believers skyward could occur, and nobody notice anything unusual. One would have to be both blind, and deaf not to notice. Casting aside all other arguments, the important thing is that nowhere within the pages of Holy writ is there one word concerning 'secrecy' of this miraculous event, when multitudes of dead believers come forth from their graves never to die again. When the great sky lift to glory begins, when our Lord commands His angels to gather His own flock unto Himself, when the wheat and the tares are finally separated and the wheat is gathered into the Father's barns (c.f. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) this glorious event will hardly go unnoticed. Aghast with fear of certain coming judgment and retribution for their sinfulness, the unsaved of the world will be fleeing to the caves and the crevices, and calling for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of Him that sits on
the throne. Why? Because nobody still in their sins, unsaved and unforgiven would dare to openly face the presence of a Holy God and expect to escape His retribution, wrath and judgment. "Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty. [11] The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.[12] For the day of the LORD of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up--and it shall be brought low--. [17] The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; The LORD alone will be exalted in that day, [18] But the idols He shall utterly abolish. [19] They shall go into the holes of the rocks, And into the caves of the earth, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily. [20] In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver And his idols of gold, Which they made, each for himself to worship, To the moles and bats, [21] To go into the clefts of the rocks, And into the crags of the rugged rocks, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily." Isaiah 2:10-12, 17-21 "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; [25] "the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. [26] "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. [27] "And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven." Mark 13:24-27 "And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, [16] and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! [17] "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" Revelation 6:15-17 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; [26] "men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. [27] "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke 21:25-27 One can only describe these scenes as utter panic, an event is happening right before their eyes so awesome they are desperate to escape and hide. Above their heads the terrifying spectacle of the heavens in turmoil and now the sight of the glorified Christ who has appeared in the sky to deliver and rescue His people from antichrist's tyranny, appearing quite openly for all the world to see, as a sign of coming retribution, judgment and doom.
Around them the earth has opened and given up thousands of once dead Christians, who have returned to life, and living Christians have suddenly, taken on a whole new appearance, they have all become bright and shining. Suddenly those still unsaved, their unconfessed sins so long neglected, God's repeated offers of mercy and forgiveness so often spurned and rejected, now suddenly for them its too late, now all they can do is run and hide, from His face and His judgments and the outpouring of His 'Day of the Lord' wrath which are soon to follow. For the first time in centuries the Omnipotent, Holy, Creator God has broken His silence, intervened in the affairs of men, and made His awesome presence known. 'Secret'? We think not! To teach otherwise is to deny the clear testimony of Scripture and the very words of our Lord Himself. Our Lord Jesus exclaimed within our context: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away." Matthew 24:35 We would now like to briefly discuss the popularly used phrase, the 'tribulation period,' As already mentioned, this term does not occur in Scripture. The period referred to by this misnomer is, 'Daniel's 70th.week' (c.f. Daniel 9:27) the only correct biblical name. It is the final heptad or period of seven years wherein God resumes His dealings with the nation of Israel to consummate their history. This seven year period is then subdivided into three periods. The first three and one half years was called by the Lord Himself, The beginning of sorrows Matthew 24:8 During this period the antichrist will take control as world leader and consolidate the then existent ten kingdom world empire, into an eight kingdom empire by annexing three of the original ten. Then as the supreme dictator of all time he will effectively rule the entire planet. The final half of this week of years is divided into two indeterminate periods of undisclosed duration, the first known as the 'Great Tribulation', referred to by our Lord Himself (c.f. Matthew 24:21, Revelation 7:14) or the 'Time of Trouble', (c.f. Daniel 12:1; Psalm 10:1 ), all of these terms are biblical, and hence acceptable. The third concluding period is known biblically as the Day of the Lord. However those who teach and refer to the whole seven-year period of Daniel's 70th. week as the 'tribulation period,' are quite wrong in doing so, because they create the impression that the whole period of the seven years will be wrath, anger and the outpouring of God's judgment, which is just simply untrue! The first half of the 70th. week could be relatively peaceful, as a deceitful and fraudulent false messiah, aided and abetted by his false prophet, consolidates the false state of his New World Order. Appearing to all men as the leading peace-maker of his time. He may even receive a Nobel prize for his peace efforts as he seeks to bring 'enforced' peace and order, through a totalitarian system, to a world in ethnic and racial turmoil.
His rise to political world prominence will probably be meteoric, since he alone will find a way to solve the Middle-east problem, and 'confirm a covenant (treaty) with many for one heptad (week of years).' Daniel 9:27. He will accomplish this by promising the Jews his protection and the right to live in their own land, in exchange for some of their territory, allowing a Palestinian state to be created, comprised of Gaza and parts of the West bank. This will be a huge mistake on the part of Jewish political leaders for they will be seeking peace and their national security, safety and protection from a man, rather than from their God who has already guaranteed it. At the mid-point of this week the dictator s entire attitude changes, he becomes so motivated by personal pride that he blasphemously desecrates the Jewish temple, assumes the role of their God and demands worship and absolute obedience. (2 Thessalonians 2:4) Many Jewish apostates will acquiesce thereby sealing their own doom, whilst others will remain faithful to the God of their fathers, ensuring their future sealing and their eventual deliverance and salvation. These will say; "He (antichrist) has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He has broken his covenant. [21] The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, But war was in his heart; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords." Psalm 55:20-21 "Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble? [2] The wicked (antichrist) in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. [3] For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire; He blesses the greedy and renounces the LORD. [4] The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts." Psalm 10:1-4 "Vindicate me, O God, And plead my cause against an ungodly nation; Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! (antichrist)" Psalm 43:1 "For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. [3] They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones. [4] They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more." [5] For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You:" Psalm 83:2-5 Due to the rebellious refusal, extremist opposition and stubbornness of this faithful remnant who refuse to comply with his dictates, this false messiah will now change tactics, and thereafter he pursues a 'holocaust' policy of Jewish and Christian extermination, not only in Israel but world-wide. Then will commence the, Great Tribulation during the second half of 'Daniel's 70th.week', a time of persecution and martyrdom for Jew and Christian alike until it would seem that all hope is gone.
"Those who do wickedly against the covenant he (antichrist) shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. [33] "And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering." Daniel 11:32-33 "I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them," Daniel 7:21 "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time." Daniel 7:25 Our Lord's comments to His disciples on this situation were; "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. [10] "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. [11] "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. [12] "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. [13] "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." Matthew 24:9-13 "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened." Matthew 24:21-22 Our reasons for dwelling at length on this aspect of end-time events is to illustrate that up until this point in the 70th. week, we have been witnessing solely the 'wrath of man', aided and abetted by the Wrath of Satan but not the 'wrath of God'. The 'Day of the Lord' wrath and judgments have not even begun as yet. God's retributive 'wrath' is reserved as His response to the oppressions and persecutions of His people world-wide by the end time antichrist. Thus in the following verses our Lord teaches that; "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 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. [31] "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew 24:29-30 This verse alone teaches that the rapture or gathering of believers occurs at the public second coming of our Lord, and will be observed by all the tribes of the earth, and that it will occur after the great tribulation. It will not be secret!
This is the only correct chronological position for the 'rapture' and 'resurrection' events. The evacuation of the Church from the scene, immediately following God s interruption of the Great Tribulation, and immediately before the outpouring of God's retributive 'Day of the Lord' wrath. It is an essential part of His plan, it is our 'Blessed Hope'; "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9 "since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation (affliction) those who trouble (afflict) you, [7] and to give you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, [8] in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. [9] These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, [10] when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed." 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 The important questions we must all ask ourselves at this point, are these, am I ready? Have I passed over from death to life, or am I still dead in trespasses and sins? Have my sins been brought to the foot of His cross? Am I forgiven? Have I been saved? Do I know the true Messiah Jesus? Am I living for Him daily? Do I warn others of the 'wrath' to come? "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. [12] He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. [13] These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." 1 John 5:11-13 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36 In our Lord's name we beg and implore you 'be reconciled to God' while there is still time, before His 'Day of the Lord' wrath is poured out upon this godless, lawless, sinful, Christ rejecting world. Come to Him now in repentance and confession of your sins and wickedness, and by faith accept His offer of mercy and forgiveness, claim Jesus the true Messiah, as your Lord and Master, follow Him, and become His disciple, for; "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him," Hebrews 2:3 "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God." 2 Corinthians 5:20
All Scripture quotations are New King James Version, full context, emphases added, and notations inserted. ~~~~~~~ For further study and discussion of this entire subject matter, the reader is referred to: "The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church." by Marvin Rosenthal. Published by Thomas Nelson Publishers 1990 ~~~~~~