The Pretribulation Rapture
The “pretribulation rapture” or the “secret rapture” is not Biblical for the following reasons:
1.The Bible teaches that the rapture will not be silent, but rather it will be extremely noisy. Jesus will descend “with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16 also Psalms 50:3; Jeremiah 25:30, 31).
2.The rapture will not be invisible; it will be seen by all. “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him” (Revelation 1:7). The second coming will not be a secret event. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, shineth even unto the west so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27). The second coming will be lighted by the glory of the Father (Matthew 16:27), the glory of the Son (Matthew 25:31) and glory of the angels (Matthew 28:2-4).
3.The rapture does not leave the wicked alive. They will be destroyed by the Lord’s coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 19:17, 18; Isaiah 11:4; Jeremiah 25:33).
4.Christ’s second coming will not be in two stages – one secret and the other seen by all. There is only one second coming (Matthew 16:27; Matthew 5:28,29; Matthew 25:31,32).
5.The secret rapture believers teach that there is a seven-year period between the two second comings of Christ. This is not supported by scripture.
6.The Antichrist does not appear 3 1/2 years after the second coming of Jesus. He has been active since the beginning of time (1 John 4:3).
7.The wicked will not have a second chance to be saved after the second coming (Matthew 16:27; Matthew 5:28,29; Matthew 25:31,32). All sinners will be destroyed by Christ’s second coming (2 Thessalonians 2:8; Jeremiah 25:33; Revelation 19:17, 18).
God Empowers the Saints in the Tribulation
When you look at the examples in the Bible about how God works, you will find that He does not rapture the believers out of the tribulations but protects them through it. For example, the Lord didn’t save Noah from the flood but through the flood. The Lord didn’t save the children of Israel from the Egyptian plagues but through it. The Lord didn’t save Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the furnace but through it. And the Lord didn’t save Daniel from the lion’s den but through it.
Christ encourages His followers to be faith full to the end, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13). In the early church, the Holy Spirit confirmed “the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
Paul teaches the same truth saying, “who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians1:4); “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure” (2 Thessalonians 1:4).
The Lord states that the end-time believers are those who “came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). God will be with the saints through the tribulation and will bring them out of it pure as gold ( Psalms 91). This He will do because He affirmed, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
