The
Raptureby Joshua Cooley
The
Rapture
by Joshua Cooley
My purpose in writing here is to discuss
the rapture, what it is, and when it takes place. The first point is to
establish IF the rapture exists, and if so, what it is. There are a growing
number of people (at least I seem to be running into more of them) who believe
that the rapture is not a biblical concept. They usually champion their cause
with the claim "the word rapture isn't in the bible!!!"
This same tactic is often used by anti-Trinitarians who frequently
lead off their argument with the fact that the word trinity is not found in the
bible, as if this must therefore mean that the concept which the word represents
is made up. My usual first response is "so?" The issue is not whether or not an
individual word is found in the bible or not, but whether or not the
idea/doctrine is found in the bible.
In the case of the rapture however, the word rapture is actually in
the bible, its just not in the English bible. The word "Rapture" is Latin. It
comes from the Latin root "rapio, rapere" which means to seize, or carry away.
Many words in the English language (anywhere from 65% - 70%) were either
borrowed directly from Latin, or are slightly changed versions of Latin words.
This is the case with the word Rapture. In 1st Thessalonians 4:17 the phrase
"shall be caught up" in Latin is "rapiemur" this term was borrowed by the
English language (by way of French) in the form of "rapture" to mean "caught up"
or "caught away".
Thus, not only the concept, but the word is actually in the bible
and it is found in 1st Thess. 4:17.
"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. " (ESV)
So what is this rapture, this
catching up? Lets begin by looking at the passage in more full context.
1st Thess 4:15-17 (ESV)
"15 For this we declare to you by
a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of
the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 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. 17 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. "
First we will note that
this event encompasses both the dead in Christ and those believers who are alive
on the earth at that time. It is accompanied by…
The
dead in Christ are resurrected and we who remain alive join them as we all rise
to meet Christ in the air, and from that point on, we will ever be with him.
So this is a meeting. What kind of meeting?
The word translated "meet" in 4:17 is in Greek is "Apantesis" and it
means "to meet one". This word is used only 4 times in the new testament. The
first two occurrences of the word are both in Matthew in the parable of the ten
virgins. In these verses, Matt 25:1 and 6, it describes the processional of the
virgins to meet the bridegroom and go with him into the wedding feast (I’ll be
talking about this parable much more in-depth later when we examine the Jewish
wedding feast and its implications for prophecy).
The next occurrence of the word is in Acts 28:15 where it is used to
describe the believers of Rome sending a welcoming party to meet Paul on the
road and usher him into Rome.
The final usage of the word is in our verse listed above. Apantesis
is not the usual word for a simple meeting of people. This is why the word is
only used four times in the new testament.
From both the biblical usages outlined above, the word appears to
always describe a welcoming procession. An event in which a crowd of people
expecting an important person to arrive, go out and welcome him in a celebratory
procession and form an escort for the important person to his destination.
Further, when we examine ancient Greek sources outside of the bible we find that
the word “apantesis” was specifically used to describe an occasion when a ruler
would come to visit a city and the people of the city would line the road
leading into the city in order to welcome the ruler.
Thus the rapture is a welcome procession both for the bridegroom of
the church and for the King of Kings.
The next question is, when does the rapture happen?
It is my belief that the rapture takes place after the tribulation.
I believe this for a number of reasons all of which come from what the bible has
to say, or not say on the topic.
The first thing we must consider is that this event (the rapture)
obviously takes place at the return of Christ. There are several passages in the
bible that refer to Jesus Christ returning. They refer to a number of events
which occur at the return. The events include…
Now, do these verses all describe one single return of Jesus Christ,
or do they refer to two different returns, one of them being a coming “to the
clouds” only?
First, in some of the verses it is obvious (or directly stated) that the return
described must happen after the tribulation. For example, those verses which
link the return of Christ with the judgment of the wicked, and with the
destruction of the anti-christ can not possibly happen before the tribulation
therefore, they must be describing a return after the tribulation.
The question then becomes, do any of the verses referring to the
return of Christ refer to a separate, different return? In order to answer that
question we will have to think about how we can tell from the description of the
events if they are describing the same, or different returns.
Starting with 1st Thess 4:17 which is clearly describing the
rapture, and probably the key verse in the bible on the teaching about the
rapture, we can see that the rapture is clearly linked to the resurrection of
the righteous dead. Thus any verse which describes the return of Christ as
including the resurrection of the righteous dead must also be describing the
return at which the rapture happens.
Secondly it is obvious from the verses which describe the return of
Christ as judging the wicked and destroying the anti-christ that these must
happen after the tribulation, thus if there are two separate returns of Christ
then none of these verses should include references to either the rapture, or the
resurrection of the righteous dead (which as we have established from 1st Thess
4:17 occur in immediate succession).
So lets look at the verses which refer to the return of Christ, and
see what they say (keeping the above questions in mind). We'll start at the
beginning of the new testament and work our way through.
Matt 24:29-31
"29 “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. 30 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. 31 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."
The first thing obvious in this verse is that it occurs after the tribulation since the first sentence of the verse is "immediately after the tribulation of those days..." Then appears the Son of Man in the heavens coming on the clouds in great glory, and he sends out his angels to gather the elect from all the earth. Now, this verse is too obvious to be missed by those of the pre-trib view point. It clearly states that it happens at the end of the tribulation, and it describes something which sounds a great deal like the rapture described in 1st Thess. 4:17.
Some in the pre-trib view point answers this verse by saying that the book of Matthew applies specifically to the Jews and not to Gentile Christians. Thus the elect in this verse does not refer to the church (as it does everywhere else) but to Jews who have been saved during the tribulation period after the rapture of the church. Problems with this idea include, first, there is simply no evidence for it in the book of Matthew, or the rest of the bible. There is nothing in the book of Matthew which suggests that it applies only to the Jews, and a great deal which would suggest that it applies to all Christians. Secondly, The pre-trib view relies heavily upon the parable of the wedding feast for its own concept of the pre-trib rapture and that concept is found where? in Matthew 25, the parable of the ten virgins. Thirdly, virtually the exact same description of the Return of Christ occurs in the book of Mark.
Mark 17:24-27
"24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven."
There are some extreme forms of dispensationalism which hold that none of the gospels apply to the church, but only to the Jews. This is neither an orthodox, nor a common view so I'm not going to go through the bother of refuting it.
There is no reason to assume (unless you have already decided and are simply looking to support your own view) that both these references refer to the Jews specifically, and not to Gentile Christians.
Some have also argued that the usage of specific words such as “elect” in the passages in Matthew and Mark and “saints” in the book of Revelation means that these groups are different than the church which has already been raptured. This argument falls flat simply because those terms are used throughout the scriptures to refer to all believers in all times. There is no reasonable basis to suggest that they differentiate post-rapture tribulation Christians from the rest of the church.
However, the pre-trib view is that, at the very least, these references refer to the gathering of "tribulation Christians" or people who were saved after the rapture of the church, during the tribulation. Keeping that in mind, lets compare the two events and see how they match up.
How does this "gathering" compare to the rapture of 1st Thess 4:17?
The only difference between these verses and 1st Thess. is that these verses do not explicitly mention the resurrection of the dead.
Never the less, there is obviously a great deal of similarity between the descriptions... so much so that I would call them, nearly identical.
Everything on the surface would suggest that these two descriptions are referring to the same event. Thus if we are to assume that they are in fact describing two different, but nearly identical events, we must have significant evidence to support this view. If we are to believe that there are in fact two returns of Christ, and also two raptures, we must find fairly significant evidence to this effect somewhere.
So far we have looked at the the portions of Matthew and Mark in which
Jesus answers his disciples’ question “what are the signs of your coming?” (this
conversation between Jesus and his disciples is known as the “olivet discourse”
because it occurred while they were on the mount of Olives just outside
Jerusalem) Now lets move on.
Luke 17:22-37
"22 And he said to the disciples,
“The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of
Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or
‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and
lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his
day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of
Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage,
until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them
all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and
drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot
went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—
30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let
the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to
take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32
Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be
two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women
grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to
him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures
will gather.”"
The end of this passage
is frequently used by pre-trib teachers to describe the rapture. "One will be
taken and the other left" etc (this is also echoed in Matthew). Yet this is one
of the classic examples of verses that the pre-trib view point takes out of
context, apparently without even realizing it.
If you read this passage carefully, it becomes evident that this is actually
referring to the judgment of the wicked, not the rapture of the righteous.
But lets start at the beginning. The first notable thing is that
this section cautions against believing in secret comings. If someone tells you
"the Lord is come and he's over here!" do not believe them because the real
return will be like lightning that splits the sky from one end of heaven to the
other. The coming described here can not be missed.
Next we are told that this coming will be like the days of Noah (a
phrase used to describe the return of Christ in Matthew as well). When the
people were eating and drinking, and knew nothing until the flood came and took
them all away... Who was eating and drinking? Who was unaware? who was taken
away by the flood? The wicked. They knew nothing until the flood took them away.
It is noteworthy that Noah was not caught by surprise. Noah did know the flood
was coming.
Then we are told, it will also be like the
days of Lot when Sodom and Gomorrah were judged. The people of the city were
eating and drinking and going on unaware, even unto the day that Lot left the
city and on that day, the fire of judgment destroyed them all.
Jesus then says... It will be just like this when the Son of Man is
revealed. Note that the Son of Man is revealed. He does not steal away before
anyone sees him. He is revealed to the world. One shall be taken and the other
left... those being taken here are clearly being taken by the wrath of God.
Another note, in comparing this return with Noah and the flood and
the judgment of Sodom, Jesus provides also a clear parallel to the rapture, Noah
went into the Ark and then Flood came (the flood came seven days after Noah
entered the Ark and we will look at that more in-depth later), Lot left the
city, and on the same day the city was judged. Again just as in Matt. and Mark
we have a clear, if implied, link between the rapture and the return which
brings judgment. It is of great importance that you realize in both these
instances the judgment which is poured out is the wrath of God on man’s
wickedness. This does not correspond to the tribulation, but rather to the
pouring out of God’s wrath which occurs after the tribulation when Jesus returns
in glory.
The closing statement of this verse is cryptic, but important. The
disciples ask Jesus "where will this happen" and he replies "where the corpse
is, there the vultures will gather" This is a reference to the destruction of
the wicked and the animals of the earth being called by God to devour their
flesh. We will come back to this later as this reference is echoed in another
place.
Our next passage is Luke 21:25-28
"25 “And there will be signs in
sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity
because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear
and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the
heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a
cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place,
straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”"
It is clear that this
(again from the Olivet discourse) is referencing the same event as described in
Matt. and Mark, the sun, moon, and stars are listed just as in those, the people
of the world are in mourning and distress at the return of Christ, just as in
the previous verses.. it is clear that judgment is coming upon them... now look
at the final verse
"now when these things begin to take
place, straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing
near."
This is crucial. The
redemption of the righteous, the followers of Christ here again is declared to
happen at the same time as the judgment of the world. His return to judge the
world is clearly linked here as the same return which rescues us.
This passage continues a few verses
later in Luke 21:34-36
34 “But watch yourselves lest your
hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life,
and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all
who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times,
praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to
take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Now I'm sure the pre-trib
among you are thinking "see, it says that we will escape all these things that
are going to take place" Well lets look a little more closely. The verse begins
"but watch lest your hearts be
weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and
that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell
on the face of the whole earth."
"that day" here refers
to what has just been said a few verses before, the return of Jesus in judgment.
What is coming upon all who dwell on the earth here is the wrath of God. The
warning here is that we be diligent lest we fall and find ourselves subject to
God's wrath, numbered among the wicked. Thus what the righteous escape here is
the wrath of God (which as we shall see later is entirely different than the
"tribulation").
In our next passage Jesus makes reference to the resurrection of the
righteous dead, which we know must occur at the same time as the rapture.
John 6:39-40
"39 And this is the will of him
who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise
it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who
looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise
him up on the last day.”"
When does the
resurrection occur? on the Last day... not "in the last days" or "in the latter
days". On the last day. (as a note.. the term 'last day' might be seen by some
as more symbolic since there will be the millennial reign etc which certainly
must be composed of days.. however, in almost every reference we've examined so
far it has been stated that the sun and the moon were darkened on the day Jesus
returns. We also know from other references that in the millennial reign in new
Jerusalem, God himself is our light, and we have no need of sun or moon. This
provides interesting insight into "the last day")
Our next passage is 1 Corinthians 15:23-24
"23 But each in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then
comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying
every rule and every authority and power. "
Here we see the resurrection of the
righteous clearly described, and it is placed when? at the very end. Immediately
after the righteous resurrection, then comes the end when Christ judges the
world and delivers the Kingdom to God the
Father. Jesus Christ judges the
world and delivers the kingdoms of the world to God the Father at his return at
the end of the tribulation.
The Pre-tribulation view point commonly relies upon the image of the
"thief in the night". Pre-trib teachers say that Jesus is coming like a thief in
the night and will arrive not on earth but in the atmosphere, not seen by anyone
and rapture away the believers. This reference is found in the Olivet Discourse,
in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In all three of those references, as we have already
seen, it applies to the wrath of God coming suddenly and unexpectedly upon the
world. In all three references the believers are warned "be awake, be vigilant,
be living rightly so that you too are not taken". So it begins to appear that
the thief in the night reference is not referring to Jesus stealing the church
out from under the nose of the world, but to unexpected judgment and wrath...
but lets continue and look at the other thief in the night references...
We find one in 1st Thess. 5:2
"For you yourselves are fully
aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night."
And one in 2nd Peter 3:10
“But
the day of the Lord will come like a thief…”
Lets look at the complete passage from 2nd Peter.
2nd Peter 3:10-13
“10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
We find that Peter says exactly the same thing that Jesus did. What is coming like a thief is judgment and wrath upon the wicked. Now lets look at 1st Thessalonians 5.
1st Thess 5:1-4
"Now concerning the times and the
seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you
yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in
the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden
destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and
they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to
surprise you like a thief. "
From this passage it can
clearly be seen that the thief in the night reference is exactly what we have
already said. It is describing sudden judgment coming upon the wicked. Moreover,
it should NOT catch believers by surprised.. it is not a thief in the night to
US! The thief in the night reference is clearly not referring to a sudden
unforeseen rapture of the church, but to sudden and unexpected wrath descending
upon the wicked.
But wait. there is something else important about this passage.
Where is it located? 1st Thessalonians chapter 5. what is immediately before
this? 1st Thessalonians chapter 4. That's where the clearest rapture verse in
the entire bible is located isn’t it? Lets read them together (remembering that
these letters weren't originally written in chapters, but as one single text and
the chapter and verse divisions were inserted much later on for the sake of
convenience).
1st Thess 4:15 - 5:4
"15 For this we declare to you by
a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of
the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 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. 17 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. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
5:1 Now concerning the times and
the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For
you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief
in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then
sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant
woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for
that day to surprise you like a thief.
Here we find a fact
which should sound the death knell of the pre-tribulation rapture teaching. The
central verse which declares the rapture of the church, is undeniably, clearly
linked to the judgment of the wicked!! It is clear in this passage that the
rapture of the church and the judgment of the wicked occur at the same time.
Surely by this point it must be becoming clear that all these passages from scripture are describing one single event which occurs at the end o the tribulation.
Never the less, there is one more scripture we need to look at.
2nd Thessalonians 2:1-8
“2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 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. 3 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, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 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. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.”
It appears that Paul wrote this letter to the Thessalonians because a false teacher had sent them a letter claiming to be from Paul. The letter claimed that the rapture had happened already and Jesus Christ had returned. Paul is writing specifically to refute this false teaching and to tell the Thessalonians how they can know that the Lord has not returned and the rapture has not happened.
The first point is that in the first verse Paul links “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” with “our being gathered together to him”. In the first verse these two are linked as one, and they together are the subject of the chapter. Pre-trib teachers frequently try to argue that the “gathering together” of the saints is a different event than the “rapture” of the saints. This is largely due to the fact that Matthew undeniably places the “gathering” after the tribulation. The argument is that the “gathering” refers not to the church, but to Jewish tribulation saints. In this verse, however, Paul clearly indicates that the “gathering” is referring to the church since he says “our gathering together”. Paul obviously considers the gathering to apply to both himself, and the Thessalonian church. Thus the gathering here, must refer to the rapture.
In verse 2 Paul refers to the coming of the Lord and the gathering that he is discussing as “the day of the Lord”. To us today this may seem somewhat enigmatic. However, it is a common reference from the Old Testament prophets referring to the final judgment when God brings destruction upon the wicked.
In verse 3 Paul tells us that “that day”, which we have already established refers to the rapture and the return of Christ, can not come to pass until certain events have happened. Those events are...
The “rebellion” referred to here is often also referred to as the great apostasy, or the falling away. Now, this verse obviously poses significant problems for the pre-tribulation view point. The way pre-trib teachers try to answer this is by arguing that the apostasy here actually is a reference to the rapture. The word apostasy is a Greek compound word apo + stasis which means “away” + “to stand”. The pre-trib teachers argue that this should be translated literally as “standing away” and thus can be seen as meaning the church “standing away” from the earth.
There are a couple of problems with this. First, Paul has already made it clear at the beginning of the chapter that he is telling them what has to happen before “the gathering” of the believers to Christ at his return. The pre-trib teachers insist that this gathering must be the Jewish tribulation believers. Yet as we have seen this idea doesn't fit since Paul is writing to a Gentile church and telling them that they haven't missed the gathering, and his use of the word “our” clearly indicates that the gathering he is speaking of applies to both himself and to the Thessalonian church. It thus can only be the rapture of the church.
Secondly, the translation put forward here is the equivalent of linguistic gymnastics. Paul was not inventing a new word when he wrote this passage. He was using a well established, well known Greek word. It is easily established that the meaning of that word is “revolt”. It is used to signify the act of changing allegiance from one side to another. An act of betrayal. It is never used with a positive connotation. No Greek scholar, and certainly no native speaker of Greek would ever interpret the word apostasy to refer to the rapture. This is why every bible translation, as well as every use of the word apostasy in non-biblical sources is a negative reference to an act of betrayal and rebellion.
Paul tells us also that the man of sin must also be revealed before the gathering can happen. The man of sin, the son of perdition (or destruction) is the one commonly known today as “the anti-christ”. He must be revealed to the world before the gathering of the church.
Paul also tells us that the man of sin must set up his image in the temple and exalt himself by claiming to be God. This is also known in scripture as the abomination of desolation. It is foretold twice by Daniel and once by Jesus. One of Daniel's prophecies of the abomination was historically fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes just prior to the Macabean revolt. The other, as Jesus indicated, is yet awaiting a future fulfillment. Paul tells us that it must happen before the rapture.
Paul notes in verses 5 and 6 that he had already told all this to the Thessalonian church when he visited them in person. He also tells them that they know what is restraining the man of sin so that he can not appear yet.
Paul says “And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 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. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed”
Pre-trib teachers usually argue that the restrainer here is either the church, or the Holy Spirit indwelling the church. Thus the man of sin will be restrained until the church is raptured, and thus the Holy Spirit removed as well. There are a few problems with this as well.
First, it is undeniable in scripture that believers exist during the tribulation. If the church was raptured, these people must have become believers after the rapture. Yet scripture is also clear that no one can be saved except by the work of the Holy Spirit. No one can acknowledge Christ as Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Thus if the Holy Spirit is removed, it is impossible for these people to be saved. In addition, the Holy Spirit indwells believers, so if there are believers, the Holy Spirit must also be present and can not have been removed.
Secondly, the church is never referred to in scripture as “he”. The church is always referred to as the bride of Christ, a woman. The he who restrains can not be the church because the church is not a he. Further the church is plural, the he described is singular. Thus the restrainer here can not be the church, nor the Holy Spirit.
So who then is this restrainer? Well, the first clue to this is usually over looked. The question you should ask is “where is the man of sin restrained?” We are given this information in Revelation 17. The man of sin is described in revelation 17 as the beast with seven heads. John describes the beast with the phrase “was, is not, and will rise out of the abyss and go to destruction.” Remember that we are talking about the Son of destruction. So, we know from Revelation that the man of sin, the son of destruction, is currently restrained in the abyss.
Therefore, the one who restrains, is the one who holds the keys to the abyss. In Paul’s description of this he refers to the restrainer both in the neuter gender “you know WHAT restrains” and in the masculine gender “HE who restrains”. Some have suggested that this could refer to an angel as they are masculine, but yet do not have human sexual distinction. This is possible. However, it very well could also refer to an object, the key of the abyss, and a person, who holds the key of the abyss. Here again there are several theories. Some suggest that this is Michael the Archangel, others suggest that Jesus holds the key, others suggest it is some other angel. Who ever holds the key of the abyss now, Revelation also tells us that at the end, an angel will be given the keys, and he will open the abyss. Thus the restrainer being taken away refers to the abyss being unlocked to allow the Son of Perdition out. Personally, I tend to think that the Archangel Michael is the restrainer spoken of. That is just a guess however.
The angel with the key opens the abyss in the fifth trumpet of revelation. Among the horde of evil that comes up out of the abyss is the king over all the others, the angel of the pit, known as Appolyon, or Abbadon in Hebrew. This name means... Destruction, or 'the destroyer'. Could this be a refrence to the Son of Destruction? Something to think about.
I think it is made fairly clear in this scripture that the rapture can not happen until after the anti-christ has revealed himself, set up his image in the temple and declared himself to be God. This directly contradicts the teaching of the pre-tribulation rapture which, in every instance I've heard, teaches that the church is raptured before the revealing of the Anti-Christ.
The customs
surrounding the ancient Jewish wedding are frequently used by those who teach
the pre-tribulation rapture view point as support for their position. Therefore
we will examine them here and see how things really stack up.
First, it is very appropriate to compare the Jewish wedding to
Jesus' relationship with the church and with prophetic events surrounding the
return of Christ because this comparison is used frequently by Jesus and his
apostles in scripture. The church is of course referred to as the bride of
Christ. In the gospels on several occasions Jesus uses parables based on the
Jewish wedding to refer to his return for the church.
In the pre-tribulation view point it is stated that the ancient
Jewish wedding was preceded by a betrothal during which time the groom would
prepare the bridal chamber (huppah/chuppah in Hebrew) in his Father's house
(usually this was actually a separate house which was located on the father’s
land). The groom’s father would inspect the preparations his son had made and he
alone would declare when the preparations were complete. Then and only then
could the groom go and fetch the bride. Once the bridal chamber was finished,
the groom would come with his groom's men and attempt to take the bride by
surprise. The groom would come at odd hours and the only warning given would be
a shout by one of the groom's procession moments before the groom arrived. The
groom would then sweep in and stage a mock kidnapping of the bride taking her
away to the bridal chamber where they would have the wedding feast in seclusion.
The wedding feasting would last for seven days.
This is all very lovely, and obviously fits well with the pre-trib
view point. The problem is that it fits so well because it has been tailored to
fit. Whether knowingly or simply because of over-zealousness to prove their
point, pre-trib teachers have conveniently trimmed away inconvenient facts that
don't fit well, and apparently made up some as well.
The first point to make is that our historical knowledge about
ancient Jewish wedding customs is not very good. There is virtually no surviving
historical sources from the time of Christ which describe wedding customs. The
only descriptions of such customs that do exist are scattered allusions from
rabbinical commentaries. Further, what we do learn from these commentaries gives
the appearance that wedding customs varied considerably from region to region.
So, what do we know?
Well the first point is that the betrothal period was not an
indeterminate time during which the groom could show up at any time. Jewish law
actually specified specific time period limits which a wedding contract could be
made for. The usual contract period was twelve months. The groom could not come
for his bride before the twelve months was up, and if he were to delay too long
after, it would be considered a breach of the marriage contract. In some
communities the actual day of the wedding was specified in the marriage contract
a full year before the wedding. In other's only the month of the wedding was
specified.
Secondly, it was customary in many Jewish communities for maidens to
be married on Wednesday. This was done for three reasons. First was to allow the
bride time to prepare for the first three days of the week, and second was that
if the groom found his bride was not a virgin on the wedding night (which was a
legal breach of contract) he could then take his complaint immediately before
the local Sanhedrin which met on Thursdays. The third reason was also practical,
in that it allowed everyone a day to rest (on Thursday) from the wedding
preparations before preparing for the weekly Sabbath. It can be seen here
clearly that is was customary for the bride to know on what day the groom would
come.
Thirdly, on the day that the groom was supposed to come for the
bride, the bride, her bridesmaids, family, and friends would celebrate at the
bride's house while waiting for the arrival of the groom. The groom's procession
would send ahead young men to announce that the groom was on his way. According
to custom he was supposed to arrive one half hour before midnight. This was
because it was customary for wedding ceremonies to be performed at midnight at
the groom's father's house. Thus picking up the bride at a half hour before
midnight allowed enough time for the procession to return to the groom's
father's house for the traditional midnight ceremony. (this point will be
important later on)
Fourth, the period of seclusion in the ancient Jewish wedding lasted
only a few minutes immediately after the ceremony, not seven days as is
intimated by the pre-trib teachers. When the bridal party arrived at the groom's
father's house they would have the ceremony (which was attended by all friends
and family who would have joined in the procession). Immediately after the
ceremony the bride and groom would go into the bridal chamber(chuppah) for a few
minutes of seclusion. In Jewish culture it was forbidden for unmarried men and
women to be alone in a room together. Thus the short period of seclusion
symbolized their new status as husband and wife. After the few minutes of
seclusion the bride and groom emerged from the chuppah and joined with their
guests in seven days of feasting.
The entire idea of the groom trying to surprise the bride with a
sudden and unexpected arrival, the idea of the seven day seclusion after the
wedding, and the idea that the groom’s father based the date of the wedding on
inspections of the bridal chamber, are not found in any historical source and
appear to have been invented within the last few decades.
So how does all this really mesh with what the bible says??
First, lets look at the parable of the ten virgins.
Matt 25
25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven
will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2
Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their
lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their
lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But
at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7
Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to
the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the
wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go
rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to
buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the
marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also,
saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do
not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
The very first sentence
of this parable should clue us in to problems with the pre-trib view. The ten
virgins took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Meet him where? They
went to the bride's house to meet him. This fits perfectly with what we know
about the Jewish customs, which is that the bride and her bridesmaids knew when
to expect the bridegroom. They went to the bride's house because they knew that
the groom was coming that night.
Secondly it is important to note that the groom in this parable is
delayed. How would the bridesmaids know that he was delayed if they didn't know
when he was coming? They all fell asleep while waiting for him because he was
supposed to come at a set time but was late and they got tired while waiting. We
know from our previous conversation that he was supposed to arrive at the
bride's house at 11:30 PM. The parable here tells us that the groom came at
midnight instead. He was a half hour late.
If you will notice, it is not that the foolish virgins ran out of oil because
they were waiting so long (as is commonly assumed). Rather they took no oil with
them. They knew they were going to the bride's house but took no oil.
What is the importance of the lamps and the oil? The procession to
the bride’s house and then back to the groom’s house happened just before
midnight, so it was dark. The procession was hallmarked by the friends of the
bride and groom forming a huge parade of lights and celebration. The lamps were
to light the procession and were an integral part of the celebration.
The foolish virgins took no oil with them, and they took no effort
in the time they were waiting to prepare. Then when the procession began they
wanted others to give them oil, but were told "go get your own".
The reason the wise virgins refuse to give any of their oil away is
that they are assuming that there will be a half hour long procession back to
the groom's father's house. Thus they think they have barely enough to keep
their own lamps lit for the full half hour. They thus tell the foolish virgins
to run and buy oil for themselves. The assumption again is that there will be a
half hour long procession which would allow the foolish bridesmaids time to
catch up.
Here we come to the only big surprises of this parable. The
procession goes out to meet the groom, and instead of taking the half hour trip
back to his father's house, they go immediately into the bride's house and the
marriage takes place in the bride's house. Then when the foolish bridesmaids
return, they are not allowed entrance.
There are three things about this parable which stand out as odd. #1
the groom was a half hour late. #2 the wedding feast appears to happen at the
bride's house rather than at the groom's father's house #3 the 5 foolish
bridesmaids are not allowed to enter the feast.
The reason for the wedding being held at the bride's house is
because the wedding had to take place at midnight. Because the groom was delayed
there was no time to return to the groom's house, he brought the wedding and the
feast with him to the bride's house instead.
The notable things about the foolish virgins are, #1 they expect
other people to prepare for them and do their work for them #2 they are more
focused on their own role in the procession of carrying the lamps, than they are
on being there for the bride and groom, either when they first meet, or at the
midnight wedding.
Then lets look at Rev. 19 and the famous wedding feast of the lamb.
Revelation 19
19:1 After this I heard what
seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,
“Hallelujah!Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, 2 for his judgments
are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the
earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 Once more they cried out,
“Hallelujah!The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and
worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” 5 And
from the throne came a voice saying,
“Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar
of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has
made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen,
bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to
the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words
of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You
must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to
the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit
of prophecy.
The Rider on a White Horse
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His
eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a
name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in
blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies
of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white
horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the
nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress
of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he
has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to
all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of
God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty
men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free
and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the
earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the
horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false
prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who
had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two
were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest
were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the
horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
The first point that
should be noted is that this entire passage takes place after the judgment and
destruction of Babylon, the Great whore. This necessarily means that it takes
place after the the tribulation as it is established in the book of Revelation
that the judgment of Babylon takes place at the end of the tribulation.
Then we see that the marriage supper is announced. The bride has
made herself ready (again indicating that she was given the forewarning and time
of preparation which was traditional). Immediately upon it being stated that the
bride has made herself ready and the marriage supper is immanent, we see the
heavens are opened and Jesus Christ comes riding on a white horse. What does he
do?
He wages war upon the beast and judges the wicked. He comes down and
slaughters the armies arrayed against him by the beast, pouring out the wrath of
God upon the earth. An angel standing in the sun cries out (the shout of an
archangel?) to summon the carrion eating animals to the "great supper of God"
and Jesus slays all the armies arrayed against him.
Now if you remember, previously we looked at a verse in which Jesus
made a strange statement "where the corpse is there will the vultures gather"
and I said to remember it. This is where it comes into play. The disciples asked
Jesus where his return and the judgment of the wicked would occur and Jesus said
"where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather". That is echoed here when
the birds of the air are called by the angel to gather over the place where
Jesus destroys the armies of the beast and gluts the vultures on their flesh.
Thus, we see that the marriage supper of the lamb does not occur at
the beginning of the tribulation, or during the seven years of the tribulation.
It is not announced until the very end and does not occur until Jesus completely
wipes out the armies of the beast.
A question related to the marriage supper of the lamb that I have never seen addressed by the pre-trib view is “what about the tribulation Christians?” If the marriage of the lamb and his wedding feast occur at the beginning of the tribulation, and during the tribulation, what about those people who become believers during the tribulation? Are they excluded from the bride of Christ? We are told by Jesus in his parables that anyone who misses the wedding is shut out and cast into outer darkness? How then can these people miss the wedding and the feast and yet be saved?
We have seen in Revelation 19 that the
marriage supper of the lamb is clearly announced at the end of the tribulation
at the same time as the judgment of the beast and his armies. Are we to believe
that there are two returns, two raptures, two resurrections of the righteous,
two brides of the lamb, and two wedding feasts?
The final issue we must address is that of where the bridal chamber
is and where the feast takes place. The pre-trib view holds that the feast must
take place in heaven because of the references to "my father's house", and the
tradition that the marriage takes place in the father's house. However,
biblically "my father's house" is always used to refer to the temple or the
tabernacle.
Further, the parable of the ten virgins seems to also imply that the marriage feast takes place at the bride's house (because the groom was delayed).
Also the Hebrew word "chuppah" (which is
the bridal chamber) is used only once in scripture, in Isaiah chapter 4 and it
is used to refer to God gathering his people to mount Zion apparently during the
millennial kingdom.
Finally Isaiah chapters 24 and 25 which prophecy events of the day
of the Lord, contain references to the feast and the unveiling of God's people
both of which are wedding references. This prophecy clearly places the feast at
Mt. Zion. (notably the prophecy also contains references to the darkening of the
sun and moon just as Jesus said in the Olivet discourse, and specifically placed
them at the end of the tribulation). Thus the scriptural indication is that the
place Jesus went to prepare for us is the millennial kingdom.
The allegorical nature of the wedding feast is obvious, and
important to prophecy. However, pre-trib teachers have significantly twisted the
story to make it fit their view. They have either removed important details, an
in a couple of cases completely manufactured details in order to make their view
fit.
I'm not, in the least, alleging dishonesty
here, but simply the very common pit-fall that once you have decided what you
believe, there is a great tendency to make the evidence fit your theory, rather
than the other way around.
The customs surrounding the Jewish feast (from what we know, which
is fairly sketchy) clearly do support the post-trib view point that the church
will be for-warned of the Lord's coming and that coming will occur at the end of
the tribulation which will then be followed by the marriage celebration in the
millennial kingdom.
No Man Knows the Day…
Virtually every Christian who has
ever heard anything on the "end times" has heard that "no man knows the day or
the hour" and that Jesus is going to return like a "thief in the night".
However, I have already shown in previous posts that the concept of the thief in
the night is taken out of context and Paul says specifically that Jesus' return
should NOT catch believers like a thief in the night. I've shown that in the
traditional Jewish wedding the general time of the wedding was known well in
advance because it was specified in the wedding contract. I've also shown that
the day of the wedding was known in advance and the bride was specifically given
time before hand to prepare herself.
But how can this be if no one knows the day or the hour... Not even the angels
of Jesus himself??
Well, I knew you'd ask.. so lets look at it.
Matt. 24:34-44
"36 “But concerning that day and hour no one
knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 As
were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in
those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware
until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son
of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41
Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42
Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the
night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let
his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of
Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
I looked at this passage partially in my previous posts and showed that
everything described in verses 38 - 44 is telling how judgment will come
suddenly and unexpectedly upon the wicked, and is a warning to believers to be
prepared lest they be numbered among the wicked when the time comes.
That still leaves verses 36-38. They clearly state that no man, nor the angels,
nor even the Son, know the day or the hour of the Son's return.
The verses state
"“But concerning that day and hour no one knows,
not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 As were the
days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days
before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
until the day when Noah entered the ark,"
There is something in this verse of huge significance that virtually
everyone has missed. It is a detail that totally changes the interpretation of
this verse. The first clue to it is in the words
"as were the days of Noah, so will be the
coming of the Son of Man." and the
clincher is in the word
"until".
In Noah's day when the flood was coming... no one, not even Noah, knew
when the flood was coming. God told Noah... "go build a boat because I'm sending
a flood" but he didn't tell Noah WHEN the flood was coming... UNTIL the very day
that he told Noah to enter the ark. Lets go back to the biblical account of Noah
and see what it says.
Genesis 7:1-4
7:1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the
ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before
me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the
male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and
his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female,
to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days
I will send rain on the earth.
"For in seven days I will send rain on the
earth" Noah did not know when the flood was coming, until God told him
"go into the ark and in seven days the rain will come".
Going back to what Jesus said in Matthew. We see Jesus speaking in the
present tense "no man knows the day or the hour". No man at that time knew the
day or the hour.. in fact no man right now knows it either. However Jesus goes
on to say that no one knows the day because "as were the days of Noah, so will b
the coming of the Son of Man. In the those days, no one knew UNTIL the day that
Noah went into the ark." At that point who knew? The answer is Noah and his
family. Everyone could have known if they had listened, but they didn't. They
were unprepared.
So... just as we see every where else.. God's people are not to be taken by
surprise.. those who are watching will be for-warned and given time to prepare.
Through out all this Jesus repeatedly tells the disciples, "watch therefore
because you don't know when the time is coming". The point of this is NOT that
its just suddenly going to happen with no warning, the point is that only those
who are watching will recognize the for-warning. Only they will receive the
announcement that the day is at hand, and only they will thus, be prepared.
when the disciples asked Jesus how they would know the time was coming, he said
to them (paraphrased) "are you so blind? even the farmers can tell what season
it is by looking at the signs all around them". He then went on to say "when the
trees blossom, the farmers know it is spring and summer is nigh". Jesus expects
us to know when the time is at hand. If we are awake, and are watching the
signs, we will know when the time is at hand, and we will be for-warned. If not,
it is very possible that we will be caught unprepared.