One of the most polarizing doctrines in prophecy is that of
the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Like other
doctrinal disagreements, the conflict arises as a result of a failure to use
basic Bible study procedures. The
Pre-Trib position is that the Antichrist cannot assume power until the Holy Spirit
is taken out of the world. Since the
Holy Spirit is in every Christian, that means the Christians must be raptured
out before the Tribulation can start.
They use II Thessalonians 2:6-7 to prove their point, insisting it
refers to the Holy Spirit. “And now ye know what withholdeth that he
might be revealed in his time. For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until
he be taken out of the way.” This
has led to many believing that no one will be saved during the Tribulation,
while others realizing that Revelation 7:14 spoke of people being saved during
it have concluded that they are saved
during that period in a special way that does not require the Holy
Spirit’s working.
Unfortunately the interpretation of II Thessalonians 2:6-7
as referring to the Holy spirit overlooks the principle in II Peter 1:20, “…that no prophecy of the scripture is of
any private interpretation,” that no scripture can be interpreted by itself, but must be compared to
other scriptures. In nearly fifty years
of study, I have not found any other scriptures that support the idea that it
is Holy Spirit who restrains Satan from taking over the world. Instead, I found that Daniel 10:13, Daniel
10:21, Daniel 12:1, and Revelation 12:7 indicate that it is Michael, the
archangel who stands against and restrains Satan. This leaves the Pre-Trib position without
scriptural basis, but does not prove it is wrong.
In order to see if it is true or not we will start by
reading II Thessalonians 2:1-10 more carefully.
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That
ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word,
nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Let no man deceive you
by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that
he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with
you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be
revealed in his time. For the mystery of
iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken
out of the way. And then shall that
Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth,
and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is
after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with
all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
II Thessalonians 2:1-5 clearly states that the Christians
will not be gathered together with Christ, or Raptured, until after the Antichrist
is revealed. While the Tribulation will
last 7 years, Daniel 11:15-21 indicates the Antichrist will not come to power
until about three and a half years into it.
Revelation 13:4-5 tells us the Antichrist will only be in power three
and a half years. “And
they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped
the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with
him? And there was given unto him a
mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to
continue forty and two months.” Other
passages refer to his reign as lasting a time, times and half a time, or one
thousand two hundred ninety days. This
would make it impossible for the rapture to come before the Tribulation
starts.
This fits exactly with what Jesus said in Matthew 24:29-31. “Immediately
after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers
of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of
man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall
see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four
winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Revelation 14 indicates a similar picture with
the rapture occurring somewhat later, and the sequence of events described in
Revelation 19 paints a similar picture.
Hi Donald, Thanks for the thorough post. In II Thessalonians 2:1-10:“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand,"
ReplyDeletecouldn't "our gathering together unto him" refer to the assembling together of the early church in worshiping Christ, rather than to the Rapture? Couldn't "the day of Christ" refer to Christ's second coming in the clouds to fight the war of Armageddon, rather than to the Rapture?
God bless,
Laurie
In answer to your first question, there would be no reason for the church to be upset about assembling for worship since they had been doing that from the beginning. I think the Day of Christ does refer to the second coming, but the scriptures seem to indicate the Rapture being followed almost immediately by the Second Coming. I cannot rule out the possibility that their may be a short time between them however.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion it would be better to prepare for the possibility we might go through at least part of the tribulation and find out we don't than to assume we won't and find out we do. i would not be upset to miss the problems.
Thank you, Donald, for the interesting study. I'll need to ponder this. I've thought of myself as tentatively believing in a pre-tribulation rapture. What we can be absolutely sure of is that Jesus is returning. We need to be ready for tribulation and ready for the rapture. After all, multitudes of Christians have already died in tribulation over the years. Many are dying now. If I die in tribulation, I won't care whether it was a little tribulation or the great tribulation. No matter which way, we must be faithful to the end, and the Lord will return and will win in the end.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Jim. I cannot say for sure we will go through the great Tribulation or not, but whether we do or not, God has promised to take care of his servants, and will keep his promise. We have no reason to be afraid either way.
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