The Strand Study Bible

LUKE

LUKE

1679

21); a time of trouble (Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 12:1); a time of great destruction (Joel 1:15; I Thessalonians 5:3); a time of desolation (Zephaniah 1:14,15); a time of judgment (Revelation 14:7; 16:5; 19:2). If the Church is the object of Christ’s love, how can it be present during the tribulation? 8

Not only are we exempt from God’s Wrath to come, but according to II Corinthians 5:20 we are ambassadors for Christ and thus representatives of heaven’s government (Phil 3:20). Before one government declares war (Wrath) on another, its usual action of final warning is to withdraw its ambassadors. Now there are two common objections to the pre-tribulation view of Christ’s return: (1) It’s supposed recent origin. Some posttribulationists will try to show that the doctrine of the “any-moment” two-stage pre-tribulation return of Christ began in the 1800’s by Edward Irving, Margaret Macdonald, and J. N. Darby. However, long before Irving, Macdonald and Darby picked up on the idea of a pre-tribulation return of Christ the Apostle Paul taught the doctrine of the Lord’s return in two stages ( I Thess 4:17b ). The claim that we should reject the pretribulation view of Christ’s return because of a “supposed” recent origin carries no weight; and (2) The fact that the word rapture is not found within Scripture ( I Thess 4:17a ). Posttribulationists who reject the pre-tribulation rapture view simply because the word rapture is not found in the Bible must also reject the Trinity and the s overeignty of God for those terms are not found in the Bible either. Of the three views concerning the rapture, the posttribulationist’s view seems to be the least likely view. Reason being: If, according to Matthew 25:31-46, all the saved are raptured and given glorified bodies before the Millennium begins and all the unsaved are excluded and sent to Hell, where are all the earth-dwelling saints going to come from that will make up the citizenry of Christ’s earthly kingdom (Isa 2:2-4 & 60:1-22)? Where are the people in non-glorified bodies (Isa 65:18-25) going to come from in order to populate the Millennium? Unfortunately, the post-tribulation rapture view has never been able to come up with a feasible answer to that question. 2. God’s promise to the nation of Israel that Daniel’s Seventieth Week belongs exclusively to the Jews and not to the Church ( Dan 9:24-27 and Rev 1:19b ) According to the book of Revelation, the Church disappears after chapter 3 and does not reappear until it returns with Christ seven years later in chapter 19, indicating that the Church was raptured before the Seven-Year Tribulation Period began, not during the middle or at the end . 3. God’s promise to the Church that the Antichrist will be revealed as a peacemaker before Daniel’s Seventieth Week begins ( Dan 9:27 and II Thess 2:3a ) We understand from both Daniel 9:27 and Revelation 13:5 that the Antichrist’s supernatural ability to lead will be revealed to the world before Daniel’s SeventiethWeek begins, indicating that the Church will be raptured before the Seven-Year Tribulation Period, not during the middle or at the end. IN CONCLUSION: No matter what a Christian’s position is on the Rapture of the Church (or any End Time theme – Rev 20:4d ), that position should never become a position of contention and/or determine fellowship. David Wilkerson in God’s Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression notes: As we draw this whole discussion to a close, we must confess that the data of Scripture do not lend themselves to any clear and unambiguous pattern which is completely free of difficulties…Thank God for the clear assurance of all Scripture, that our Redeemer will surely return to this sin-cursed earth as complete Victor and absolute Sovereign over the whole earth…Of this much we can be absolutely certain. –Dr. Gleason L. Archer 10 What I think the Scriptures indicate about this relationship has been stated on the preceding pages ( pages 171- 210 within the Three Views on the Rapture – my emphasis ). But, because this conviction is founded upon logic, inferences, and legitimately debated points of exegesis, I cannot, indeed must not, allow this conviction to represent any kind of barrier to full relationships with others who hold differing convictions on this point. May our discussions on this point enhance, not detract from, our common expectation of “the blessed hope - the gloriously appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. –Dr. Douglas J. Moo 11 William E. Anderson, who also holds to a post-tribulation view, in Rapture? Sure… but when? agrees. He notes: It goes without saying that good people can be pre-tribulationists and that all who love the Lord, His Church and His word–believing what we will about the Second Coming–ought to do all we can to join forces against the devil and his minions. That we ought not to make a doctrine which most Bible-loving people would not hold as necessary to salvation a test of orthodoxy is also a given, and this author stoutly affirms such a position. 3 Truly, it matters not when He returns, but that He returns. 17:32-33 According to Mark 9:50 , we are supposed to have salt in us, not on us. Whereas salt on us is useless, salt in us is profitable. The reason God turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt is because she became “useless” to God, that is, she lost her savor to influence the world for God because she became possessed by her possessions ( Gen 19:26 and Mt 16:24-26 ). A love for the temporal makes one “useless” for the eternal. …it is unbecoming of Christians – and a poor testimony to the world – to be combative over whether believers will be taken before, during or after the tribulation. There are godly people who argue for every theological side, and each group has scriptures in abundance to back up its position. But to me, none of this really matters. What is truly important is, no matter what comes, the Bible gives us covenant promises that God will never leave us orphaned. 9 Both Dr. Gleason L. Archer (who holds to a mid-tribulation view) and Dr. Douglas J. Moo (who holds to a post-tribulation view) agree. Both summed it upbest concerning theRapture of theChurchwhen theynoted in their book called ThreeViewsontheRapture :