1. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 – “…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.”
Really, this verse is all I need to be confident that the Church will be raptured prior to the tribulation. The word ‘delivers’ in this verse is ‘ruomai’ in Greek which means “to draw to oneself as if dragging or pulling to rescue from danger”. The word ‘from’ in the Greek is ‘ek’ which means ‘out of’. A better translation of this passage would then actually be “…Jesus, who will pull us to himself to rescue us out the way of the wrath that is coming”.
This passage gives a much different picture than the picture put forth by those who advocate for a mid or post-tribulation rapture. Their belief is that God will give the grace necessary to face all of the horror and suffering that will take place during the 70th week of Daniel.
I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound like being dragged out of the way of the wrath. And it certainly doesn’t give me much comfort or peace of mind. It’s no wonder why there is such a profitable business out there keeping the fear going by many preachers in the various media. Apocalypse survival books make money!
This verse indicates a much more drastic action than just giving grace or strength. It is saying that Jesus is going to pull us up to Himself and out of the world before the wrath of God is poured out on creation during the tribulation.
2. Paul said that the rapture will precede the ‘Day of the Lord’ and the revealing of the antichrist.
“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for IT WILL NOT COME UNLESS THE DEPARTURE COMES FIRST, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction”. 2Thessalonians 2:1-3
I go into greater detail in my post “The Great Falling Away of the Church”, but this verse is not saying the ‘Day of the Lord’ will come after the ‘falling away from the faith’, which is how most interpret it. Most translations say “apostasy’ where I have ‘departure’.
The Greek word ‘apostasia’ means departure or leaving. There is no quantifying noun. That is to say the word faith or truth is not there. By itself, ‘apostasia’ simply means departure, leaving, or moving away from.
In this context Paul is saying that the rapture or departure will come before the ‘Day of the Lord’. ‘Day of the Lord’ is a Hebrew idiom for the 7 year period of judgment or tribulation before the return of the King of Kings.
The Thessalonians thought they had been left behind and the day of the Lord had come. Paul is clearly talking about the rapture when he says “with regard to the coming of our Lord…and our gathering together to Him”, and he uses the word ‘apostasia’ as another way of describing it.
Paul says the order of events is 1) the departure will happen and then 2) the man of lawlessness will be revealed before the ‘Day of the Lord’. The antichrist will not be revealed until the Church departs. Which brings us to the the 3rd truth that guarantees the Church will be raptured before the tribulation begins…
3. The ‘Restrainer’ is the Holy Spirit, and when He is removed the antichrist will be revealed.
“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way”. 2 Thessalonians 2:7
I won’t go into all of the detail here about why the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit. You can read all about it in my posts “Michael the Restrainer?” and “Who or What is the Restrainer?”.
The Holy Spirit clearly is the Restrainer. Paul is reiterating something he has undoubtedly gone over with them thoroughly in the past; namely, that the antichrist will not be revealed until the Holy Spirit removes Himself from the world. Ergo, when the Holy Spirit is removed, the Church is removed because the Holy Spirit resides in the Body of Christ! This is exactly what Paul said in 2Thess 2:3 – the departure comes first (Holy Spirit is removed) and then antichrist is revealed.
Paul’s comforting message is NOT that the Church will be given grace to endure the tribulation, it is that the Church will not go through the tribulation!
The Thessalonians were obviously disturbed and shaken by the thought that the ‘Day of the Lord’ had come and that they were going to go through the tribulation. If Paul had taught the Church would go through the tribulation, then why wasn’t Paul reminding them that God would give them strength and grace to endure the unprecedented sufferings, horrors, and tortures that will come during that time? Instead, he reminds them of the sequence of events leading up to the tribulation.
Think about that for a minute!
Christians are not supposed to prepare for the tribulation.
The bottom line is that we, the Body of Christ, should not be worried about the tribulation. Not because somehow we will be able to endure it by faith, but because we’re not going to be here when the antichrist is revealed and the tribulation begins!
That really is the message in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. Paul was trying to get them to quit worrying about it and focus on the real mission. Our mission is NOT to get ready to go through the tribulation.
One last thought. Peter said that judgment begins now with the household of God (1Peter 4:17). As Christians, if we are trying to live by faith in the flesh in this corrupt world, then we all will suffer in varying degrees, but suffer nonetheless.
This life is OUR tribulation and judgment, our trial and testing – we will not be here for the world’s.
Now that is real comfort!
Dan Baker
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