Tag: departure

Three Bankable Scriptural Truths that Guarantee the Church Will Be Raptured Before the Tribulation

You-Can-Take-It-to-the-Bank

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

 

Who are the Elect?

Jewish elect

“And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.”  Matthew 24:22

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”  Matthew 24:24

“And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”  Matthew 24:31

The answer is – it depends on the context. 

A client and friend of mine asked me to listen to a preacher by the name of Irvin Baxter.  She listens to him regularly and asked me to give her my thoughts about his doctrinal positions.  The video I watched told me everything I needed to know about how he interprets Scripture with regard to the Church and the departure (or rapture). 

Baxter said that the Church will go through the 70th week of Daniel, aka the tribulation.  He argues that the Church is raptured at the end of the tribulation (post-trib).  He says the basis for this belief is the 3 verses mentioned above and the elect in these passages is the Church.  Therefore, according to Baxter, the gathering of the elect in verse 31 is the rapture of the Church.

Baxter says Matthew 24:24 is a warning to the Church not to be deceived by false rumors of Christ’s return.  They would know He was returning because they, the Church, would see him coming in the sky.   Baxter said that ‘elect’ in Matthew and the other Gospels was the same ‘elect’ as Romans 8:33.  He said Paul was using the word with reference to members of the body of Christ – the Church, therefore Matthew was referring was also referring to the Church. 

Baxter’s explanation is another example of inserting the Church into passages where it doesn’t belong.  The context dictates who the ‘elect’ is.  In Matthew, the elect are the believing Jews in Jerusalem during the tribulation.  In Romans, the elect are believers who are the Body of Christ – the Church.  It’s that simple. 

The word ‘elect’ simply means ‘chosen ones’.  There is no basis to conclude that the ‘chosen ones’ referred to by Paul are the same ‘chosen ones’ in Matthew, Mark and Luke.  The context in Matthew, Mark and Luke are the same.  It is about the Jews who have fled Jerusalem into the wilderness after the antichrist defiles the Holy of Holies in the coming 3rd temple. 

It is Jews who are told not to come out of hiding in the wilderness when they hear the rumors that Messiah is around, not the Church.  That is the ‘elect’ in the context whom Jesus will save in vs. 22.  They – believing Jews – are the ones whom Satan will be trying to destroy by a flood in Rev. 12.  The context in Rev. 12 is the same as Mt. 24:15 – 31. 

Isaiah 11:11-12 says the Jews will be regathered a 2nd time. This passage in Isaiah prophesies that it is the DISPERSED OF JUDAH who will be regathered from the 4 corners of the earth. Isaiah and Matthew are talking about the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who will be gathered, NOT THE CHURCH! The first regathering of the Jews has happened. The 2nd regathering is what is prophesied in Matthew 24 and Isaiah 11. These passages are not talking about the rapture. They are describing a gathering of all of the Jews into the promised land for the Millennial Kingdom.

The ‘elect’ in the Gospels are not the Church; they are Jews who have believed in Christ the Messiah during the tribulation.  The gathering in Matthew is the gathering of all the believing Jews to the promised land when Christ returns to earth.  The rapture or departure of the Church takes place prior to the tribulation. 

For supplemental support for this post see my posts “The Great Falling Away of the Church”,  “Revelation 12 Sign”,  “The Greatest Sign”, “Who or What is the Restrainer”, and “Michael the Restrainer?”.

Dan Baker