Nail #13

Rebuttal to Pre-tribulation Rapture proof points

Revelation 4:1
After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

A lot of Christians who believe in the Pre-Trib Rapture theory have said, “Remember the first 3 chapters deal with the CHURCH AGE and its condition.  Then beginning with the 4th chapter a door is opened in Heaven and the Church is GONE and you do not see it mentioned again untill the 19th chapter.  John represents the church being raptured into Heaven.”

Sorry friends, that does not add up for the following reasons:
1 - Nowhere in the Bible does John ever represent the church as a whole.  If John represented the church and its rapture when he was called up to Heaven, you would find it supported elsewhere in the Bible - it isn’t.

2 - Please notice when John was called up to heaven it was a voice.  The voice of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But in all the classic rapture passages, it is the sound of a trumpet, the voice of the archangel that signals the rapture (Matthew 24:31, 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16), never the Lord’s voice.

3 - The church is not mentioned again?  Maybe the word “church” is not used but the church is made up of believers in Jesus Christ, correct?  There are several passages that discuss Christians enduring persecution during the Great Tribulation:
   -  Revelation 12:17 clearly says that Satan (through the Antichrist) went after those that hold to the testimony of Jesus, i.e. Christians in the church.
   -  Revelation 13:7 - The antichrist was given power to make war with saints, i.e. the church. AND overcome them
   -  Revelation 13:10 - Saints, i.e. Christians in the church, are told to have patience even if it means we go to jail, or worse, if we are killed
   -  Revelation 14:12 - Saints, i.e. Christians in the church, are again demonstrating patience.  This is right after the 3 angels proclaim TO THE WHOLE WORLD - (1) the Gospel, (2) the News of “Babylon”, and (3) a warning not to worship the Antichrist or to take his mark.  In the sequence of events, this is about the same time the Antichrist is being revealed - between the points in time when the third and fourth seals are broken.
   -  Revelation 18:4 - John hears a voice from Heaven crying out to my people, i.e. Christians, to come out of the false church. Some may argue that “my people” refers to Jews. Sorry, there will be no Jews in the false “Christian” church.

So please do not rely on the theory that because the word “church” is not used between Chapter 4 and Chapter 19 of Revelation proves the Pre-trib Rapture.  I’m sure you will agree that when God refers to people “having the testimony of Jesus,” as “saints,” “those that have the faith of Jesus,” or “my people,”  the people spoken of are Christians - and Christians are the people who make up the church.

Before you claim, “But those are people who got saved after the rapture,” certainly you will concur there are not two raptures.  If there is a Pre-Trib rapture, and then people get saved during the “Beginning of Sorrows” or “Great Tribulation” (and they will), that means that there will be Christians on the earth DURING the Trumpet and Bowl Judgments (God’s wrath).  And the promise given us in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9  that we would not suffer God’s wrath is a promise for EVERY Christian or God’s Word is a lie, correct?  I don’t read anywhere in the Bible that we will be delivered from the wrath to come, unless you get saved after the rapture.

Some will even say, “You’re looking for the Antichrist, I’m looking for Jesus Christ.” And? Just what is that supposed to mean? There are many signs that must be present before Christ returns in the clouds for His Bride. The rise of the Antichrist and his “revealing” MUST occur first as God’s Word clearly states in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (Nail #1). The revealing of the Antichrist is just one of the reasons Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6 (Nail #2) that we will not be surprised when Christ returns. Let me say that again - Paul writes that we will not be surprised at His return. Sorry, things don’t add up.

Actually, nothing about the Pre-trib Rapture theory adds up.

Nail #12

Proof the entirety of Daniel's 70th week is not God's Wrath

Revelation 6:9-11

9   And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

This is simply more proof that the entire seven years of Daniel’s 70th week is not the wrath or Judgment of God.

When Jesus opens the fifth seal and reveals to John the souls under the altar, the souls of those who have been slain as the result of the Great Tribulation having started, they ask a very important question. Read verse 10 again:

How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

They ask how much longer they will have to wait before God judges those who murdered them. Obviously they ask this question because God has not yet started judging the earth and them that dwell on it.

There is no question that Daniel’s 70th week commences with the opening of the first seal and the emergence of the rider on the white horse. Now here we are up to the fifth seal!

If the entire seven years of Daniel’s 70th Week is the wrath of God, it cannot have started yet, given the question of the martyrs. Their question states that God has refrained and is refraining from judging and taking vengeance on the wicked. Notice the Lord's answer, “they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until their fellow servants and brethren who were to be killed would be completed also.”  

The wrath of God against the wicked who are alive on the earth and who were responsible for the deaths of these martyrs has not yet started. Plain and simple.