Few books have had a greater impact on the Body of Christ than Hal Lindsay’s Late Great Planet Earth. In the early 1970’s, it swept through the church like a hurricane and everyone who read it got very excited about eschatology and felt like an expert on the end times. (28 million copies sold) It was interesting, exciting and captivated an entire generation of Christians with the wonders of Bible prophecy, largely from Daniel, Ezekiel and The Revelation. Every pastor and teacher felt compelled to read it and know the book’s position, and then started teaching the same things himself. I did. The problem was that it was all wrong. Then more recently, there was Tim Lahaye’s Left Behind series which sold 80 million copies. It also was all wrong.
Both of these books present an interpretation of Bible prophecy that holds that the church will not go through a period of tribulation called the “Great Tribulation” or “The Tribulation” as the phrase is used in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. (Matt. 24:21, Mk. 13:19) This interpretation holds that instead of going through this tribulation, the church will be raptured before it. The term “rapture” comes from the Latin word for “caught-up” (rapturo) in 1 Thes. 4:7 in the Latin Bible. Those who believe that the church will not go through the tribulation believe that there are two separate returns of Christ: one to rapture the church, and another one after the tribulation. I think that they would all agree with that version of their position. Although there is a wide variety of positions associated with eschatology, each with its own identifying label, for the purposes of this discussion, I will use the term “pre-trib” to identify the position that the church will be raptured before the tribulation, a pre-tribulation rapture, or “pre-trib” position.
As I read the scriptures dealing with the end times, I noticed that none of the scriptures that discuss the end times mention two separate returns of Christ or support the pre-trib position. In fact, they suggest just the opposite.
So, because a very large portion of the Body of Christ believes in a pre-tribulation rapture and will not go through the tribulation, we will discuss it. The reader may hesitate to start an article that is so long, but I assure you, this is shorter than most on this subject and a lot more understandable than any of the others. And it is a subject of some importance because an improper belief on this subject can hinder one’s proper preparedness for the future.
I submit to you that there are no scriptures that support the pre-trib position, and that all the scriptures that speak directly about this subject, and there are a lot, say that there is only one “Second Coming of Christ”. Hopefully, that statement has caught your attention. Let’s look at two of the main scriptures on this topic:
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
OK, this is one of Paul’s two main scriptures on the rapture. (We will cover the other one soon.) This one pictures the Lord coming back, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God and then the rapture. Notice that there is no mention of a repeat of this event. The dead in Christ will rise and those who are alive will be caught up. That includes the living and the dead. I am not aware of any other way to be. Are you? This is it. It really is that simple.
In the context of the resurrection of the dead, Paul states simply:
“But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.”
1 Cor. 15:23-24
Here, Paul states that Christ was the first to be resurrected, then afterward, those who are Christ’s will be resurrected at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. All believers who have died are resurrected at His coming and then comes the end. There is no future time for anything else to happen. There is no second Second Coming. Jesus has already delivered the kingdom to His Father and put an end to all rule and all authority and power.
Now look at our Lord’s account:
“For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
Matt. 16:27
Here, the Lord tells of His return to earth with His angels and will reward EACH. As in EACH. Not some. Not just those who are there at the time and more later. EACH means EACH. That is everybody who is going. When Jesus returns, He is taking everybody who is ever going, the living and the dead.
Here is another passage spoken by our Lord in the context of the end of the age:
“but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (emphasis added) In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed; the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together; the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field; the one will be taken and the other left.“
Luke 17:29-36
The only interpretation possible for this passage is that on the day that the Lord is revealed, fire and brimstone rain down from heaven and destroy the earth. This same passage includes three examples of two people being together when one is taken and one is left behind. These are dramatic references to the rapture. This passage makes it beyond dispute that on day of the Lord’s appearing, the church is raptured and the earth and everyone left on it are totally destroyed.
Now read another passage and ask yourself, “Does this sound like one event or two?”
“Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’.”
Rev. 1:7-8
Notice that this passage states that when Jesus comes “with clouds” (same reference as the rapture as described in 1 Thess. 4:16-18), that “every eye” will see Him and “all the tribes of the earth will mourn”. “Every eye” means every eye and “all the tribes” means all the tribes. That includes everyone. Not some then and some later. So said He “who is to come’, once.
Here is another one. When you read it, ask yourself if it sounds like one event or two? Notice that it mentions “that Day”, “his saints” and “all those who believe”.
“when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe.” 2
Thes. 1:10
This is clearly a one-time event. It speaks of “that Day”, “his saints” and “all who believe”. This is yet another verse that makes it abundantly clear that there is one day when Jesus is glorified with all His saint who are all who believe. Not two days and only some who believe.
Here is another one:
“To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”
Heb. 9:28
In this verse, the Lord’s Second Coming is directly associated with salvation. There is no third coming for salvation.
In this next verse, Jesus speaks briefly about His second coming, but enough to see that it happens only once and for all those who are His:
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
John 14:3
We have just looked at seven separate Bible passages that are specifically addressing the Second Coming of Christ and have described the event in a simple, straightforward and similar way (1 Thess. 4:16-18, Matt. 16:27, Luke 17:22-37, Rev. 1:7-8, 2 Thes. 1:10, 1 Cor. 15:23-24, Heb. 9:28). They all agree, and all seven have described an event that occurs on one day and involves the coming of Christ for all those who believe, all saints, both the living and the dead, every eye and from every tribe. It is basic Bible exegesis to give preference to a passage that is specifically addressing any topic over one that is not addressing it directly. Here, we have seven. And there is much more to come.
Now read Peter’s account of the end times and tell me to whom he is writing.
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?”
2 Peter 3:10-12
Peter is obviously describing the termination of this world. He writes that the heavens will pass away, the elements will melt, the earth will burn up and all things will dissolve on “the day of the Lord” and “the day of God” that “will come as a thief it the night”. So, when Peter wrote, “what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God”, to whom was he writing? Does Peter say anything like, “Oh, I am not writing to real believers, but to those of you who are left behind after the rapture, so you will be more careful than the real believers that were before you.”? This is preposterous. Peter wrote just like all other writers wrote, to his audience. His audience was the church at that time. The Christians who lived before us and now live in the church age are the intended audience of the letters. Therefore, the church will be here on this earth when the end comes. Otherwise, the letters are pointless. The Day of the Lord is the day when it all ends and it comes as a thief in the night, not as a second chance. The Lord appears, the church is taken away and the earth is destroyed, all in one day. And the reason that the church is taken away is because the earth is about to be destroyed.
These scriptures directly describe the end and come from Jesus, Paul and Peter. Jesus knows best. Paul was entrusted with the gospel (1Thes. 2:4) and Peter was the leader of the early church. Yet, in order to advance their cause, every pre-trib advocate must pretend that these scriptures do not exist, which they unashamedly do, and present symbolic scriptures from Old Testament prophets and The Revelation. Which of the two sources is better?
I did a google search for “does the church go through the tribulation?” and numerous links came up. Reading them was akin to banging my head against the wall. Why can’t they just discuss the subject? Why is it always about something else? What does the Millennium or Israel have to do with it? Nothing, yet that is the focus of their discussion, on and on and on about the Millennium, Israel and symbolism from Daniel, Ezekiel and The Revelation. They discuss anything that is mysterious, but nothing that is as clear and simple, such as the relevant New Testament scriptures that we just covered, which are rarely, if ever, mentioned.
If I had tried that approach in court, the judge would have leaned forward, stared at me and said, “Mr. Clementson, that is all very interesting, but please confine your evidence and arguments to matters that will help me make a decision on the issues before this court.”
No matter what position one adopts on the Millennium (Rev. 20:1-6), most of the church will disagree with you, so great is the mystery. There are no less than three major schools of thought on the Millennium. And what does Israel have to do with the Second Coming or the Tribulation? It is a sideshow at best, and even then, is confined to the Jews in Israel. It has nothing to do with me. But, alas, it is mysterious, interesting and totally off-point, so therefore attracts more attention than the scriptures that directly address the issue at hand.
Therefore, I will confine my evidence and arguments to matters that are relevant to the sole issue of whether or not the church will go through the tribulation, and not to the Millennium, Israel, Daniel, the temple in Jerusalem, the red heifer or any of the many other distractions that fill the space in most discussions.
According to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Last Days, the question can be answered by one single Bible passage:
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
1 Cor. 15:51-52
This is Paul’s second description of the rapture, and in this passage, Paul wrote one of the best known and celebrated passages about the Lord’s Second Coming. The author of the above-mentioned book bases his conclusion on the fact that Paul wrote that it will occur “at the last trump”. If in fact the Lord will return to rapture the church at the last trump, then it will occur at the last trump. There will be no other trumps after that. To this distinguished author, it is quite clear and simple. Nothing will happen to the church after that, such as a second Second Coming. Therefore, the Great Tribulation will obviously occur before the last trump, so the church will just as obviously go through that.
This book is a significant work and prepared in a scholarly way, so I telephoned the author, Richard Perry. It was immediately apparent that he is a very intelligent, meticulous and pleasant man. In the course of our conversation, he told me a story: (It has been many years since we spoke, so I do not remember our conversation word-for-word, but this is it in general terms.) “In writing this book, I got quite interested in the topic and attended a large conference on the End Times hosted by 15 or so of the top scholars, speakers and authors on this subject. The conference was well-attended, and the meetings were full of enthusiasm and excitement. At the end of the first day, they opened-up the floor for questions. I stood up and asked this question: ‘It has been repeatedly said here today that the scriptures clearly teach that the church will not go through the Great Tribulation. Can any of you give me one, just one, scripture that supports that position?’ All 15 speakers on the stage suddenly found their shoes very interesting. No one said a word. I stood there waiting, but no one said anything. Nothing. All enthusiasm and excitement had immediately left the room. It was totally silent and still. I finally sat down. The conference never opened-up the floor for questions again.”
In my personal study of the Bible, I had noticed the same thing, and I mentioned this to a friend of mine who was the owner of a Christian radio station and a well-known figure in the Christian community. As soon as I said that, he said that he wanted to organize a debate between me and a man whom he knew to be a leading proponent of the pre-trib position, a local man who traveled the world as a popular speaker on this topic. I agreed. So naturally I spoke with this other man to arrange an agreeable format for our debate. I suggested that we exchange the scriptures that we each intended to use during our debate. He agreed, and we did. I sent him about 15 scriptures and he sent me three. Naturally, I immediately looked them up. I was shocked. I could not believe my eyes. None of the three had anything to do with our topic. None was even remotely related to the end times or the Great Tribulation, or much less, could be used to prove his point. I thought to myself “Is this all he has?” Apparently so. And this was a man whose full-time job and ministry was traveling the world speaking and teaching on the end times as an avid proponent of a pre-trib rapture of the church. Well, he had received my scriptures too, so I was not surprised when he cancelled the debate without talking to me. He just cancelled it. But I know that he continued to circle the globe using the classic line, “The scriptures clearly teach that …” to tell people what they wanted to hear. And I am sure his meetings were well attended and full of enthusiasm and excitement.
After my experience with the proposed debate and Richard Perry’s experience at the conference, I concluded that there really are no scriptures that support the pre-trib position. Since then, I have not found any either. On the other hand, there are the seven that I have already presented plus numerous others that describe the true biblical reality, namely that when Jesus returns, the church is caught-up and the earth is destroyed. Most of these are set forth herein. They are Matt. 16:27, the Olivet Discourse, Luke 17:22-37, 1 Cor. 15:50-58, 1 Thes. 4:16-18, 2 Thes. 1:7-2:12, Jude 14-15, 2 Peter 3:3-4, 10-12 and Rev. 1:7-8.
All of these are very straight forward, not symbolic and require no interpretation. Some of them even note that this is after the tribulation. In addition, there are numerous others that describe the Lord’ return as a single event: Mk. 14:62; Lk. 12:40, 17:22-37, 18:8; Acts 1:10-11, 15:16-18; 1 Cor. 11:26; Jude 1:14-15; Rev. 1:7-8, 2:25-28, 16:15, 19:11-21, 22:20.
Nevertheless, the pre-trib myth persists. Proving that the hopes and dreams of man remain the Bible’s stiffest competition. And of course, there is the lure of telling people what they want to hear, being popular and making lots of money.
Here is an example of the ludicrous lengths to which the pre-trib crowd will resort to come up with something, anything. They say that the Second Coming of Christ as described in 1 Thes. 4:13-18 is not really the Second Coming of Christ because the Lord meets the church in the air and does not touch down on the earth. (If you are not rolling your eyes right now, you should be.) They somehow ignore the parts ofthis same passage where Paul refers to the event as “the coming of the Lord” (v. 15) and “the Day of the Lord” (v. 5:2). It is quite sad.
One of the most dramatic and well-known Bible passages about the rapture is the one about two people who are together at the moment of Jesus’ return and one is taken and one is left behind. This passage served as the dramatic centerpiece of Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series of books.
“I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
Luke 17:34-36
However, the above passage is conveniently taken out of context. These three verses are actually a part of a larger discourse in which Jesus describes “His day” and if read as a whole destroys the whole pre-trip myth. (Luke 17:22-37)
“For as the lightning that flashes out of the one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day… And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man…til the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot…on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed… I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
Luke 17:22-37
It is a single discourse. One cannot properly extract the three stories about “one taken and one left behind” from the preceding part. The three ‘left behind’ storiesstart with “in that night”[1] which makes them a part of the preceding part in which He describes the day of His return “as in the days of Noah” and “as in the days of Lot”.
The Lord returns and appears to all. He raptures His church. Some are taken. Some are left behind. He destroys the earth and all those who were left behind. The rapture occurs on the same day that the earth is destroyed. It is impossible for anyone with a functioning brain to conclude otherwise.
“The Day of the Lord” is mentioned 86 times throughout the Bible[2], including by Joel, Amos, Isaiah, Jesus, Paul (nine times[3]), and Peter. In every case, it is a reference to the termination of the world on a single day. At no time does the Bible say “days”. It is the single day that all ends. All references indicate that man is still here on that day, or why else mention it? The church is still here. It is a great and terrible day, great for some, terrible for the rest. If it was otherwise, they would have mentioned it. After all, the reason that He is catching-up the church off the earth is because He is about to destroy the earth. I have set forth most of these scriptures at the end of this article. They are worthwhile reading for the unconvinced.
When it comes to the study of all the scriptures on this topic, there is one scripture that stands alone in its supremacy. It is the Olivet Discourse which our Lord delivered on the Mount of Olives two days before His death. (Matt. 24-25, Mark 13, Luke 21) In this discourse, Jesus spoke on this specific subject at some length. Because it was Jesus speaking, then all other scriptures on this topic must be subordinate to His. It serves as the “backbone” of end-times theology and, of course, our Lord addresses the issue at hand.
His discourse was prompted by a question posed by His disciples. They asked Jesus, “When will these things (the temple destroyed) be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3) They thought that they were asking only one question about the end times, but they were not. They were really asking two questions: when will the temple be destroyed and what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age? Jesus answered both questions in order. In the first part, He answered the disciples’ question about when will the temple be destroyed, and He goes into some detail about the event. The temple was destroyed about 40 years later in the year 70 AD by the Romans. This war is an historical fact and was documented by Flavius Josephus in his book entitled Jewish-Roman War 66-70 AD, and of course it all happened exactly as the Lord said that it would happen, in minute detail. I have read it.
Jesus began His discourse with this overview:
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Matt. 24:9-14
Does that sound like the church will or will not be here for tribulation before He returns?
In one part of His discourse, Jesus answered the second question, “And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?“ In this part of His discourse, Jesus told of many tribulations, then He made the following statement, which is the main point that I want to make:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Matt. 24:29-31
It is difficult to imagine any scripture that could answer the question at hand in a more definitive way. Immediately after the tribulation, Jesus will return and rapture the church. Here we have Jesus Himself answering the question “And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And in doing so, He said that “immediately after the tribulation of those days”, He will appear in heaven and all the tribes of the earth will see Him coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and His angels will gather together all His elect from one end of heaven to the other (the rapture). To put it concisely, the rapture will take place after the tribulation. Jesus said so.
It is also noteworthy that Jesus did not distinguish between “the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age” as posed in the question, as though they are two separate events. He lets it stand as a single event. Jesus was precise in answering the two questions posed, and He would have been just as precise if there was a difference between His coming and the end of the age. But He did not, so there is no difference. His answer treats His second coming and the end of the age as the same event, commonly called “The Day of the Lord”, as does every other scripture that mentions the Day of the Lord.
In Luke chapter 17, Jesus uses two well-known events to describe his return and appearing, Noah’s flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He said, “as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; They ate, they drank, they married wives, they are given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”. And “on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Luke 17:26-30
Jesus states that on the same day on which He will appear, the earth will be destroyed. It is also a reference to the condition of man at those times. In both instances, Noah and Lot, the condition of the people of earth had deteriorated to an abominable state.
In the case of Noah, the need to destroy mankind was directly attributed to the advent of the Nephalim, a strange race of beings produced by the mating of “sons of God” with “the daughters of men”.(Gen. 6:2,4) The connection between the proliferation of the nephalim and the need to destroy mankind is unmistakable. The Hebrew word nephalim is best translated “fallen ones”[4] and indicates that they fell to earth from heaven and thus were not of the same race as Adam. And also being “the mighty men who were of old, men of renown” (Gen. 6:4) they were able to proliferate unhindered and subdue the earth with their wickedness.
“the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. Gen. 6:5
In my personal opinion, the fact that the flood was precipitated by a genetic alteration of man from an outside source can be compared to the genetic alteration produced by the covid vaccine.[5] Just my opinion.
In the case of Lot, “the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded his house” (Gen. 19:4) And although Lot said that his two daughters were virgins, they had husbands, which begs the question of whether Lot’s two sons-in-law were also homosexuals. (Gen. 19:8,14) This proposition is further supported by their refusal to leave the city with Lot and their wives. Gen. 19:14-15
In order to more fully understand what it means to say “as in the days of Lot”, we need to better understand the sins of Sodom. Most would say that their sin was homosexuality, but Ezekiel disagrees. Ezekiel said that the sins of Sodom were “pride, excess of food, prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy”. (Ezek. 16:49) Therefore, a perverted nature was their punishment, not their crime.
This interpretation is repeated and confirmed by Paul in Romans chapter 1 when he discusses perverts. Three times, Paul wrote that God “turned them over” to perversion as punishment for their sin of idolatry. (Romans 1:24, 26, 28) Perversion was not their sin, it was their punishment. This makes sense to me.
Although the current population of perverts has not reached the same extent as Sodom, the same powers that are pushing the New World Order with such success are also pushing the gay lifestyle and have even succeeded in criminalizing any opposition to it.
The phrase “Great Tribulation” comes from this Olivet Discourse. It is of interest to our discussion because the “Great Tribulation” as used in the Olivet Discourse does not refer to the end times at all. It is part of Jesus’ answer to the question about the destruction of the temple. This fact becomes evident with an examination of the Olivet Discourse as recorded in all three of the gospels: Matthew 24-25, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Matthew and Mark’s account are almost identical, but Luke’s account adds some important facts to the record, namely the mention of Jerusalem. It is necessary to put the three gospel accounts together in order to obtain a complete narrative of what Jesus said. When a composite narrative is made from all three accounts, one can distinguish between Jesus’ description of the destruction of the temple and His description of the end-times and see that the Great Tribulation is a reference to the destruction of the temple and not the end times. The three gospel accounts are set forth in full as an Appendix at the end of this article. I have done a compilation of the three Gospel accounts by laying the three side by side. It was not a difficult task. Here is the portion of my compilation that addresses the destruction of the temple. All of what follows is scripture:
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not (whoever reads, let him understand) is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house to take anything out of his house; and let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And they will fall by the edge of the sword. And if the Lord had not shortened those days, no human being would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days. And they will be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
Despite widespread application of much of this part of the Discourse to the end times, it is apparent that all three accounts are describing the siege of Jerusalem. There are many parts that could only be applied to the Jews and the destruction of their nation, and impossible to apply to the church. For instance, His “wrath upon this people” cannot be applied to the church. This part literally begins and ends with “Jerusalem” and there are numerous references to the siege throughout. Look for yourself. There are no contradictions, but each of the three accounts includes details that the others do not. From this, one can determine that Jesus’ reference to the Great Tribulation was referring to the siege of Jerusalem and not the end times. Yet, whenever we hear a speaker mention the Great Tribulation, it is in reference to the end times. This is characteristic of the total lack of scholarly effort that they devote to this subject. All speakers have quickly learned that the surest way to gain audience approval is to say something like, “You can go through the tribulation if you want, but my feet will be under the table.” (cheers, applause, whistles) They apparently believe that if they can convince enough people to believe this myth, then God will be forced to make it happen.
Although it would seem impossible to flee Jerusalem after it was surrounded, it really did happen. And it happened like this. Jerusalem was first surrounded when General Vespasian was the Roman commander. But right after surrounding the city, Emperor Nero died in Rome (June 9, 68 AD) and Vespasian saw an opportunity to become Emperor in his place. He had four Roman legions under his command and was next door to Egypt which controlled Rome’s wheat supply. He abandoned his siege and went to Egypt to take control of the wheat bound for Rome. He then presented the Roman Senate with an ultimatum, either make me Emperor or I will cut off all your wheat. They chose to make him Emperor. Vespasian’s son, Titus, assumed command of the Roman army and resumed the siege on Jerusalem. But in the interim, all those who valued the Lord’s warning had taken the opportunity to get out of the city. To Titus’ dismay, many Jews actually sought passage through his army’s encirclement to enter the city to celebrate Passover there, so he let them through. The siege resulted in the total destruction of the temple as the Lord had prophesied and the deaths of 1.1 million Jews and the enslavement of another 97,000. Judah (Palestine and Israel) as a nation vanished from the earth for 1,878 years.
The third part of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse is a long series (66 verses) of parables designed to warn his audience of the dangers that would be encountered during those perilous times. (Matt. 24:36-25:46) Now, why would Jesus warn anyone, much less to such an extensive extent, if His disciples were not going to encounter those perilous times, or tribulations, during that time?
Although I am not aware of any scripture in support of the pre-trib myth, I am aware of some of the attacks on the relevant scriptures that challenge their position. One is in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 where Paul writes about two things that must occur before the rapture. It requires a rather lengthy explanation, but it is worth it just to see how strongly this issue challenges their integrity.
In his discourse in 2nd Thessalonians, Paul writes that “one” is restraining the anti-Christ until the appointed time. Paul does not identify what or who is restraining the anti-Christ. It is a mystery. Everything else in this discourse, including his main point, is quite clear, but this one point is not. So, the pre-tib camp has jumped at the opportunity to use this mysterious person to support their cause. They propose that it is the church that is holding back the anti-Christ, and only after the church is removed, raptured, can the anti-Christ be revealed. The twist in this logic is so mindboggling that it barely deserves rebuttal, but because it persists, I will do so.
First of all, we will apply basic biblical exegesis to this passage which is 12 verses long (2 Thes. 2:1-12):
“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 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. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thes. 2:1-12
The principal intent and purpose of this passage was to dispel the false rumor that the Lord had already returned and left them behind. (verse 2) Apparently someone had sent them a letter in Paul’s name to this effect. (verse 2) So, Paul explains that this is not true, he sent no such letter and in fact, the Lord will not return until two things happen first: “unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition ” (verse 3) Paul then goes on to give the most thorough description of this man of sin and perdition, commonly called the anti-christ, in the whole Bible, (verses 4-10) “whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming”. (verse 8) Those are the principal messages contained in this passage and Paul does a clear and thorough job. But right in the middle of this passage is a verse whose meaning is unclear: “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.” (verse 7) The pre-trib crowd has used the uncertainty of this one verse, and in particular, the uncertainty of the single word “he”or “He” in this verse, to negate the intent and purpose of the other 11 verses which are clear beyond dispute. (This one word is literally translated “the one”[6].)
In verse 5, Paul explains why he is hasty in his explanation, “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?”
Paul was in Thessalonica for only three weeks (Acts 17:2), but during that time, told them about the Lord’s return. Then someone told this church that the Lord had already returned, raptured the church, and the poor Thessalonians had been left behind. Someone even presented them with a letter purportedly from Paul confirming this tragic error on the Lord’s part. Paul rushed off two letters to assure them that this was not true, that he was still here, the church was still here, and the Lord had not returned yet.
As further proof, he wrote that two things must occur before the Lord will return. There will be a great falling away from the faith, an apostacy, and the anti-Christ will be revealed. Paul also goes into some detail describing the anti-Christ. The pre-trib crowd cringes at the mention of this passage. They want it to go away. Both the apostacy and the revealing of the anti-Christ are not supposed to happen before the rapture. Both are supposed to be part of the Great Tribulation. What to do??? Ahh…I know… invent something. So invent something they did. They propose that the mysterious thing that is restraining the anti-Christ is the church. (Oh Lord, give me patience.)
In this passage, Paul wrote that two things must occur before the rapture, and one of them is the revealing of the anti-Christ. If the anti-Christ must be revealed before the rapture, then he obviously must be here before the rapture. It is impossible for the rapture to occur before he is revealed. That is one of the main points of the letter. But the pre-trib advocates assert that the church must be raptured before the anti-Christ can be revealed. This is the exact opposite of what Paul is saying. They say that it is the church that is restraining the anti-Christ and only after the church is raptured can the anti-Christ be revealed. (Wait, I fell off my chair laughing, but when I started crying, I was able to get up.) This is impossible, but their reasoning is rather complicated, confusing and difficult to follow, so they get away it. But if you look carefully, you will see that their proposition is the exact opposite of what Paul is saying. They are not only wrong, they are displaying a total lack of exegesis integrity.
Also, Paul twice refers to the mysterious person who is restraining the anti-Christ as “he” (verse 2:7). Paul never referred to the church as “he”. The whole proposition is nonsense. The whole point of this passage is to advise the Thessalonians that the Lord cannot return until there is a great falling away and the anti-Christ is revealed. So, think about the conditions that will precipitate a great falling away from the faith and the rise of the anti-Christ. Does that sound like good times or bad? Both of those must occur before the rapture.
The End of the Age
In Matthew 13, Jesus told several parables describing the “Kingdom of heaven”. When He concluded this series, He said,
“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Matt. 13:49-50
Jesus not only relates the workings of the Kingdom of God to the judgment of all wicked, He also says that “it will be at the end of the age.” This is consistent with everything else that He said about the end times. There is one, and only one, great and terrible day of the Lord when He returns, takes His church off the earth and then destroys the earth together with all those left on it.
As a whole, all the conjecture that is presented in support of the pre-tribulation rapture myth is just that, conjecture. There are no scriptures. None. Not one. I challenge anyone to show me one scripture that states that the church will be raptured before the tribulation. You cannot. On the other hand, I can show you dozens that address the subject directly and state otherwise. So, yes, the church will go through the tribulation, great or small.
The Bride that will be presented to a very special Bridegroom is so holy that she doesn’t even have a single blemish, not even a spot or wrinkle.
“that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
Eph. 5:27
That is going to require a few changes, don’t you think?
For additional reading, see: https://bible.org/seriespage/3-second-coming-christ-new-testament
Scriptures on the end-times:
Mark 14:62
“Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Luke 17:22-37
“Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
37 And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?”
So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a [a]mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
2 Thessalonians 1:7-2:12
“7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of [b]Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of [c]sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits [d]as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the [e]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only [f]He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Jude 14-15
“Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
2 Peter 3:3-4
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Luke 12:40 “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Luke 17:22-37
“Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. 25 But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
31 “In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.33 Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
37 And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?”
So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
Luke 18:8
8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Acts 1:10-11
10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
1 Corinthians 11:26
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Jude 14-15
14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, 15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
Revelation 1:7-8
7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 2:25
25 But hold fast what you have till I come.”
Revelation 16:15
“Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
Revelation 19:11-21
11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people,[e]free and slave, both small and great.”
19 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
Scriptures on The Day of the Lord
Amos 5:18, 30-31
“Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
Joel 2:30-31
“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”
Isaiah 2:12
“For the day of the Lord of hosts
Shall come upon everything proud and lofty,
Upon everything lifted up—
And it shall be brought low—”
Matthew 24:29-31
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Acts 2:19-20 (quoting Joel) “I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:8
“who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 1:14
“(as also you have understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6
“being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”
Philippians 1:10
“that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ”
1 Thessalonians 5:2
“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”
2 Thes. 1:10
“when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe”
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.”
2 Peter 3:10-12
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?”
The three gospel accounts of siege of Jerusalem in Olivet Discourse:
Matthew’s account
“15Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” Matt. 24:15-22
Mark’s account:
“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.15 Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house. 16 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 17 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 18 And pray that your flight may not be in winter. 19 For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. 20 And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.” Mk. 13:14-20
Luke’s account:
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Lk. 21:20-24
[1] If anyone wants to quibble about this saying ‘night” as opposed to ‘day”, then take note that the next two examples of ‘left behind” describe events that normally take place in the day, grinding mill and working in the field. At the moment of the Lord’s return, it will be daytime in parts and nighttime in other parts of all the earth.
[2] https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Day-Of-The-Lord
[3] 1 Cor. 1:8, Philippians 1:6, 1:10, 2:16, 1 Thes. 5:2-3, 4-8, 2 Thes. 2:3, 2 Tim. 1:12, 4:8
[4] Derek Prince’s excellent treatise on this subject entitled “Because of the angels”, readily available on the internet. He describes the “fallen ones” as fallen angels quite different than demons. A strange being that altered the genetic makeup of man.
[5] https://studyfinds.org/covid-alters-genes-long-haulers/
This truth is adamantly denied and challenged in a vigorous manner by all those who push the vaccine, including the CDC, media and the entire New World Order crowd. To me, that is enough to verify its truth.
[6] https://biblehub.com/text/2_thessalonians/2-7.htm