To Support The Error That The Church Will Go Through The Tribulation
In an effort to be a help to any who may have difficulty on this point, we have selected the three main Scriptures that have led some to erroneously believe the Church will go through the Tribulation. In each of these passages our desire is to show, with the Lord's help, how the error has occurred and what the true meaning of the passage is. We believe that most of the confusion on this point has arisen from Christians not carefully and prayerfully reading the Scriptures.
1) 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3
"Be not shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." This has been taken to mean that the day the Lord comes for His Church (the Rapture), will not happen until the Antichrist and the falling away in the Great Tribulation has happened.
This is in error for two reasons: first, it is a mistake to suppose that "the day of the Lord" is the Rapture. Scripture does not say so. There are about 20 references to "the day of the Lord" in the Word of God. Some of them refer to its commencement at the appearing of Christ (2 Thess. 2:2, 2 Peter 3:10, 1 Thess. 5:2, etc.). Other references are a warning of it being "at hand," signaled by the attack of the King of the North, which will take place just prior to its commencement (Joel 1:15; 2:11; Zeph. 1:7-20; Zech. 14:1-2, etc.). But there are none that refer to "the day of the Lord" as the Rapture! It is an assumption to say so, and it stems from not carefully searching the Scriptures (Acts 17:11).
"The day of the Lord" is a day of judgment that begins at the Appearing of Christ (2 Peter 3:4, 8-10); it does not begin at the Rapture. The Tribulation begins after the Rapture, but the day of the Lord begins after the Appearing of Christ, which is some seven years later than the Rapture. "The day of the Lord" is the time when Christ will publicly intervene upon the ways of man on earth in judgment, asserting His universal power and authority over all the earth. It will extend for 1000 years (2 Peter 3:8-10), which will be the Millennium. The Rapture is never looked at as a day of judgment for this world, but rather, a time when the Bridegroom and the bride are joyfully united.
Understanding these simple and basic things about "the day of the Lord," we can see at once that Paul was not even speaking about the Rapture in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3. He was showing the Thessalonians that "the day of the Lord" and its attending judgments could not be presently upon them, for the Antichrist and the great falling away of professing Christendom had to happen first. Sad to say, false teachers are still propounding the same error that was bothering the Thessalonians. They are upsetting Christians by telling them that they must prepare for the Tribulation, because the Church is going to go through it. And, ironically, they are using the same three methods to propound their error as the false teachers were doing in Paul's day!
• First, "by spirit" (vs. 2)—the false teachers claimed they had received it through a spiritual revelation given to them.
• Secondly, "by word" (vs. 2)—the false teachers were misapplying Old Testament Scriptures to support their erroneous teaching.
• Then lastly, "by letter as from us" (vs. 2)—they actually had gone so far as to produce an epistle with their erroneous ideas in it, and claimed it was from Paul.
So it is today, those who teach this erroneous doctrine often claim that they have received it through some special revelation from God, and they are also trying to use the Scriptures to support it—they are even taking Paul's ministry (such as this passage) and teaching that Paul taught that the Church must go through the Tribulation.
Another reason why this application is in error is that it destroys the imminence of the Lord's coming. The Lord's coming (the Rapture) is always presented in Scripture as something that could take place at any moment. Those who think the Church must go through the Tribulation scoff at the idea that He could come today, because they think it is direct violation of their interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3. However, Paul and the other apostles laboured to put the nearness of the Lord's coming before the Church so that it would be a present hope. Are these people saying that the apostles were wrong in doing that? Paul said, "Our conversation is in heaven, from whence we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Phil. 3:20-21). He also said, "For yet a very little while and He that shall come will come and will not tarry" (Heb. 10:37). And, "Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand" (Rom. 13:11-12). And again, "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thess. 4:16-17). In this last verse, Paul put himself among the number who were looking for the Lord to come, saying, "we." (See also 1 Cor. 15:51-52 — "we") It was something he hoped for even back in those early days of the Church. James too, said, "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh" (James 5:7). Peter said, "The end of all things is at hand" (1 Peter 4:7). John said, "Little children, it is the last time" (1 John 2:18). This shows that the apostles ministered in such a way as to set the Lord's coming before the saints as a present hope.
To teach that certain events must take place before the Lord will come, such as, the rise of Antichrist and the Tribulation horrors, would be a direct contradiction to the teaching of the apostles, and it destroys the imminence of the "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13).
Taking this "blessed hope" away from the Church is to cause it to settle down in this world—and this is just what has happened to a large extent. It is essentially saying, "My Lord delayeth His coming" (Matt. 24:48). For this very reason, the Lord Jesus Himself never told us when He would return. But He did say, "Surely, I come quickly" (Rev. 22:20).
2) Revelation 11:15
Another Scripture adduced to prove the Church must pass through the Tribulation is Revelation 11:15. "The seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever." This verse shows that when the seventh and last trumpet is blown at the end of the Great Tribulation, the Lord will appear and take possession of the kingdoms of this world through judgment. It has been supposed that this is "the last trump" spoken of at the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:15-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-52). Therefore, the Church will be on earth to pass through that hour of trial as described in Revelation 6-11 which precede the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15. It is taught that the Church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, just as He comes out of heaven to judge the world.
This interpretation is very problematic, because the Word of God teaches that a number of things must happen between the time the Church is taken up to heaven to when the Lord comes back out of heaven to judge the world, as Revelation 11:15 shows. It would be impossible for all those things to happen in that short moment of time that this interpretation allows. After taking His people into heaven at the Rapture, the Lord will cause them to sit down at His table where He will serve them heavenly happiness and joy unspeakable (Luke 12:37). Then, the judgment seat of Christ will be set and the believers' lives will pass into review and be rewarded accordingly (2 Cor. 5:10, etc.). The saints will also have a time of praising God and the Lord Jesus Christ around the throne in heaven. At that time they will cast their crowns at His feet in humble adoration of Him (Rev. 4-5). Then, the marriage of the Lamb will take place in heaven, which will be followed by the marriage supper and the many guests of heaven (the friends of the Bridegroom) attending it (Rev. 19:7-8). These things all must take place after the Lord takes His people to heaven at the Rapture, and before He returns at His Appearing. These things could not possibly happen if the saints were taken up in the air and then immediately brought back down again with the Lord at His Appearing.
3) Matthew 24:29-31
Another Scripture that is used is Matthew 24:29-31. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of the trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds." It is thought that the coming of the Lord in this passage refers to the Rapture. Consequently, they mistakenly fix the time of the Rapture as being "immediately after the tribulation." They conclude that the Church, therefore, will go through the Tribulation.
The problem here is that people are confusing the Rapture and the Appearing. Some of the main differences are:
• The coming of the Son of Man is never referred to as the Rapture. The Rapture is the Lord's coming for His own: the coming of the Son of Man is the Lord's coming with His own at His appearing. The rapture is a mystery not made known until it was revealed through the apostle Paul. (1 Cor. 15:51-52) The coming of the Son of man is something that was known by the Old Testament saints because the prophets spoke of it. (Dan. 7:13-14) The Son of man is a title that the Lord takes when He comes to judge the world. At the rapture the Lord is not coming to judge the world, but to take His bride to heaven. The fact that the title of the Son of Man is used in Matthew 24:29-31 ought to show us that His coming there is not the rapture.
• At the Rapture, the Lord does not send His angels to gather His saints [the bride] as these verses speak; He comes to take her Himself! (1 Thess. 4:16, 2 The s. 2:1).
• The trumpet sounded here is not the trump of God that takes place at the rapture, but that of Isaiah 27:13, Psalm 81:3, etc.
• The elect here are not the church, but the elect of Israel. (Mt. 24:24, Isa. 45:4, 65:9, Rev. 7:1-8, Rom. 11:28, etc.)
The Partial Rapture Idea
Although some Christians believe in the idea of a partial rapture, it is so absurd that it is not necessary that we comment on it. Could we imagine the Lord taking only part of His bride to heaven? What would He do in heaven with half a bride? How could the marriage of the Lamb take place with only half the bride present? Anyway, what Scripture is there for it?
Let us “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:21).