“The Rapture of the Church – The When”

The rapture of the church – (John 14, 1 Thessalonians 1, 5, 2 Thessalonians 2, Rev 3v10, 22v7, 12, 20) – the When.

A word of qualification is required at the start.  The precise day and hour of our Lord’s return is not known.  The matter we wish to address is to demonstrate that the rapture of the church takes place before the tribulation period.  Sadly, there are those who claim that the rapture takes place either during or after the tribulation period.

There are a number of strands of argument to show why this claim is the teaching of scripture.

1. Argument based on the imminence of the Lord’s return
2. Argument based on the character of the Lord  on His return – He comes as our deliverer (1 Thess 1.10)
3. Argument based on the Lord’s own promise (Rev 3.10)
4. Argument based on the fact that we are children of the day (1 Thess 5)
5. Argument based on the restraint’ principle on 2 Thess 2
6. Argument based on the fulfilment of a type (Gen 5v21-24)
7. Argument based on Jewish witness during the tribulation (Rev 7)
8. Argument based on the Rev 14v14-20 being a judgement.

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1. Argument based on the imminence of the Lord’s return

We claim that the Lord’s return for His saints is imminent – it could take place at any moment.  What is the basis of this claim?

In John 14v3, the Lord said,

‘If l go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where l am there ye may be also’. 

In our English translation we have, ‘I go… I will come’, namely a present and future tense.  In fact our Lord used the present tense, literally, ‘I go… I come‘.  The implication is that in the mind of our Lord there was no prolonged gap; He wants us to know that His return is at any moment.

Some may object to this argument on the grounds that it is based on a point of grammar.  In response to this, we would say that the precise use of language is important, and God has used language precisely in scripture, for our learning.

A very clear statement of imminence is found in Revelation.  We note four statements in relation to our Lord’s coming.

• ‘Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown’ (Rev 3.11) – appeal for faithfulness
• ‘Behold I come quickiy: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of this book’ (Rev 22.7) – appeal for obedience
• ‘And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be‘ (Rev 22.12) – reward
• ‘Surely I come quickly’ (Rev 22.20) – assurance

The aim of these four statements is to encourage the saints in their belief that the Lord could return at any moment and that faithfulness is required in the interim.

If other events are required before the Lord returns that it hardly satisfies the criteria of coming ‘quickly’.

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2. Argument based on the character of the Lord on His return – He comes as our deliverer (1 Thess 1.10)

In 1 Thess 1.10 we learn that the Thessalonian saints were to ‘wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from wrath to come’.  The marginal reading is ‘our deliverer from wrath to come’.  The RV reading is ‘which delivereth us from the wrath to come‘, JND’s translation, ‘our deliverer from the coming wrath’.  When our Lord comes, He comes in this capacity, as our deliver away from the coming wrath.  What is this coming wrath? This is the wrath of God poured out on this world in the opening days of the ‘day of the Lord‘.  This is the realisation of men during the seal judgments; ‘hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?‘ (Rev 6.16).  Our Lord returns to takes us out of this world, before this day of wrath commences.

There are two further scriptures which teach regarding this matter.  In 1 Thess 5.9, ‘for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.’ Thankfully, God has not appointed us to this wrath – we will be saved from it.

This is also the teaching of Rom 5.9, ‘Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him‘.  Our salvation from wrath is assured by the fact that God has justified us.

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3. Argument based on the Lord’s own promise (Rev 3.10)

To the church at Philadelphia, the Lord promised, ‘Because thou hast kept the word of My patience I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth’ (Rev 3v10).  The reference to ‘the hour‘ is not referring to a period of 60 minutes, but to a longer period of severe trial which will have global impact- this is referring to the judgements of the day of the Lord – described in awful and graphic detail in the subsequent chapters of Revelation.  The Lord’s promise to the church is that He will keep them from ‘out of this hour’.  How will He do this – by taking His saints home to heaven at His return to the air.

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4. Argument based on the fact that we are children of the day (1 Thess 5v1-11)

We have already made reference to the truth of verses 9-10.  Paul deals here with the commencement of the day of the Lord (we will consider this term in more detail in on another occasion).  In verse 2, Paul speaks of they who claim ‘peace and safety‘ and then sudden destruction comes upon ‘them‘.  In contrast the saints are referred to by ye’in verse 3.  Paul describes the believer in two ways, firstly as ‘sons of light‘, secondly as ‘sons of day’.  The first is the result of conversion; once we were in darkness, but now we are light in the Lord (Eph 5v8).  The second identifies our relationship to the day of the Lord.  Each day begins in the night, then the sun rises and the ‘day begins’.  The day of the Lord is no different; it will begin with a ‘night’ period when the Lord moves in judgement in this world, then the ‘sun of righteousness’ (Mal 4v2) will arise, marking the beginning of the ‘day’ period of the day of the Lord.  We are linked to this, ‘when Christ our life shall appear, we will appear with Him in glory‘ (Col 3v4).  Paul’s point is, since we are saved and sons of light and we are identified as sons of day, we will not experience the commencement of the day of the Lord – we will not be on earth during the ‘night‘ period.

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5. Argument based on the ‘restraint’ principle on 2 Thess 2

Through various reasons, it seems that the Thessalonians (or at least some of them) had been exposed to the false teaching that the day of the Lord had already begun.

Paul corrects this error.  In the process He indicates that while the restraint and the restrainer are in the world, the day of the Lord cannot begin, and the man of sin cannot be revealed.  It may well be that the ‘what‘ is the presence of the church on earth, and the ‘He‘ is the Holy Spirit.  If this principle was true when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, it is still true today.  In that sense, nothing has changed.  The same assurance holds for us, as did for the Thessalonians.

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6. Argument based on the fulfilment of a type (Gen 5v21-24)

The two Old Testament characters Enoch and Noah illustrate an important principle.

Enoch was translated to heaven before the judgement of the flood – in this he pictures the church, raptured to heaven before the tribulation period.  Noah was preserved through the flood – in this he is a picture of the faithful remnant of Israel preserved through the tribulation period.

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7. Argument based on Jewish witness during the tribulation (Rev 7)

The witness of the church by the end of the first century was largely Gentile focused.

The witness during the tribulation will be Jewish led (Rev 71-8).  This only makes sense if the church is removed prior to the tribulation, and God takes up the faithful Jew as His witness during the tribulation years.

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8. Argument based on Rev 14v14-20 being a judgement.

Some have mistakenly inferred that the first reaping in Rev 14v14-16 is a reference to the saints of this era being taken to heaven.  Verses 17-20 are indisputably a judgement scene and seems to refer to the judgement of the armies of the nations outside Jerusalem (16v16, 19v17-21, Zech 14).

The main issue arises because the metaphor of a harvest is used widely in scripture, in a good sense (Matt 9v37-38, Lk 10v2, John 4v35), but is also used of judgment (Matt 13v30).  That the harvest in Rev 14v14-16 is a judgment is supported by three observations.  Firstly, the Lord is seen as the ‘Son of man’, a title associated with the Lord in governorship (Dan 7v13) over men and as the judge of men (John 5v27).  It is as the ‘Son of man’ that He will be manifested, coming in power and great glory (Matt 24v30).  Secondly, the term, ‘is ripe’ is to be over-ripe or dried.  The word occurs some 16 times in the NT, never in a good sense (Matt 13v6 – the seed (withered away), Matt 21v19, 20 – the fig tree (withered away’), Mark 3v1,3 – the hand (‘withered’), John 15v6 – the branch (is withered’).  God in His longsuffering has permitted things on earth to ripen to a degree were holiness demands His judgement.  Thirdly, the Son of Man is sitting on a white cloud.  White is the colour of righteousness (Rev 19v8); the white cloud and parallels the white horse (19v11) and white throne (20v11), both evidently linked to judgment.

Verse 14 begins a new section with the words ‘And I looked’ as in verse 1.  The Lord is seen as the Son of man’, a title associated with the Lord in governorship (Dan 7v13) over men and as the judge of men (John 5v27).  It is as the Son of man’ that He will be manifested, coming in power and great glory (Matt 24v30).  Here He wears a ‘golden crown’, symbol of rule and victory and has in His hand a ‘sharpe sickle’, instrument of incisive judgement’.  The voice of the angel is not so much an instruction for the Son of man to act, but an appeal for Him to act.  The justification for this appeal is that the hour is come for the ‘harvest of the earth is ripe (over-ripe, dried).  The ‘hour’ is to be taken in the same sense as verse 7 and suggests the harvest period is the whole of the final three and a half years of the tribulation period.

Verses 17-20 has to do with grapes and foretells the judgment which will take place outside Jerusalem (v20) when Christ as the King of kings puts down His enemies (19v17-21).

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And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.

Revelation 19:16

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Ministry by Andrew de Ville, 15th May 2022