“...if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” -The words of Jesus from John 14:3; bold type has been added.
Jesus sought to comfort His disciples with the words you read above, PROMISING that He will come again, and take them home to His Father's house to be with Him eternally.
Yet while there are numerous references to Jesus' return in the Bible, it's important to realize that the term “rapture” itself isn't found in the Bible, but has been verbally used to replace the “caught up” phrase from 1 Thessalonians 4:17 which says,
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
And because rapture isn't actually found in God's Word, this concept becomes an addition to it, which is strictly forbidden (Proverbs 30:5,6). You may also hear this view called a secret rapture, with many disappearing for no visible reason; yet the Bible declares that everyone will see Jesus at His return; saying, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him...” -from Revelation 1:7.
The view of an additional “rapture” event is held by millions of people, and is popular because it's said to happen before the time of great tribulation Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:21 when He said;
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
A rapture occurring prior to this tribulation period is simply known as, “the pretrib rapture.”
Obviously, it would be nice for anyone to avoid a time like this, although Romans 5:3-5 says,
“3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
And so the pretrib view states that Christians will be caught up into Heaven BEFORE a seven year tribulation period, with Jesus' actual return taking place after those seven years; yet the teachings of Jesus himself do not agree with this!
Our Lord makes it clear that His coming will be such as it was with Noah (Genesis 7:11-13), and with Lot in Genesis 19:17-25; that the rescue of His people and judgment of the ungodly will both come on the same day. It is well to read all of Luke 17:26-30, but these are verses 28-30 which say,
“28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Bold type was added for the “same day” emphasis.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 also has the same day focus, and Matthew 24:29-31 says our rescue comes AFTER the period of tribulation. This is an obvious problem for pretrib rapture proponents that declare a seven year separation between rescue & judgment!
Yet another difficulty arises in assuming there'll be a seven year tribulation period, but I think this comes from some mishandling of the 70 weeks prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27. This prophecy is well known, and it's long been well accepted that each “week” in this prophecy represents a seven year period, with the first 69 weeks (483 years) leading up to the time of Jesus, the Messiah. Therefore the first 69 weeks are past, and we await the fulfilling of the 70th week, which many believe to be a seven year tribulation period.
But this view seems to miss details of the prophecy which reveals that Messsiah will be cut off, and in the MIDST of that 70th week He'll cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease; which Jesus did by becoming the sacrifice for our sins through His death on the cross; therefore by this we perceive that the 70th week of prophecy actually splits into 2 parts; the first half being the years of Jesus' ministry on earth, with the second half yet to come; when the imposter messiah will rule the world for that same period of time. In other words, we're really just waiting for the last 3½ years, not 7.
Many have long been told of a seven year tribulation, and may disagree with the 3½ year view; but in the more specific prophecies of the end times I've found nine references to an approximate 3½ year period, but NO references to a seven year period, like what you might expect to find for confirming the symbolic 7 years from the prophecy in Daniel.
These approximate 3½ year references are expressed in different ways, as follows;
Daniel 7:25: a time and times and the dividing of time. Daniel 12:7: a time, times, and a half.
Daniel 12:11: a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Daniel 12:12: thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
Revelation 11:2: forty and two months. Revelation 11:3: a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Revelation 12:6: a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Revelation 12:14: a time, and times, and half a time. Revelation 13:5: forty and two months.
God wanted us to be prepared for the troubling times that lie ahead, and His Word tells us plainly about what to expect related to His Son's return; in the end, the pretribulation rapture teaching is a result of one man's private interpretation of prophecy (2 Peter 1:20) through which our enemy means to hurt us, and we need to lay it aside. The Lord will give wisdom to all who ask Him for it (James 1:5); and I pray that God bless you in finding the truth from His Word.
Please check out our blog, Reconsidering the Pre-trib Rapture for more on Jesus' return.
“2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night...4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” -1 Thessalonians 5:2,4.
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” -Revelation 1:7. Bold type was added.
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