First off I want to apologize if anything I’m about to say is offensive to you, but please read with sincerity and openness.

I don’t know about you but I grew up just assuming that I would never know when Jesus was going to ‘take us home’ to be with Him. It might be before the tribulation, it might be in the middle or it might be at the end; the Bible doesn’t really make it clear. I’m sure we’ve all read and seen books and movies that dramatize scenarios where the church is raptured and chaos breaks out back on Earth as un-manned cars and un-piloted planes crash and run amuck and lots of empty clothes are left lying around. When I first read that story it seemed very possible. I confessed many times that I didn’t know when the rapture would happen but I had my personal hopes of vanishing off the face of the planet at the 3 1/2 year mark just after the time of peace was over and just before the time of great trouble started.

So yesterday I did some research on the history and origin of Pre-Trib theology. O.k. Wait, let me back up for a second and give a few deffinitions so we’re all on the same page.

• Tribulation: The last 7 years of history, preceeding the return of Christ.
• Rapture: The ’siezing’ of the church to be with Jesus at His return.
• Pre-Trib: A doctrine stating that the rapture of the church will be prior to the 7 year tribulation and could happen at any moment.
• Post-Trib: The doctrine stating that the rapture will be after the 7 year tribulation.

O.k. So after doing some research I found some interesting things. Most people claim that the origin of pre-trib began with a vision that Margret Macdonald had in 1830. People like John Darby and Charles Scofield (with his study Bible) had major roles in spreading the teaching of the Pre-Trib Rapture.

Well, this is obviously not a new idea or debate I’m bringing up. In fact a debate is just what I don’t want. I thought instead of reading a lot of facts I would read the Bible passages that support a pre-trib rapture.

“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 Chorinthians 15:51-52)

The first thing that pops out at me from this passage is “we shall all be changed…at the last trumpet.” Is that the last trumpet or is the last trumpet for the church? The next verse I want to share expounds more on this.

“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 will risse 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.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

So a few main points have been made so far. 1) The church will be taken up to be with the Lord when He returns, 2) there will be many heavenly announcements at that time, including a trumpet, and 3) the dead saints get called up first and then the living.

Another key passage:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:36-44)

According to pre-tribulation theology the rapture is a ’secret’ coming of Jesus, and then 7 years later after Antichrist has risen to power and the judgments of God have been poured out then Jesus returns again. But let’s look at that passage again…

“As the days of Noah were…the flood came and took them all away…two men will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken.” This pasage has often been interpreted as speaking of the rapture, implying that the man taken was a Christian, but that seems out of context to me. It reads like a flood of judgment is coming and it’s going to take out 1/2 of the people (Side Note: 1/4 of the people killed in Revelation 6:8 plus the 1/3 killed in Revelation 9:18 equals 1/2). The few verses before this Jesus commands us to know the signs of the times and that when we see them to know that He is at the door. We are called to watch so that His comming doesn’t come to us like a thief in the night. Those that do not know and to whom the coming of the Lord is as a snare are unbelievers who will be judged just as in the days of Noah.

Why would Jesus come as a thief and a snare upon His Bride? In fact Paul even states,

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.” (1st Thessalonians 5:4)

Mark 13:24-27 describes the return of Jesus, the end-time signs, and the rapture as all happening in the same time context:

“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its lights; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.”

To read that and say we can’t know when in the tribulation it’s referring to or that it’s referring to the secret coming of Christ for a pre-trib rapture is to flat out ignore the passage. It’s a sin to claim ignorance and continue on with life as normal.

I’m not saying that there won’t be a rapture in which we are all called up. Absolutly that will happen. My point is that the Church will not be absent for the 7 year tribulation as many of us have been taught. My goal is to challenge our views and pre-conceptions and return to a place of searching truth from the Word itself.

How then shall we live? How do we watch? Build our houses on the rock! The wisest way to prepare and to watch is to walk out a Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) lifestyle on a daily basis. Loving God and loving others.