In I Corinthians 15:52 (which is clearly parallel to the I Thessalonians 4 verses), the verse says that the resurrection will occur at the last trumpet. In a non pre-trib view there is no reason not to accept that this is at the last trumpet sounded in Revelation 11:15. I Thessalonians 4:16 also mentions “the trumpet of God” in relation to the rapture, thus the exact prophetic timing of the rapture is clearly given, though it will not be possible for those on the earth to know beforehand the exact day or hour that the trumpet will sound.
The prophetic picture as a whole
The whole prophetic picture requires great struggles of intellectual argument to fit together under a pre-tribulation model. When you recognize that the classic rapture passages tie together with the
return of the Lord in Revelation 19 and the corresponding first resurrection of Revelation 20, as well as with accounts in Matthew 24, it all starts to fit together and make a lot more sense.
The grafting back on of Israel
It’s somewhat illogical to say that the church age will end before the tribulation and that Israel will come back into focus and be the instrument of preaching the gospel during the tribulation. The
response of Israel to the Antichrist is initially that of acceptance. The unbelieving nation of Israel will actually make some kind of covenant with the Antichrist (Daniel 9:27) and will only start to be
concerned when he sets himself up as God in the rebuilt temple (II Thessalonians 2:4); probably well into the tribulation period. From about that point the Holy Land will be trodden under foot of the
gentiles for three and a half years according to Revelation 11:2, while God preserves a remnant in
the wilderness in Revelation 12:14.
Far from Israel coming back to the Lord at the start of the tribulation, it seems that Israel’s eventual repentance is what finally precipitates the return of the Lord.
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early
(Hosea 5:15).
P a g e 70
A plain reading of the most classic of all rapture passages
When do the classic rapture verses in I Thessalonians actually say the rapture takes place?
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the
coming of the Lord will by no means preceded those who are asleep.
(I Thessalonians 4:14-15)
This clearly says that God will bring those who died in Christ with Jesus at the time of his coming.
Then it goes on to describe his coming and how the dead will be raised (meaning that on the earth
they will be seen alive again, for since their earthly death they were always present with the Lord in heaven). The part that is new here is the revelation that when this resurrection occurs those saints who remain alive on the earth at the time of his coming will also be caught up in this resurrection of the dead and receive their new resurrection bodies. Since the rapture is clearly tied to the
resurrection of the dead saints, what meaning would it have to take it as being a secret event
occurring before the tribulation? Since the dead are definitely not raised on the earth before the
tribulation (and were already alive in heaven anyway), what would it mean to interpret the passage
in this way? You could perhaps say that the dead were raised when they died, yet this wouldn’t
make sense since the whole passage is about a specific event that happens when the Lord descends
from heaven with a shout, the voice of an archangel, and the trumpet of God. On the other hand, if
you try and separate the event out so that the living are raptured at the start of the tribulation and the dead in Christ are raised at the first resurrection at the end of the tribulation, then what do you do with the verse that clearly says that the living will not precede the dead in Christ with regards to this event? If we dig down and think through the implications then pre-trib rapture really does
produce quite a pile up of conundrums when applied to the very verses the theory has placed so
much stock in. On the other hand, accepting that the rapture is just when it says it is (at the coming of the Lord) makes clear and simple sense at all levels, as well as tying in quite naturally with Jesus’
own account of the Tribulation. For in Matthew 24:30-31 Jesus speaks of his coming and gathering of the elect in very similar terms, but in that case the event is absolutely and unmistakably tied to his visible second coming to the earth with power and great glory (in the context of 24:26-31).
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.
P a g e 71
(Matthew 24:30-31)
P a g e 72
- 13 -
THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB