CHAPTER FIVE
TIMING AND EXTEND OF THE DAY OF THE LORD
Another contentious issue is the rapture and the second coming of Christ. As Barber refers to Jack Van Impe, a prominent pre-tribulationists, he points out what they believe in about the rapture and the second coming of Christ. The pre-tribulationists believe in a two phase process of the second advent of Christ. Pretribulationists believe that the rapture takes place first during which believers will be resurrected. While, immediately thereafter Christians who are still alive will be transformed mysteriously. Both of these groups will meet Christ in the air and will live in heaven for seven years. At the end of seven years, the second coming of Christ will take place accompanied by the believers of the rapture. Thomas Ice, a strong critic of post-tribulationists has the following to say against them,
The pretribulationists must show that there is enough dissimilarities between clear rapture and clear Second Advent passages as to warrant the claim that the two kinds of passages could be speaking about two events which could occur at different times. The pre-tribulationists does not have to prove at this point…that the two events must occur at different times, but only that the exegetical data from the rapture and Second Advent passages do not make it impossible for the events to occur at different times. If he can do that, the pre-tribulationists has shown that his view is not impossible. And, he has answered the post-tribulationists strongest line of evidence in his book Things to come, Dr.Pentecost (1965) suggests several reasons why he believes in a two phased coming of Christ. Firstly, he says that the rapture is a program for the church whereas the Second Advent is for Israel and the world. He further argues that the expectation of the church in regards to the church is that the Lord is at hand (Phil.4:5) while the expectation with regard to Israel is that the kingdom is at hand (Matth.24:14). It is also a fact that pre-tribulationists believe that we find ourselves in a period where God deals only with the church, referred to as the church period. And, that God is temporarily not busy dealing with Israel as His focus is on the Church. This church period started with the coming of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. And, that the church period will officially end with the rapture. Once God is done with His program with the church, he will focus His attention on Israel once the church is out of the way.