CHAPTER THREE
THE RAPTURE AND THE DAY OF THE LORD
To answer the question, 'Which reading best explains the rise of the others(s)?' άπό must be judged as the obvious originator of έκ. This writer would give άπό and Α-rating on internal probability." Even apart from the strength of the άπό reading, the statement points to a deliverance before wrath begins. The attempt by many non-pretribulational expositors to interpret this wrath as God's final judgment identifies this aspect. If the same explanation of έκ or άπό is used with regard to the believer's According to 5:2, it is the "day of the Lord," not specifically the destruction, that will "come as a thief in the night." The devastation will be the proof of the "day." This Day of the Lord is apparently a period of time that will include the millennium as well as the Tribulation. The church, Paul said, is not subject to darkness so as to be surprised by the coming of the Lord's Day, but is associated with light and daytime (w. 5:4-5, 8). Day and night cannot exist at the same time in the same way in the same place. But here one group (the church) is always of the day, and the other group (unbelievers) is trapped in the night and is destined to suffer God's eschatological wrath. Only to tell that the Day of the Lord will arrive on the church, which is of the day, in the same way and at the same time that it will come on unbelievers, who are "in the night," would seem to contradict Paul's deliverance from the coming eschatological wrath (the Tribulation, as depicted in 1 Thess. 5), the present passage must be viewed as providing strong evidence for Paul's belief in an imminent rapture.
Paul's specific declaration that it will come "like a thief in the night" and to make worthless his counsel to stay alert, watchful, and sober. It seems evident that Paul presented salvation here as an alternative to the wrath to be manifested in the Tribulation. Even the words of encouragement and comfort in 5:11 ("Therefore encourage one another [παρακαλείτε αλλήλους] and build up one another") are identical with those in 4:18 ("Therefore comfort one another [παρακαλείτε αλλήλους] with these words"). Paul was clear in explaining that a rapture will occur and that it will include all living believers (1 Cor. 15:51; 1 Thess. 4:17).
The fact that in 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul described the rapture as part of the outworking of the salvation that will deliver the church from God's eschatological wrath (the Tribulation) shows that for Paul the means of saving the church from the wrath of the Tribulation (or Day of the Lord) is specifically the rapture. The promise of deliverance by the rapture is for the entire church. People who become believers during the Tribulation and are martyred will thereby be "delivered" from denial or apostasy, but this is not the wrath spoken of here. Paul's promise is that the church will be literally and actually delivered from the coming wrath. Had it not been so, then Paul's exhortation to the Thessalonians to "watch and be sober" (5:6) is unrealistic. The differences of eschatological genre, in fact, are apparent rather than real. It will be important, before we come any nearer to this conclusion, to glance at the influences which helped to shape Paul's eschatological outlook. The influence and bearing of the apostolic kerygma, and therefore of the teaching of Jesus himself, are obvious. It is well known in addition that, taking the terms as they stand, Pere Cerfaux has attempted to discover the Hellenistic as well as the Jewish forces at work in this area of Paul's thought. He has pointed out the technical, festive connotations attaching to the word rapovcrLa, which stated the triumphal entrance of rulers (as in the case of Attalus III, according to the decree issued in a city of Pergamum); and also in the sphere of religion.
But however constraining it might be considered the Greek pressures on the language of NT eschatology to be, it is not possible to side-step, any more than Pere Cerfaux himself would wish, the fundamentally Jewish setting from which Paul's own eschatological position derives. This has been traced and described by Professor H.J. Schoeps, in his important book, Paulus: Die Theologie des Apostels im Lichte der jildischen Religions geschichte. Schoeps considers that eschatological expectation belongs to the most primitive part of Israel's faith, and is to be seen against the background of covenant theology itself. He detects messianic expectation, and reminds us that the second trend of thought, according to which the Messiah was awaited as Savior, whose appearance would usher in the final stages of cosmic catastrophe, finds expression in a body of apocalyptic literature (Daniel, Enoch, and IV Ezra) which was "much more calculated to harmonize with the speculation of the apostle PauJ."4s The appearance of the figure of the tvJN" invested by the apocalyptists with all the visionary apparatus belonging to a transcendental futurity, drives a wedge between this aeon and the next, and causes a reinterpretation of the messianic idea (not least in the consciousness of Jesus himself and finally becomes "deeply harmonious with the conceptual world of Paul."
This brings us back to the question of the interval. Jewish eschatology, whether that of the Psalms of Solomon or of the apocalyptists. The eschatology if Paul is different, in that for him the oxarov has already begun. But for both some event lies in the future-either the coming of the new aeon, supramundane, or the a’JrOKar (urra (J’LS itself.
The question remains: "My master is delayed in coming" (Luke 12 45). But how long is he delayed? The Jews themselves were not slow to speculate about this. The question, “when will the end of the first aeon and the beginning of the second take place?" (IV Ezra 6 7) was not uncommon.
The Dispensational position involves what can be termed a postponement of the Kingdom after Israel rejected the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Church, therefore, is little more than a substitute for Israel in the overall plan of God. The Kingdom of Israel was God’s true intent. As such, God will offer it again to Israel after the time of the Gentiles when the so-called Church Age is complete. Dispensationalism advocates that the Church has not displaced Israel and God has neither forgotten nor rejected His people Israel (Erickson: 1997).
3. The seven dispensations commonly agreed upon among dispensationalists.
Innocence (in the Garden).
Conscience (up to the Flood).
Human government (since Babel).
Promise (since Abraham).
Law (since Moses).
Grace (since Christ). Age of Grace Ends with the pre-tribulation rapture.
Resting on a literal interpretation of the Old Testament prophets, dispensational eschatology is overwhelmingly premillennial and pretribulational (Kyle, 1998).
Concerning Premillennial Dispensationalism, the events between the pre-tribulation rapture and Kingdom, are the most important to the futurist position (Schwarz).
4. The various tribulation viewpoints and the secret rapture.
Some other terms commonly used in this area of study are Pretribulationism, Mid-Tribulationism, and Post-Tribulationism (Tenney 1961). Each of these terms refers to the timing of the occurrence of the rapture. The rapture, as Premillennial Dispensationalists contend, is the first stage in what they believe to be the two-stage Second Coming of Christ.
This secret catching-away will cause the disappearance of millions of Christians who will vanish and meet the waiting Christ in the clouds. In so doing, they will avoid the ‘Great Tribulation’ following in the wake of their disappearance (Kyle: 101). The futurist understands this seven-year period to be “the times of Jacob’s troubles”, the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy of the Seventy Weeks (Daniel 9:23ff).
The Great Tribulation will last for seven years. The first half of that period will see a gradual deterioration of human conditions. Meanwhile, political and military power will shift to a European confederacy that will resemble a reconstituted Roman Empire. This Confederacy is to be led by the Antichrist (Kyle 1998) who will be an actual person and not just a system. The Tribulation will bring fear and suffering beyond imagination and culminates in mighty armies marching upon Israel with the goal of taking Jerusalem. They meet their doom on the plains of Meggido as the Lord appears in glory to defeat the forces of darkness. This battle of Armageddon will rage for over a year prior the Lord’s arrival, killing millions of combatants and civilians alike.
This mighty victory for the Lord then ushers in the Millennium, a literal period of one thousand years of the earthly rule of Christ from Jerusalem. The temporary release of Satan from the abyss follows the Millennium and rebellion ensues. The uprising fails and the Lake of Fire becomes Satan's eternal dwelling place. The general resurrection then follows, after which the final judgment, the Great White Throne Judgement, commences. God then undertakes the creation of a new heavens and a new earth – the dawn of eternity (Schwarz, Grenz 1994).
Major Millennial eschatology positions:
It is important to know of a further three important terms relevant to the subject at hand: Postmillennial, Amillennial and Premillennial (Tenney 1961). These three views result from different interpretations of the twentieth chapter of the Book of Revelation. The crux of the matter is to determine whether the Millennium (the 1000 years) is literal or figurative. Furthermore, does it precede or follow the Second Coming of Christ? (Tenney 1961).
Postmillennialism regards the so-called Millennium as a figurative long interval that precedes the Second Advent. At the beginning of this period, a point difficult to determine, the Gospel will finally triumph over the nations ushering in “a reign of peace” which will last until Christ appears and establishes His rule upon the earth (Tenney 1961).
5.2 The Amillennialist, on the other hand, does not subscribe to the view of a literal Millennium at all. Some Amillennialists view the Millennium as the intermediate state of the dead. However, Amillennialism teaches, in the main, that Christ could return at any time. When He does, He will judge the world and usher in the eternal state of bliss for the righteous and the creation of the new heavens and the new earth (Tenney 1961).
Premillennialism teaches that Christ will return personally and initiate His earthly kingdom reign from physical Jerusalem directly after the Great Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon. The resurrected righteous dead will reign with Him personally on earth for one thousand years. Immediately after that period there will be a brief rebellion initiated by the release of Satan. Subsequently, the wicked will face Judgement and eternity will begin.
The Dispensational position involves what can be termed a postponement of the Kingdom after Israel rejected the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Church, therefore, is little more than a substitute for Israel in the overall plan of God.
The Second Coming was no arbitrary belief plucked out of the stock of Jewish eschatology. It was part and parcel of convictions about the resurrection. The Second Coming was the consummation of a promise of which the resurrection of Jesus was a guarantee (Rowland: 115). Such a conviction and understanding stretched into the Second Century. Ignatius of Antioch stated, “The end of all things are near” (Staniforth, 1968). The Didache (i.e. the teaching), a collection of regulations that made up what could be termed, in modern parlance, a ‘church life manual’ contains a section on eschatology and fittingly, perhaps, it comes at the end of the ‘manual’. For the first two hundred years or so, Christians expected Christ to return and usher in a golden age within their lifetimes. The two hundred years that followed saw a change in that expectancy. The urgent expectation of Christ’s return waned and the Church began to make peace with the world. Before long, official Church doctrine declared that the millennium was in progress. Consequently, the breathless expectation of Christ’s return dissipated for about one thousand years (Kyle 1998).
The joyous and confident attitude of the Church prevalent in the immediate wake of the Apostles now began to give way to the concept of exclusively future blessing instead of the acceptance that the age to come had already broken through to their present time. The Letters of the New Testament powerfully reflected the blessing of living in the first fruits of the Spirit in the Messianic Age of the Church. This wondrous understanding gave way to the Kingdom being a region or a state located exclusively in the future. As such it was no longer a certain inheritance by faith through grace but a place reserved for those who manfully struggle in this present life (Kelly, 1968).
Daniel 9:24-27 is entirely about Jesus, centre in the finished work of the Lamb of God! This prophecy therefore reveals how that God would ultimately deal with transgression, sin and iniquity. Gabriel, the same archangel who announced the Messiah’s birth (Matthew 1 & Luke 1), now prophesies His death. He arrives at the time of the “evening offering” (the ninth hour) – the hour of Jesus’ death by crucifixion (Matthew 27:45-46; John 19:30). Gabriel came to give Daniel and us “understanding” of this prophecy. His explanation prophesied the New Testament revelation of Jesus’ finished work, the putting away of all sin and the cessation and all sacrifice and oblation (Hebrews 9&10).
The accomplishment of the six objectives can only be achieved at the close of the seventieth week, say the dispensationalists. There would not be a problem here if it were not for the insertion of the dispensational parenthesis.
Their assertion that the Seventieth Week is future results in the six objectives vital to our salvation being invalid until somewhere in the distant unknown (Karayan 2015).
The Dispensational position involves what can be termed a postponement of the Kingdom after Israel rejected the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Church, therefore, is little more than a substitute for Israel in the overall plan of God. The Second Coming was no arbitrary belief plucked out of the stock of Jewish eschatology. It was part and parcel of convictions about the resurrection. The Second Coming was the consummation of a promise of which the resurrection of Jesus was a guarantee (Rowland: 115). Such a conviction and understanding. Ignatius of Antioch stated, “The end of all things are near” (Staniforth 1968). The Didache some regulations which created what could be termed, in modern parlance, a ‘church life manual’ contains a section on eschatology and fittingly, perhaps, it comes at the end of the ‘manual’. The urgent expectation of Christ’s return waned and the Church began to make peace with the world. Before long, official Church doctrine declared that the millennium was in progress. Consequently, the breathless expectation of Christ’s return dissipated for about one thousand years (Kyle 1998).
The joyous and confident attitude of the Church prevalent in the immediate wake of the Apostles now began to give way to the concept of exclusively future blessing instead of the acceptance that the age to come had already broken through to their present time. The Letters of the New Testament powerfully reflected the blessing of living in the first fruits of the Spirit in the Messianic Age of the Church. This wondrous understanding gave way to the Kingdom being a region or a state located exclusively in the future. As such it was no longer a certain inheritance by faith through grace but a place reserved for those who manfully struggle in this present life (Kelly 1968).
The seventy years of captivity as prophesied by Jeremiah (29:10) serve as a basis for the seventy weeks of Daniel (70X7 years). Around this agonized declaration flows the truth of God’s plan of redemption and salvation. Our understanding of the transition from the Old Covenant to the New revolves around these pivotal words.
The angel Gabriel broadens the seventy literal years of captivity into seventy weeks of years in order to give Daniel understanding of what was to come:
The prophecy of seventy weeks of years spans 490 literal calendar years.
It must be understood that Jeremiah speaks of seventy consecutive years with absolutely no ‘gap’ or ‘parenthesis’ appearing at any point in that period (Jeremiah 29:10). The Prophecy of Seventy Weeks enlarges on Jeremiah’s predictions. It is wholly Christological and Messianic, putting an end to the Old Covenant and inaugurating the New Covenant (as prophesied by Jeremiah 31:31-34), among the JEWS (who were Daniel’s people) and in JERUSALEM (Daniel’s city) through Jesus Christ’s death on the CROSS.