The Rapture: Views and Interpretations

This view posits that the Rapture of the Church will occur before the seven-year Tribulation period begins. Adherents believe that God's wrath, which characterizes the Tribulation, is not appointed for the Church. Key arguments for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture include:

• Deliverance from Wrath: Scripture promises that believers are not appointed to wrath. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 states, "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." Similarly, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 declares, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." Proponents argue that the Tribulation is a period of God's wrath upon an unbelieving world and upon Israel, not the Church.
• Imminence of Christ's Return: The New Testament often presents Christ's return for the Church as an imminent event, meaning it could happen at any moment without any preceding prophetic signs needing to be fulfilled. If the Church had to endure part or all of the Tribulation, specific signs (like the rise of the Antichrist or the Abomination of Desolation) would have to occur first, negating the concept of imminence.
• The Church as the Restrainer: Some interpret 2 Thessalonians 2:7, which speaks of a "restrainer" holding back the man of sin (Antichrist), as referring to the Holy Spirit indwelling the Church. For the Antichrist to be fully revealed and for the Tribulation to commence, the Restrainer (and thus the Church) must be removed.
• Distinction Between Israel and the Church: This view emphasizes a theological distinction between Israel and the Church, arguing that the Tribulation is primarily God's dealing with Israel to bring them to repentance and prepare them for the Messiah's earthly reign, not a period for the Church.

This view holds that the Rapture will occur in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation period, after the first 3.5 years. Proponents often distinguish between the Tribulation's initial phase (often seen as "birth pangs" or general trouble) and the "Great Tribulation" which begins at the midpoint, marked by the Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15). Arguments for this timing include:

• The "Last Trump": 1 Corinthians 15:52 speaks of the Rapture occurring "at the last trump." Some interpret this as referring to one of the trumpet judgments described in Revelation 8 and Revelation 9, specifically the seventh trumpet, which sounds at the midpoint of the Tribulation (Revelation 11:15).
• The Two Witnesses: The resurrection and ascension of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:7-12, which occurs after their 3.5-year ministry and death, is seen by some as a type or parallel to the Rapture of the Church. This event also takes place at the Tribulation's midpoint.
• God's Protection, Not Removal: While agreeing that God protects His people from wrath, Mid-Tribulationists argue that this protection does not necessitate removal from the earth, but rather divine preservation through the initial phase of tribulation, similar to how God preserved Israel through the plagues in Egypt.

This view asserts that the Rapture will occur at the very end of the seven-year Tribulation period, coinciding with Christ's glorious Second Coming to establish His earthly kingdom. Believers will endure the entire Tribulation. Key arguments for this perspective include:

• One Event, Not Two: Post-Tribulationists argue that the Bible consistently presents Christ's return as a single event. They see no clear distinction between the Rapture (catching away) and the Second Coming (return to earth) in passages like Matthew 24:29-31, which describes the gathering of the elect "immediately after the tribulation of those days."
• Suffering with Christ: This view emphasizes that believers are called to suffer for Christ and endure persecution, aligning with the experiences of early Christians and the church throughout history. Romans 8:17 states, "if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."
• No Explicit Distinction: Proponents argue that the New Testament does not explicitly teach a two-stage return of Christ (Rapture then Second Coming years later), but rather a single, glorious return at the end of the age. The "gathering" in Matthew 24:31 is seen as the same event as the "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
• The Resurrection: The resurrection of the righteous is often linked to the end of the age. Daniel 12:2 speaks of "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake" at the time of the end.