Subject: Pre-Tribulation Rapture |
Bible Note: Tribulation Trah Part 1 Many Protestants have copied a medieval Catholic idea, and decided that there is a big gap between the rapture and the coming of Christ. They call this gap "The Great Tribulation" and use it as a dumping site for all the "Great Apostasy" scriptures they do not like. It is true that there will be terrible tribulations before the Second Coming. But this should not be confused with the 1260 year period spoken of in Daniel and Revelation, during which the church would be "in the hand of" Satan. The Rapture and the Second Coming: When Christ comes again, the faithful will raise in the air to meet him, and then He will descend to earth, fulfilling all the various prophecies. This rising into the air, where surviving believers meet with resurrected saints, is called the "rapture." Sounds Simple – Why make it complicated? The common Protestant view adds something called "The Great Tribulation." What is it, and why was it added? The Origins of the Theory: The idea of a Great Tribulation, lasting either seven or three and a half years, can be traced to the Spanish Jesuit, Ribera. He was writing in the year 1591. This was when the Protestants had begun to realise that the 1260 "days" of prophecy referred to the church in the dark ages. The Catholic church did not like this being pointed out. So Ribera invented the idea of a final tribulation yet to come. But as the centuries have passed, it became clear that the Protestants were no better than the Catholics, and the rise of Protestantism did not usher in the Second Coming. So gradually Protestants have adopted the convenient Catholic fiction of "the tribulation" being in the future. Fairbairn's Bible Dictionary (London: Blackie and Son, 1866), under the topic "Revelation", notes the two major advantages of this theory to any false church: First, it is "holding that the whole interval of historic time between the ascension of Christ and the appearance of antichrist is passed over in prophecy." In other words, God has ignored the first 2000 years of church history! Second, "It has the convenient advantage of not admitting of being tested in actual history." The whole purpose of the false "last days tribulation" doctrine is to make us ignore a) the prophecies of the great Apostasy, and b) the last 2000 years, which fulfilled those prophecies. The finishing touches to the "last days tribulation" theory, concerning a separate rapture and a seven year duration (with the 1260 "days" as half of that), were added by Darby in or around the year 1830. What is the Alleged Sequence of Events? A friend (a pre-tribulation rapture believer) described the popular Protestant approach to this as follows: "According to pre-trib belief, the sequence of events is: 1) rapture 2) Antichrist signs seven year peace covenant 3) 3 1/2 years into the seven year period, the Antichrist is killed and comes back to life, admittedly this is a counterfeit resurrection 4) at the end of the seven years Jesus returns to planet earth – known as His second coming, defeats the Antichrist and armies of the world" The truth is alot more simpler: 1) rapture and Second Coming. The phrase "antichrist" and "tribulation" are more general descriptions. These things have already started – and had started in some degree even in New Testament times. These trials will eventually build up to the battle of Armageddon and the fall of Babylon. They are completed by the Second Coming – with the rapture happening at pretty much the same time. It All Hinges on the Great Tribulation Theory: If the 'Great Tribulation' theory is correct, then all the apostasy scriptures have not yet been fulfilled. So the traditional Christians would be right. There was no apostasy, and no need for a restoration. But if the 'Great Tribulation' theory is false, then the scriptures clearly teach that there was a Great Apostasy, lasting 1260 years, which ended in the year 1830. |