Does the Bible Teach the Pre-Trib Rapture?

An Examination of the Major Arguments for Pre-Trib.

By Pastor Steven Wenner

There is no Pre-Trib scripture verse but the whole system is built on arguments drawn from inferences that are claimed to prove Pre-Trib.  The following arguments are used:

The promise to the church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3:10

Pre-Tribbers argue that the promise to the Church in Philadelphia of being removed from the tribulation is a universal promise that the Church will be removed from the great tribulation. Revelation 3:10 says, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” (Re 3:10 NIVUS) Dr. David Jeremiah is a good representation of the Pre-Trib view when he writes, “The hour of trial is the great tribulation. . . Notice he does not say, “I will keep you through the hour of trial”, but “from the hour of trial”, this refers to the rapture, when Jesus will catch away God's people for Himself. We are Pre-Tribulational in our beliefs and we clearly see in this that the church will not go through the tribulation. How can the clarity of this promise be explained any other way.”

Dr. Jeremiah and Pre-Tribbers are on shaky ground in his dogmatic affirmation that this verse means that the church will be raptured before the tribulation. What is clear is that the verse says nothing about the rapture as he asserts. The point that he is making about “from” versus “through” looks good in the English Bible but is just not that clear from the Greek, because the preposition that is used “ek” which is translated “from” in NIV, can be translated either “from” or “through”. This could mean removal or preservation as the NIV Study Bible Notes say, “keep you from”. The Greek for this phrase can either “keep you from undergoing” or “keep you through the hour of trial”. The period of testing that precedes the consummation of the kingdom.”, or as the The New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible says, “Revelation 3:10 Some believe that “I will also keep you from the hour of trial” means there will be a future time of great tribulation from which true believers will be spared. Others interpret this to mean that the church will go through the time of tribulation and that God will keep them strong in the midst of it. Still others believe this refers to times of great distress in general, the church’s suffering through the ages. Whatever the case, our emphasis should be on patiently obeying God no matter what we may face.”, or as Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary, say, “from— Greek, "( so as to deliver thee) out of, " not to exempt from temptation”, or as Albert Barnes “I also will keep thee.” That is, I will so keep you that you shall not sink under the trials which will prove a severe temptation to many. This does not mean that they would be actually kept from calamity of all kinds, but that they would be kept from the temptation of apostasy in calamity. He would give them grace to bear up under trials with a Christian spirit, and in such a manner that their salvation should not be endangered. If Jesus had intended Pre-Trib as is claimed why did He not use grammar that would have been clear? Surely Jesus could have said “Since you have endured patiently in your present trials then I will remove you and all my people before the great tribulation”. Then we would have had firm ground for building a theology of the the two phases of Christ's coming. For Pre-Tribbers to build their theology on such a shaky inference drawn from an arbitrary translation of the Greek to English is not a good basis to build doctrine. This verse is as close to a proof text as Pre-Tribbers can come up with and we can already see that its foundation is very weak.

A second reason why Dr. Jeremiah is on shaky ground, is because it is not certain that the hour of trial is the great tribulation. The hour of trial could be the great tribulation, but it can equally be the time in which God pours out his final wrath on the earth i.e. bowls of wrath, or Jesus could be exempting the church in Philadelphia from one of the many universal Roman persecutions that happened during the first 300 years of church history. We must be honest the verse could mean removal but it is truly not clear that it is removal from the tribulation period. Surely if Christ intended a Pre-Trib rapture He would have used clearer language.

To say that this is a promise for the universal church when it is clear that there is a condition that has been met by the church in Philadelphia. “They have endured patiently”. This condition would have to have been met by all believers in order for this promise to be truly universal. It is not a blank check as Dr. Jeremiah implies but only for those who have meet the condition of endurance, and it is given specifically to the church at Philadelphia and therefore is not universal. What is clear is that Jesus is able to keep us and protect us no matter what we go through our responsibility is to continue to endure in the midst of trials like the Philadelphia Christians and trust Jesus is able to keep us in life or death.

When you put all these points together, it is clear that this verse is not a certain or a good proof text to prove the Pre-Trib rapture of the church. It is not conclusive enough to build a whole theology.


The nature of Daniel’s 70th Week.


This argument is put forth in Dr. Theissen's “Lectures in Systematic Theology” page 479. Dr. Theissen asserts that because the church was not in the first 69 weeks of Daniel's 70th weeks, that it will not be a part of the 70th week either.

Dr. Norman Spurgeon McPherson says “The argument from silence can easily be use to prove anything one wishes...if the church will not be on earth then because it is not mentioned in so many words, why may we suppose there will be gentile children are on earth in that day?” (They are not mentioned either).

Dr. McPherson makes a good point, arguments from silence do not prove or disprove anything but are very arbitrary. The church is not mentioned in the Old Testament at all, in fact Paul calls it a “mystery” in the New Testament. So it is true, that the church is not mentioned in Daniel's 70th week or anywhere else in the Old Testament. If we are honest we must conclude that this argument does not prove or disprove anything and must therefore be disregarded.


The nature of the great tribulation as a time of judgment on the world and not for the Church.


This argument says: that because the tribulation period is a time of wrath on the earth, and since the New Testament clearly tells us that the believer is not destined for wrath, then we must conclude that the church will be exempt from the tribulation period.

Verses such as these are often used to prove that believers will not go through the tribulation: 1Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead— Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”, and 1Thessalonians 5:9 “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We fully agree that the believer will not face the wrath of God, and that we are fully saved by Christ's redemption and therefore safe from any divine retribution for our sin. Jesus' death has removed the wrath of God that was on us as sinners, and we have nothing to fear.

This question begs to be asked, is tribulation wrath? To answer this question one simply has to look at the verses that speak of tribulation, for instance in Acts 14:22 it says, “Strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Or as Jesus says in John 16:33, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." It is clear that the expectation of the apostle Paul and Jesus Christ is not exemption from tribulation. In fact both of these verses speak of tribulation as the natural course of the believer’s life. Jesus is promising tribulation for us as believers and Paul made sure that young churches understood that they were going to face tribulation for following Jesus. The point being made here is that tribulation is not wrath because we are taught in the New Testament tribulation is what believers can expect from a sinful and satanically controlled world.

Here is a sample list of Scriptures that speak of the believer and tribulation, and also those scriptures that refer to “the great tribulation”. You will see that the word is often used of the every day experience of suffering for believers. From this list can you see any exemption for the believer from tribulation? I have used the NASU version because it consistently translates words. I have left the Strong's number so you can see what word is in view.



It is true that when the Bible speaks of “the great tribulation” it is speaking of the worst period of tribulation that the world has ever seen, as Jesus says in Matthew 24:21 “for then there will be a great tribulation, such has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.” But is the “great tribulation” the wrath of God? I believe the answer is no, because the tribulation period begins in the middle of Daniels 70th week, with the setting up of the “abomination that causes desolation”, and extends for 3 ½ years. We know this because Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 13:5 both speak of a 3 ½ year period in which anti-Christ has dominion over the saints. Tribulation then would not be wrath but persecution and suffering inflicted by the Antichrist's reign on earth. It is interesting to me that the book of Revelation does not talk about wrath until you get to the 16th chapter where it speaks of the “bowls of wrath”. I would agree that the believers will be exempt from the bowls of wrath but I do not see any reason to believe that we as believers are exempted from the great tribulation. When in human history have believers been exempted from tribulation? We have some very recent history to show just the opposite. The 20th century was the bloodiest in all of church history, as far as Christian martyrdom goes, as many as 160 million Christians gave there lives for the gospel. It is only in the West where the church has had an exemption from tribulation, and this may not last much longer. When these arguments are examined in the light of clear scripture we can see that it does not prove the Pre-Trib rapture because tribulation is not wrath and should therefore be disregarded.


The twenty-four elders represent the whole Church in heaven during the great tribulation.


This argument goes something like this: since the church is not mentioned in the book of Revelation after chapter 3, and because John is caught up to heaven at the beginning of chapter 4 which represents the beginning of the tribulations period, and because the 24 elders (which represent the whole church) are seen in heaven during this period, then church must be removed before the tribulation begins.

This argument would appear compelling at first, but when it is examined in detail we see that it is going beyond what is written and therefore must be disregarded. As Paul wrote, 1Co 4:6b "Do not go beyond what is written." Just because the word “church” is not mentioned after chapter 4 does not mean the church is not in view. It is true that the word “church” is not used but the word “saints” is used in chapter 4 through 21 and the word saints is a word that Paul is very comfortable in using in reference to the church. In Ephesians 1:1 Paul writes, “To the Saints in Ephesus”, like wise to the Philippian Church (he also address them as saints). It would seem to me that saints and church are used interchangeably in the New Testament and it does not prove anything that the word “church” is not used after Revelation 4. It is interesting to note that the word “church” is not used in 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 and 2 Peter, 1 and 2 John and Jude, does this also mean that the church is not in view in these books as well, of course not. These kinds of arguments from silence do not prove anything other than the person arguing them does not have any real evidence for what they are affirming. Beware of those who tell you to read between the lines.

To read more into John being caught up to heaven, then meaning, that John was caught up heaven, is adding way more to the text than what it says. To draw the conclusion that this means that the church is raptured is to go way beyond what the text actually says. To me what this means is that John was caught up to heaven to see visions and says absolutely nothing about the rapture of the Church. If you did not have the previous argument you would never draw the conclusion that the church is raptured from Revelation 4:1.

The final part of this argument has to do with the identity of the 24 elders mentioned in chapters 4-5 of Revelation. Pre-Tribbers argue that 24 is a number of completeness and represents the whole church in heaven. The problem that I see with this argument is the identity of the twenty four elders is not clear. Whether they represent the 24 courses of priests from the Old Testament, the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles, or the whole church in heaven, or even some special class of angelic beings, it is really not that clear. If you read any number of commentaries you'll get any number of answers as to the identity of the 24 elders

Part of the problem lies in textual difficulties between the King James version and newer translations. This problem is seen in verse 5:9 where the King James version uses “us” when recording the praise of the 24 elders which would seem to include them in the redeemed of humankind. The main problem with this translation is, we have found many more reliable Greek manuscripts since the King James was translated. These Greek manuscripts all affirm the reading “them” rather than “us”. Most modern English language translations, translate the praise of the elders as being praise for the redemption of a man rather than for their own redemption. George E. Ladd says, “This however is misleading, for the Authorized version does not give us a correct form of the song. The American revised version . . . and most other modern translations correctly render their song, “for thou didst purchase men to God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation and madest them to be unto our God a Kingdom of priests and they reign upon the earth.” The elders themselves are not the redeemed, but they sing of those who are redeemed.” (Blessed Hope pg. 98)

Again to draw this type of conclusion that the church is raptured before the Great tribulation, from the order of book of Revelation seems to very artificial and again is not an argument that comes out of the clear statement of the scripture. If Pre-Trib is wrong on these identifications than the whole system is wrong. If God wanted to make this inference wouldn't He have made clearer the who the twenty four elders were? To be overly dogmatic on whom these represent and to build a whole theology based upon such an unclear passage is to violate every hermeneutical principle.


The mission of the Holy Spirit as a restrainer.


This argument goes something like this: since the Holy Spirit is present in the world in every believer, and since Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:6, says that there is a restrainer who is holding back the coming of the Antichrist, and since they assert that restrainer is the Holy Spirit; they conclude that when Paul talks about the removal of the restrainer in verse 7 he is talking about the removal of the church in the rapture before the coming of the Antichrist because they argue that this would remove the Holy Spirit from the world as the believers are raptured.

This to me is the worst kind of arbitrary interpretation because it ignores the plain teaching of the rest of the passage. Paul clearly tells the Thessalonians, “That the coming of our Lord and our being gathered him. . . will not occur until the man of lawlessness is revealed”. The revelation of the Antichrist is the midpoint of Daniel's seventieth week when he sets up the abomination that causes desolation as Jesus told us Matthew 24:15. Who or what is the restrainer is not the point. The point is that these dear believers who were shaken by a false letter saying that the day of the Lord had already occurred are assured that that will not happen until Antichrist is revealed. They were not to expect Christ coming until they saw what Christ identified as the “Abomination that causes desolation”.

The NIV study notes making this comment about verse 6, “what is holding him back. The expression is neuter but the masculine equivalent is in verse 7. There have been many suggestions as to the identity of this restrainer: the Roman state with the Emperor, Paul's missionary work, the Jewish state, the principle of law and government embodied in the state, the Holy Spirit or the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit through the church, and others.”

George E. Ladd says, “This however is a human interpretation. The word of God is not saying that the Holy Spirit is the restrainer. In fact, this is a very difficult passage, for Paul is speaking in very concise language which was intelligible to the Thessalonians because Paul had already taught them in person, but is very difficult for us. We must content ourselves pointing out that the passage says nothing at all about the Holy Spirit. That it refers to the Holy Spirit is nothing more than an inference. Nor does it say anything about the rapture the church.” Ladd, The Blessed Hope (pg. 94-95)

It is clear that the identity of the restrainer is not clear, and to build a proof from these verses that the church is raptured again – standing on very shaky ground. To argue the Pre-Tib rapture from these very obscure verses in 6 and 7 again is not standing on the firm ground of clear scripture. It is not clear who the restrainer is, and Bible teachers disagree on what this means. What is clear is that Antichrist will not come until God's perfect timing is accomplished. Instead of focusing and interpreting what is not clear we need to focus on what is. And what is clear in the passage is that Paul tells the Thessalonian believer that they should not expect the coming of Christ and the rapture (“our being gathered to him”) until Antichrist (Man of Lawlessness) is revealed and is not telling them to anticipate the Pre-Trib rapture of the church.


The necessity for an interval between the rapture and the second coming because of the judgment of believers 2 Corinthians 5:10 and marriage supper of the lamb.


This view argues that a gap between the rapture and the second coming is necessary because of certain events that must take place. These events are the marriage supper of the Lamb and the judgment of believers spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5:10. They argue that unless there is a gap of time in between the rapture and the second coming there isn't enough time for these two events take place. Therefore they conclude that there must be a Pre-Trib rapture of the Church before the tribulation in order for these events to fit into the prophet time table.

The main problem I see with this view is that the apostle Paul never specified when the judgment seat of Christ will take place, nor does the Bible specify when the marriage supper of the lamb will take place. The only place that the marriage supper of the lamb is mentioned is Revelation 19:6-9 where it is a hymn of anticipation of the marriage supper but does not say that the marriage supper happen then. This to me is an artificial problem. Pre-Tribbers have made an artificial timetable that is not clearly specified in the Scriptures. If the rapture is Post-Trib, why is it a problem for Jesus to have the judgment seat of Christ and the marriage supper of the lamb at the inauguration of His millennial kingdom. The scripture's time line on these events is not very clear. There is nothing in scripture that says these events have to happen before the Millennium begins. It is very weak to use this as an argument that necessitates the Pre-Trib rapture of the church.

As George E. Ladd writes, “The time of the wedding feast is specifically indicated. The wedding, the reunion with Christ, occurs at the Revelation of Christ in glory. The feast does not actually occur in chapter 19. The prophetic Hymn is not a description of the marriage: it is a hymn of anticipation. John beholds what would actually take place in chapter 20”. (Ladd pg.100)

Dr. Norman MacPherson writes: “As we have already seen, the belief that Christ’s coming consists of two events separated by a period of years is not susceptible of proof in the Scriptures. Furthermore, let us look at the only passage that speaks of the marriage supper of the Lamb, Rev. 19:7-9, to see if we can discover when it will take place. It is after the heavenly beings rejoice that divine justice has disposed of Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots, that they rejoice that “the marriage of the Lamb is come and His Wife hath made herself ready.” Marriage speaks of union, and this union of Christ and His Church will be consummated at His coming. Beginning with v. 11 we have in symbolism the picture of Christ’s coming as a victor. If this order of revelation will be the order of fulfillment, then we discover that the marriage of the Lamb takes place at His coming and this is immediately followed by the marriage supper. The nature of that gladsome fellowship is not revealed, nor are we told how much time it will require. It is quite possible it will occupy a very short time, so short, that no sooner is it over than Christ comes on toward the earth to give vent to God’s righteous wrath and to establish His kingdom. At any rate, no one has a right to say that this marriage supper coincides with the period of Tribulation, for if the order of events in Revelation proves to be the historical order, this supper does not take place until after the destruction of the great Harlot, Babylon, at the end of the Tribulation period, and after the coming of Christ that immediately follows that judgment on Babylon. Now as to the judgment of the believer’s works, we know that this takes place at the coming of Christ. The works will be revealed by fire (1 Corinthians 3:15) and subjected to a test to discover which works will abide. This takes place at the resurrection of the just according to Rev. 11: 15—18 at which time Christ sets up His Kingdom. There is no indication of the amount of time required. Certainly the whole process could be accomplished in a moment of time. Who would care to limit our infinite God? Sad indeed is the anthropomorphism that argues that such an enormous task as that of giving rewards to the righteous must occupy a very considerable amount of time!” (Triumph through Tribulation)


Expectation of a sudden coming argues for a Pre-Trib rapture of the Church.


It is argued that because the Bible speaks of the suddenness of the second coming, then there must be two comings. Because in order for it to be sudden and unexpected there can't be any event that must take place before hand. Pre Tribbers use the theological term imminent to describe this doctrine.

“For example, let us look at two testimonies in recent literature on the subject. Thiessen in his book on the Tribulation, p. 40, says of the term “immanency”: “This term does not mean of a certainty that He will come at once, (of course not!) But merely constant expectation of Him, on the ground that there is no revealed event that must precede His return.” Again, W. M. Robertson in The Sure Word of Prophecy, p. 257, says: “When we turn to the Pauline epistles we find the apostle urging the saints to look for the Lord Jesus the Savior without any signs preceding His coming.” All of which is quite in line with the remark by the older commentator, Joseph Seiss, that the Second Coming is “pledged to no moment, possible at any.” MacPherson Triumph Through Tribulation You can read more of Dr. MacPherson's work on my website at: http://www.stpaulsbiblechurch.org/Triumph%20Through%20Tribulation.htm

Pre-Trib uses the following scriptures as proof texts for their view:

The main problem with this view is that it overlooks the fact that all these passages speak of signs that will precede the second coming of Christ. For instance, Christ speaks of the great commission as having to be fulfilled before the second coming of Christ in Matthew 24:14 “and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as the testimony to all nations and then the end will come.” Also Christ goes on to tell us that there's the sign of the abomination across his desolation vs. 15. There are certain conditions in the world and in nature that Christ predicts will take place before his second coming such as: false Christ, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines and finally there's the sign in the sun and the moon where their light is darkened verse 29. If Christ meant for the above mentioned verses to speak of suddenness without signs as Pre-Tribbers claim why does Jesus then talk about signs that must proceed the second coming. It would seem that Jesus is talking about the suddenness of his coming and not the fact that we would be completely unaware of the times we are living. It is true that Jesus tells us that “no one knows the day or the hour”, but in the same context Jesus also says, Matthew 24:32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Jesus is telling his disciples to discern the signs of their time as they discern the signs in nature. It is true that we will not know the day or the hour but certainly if Jesus' teaching has any meaning than we will know that we are close. When Jesus tells us, Matthew 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father”, what He is saying to us is not to speculate about dates and times but to watch for the signs.

Pre-Tribbers love 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, but you rarely hear them read on to verse 4-5 where Paul explains the contexts of who is saying “peace and safety”. It is clear that Paul doesn't think that believers will be surprised by the coming of Christ, but it is the unbelieving world that is caught off guard. Paul writes, 1 Thessalonians 5:4 “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief”. This affirms what Jesus means in the Olivet Discourse; Jesus is saying the unbelieving world is caught off guard. Paul tells us that “we are son's of the light”, which to me means that we have the revelation of the second coming and we know the signs so that we will not be caught off guard. In context this would be validated again by the meaning of Paul's words in 4:15 where he writes, “according to the Lord’s own words(NIV)”. It seems to me, that Paul here thinks that the suddenness of the second coming should not catch the believer off guard. Because, we have the further teaching which Paul is merely elaborating on in the Olivet Discourse that give us the signs of the second coming. Jesus said see “I have told you ahead of time what will take place” What is the point? Jesus did not want his followers to be shaken by the events that he described, so he told us ahead of time what was coming so that we would not be in darkness about the period of the end. That is why in Luke's account of Jesus Discourse on the end, he says, “When you see all these things taking place, lift up your head for your redemption draws near.” Believers will not be in darkness because we should be studying the Olivet Discourse so that we know the road map for the future.

Some take Jesus' statement in Luke 17:26-35 and its Matthew 24 parallel, to mean that the rapture will take some and leave others behind. Rapture is said to happen before the tribulation and the second coming which happens at the end of the tribulation so that the two are two separate events. The Rapture is said to be sudden and take those who are believers and leave the unbelievers behind, Here is what Luke records,

This passage is popular among those who argue for a sudden rapture and a glorious second coming as two separate events. It sounds as though Jesus is teaching about the rapture when he talks about two taken and one left, two women grinding at the mill one taken the other left. A whole movie was made called “Thief in the Night” used these verses as its basis. But is that what Jesus is really teaching that there will be the coming of a sudden rapture as a separate event from the second coming?

The answer is no, because when you look at the context of the whole section and what Jesus is speaking of, you see that Jesus sandwiches this teaching in between two illustrations that teach that the second coming will be visible. He teaches that His coming will be like lightening that lights up the sky vs. 24, and his coming will be like the gathering of vultures that circle visibly in the sky vs. 37. In context this would speak not of the secret rapture but of his glorious and visible coming. Jesus says it will be like the Judgment of Noah and of Lot's day where people were taken in Judgment. The “taken” in 34-35 must be interpreted in light of 26-27 where it speaks taken by the destruction of Judgment. The second coming will be a time of terrible judgment on the world just as in the days of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah it will happen suddenly and unexpectedly to those who are saying “life as usual”, “People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.” This passage speaks that people will be taken in the suddenness of Judgment that happens when Christ returns visibly and not that they are taken in the rapture of the Church as Pre-Tribbers try to argue.

What then does watchfulness mean? It would seem to me that when Jesus talks about watchfulness He is really speaking of spiritual readiness. We are not to be like the world that is living for ourselves and completely unprepared for the day when Jesus will appear. We are to be faithful servants who carefully and diligently discharge the service that Jesus has left for us to do, and not be too tied up in the things as world. We are to be growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Christ does not want us to become lazy Christians but busy, ready, and watching for him to return.

If the tribulation is 3½ years and the second coming is after the tribulation doesn't that mean that you can count off 3 ½ years from the “abomination” to the day of the second coming. This would seem to be the case but in both Matthew and Mark we are told that the Great Tribulation will be cut short. The second coming is going to happen sometime before the end of the 3 ½ years so that Antichrist is not able to destroy all of the elect. Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” Mark 13:20 “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.” What Jesus is telling us is that his coming will shorten the 3 ½ year and therefore “no one will know the day or the hour but we by the signs will know that we are close to the time of His coming.

The Olivet Discourse and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 teach two different phases of Christ’s coming.

This argument hinges on the fact that there are many apparent differences between 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21). It is argued because Paul uses different vocabulary and different themes from Olivet Discourse in 1 Thessalonians 4 they must be two completely different passage teaching and two different teachings about the two phases of the second coming of Christ. For instance Pre-Tribbers often point to the fact that Paul uses a different Greek word here harpazo which is the word we commonly refer to as the rapture which means to be caught up. Some argue that 1Thessalonians 4:17 teaches that Jesus takes His Church back to heaven, where the Olivet Discourse teaches that Jesus comes back to earth. What is amazing is that Jesus does not tell us where he is going in the Olivet Discourse, and 1 Thessalonians 4:17 does not tell us where we are going. Paul writes, 1 Thessalonians 4:17 “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” For the big deal that is often made about this verse I see nothing but a general promise that the church will be with Christ forever, but it says nothing about going back to heaven or any other place. I see no reason why this can not be teaching the same event as Matthew 24 since the destination is not in view in either passage.

It would seem to me that Apostle Paul quotes and alludes to the Olivet Discourse in his teaching on the second coming, in 1 Thessalonians 4:15  Paul writes,   “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.”  Paul uses a phrase that could be “according to the word of the Lord” Paul is obviously referring to words of Christ, “the Lord” in the New Testament is a common title for Jesus Christ.  It is curious to me which words of Christ Paul referring to?  Words we have or words that we don’t have?  The only words of Christ that speak in a major way on the themes of the second coming are the Olivet Discourse given in Matthew 24-25, Mark 13 and Luke 21. It seems a bit fool hearty to ignore these obvious words of Christ and opt for words that we do not have. So in my mind when I see Paul say “According to the Lord's own words”, I think of the only words of Christ on the theme of the second coming which are in the Olivet Discourse. So is Paul really teaching anything different from what Christ has already taught? I believe that the answer is a resounding no.

What I find curious is that Pre-Tribbers find a secret coming in these words at all, because it says that Christ comes down with a “shout”. Shouts are not secret, and “the trumpet call of God”. Trumpets, are not secret, they are loud.  Secret rapture of the church, or very obvious second coming of Christ? The language of the passage certainly does not lend its self to secrecy.

There is also much similarity in detail between the Olivet Discourse and the 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. They both mention clouds, and they both mention angels they both mention, trumpets. Both have the idea of collection of God’s people although I would admit that there is a slight variance in words. Matthew 24:31 says, “And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” Paul's use of Greek harpazo (caught up, snatch) verse Matthew and Marks episunago (gather verbal form) both have the idea of people being gathered in the air.

The difference in words though is made up because Paul uses the same root word in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 to refer to Christians as Matthew gives us in the Olivet Discourse. 2 Thessalonian is written to the same group of believers that Paul writes to in 1 Thessalonian. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered (episunagoge gathered Noun form) to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.”  Why does Paul use the same root word and the same word order that Matthew uses if Matthew and the Olivet Discourse are not in view. It is fascinating that Paul says, “our being gathered to him”. Why would he say that if he was not teaching that the same gathering as the “gathering of the elect” in Matthew 24:31. Why, if the Pre-Trib rapture is really in Paul's mind doesn't he reverse the order given in the Olivet Discourse and say “concerning our being gathered to him and the coming of the Lord”. That is what you would think Paul would have said if he was really teaching Pre-Trib as it is claimed. But the picture becomes clear, Paul and Jesus are teaching the same coming and therefore there is not two coming but one coming that is simultaneous with the rapture of the Church as Jesus taught his disciples.


Similarities between Paul and Jesus in teaching on the second coming.


Trumpet

Matthew 24:31

1Thessalonians 4:13-16

Angels

Mark 13:27

1 Thessalonians 4:16

2 Thessalonians1:7

Clouds

Mark 13:26

1Thessalonians 4:17

Gather

Mark 13:27

2 Thessalonians 2:1

Watch

Mark 13:35-37

1 Thessalonians 5:6

Antichrist

Mark 13:14

2 Thessalonians 2:1-10


When all these arguments are looked at in light of the plain meaning of scripture we see that they do not hold up but rather crumble under the careful scrutiny of Biblical exegesis. There is only one visible second coming taught in the scriptures that it is simultaneous with the rapture and resurrection of the Church.