Rapture Madness

The apostle Paul warned that one of the prophetic signs of the end times will be the increasing embrace of false doctrines by a large segment of the Church.

Here’s Paul’s prophecy concerning false doctrine in his first of two letters he wrote to fellow apostle Timothy: “The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

Paul followed up that prophecy with an additional prophecy concerning false doctrine in his second letter to Timothy: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2Timothy 4:3-4)

While false teachings have plagued the Christian Church since its beginning 2,000 years ago, Paul warned that bogus doctrines that would masquerade as biblical exegesis will invade the church in the very last days preceding the return of Jesus Christ.

While we can give many examples concerning the false teachings that have been promoted within Christendom during the past 50 years, perhaps none has been more popular than the Rapture.

What is the Rapture? The Rapture involves the biblical revelation that Christ will rescue His church from the world just prior to God’s judgment upon the entire planet. Christ revealed that He will indeed return for His true church at some point before He officially returns to destroy the Antichrist and his world government, and then establishes His millennial kingdom on earth.

Christ said this: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” (John 14:2-4)

While many scholars have interpreted that passage to be the Rapture, it also reveals that Christ has made heaven the abode of all true believers in Him. And all true believers will be taken into heaven at the Rapture to be spared the wrath of God that’s going to devastate the entire earth.

However, the question that begs an answer is this one: When is this Rapture going to take place? That’s a question that biblical scholars have debated for centuries and it’s a question that has an easy answer. Unfortunately, there are many Christians who don’t like that answer and instead, have come up with a different and very wrong answer.

The Rapture is going to take place very close to the end of what the Bible identifies as the Tribulation period. What is the Tribulation period? It is a seven-year period during which a global government will be under the control of the dreaded Antichrist. It’s important to understand that this global government will be in existence for a period of time before the Antichrist eventually takes control of it. (Daniel 8:19-27)

What is the significance of this seven-year period? It represents the final seven of 490 years on God’s prophetic clock that are reserved for judgment of the earth. (Daniel 9:24-27)

When did this 490-year period begin? It began when Persian ruler Darius II signed the decree in 445 B.C. to allow the Jews to return to Israel from captivity that began in 586 B.C with Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Jerusalem.

When was this prophetic clock stopped? It stopped after Christ appeared in Israel and was then crucified for the sins of the world. But when will this final period begin? It will begin when the Antichrist appears and assumes control over a world government. During that period, the Bible reveals that Christians will be severely persecuted throughout the world.

However, a growing and popular movement (Pre-Tribulation Rapture) within Christendom has taught that Christ will remove His church via the Rapture just prior to this seven year Tribulation period. The evidence they cite for this belief points to Christ’s statement that “no one knows that day or hour” (Matthew 24:36) concerning the Rapture.

Pre-Tribulation Rapture proponents use that scripture to claim that Christ revealed a Rapture that would take place before the Tribulation period. They reason that if Christ waited until after the Tribulation period began, everyone would know when He was returning.

There are several problems with that reasoning, including the fact that it isn’t biblical. First of all, how can pre-trib proponents be absolutely sure that anyone will expect Christ to return after the Antichrist begins persecuting and slaughtering Christians? Many professing Christians will lose their faith and stop looking for His return.

Secondly, Paul revealed that the Christian church would indeed be around when the Antichrist appears and takes control of a world government. That’s something that pre-trib proponents deny.

But here’s what Paul wrote: “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3)

If the Rapture is to occur prior to the Tribulation period, then the church won’t be around when the Antichrist appears. Paul clearly states that the church will be around when this evil ruler appears.
Furthermore, Christ also revealed that He won’t return for His church until the very end of the Tribulation period.

Christ stated: “At that time the sign of the Son of Man (Christ) will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 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.” (Matthew 24:30-31)

But doesn’t this contradict Christ’s claim that no one knows the day or hour of His return? No it doesn’t because all Christ reveals in that statement are the events describing His return, but not the day nor the hour. We learn of the approximate time of His return based upon the events going on in the world, but we never learn of the exact date. Nor can we.

Furthermore, if the Rapture is to occur prior to the seven-year Tribulation period, then there won’t be any Christians left on the earth for the Antichrist to persecute. Remember that the apostle John revealed that “He (Antichrist) was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them.” (Revelation 13:7) 

Nearly 600 years prior to John’s prophecy, Daniel also revealed that he (Antichrist) “will oppress his (Christ’s) saints…The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and a half a time.” (Daniel 7:25)

Pre-trib proponents claim that these saints will be “Tribulation” saints that will become Christians after the Rapture takes place. They claim that the Rapture will convince these people that the Bible accurately predicted this event and they will become Christians.

But that claim is just an attempt to explain the persecution of Christians that will take place during this seven year period. The Bible makes absolutely no mention of the ungodly coming to Christ after an event such as the Rapture. In fact, the Bible reveals that the whole world will embrace the
Antichrist as the messiah because this man will possess supernatural powers to perform miracles.

What’s bad about Pre-Tribulation Rapture theology? If it isn’t a salvation issue, then what makes it so dangerous? What makes it dangerous is its false promise that Christians will escape the Antichrist and his persecution via the Rapture.

The Bible makes no such promise. Furthermore, when the Antichrist appears and begins persecuting true Christians, many will believe the Bible to be a fraud and they will lose their faith. Unfortunately, they will find out that they willingly embraced false doctrine that told them what their itching ears desperately wanted to hear.