Are You Rapture Ready? Part II

When Jesus Christ spoke of His return, he revealed that His church would be removed from the world at some point prior to His return.

Christ said this: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man (Christ) coming on the clouds of the sky, with great power and 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)

Keep in mind that since God is eternal, He reveals prophetic events in a very different context that often makes them seem imminently tied to other events.

For example, when Christ revealed that he would send His angels to gather (Rapture) His elect (true Christians), he made it sound as though this event will happen when He returns.

Indeed, the Rapture may or may not occur at the point of Christ's return. Whether that event takes place or not at Christ's return, it definitely won't take place before the advent of the dreaded Antichrist.

How can we be sure of that? Don't the pre-trib Rapture proponents predict that this event will occur just prior to the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation Period? Then who's right?

If the pre-trib Rapture proponents are right, then we have a problem because Christ Himself revealed that "no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36)

In other words, if the Rapture occurs immediately prior to the beginning of the Tribulation Period, we would indeed know that Christ is going to return seven years later.

Secondly, the apostle Paul revealed that the Rapture won't occur before the Antichrist is unveiled to the world. Paul wrote: "Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness (Antichrist) is revealed, the man doomed to destruction." (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

How then, do the pre-trib proponents come to the conclusion that the Rapture will occur before the appearance of the Antichrist? They claim that Paul revealed the pre-trib Rapture in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 when he wrote this: "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming."

The pre-trib proponents claim that the one who prevents the Antichrist from appearing in the world is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit is removed from the world via the Rapture, the church will also be removed and the Antichrist will then appear.

There's a serious problem with that belief. If Paul claimed that the Holy Spirit and the church have to be removed from the world in order for the Antichrist to be revealed, then Paul contradicted himself because he earlier claimed that the church will still be around when the Antichrist appears. (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

Who then, was Paul referring to who restrains the Antichrist? He was very likely referring to Michael the archangel who protects God's people in the world. (Daniel 12:1)

In Part III, what is going to happen when Micheal is removed and the Antichrist appears.