Contents

Preface

What is the Issue, Coming or Going?

A popular question that is asked by promoters of pretribulation rapture is as follows: Why didn't the apostle Paul teach about the posttribulation rapture? The question is obviously flawed because it assumes that Paul taught about pretribulation rapture, which he did not. In fact, Paul did not teach concerning a midtribulation or even a prewrath rapture or any of the popular views of the rapture. In fact, one could say that Paul didn't teach about a rapture at all, but only referred to it in several places. Unlike many today, Paul didn't make the rapture the central issue of eschatology. Instead, the return of Christ was the object of Paul's eschatological attention. The rapture is the method by which we will depart and it will last approximately 1/52 hundredths of a second, the twinkling of an eye. People have written songs about this event as if it is going to be a slower experience. One such song, "Oh I'm going to take a trip, on the good old gospel ship!" It won't happen. The rapture will not be a trip, but a split second event.  I mean, those people who are raptured will not even have time to say, "Weeee!!" Leave it to carnal mankind to concentrate all their efforts on the method of departure instead of the coming of Christ.

Paul taught that when Jesus comes, we Christians are going. He taught, and so did Christ and the early Church writers, that Jesus is coming at the end of the tribulation and that is when we are departing. Paul did not put timing prefixes on the departure method, i.e., pre, post, mid, and etceteras. There was no need to do this because it isn't a separate event from the Parousia of Christ. All that is necessary is to give some general indication of the time of Jesus' coming and we know to some extent when we are going.

A timing prefix and all the other tags are only needed in the dispensationalist scheme because they have separated the method of departure from the time of the arrival. When we see Christ, we shall be with Him instantly. In that context, it is a simultaneous event. Paul puts it like this; "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." (Col. 3:4) The reader should compare that scripture to the one in 1Thessalonians 4:14. There is also this scripture from 1 John.

The Scriptures focus on the coming of Christ and our method of departure is not important. We should not be looking at the event from the underside, but from the viewpoint of God. It is the arrival of His Son, our King and Savior, that is the highlight of eschatology. Everyone who is prepared to greet Him as Lord and submit to His authority only has to concern themselves about taking up their cross and walking in His footsteps.

Introduction

I believe in the rapture of the living believers and in the resurrection of the dead at the Second Coming of Christ. However, I do not believe in the unscriptural notion that the Church will be removed from the earth before the Tribulation Period. This doctrine originated from dubious sources and is sustained by people who refuse to accept or even consider the truth about the matter. These people perform what I term impetuous hermeneutics and have yielded to doctrine worship. In fact, they maintain the pretribulation rapture doctrine by protecting it from scriptural scrutiny, using whatever means they deem necessary, even to the point of grievously attacking fellow believers. I have written this book to refute this relatively new doctrine and expose its deceptive roots.

The gist of the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine is that Christians will be snatched off the earth in a secret rapture which will occur a split second before the Tribulation Period begins. The book of Revelation is believed by many Bible scholars to be a depiction of the Tribulation Period, the time in which God deals with Israel through a wicked one-world leader. Dispensationalism, which is the foundation of the Pretribulation Rapture theory, teaches that God dealt with Israel for sixty-nine weeks of years and that the seventieth week, still in the prophetic future, is the seven-year Tribulation period. Therefore, the Tribulation Period is also called "Daniel's Seventieth Week."  It will be a time of trouble such as never before, with all sorts of terrible cataclysmic events happening throughout this entire period. Because it is thought that the plagues and judgments are mainly directed toward Israel to get them to repent and turn to Christ, this time is also called "Jacob's Trouble."

Dispensationalism maintains a distinction between Israel and the Church, and postulates the theory that God deals differently with both of them in the Scriptures. For this reason, those who believe in the Pre-tribulation Rapture doctrine can see no reason for the Church to be included in the Tribulation. They believe that this tumultuous time will be mainly an affliction of the Jewish people. Thus, they have interpreted the Scriptures to set forth the idea that Jesus will come and take the Church out of the world right before it begins. This would all be well and good if it was predicated on Divine Order and solid Scriptural exegesis. However, as history has proven, God's Divine Order does not always exempted His people from suffering persecution and the doctrine of Pretribulation Rapture is not based on clear, exegetical proof texts. Dispensationalism itself is fraught with conflicts and inconsistencies that smack of poor hermeneutics. For these reasons, Pretribulation Rapture should be exposed as a false doctrine that can lead souls into deeper error, and possibly into eternal damnation. It is a departure from Scriptural truth to follow fantasy and it has lead many people into even deeper error.

There are many devoted Christians who believe in the doctrine of the Pretribulation Rapture, for which we will use the initials PTR throughout the remainder of this book. In my opinion, they are sincerely deceived and have not seen or yet accepted a strong challenge to the doctrine. I do not direct my effort toward the masses who feed innocently from the sumptuous tables of prophecy teachers, who are nothing more than merchants of sensation. I direct my strongest remarks toward those who are making a small fortune from spreading PTR and keeping it alive, namely, the PTR prophecy teachers themselves.

I hope to cause many sincerely deceived Christians to see the deception of PTR and reject it as a false doctrine. I honestly believe that it does not matter what Rapture timing one happens to believe in as long as he or she maintains a dedicated, sincere relationship with God. PTR is not going to be a big problem with such a person until they face the tribulation persecution. Their dedicated life will have them prepared to some degree to endure the affliction by satanic forces. However, there are many who are weak and must be led. For this reason, we ought to insure that our doctrine is pure and free from the contamination of error.

I believe we all have some error in our belief systems, which we purge out as we learn and mature, but gross error should be dealt with immediately. We should live our lives, not only by making sure that we personally do not have doctrinal error that could damn souls, but challenging every gross error that invades the Church as well. God has placed leaders in the Church for this reason. They are charged with handling the Word of God. The scriptures instruct us not to handle it deceitfully.

"But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."(2 Cor 4:2 NKJV)

In this book, I will deal with many issues that PTR presents and somewhat with the men who diffuse this doctrine into the Christian society. Some of my words may seem harsh, but the reader must recognize that it is a harsh debate that I enter in opposing PTR. It is made so by the many people who "have their prosperity by this trade," (Acts 19:24-25) selling pretribulation rapture material and deceiving the masses. They do not deal fairly and ethically and do not hesitate to strike low blows, play loose with the truth, manipulate, and deceive to make their point. The fact that men who otherwise appear responsible and honorable would do these things seems incredible; yet they are deceived and mesmerized by tradition, denominational comradery, peer pressure, profit, and ego.

From a book by Tim LaHaye entitled Rapture Under Attack, I wrote down many of the words and phrases inserted between the lines that subliminally paint a maniacal picture of people who oppose the Pretribulation Rapture position. Here is a partial list.

With that thought in mind, I ask the reader what the ramifications would be if either of these two doctrines were found to be wrong. What if Posttribulation Rapture was found to be wrong? The consequences would be so small as to be unmeasurable. Since most of the prominent promoters of PTR also believe in Unconditional Eternal Security, they certainly cannot contend that God will judge the post-tribber unworthy of rapture or hell if they are found to be wrong in the end.

What if Pretribulation Rapture is a false doctrine? If this is true, the ramifications would be immense. Millions would enter the Tribulation period with the iron-clad belief that they would never face the Antichrist. This would be devastating for several reasons. First of all, they might take the mark of the Beast, because they would assume that it could not possibly be the mark. I have no doubt that the same individuals who caused these people to end up in such a predicament would be standing by declaring that it was not the mark, but only a trial run. And one certainly cannot be cursed for taking a trial run mark. Secondly, they would view the Christians who opposed the mark and its producer, the Antichrist, as fanatical militia types, end-time nuts, and doom-and-gloom freaks who are paranoid and deceived. This would put PTR proponents on the side of the Beast when the persecution began. Lastly, because they were unprepared, they would be doomed before the first world law was passed that declared everyone an outcast who do not submit to the global leadership of the Beast.

If you were Satan (God forbid) and wanted to deceive millions of Christians, turning them into dumb sheep who went along with your every move during the magnum opus of your reign on earth, how would you go about deceiving them? Would you send a doctrine that caused them to be alert and aware of your major moves; to be mentally, spiritually, and emotionally prepared to willingly sacrifice their lives rather than submit to your rule; and ready to warn others so that they would not be deceived? Or would you send a doctrine that told people not to worry about the Tribulation Period? Would you not tell them that they could ignore the book of Revelation, because it did not pertain to them? Would you not lead them to believe that there was no need to do anything more than confess Christ as their Savior, and that they did not even have to serve Him as Lord as the doctrine of Unconditional Eternal Security teaches? The reader needs to consider that both PTR and Unconditional Eternal Security came from the same source.

I believe that Satan would send a doctrine such as Pre-tribulation Rapture, because I have observed that the results of this doctrine has people right where Satan wants them. Most professing Christians believe the doctrine of PTR, yet there is a great apostasy currently in progress that is expanding continually. If this doctrine has the qualities that it is so heavily advertised to possess, namely apathy and sin prevention, why is there such a wicked apostasy occurring today? Why are some popular PTR proponents now advocating support of the Roman Catholic church and promoting popery? Why has the terribly licentious, antinomian doctrine of Unconditional Eternal Security (UES) come forth from the same dirty cistern that originally  promulgated, and continues to pontificate, the idea of Pre-tribulation Rapture in America? It is perplexing that such damnable doctrines, such as these two, originated from one man, J. N. Darby and was diffused by the Scofield Bible throughout America, yet people will sometimes accept one of these doctrines and deny the other. Cannot people understand that bitter and sweet water do not flow from the same fountain? Therefore, those who do not believe in UES should not blindly consent to the deception of PTR.

I ask the reader-what if Pretribulation Rapture is false? Most of the leading proponents of PTR will not answer that question.  If they ever do, I imagine they would say something such as, "I am prepared to go through the Tribulation Period if necessary." Are they prepared? Are the millions of people they have deceived prepared as well? I think not if they accept the teaching of pretribulation rapturists who called themselves prophecy teachers. May the readers of this book prayerfully and carefully consider the things that are written herein. I have nothing to lose if I am proven wrong except for my pride, which I will undoubtedly not miss as I go sailing through the air. The worst possible damage I can do by promoting the Posttribulation Rapture position is to get people overly prepared for the coming of Christ. But, then again, is such a thing possible? I believe I am correct about those things which I have valid exegesis for. The opinions, or isogetical offerings, are in the area of non-essentials.

I hope my efforts will cause many professing Christians who may be in right relationship with God, but whose eschatological doctrine is wrong, to recognize that something is amiss and to wake up before they submit to the "man of sin." However, there are many who are weak and who must be exhorted and challenged. They are not being motivated to maintain an alert, prepared status by the Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine. May this book wake them up to the truth while there is still time to prepare for the tumultuous final days of planet earth as we know it.

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