The Rapture

The Undebated Gathering (Rapture) At The Second Coming of Jesus

There is definitive, non-debated scripture that supports the notion that at the end of the Tribulation Period, when Jesus's Second Coming occurs a "gathering" or "rapture" of mankind will occur. The terminology sometimes gets confused when discussing the gathering event at the end of the Tribulation Period because most people when they refer to "the rapture" are either referring to a pre-tribulation or mid-tribulation rapture. The gathering at the end of the Tribulation Period is in association with the Second Coming of Jesus. This notion is perhaps most readily found in scripture in Matthew 13 where Jesus is speaking in parables related to agriculture. In Matthew 13:18-23 He explains the meaning of His parable as the Gospel being spread like seed being sown and where it lands is the hearts of mankind. This "seed" is met with various levels of receptivity and eventually grows and produces "fruit" (identified in the parable as wheat). Continuing in verse 24, Among the wheat bearers are also weeds. A convenient and fun side note here is that while the two may look similar, the wheat bows from the weight of the fruit when it is ripe whereas the weeds stand straight at maturity.

When the time to gather comes, the order from the Lord is for the gatherers to collect the weeds and bind them to be burned and gather the wheat into His barn. In verses 36-43 we get an explanation that the parable is about the end of the age and that the harvesters are angels gathering the people of the kingdom (wheat) and the people of the evil one (weeds). We see other alignment with this from Revelation 19:20-21 where the beast, the false prophet, and those who received their mark are gathered and thrown in the lake of fire. Revelation 20-21 goes on to reveal that Satan is bound and thrown in the abyss and the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on Earth begins. So, these things fit together to illustrate that the final result of the tribulation period is that evil and good people are all gathered, evil is removed, and the Kingdom of Heaven is established here on Earth (the barn).

Backing up, prior to the gathering of the evil ones we see in Revelation 19:7-8 something that at first doesn't necessarily seem relevant but is — the bride has prepared herself "clothed in fine linen, bright and clean". This "bride" is the body of believers, I cover this theme Jesus uses throughout His ministry on the Galilean Wedding page of this website. The description of the brides garments is significant because we see it again in verse 14 with the armies coming out of Heaven with Jesus dressed in the same manner and riding on horses. This army is coming on horses rather than on angels wings, which may be evidence they're not angels. The armies are clothed in fine linen, white and clean and are following Him on white horses. This is believed to be the body of believers accompanying Jesus FROM HEAVEN and who are said to have prepared themselves in verse 7. This preparation and coming occurs BEFORE the gathering of the evil ones later in the chapter. So, this leaves the door open for an earlier gathering of believers. From the Galilean Wedding analogy, Jesus tells His disciples in John 14:2-3 that He is going to prepare a place in His Father's house (Heaven) for believers and that He will come and take them to Himself so that they will be where He is. This doesn't align with what we see in Revelation 19 unless it happens before the gathering of the evil ones. So, we find support for a gathering "rapture" event prior to the end of the Tribulation period.

Notable verses speaking of the gathering at the Second Coming:

• Daniel 7:9-14
• Matthew 13:18-43
• Matthew 24:29-31, Mark 13:26-27, Luke 21:27-28
• Matthew 25:32
• 1 Cor. 15:51-53
• 1 Thes. 4:13-18
• 1 Thes. 5:23
• 2 Thes. 1:6-10
• Rev. 19

Believers In Tribulation

There are a handful of scriptures that indicate that there will be believers present on Earth for at least a portion of the events in Tribulation. This is typically used by exclusively post-tribulation advocates to argue against pre-trib and mid-trib arguments. However, as I said in the initial summary, the presence of believers in the Tribulation Period is not evidence against a pre-tribulation rapture. The reason for this is that witnessing the various prophesied acts of God that will occur in the Tribulation Period will be the catalyst to bring about faith in many who were not previously believers. There are those in the world even now that are familiar with the Biblical texts, but do not believe in Jesus. Some that even use familiarity with the texts to argue against Christianity. These are the same kind of people who will recognize what is happening when it happens and some will convert and lead others to believe through explanation.

Verses speaking of believers in Tribulation:

• Daniel 12:10
• Rev. 13:7-10, 37-41
• Rev. 14:12
• Rev. 16:6
• Rev. 17:6
• Rev. 18:24

Pre-Tribulation Supporting Verses

• Genesis 18:25 - Abraham pleads for God to spare the righteous from destruction with the wicked in Sodom. God agrees and in the next chapter sends two angels to evaluate the inhabitants of the city and ultimately destroy it. However, the angels first direct Lot out of the city saving the righteous.
• Isaiah 26:20-21 - "Come, my people, enter your rooms and close the doors behind you; Hide for a little while until indignation runs its course. For behold, the Lord is about to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wrongdoing; and the earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer cover her slain."
• Isaiah 57:1-2 - Rapture of the righteous described in the first two verses and then judgement described on the wicked for the rest of the chapter.
• 1 Thes. 1:10 - "Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."
• 2 Thes. 2:7 - This one requires additional scripture to understand. It mentions the removal of "the one who now holds it (the power of lawlessness) back". This is speaking of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit to be removed, it would have to involve either the removal of the believers who are indwelt with the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17, Rom. 8:9, 1 Cor. 6:19, 2 Cor. 1:22), or removal of the Spirit from the believers as they remain on the Earth. It doesn't really make logical sense to remove the Holy Spirit from the believers, especially considering believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 5:5, Eph. 1:13-14, Eph. 4:30) This seal cannot be removed as it is the marker and guarantee of the future inheritance God promised to believers. It's a sign that the believer is authentic and genuinely in relationship with God and a protection set in place for them. So, when 2 Thes. 2:7 says it is removing the holy spirit to make way for the lawlessness, it must also be speaking of removal of believers who are indwelt and sealed with the Holy Spirit.
• Rev. 3:10 - "Keep you from the hour of trial" — I present some support for why this is a pre-trib rapture scripture on the Millennial Days page in the section speaking of the letters to the seven churches. Essentially, part of the purpose of the letters is to prophetically foreshadow the developmental ages of the church and the letter to the church of Philadelphia correlates to the modern church and the end days.
• Rev. 12:5 - The catching up of the child to God is the Greek word "harpazo" (Strongs G726). I explain on the 7 Year Tribulation page that Revelation 12 is an overview of the Tribulation Period and that this child correlates to a portion of the church that is raptured at the beginning of the Tribulation Period.

Supporting Rapture Typology - People Protected From God's Wrath

Each portion of scripture mentioned below demonstrates God's character of saving believers from God's wrath. This typifies the rapture.

• People Who Were Raptured:
  • Enoch - Genesis 5 - Enoch was 6th born from Adam, which also ties to the Bible's pattern of 7's and looks to be a forshadow of the Millennial Days. Adam represents creation, and at the end of the 6th born/Millennial Day the righteous are raptured unto God.
    • I have more on the significance of the names found in Genesis 5 supporting the Millennial Day theory and the timing of the End of Days to be found on the Millennial Days page.
  • Noah - Genesis 6-9 - Noah and his family are spared from the great flood. Noah is given advanced notice the flood is coming to allow time to build the ark. Noah is given a 7 day warning prior to the flood beginning. In Genesis 7, God shuts the door to the ark (the place of refuge) which is a foreshadow of the end times correlating with verses like Luke 11:7, Luke 13:25, Revelation 3:7-8
  • Lot - Genesis 19:1-29
  • Jacob - Genesis 29:13-35
    • Why is the Tribulation Period call the time of Jacob's trouble in Jeremiah 30:7? It's that Jacob and Esau had conflict over their inheritance.
    • Worked for 7 years for a bride He didn't select, they are married, he then completes another seven years for the bride he did select
    • First seven years = the time of the church culminating in the marriage to the immediately fruitful unselected bride.
    • Second seven years = the "time of Jacob's trouble" time dedicated to Israel resulting in the marriage to the initially unfruitful selected bride — the resulting body of believers.