Do not let the title fool you, scripture promises that in this life there will be “θλῖψις” (Thlipsis), translated into english: Tribulation. Christians historically differentiate between tribulation as a product of persecution, and the period called the “Great Tribulation” as described in Matthew 24 and Revelation 7 (aka Daniel’s 70th week, the time of Jacob’s trouble). Whether inadvertently or as the result of Morgan Edward’s and John Nelson Darby’s reading of scripture, the idea of the rapture has been tightly fastened to the great seven-year tribulation. In reality the belief in Jesus’ return for his saints was not tied to the tribulation period throughout most of Christian history and the comingling of these two events was definitely not a perspective shared by the writers of the New Testament. By this I do not mean there is no support for a pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, or pre-wrath rapture, what I mean is that no scripture-writing penman specifically tied one to the other in a way resembling anything like western Christians do today. Most theologians pronounce their support for a pre-tribulation rapture or a pre-wrath (just prior to the vials/bowls) rapture as if trib-specific timetables are the only way to view the rapture. It has been said that “the rapture is not a rescue mission but a pickup for a wedding date.” This is a better reflection of what the Church fathers believed and what we know Jesus said in the Gospels and the book of Revelation.
The Rapture
The catching up (rapture) [i] of the church is an event of great significance that comes end of the Church age, or the fulness of [the time of] the gentiles. It is written about clearly in several New Testament passages[1] and is referenced several times in the Old Testament.[2] The clearest descriptions of the rapture in scripture depict a scenario that involves Christ returning to the clouds and collecting all of the living and dead believers for himself, giving them a perfected body like his when he was resurrected, and taking them to heaven with him until his second coming. After this event major historic events happen as God judges a world that has completely rejected him. What is generally agreed upon are these things; Jesus returns for his saints, the quick (living) and the dead, and removes them from the earth prior to the final judgment, translating them into perfected bodies just like Jesus’ body after his resurrection. The purpose of the rapture is of minor debate, but the timing of the rapture is a major doctrinal issue that unfortunately, divides much of the Church (though it ought not to).
The most prominent beliefs concerning the timing of the rapture include a removal prior to the seven-year tribulation period,[ii] or at the midpoint of the tribulation period before God starts to supernaturally intervene,[iii] toward the end of the tribulation period just prior to the final outpouring of the vials or bowls of God’s wrath,[iv] and lastly after the tribulation period concludes resulting in the resurrection of the dead saints and the changing of those who survived the tribulation. This debate has raged for centuries and does little more than prove the Savior’s words explaining that no one will know the day or the hour of his return.[3]
The difficulty with these historic perspectives on the rapture may be their relationship to the tribulation period altogether. Some scholars view the rapture as a mandatory rescue mission which prevents the Church from experiencing any of God’s judgment as is a common theme in scripture. Others consider the rapture to be less of a rescue mission and more of a pre-arranged wedding date. The similarities between Jesus’ promises to his disciples (including the contemporary scenario that has persisted for nearly 2000 years) and the culture of Jewish weddings during biblical times is uncanny.[v] Consistent with the biblical metaphor of Jesus as the bridegroom and the Church as the bride, the bride and groom meet, the father of the groom pays the mohar (dowry), the purchase price of the bride (the blood of Christ), and the groom returns to his father’s house for a time to prepare a place. Once the father agrees that the groom has sufficiently prepared for his marriage, he permits the retrieval of the bride. The groom enters the camp of the bride secretly and with the shout of the best man and the blowing of a shofar, the groom snatches up his bride and takes her home for a short time to make the marriage official. After the wedding is consummated the bride and groom return for a wedding supper. The analogy is too strong to ignore and if it directly relates to the rapture then there should be no hard ties between the rapture of the church and the tribulation period.
I propose that the tribulation terminology be stripped off the word “rapture” altogether and that the rapture of the Church, Christ’s return to snatch up His bride and take her home, could take place not only prior to or during the seven years, but the window extends years, even decades before the “great tribulation.” I would ask you to consider that the rapture is what instigates or leads up to a great time of tribulation on the earth. Whether you understand this time to be the entire seven years, the second three-and-a-half years, or the final outpouring of God’s wrath in the form of the vials/bowls at the end of the age, the presence of Jesus’ bride in heaven and absence of her from the earth create a certain paradigm that might influence major events in heaven and on earth. In Revelation 12:10 Satan is called the accuser of the brethren “who accuses them before God day and night” and he is “thrown down” to the earth at this time. Revelation 12 depicts an event in which Satan is thrown down to the world with his angels at some point in the future in such a way that he nor his angels retain access to the third heaven (where God sits on his throne and the spirits of the sleeping Saints persist in his presence), and perhaps even the second heaven (space above the earth but below the third heaven, think space and sky). This occurs through a war in heaven in which Michael leads the armies of God to defeat Satan and his angels. In the book of Job Satan still has access to the throne of God[4] and at the time prior to the tribulation he and his angels appear to retain access to the highest heaven. The violent banishing of Satan to the earth occurs, not as a punishment, which otherwise would have occurred before the fall of man when Satan first rebelled, but as Jesus is standing up for His bride who has come into her place at His side. The Bridegroom no longer permits this devil to accuse His wife in her very presence as she has been perfected and wed as a chaste bride and a pure virgin to Christ.[5] After this angelic war the declaration is made “Therefore rejoice, you heavens, you who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short.”[6] In the sermon on the mount[7] Jesus teaches his followers that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, so it makes sense to understand that the world will be preserved as long as Christ’s followers are in it and that once they are removed that the world would no longer be preserved from judgment and wrath.
These events in Revelation 12 are preceded by the birth of the male child and followed by Satan’s pursuit of the mother of the child and her “other offspring.”[8] It has been proposed that this child that is caught up bears a corporate identity of Christ and the Church.[vi] If this is the case then the birth of the child has been a prolonged process[vii] and every experience of the Church age has been 2000 years of birth pangs.[9] There is historic and scriptural precedent for the corporate identity of the child in Revelation 12 and when given consideration in light of these sources, it is quite difficult to view the child as anyone other than the corporate Church and her Head, Jesus Christ.[viii]
The timing of the rapture is based on the Father’s timing for the Son’s return. While the tribulation may be dependent upon the rapture, the rapture is not dependent on the tribulation. The rapture may occur at any moment and the immediate awakening of those who understand what has happened but were left behind could cause a revival to break out that postpones judgement on the world for many decades [ix]. After all, a remnant of the righteous has to survive the tribulation period to repopulate the earth as described in Zechariah 8, Isaiah 65, and Ezekiel 47 [x]. Though this may seem like an apologetic for a pre-tribulation rapture, it is merely an attempt to look at the rapture and tribulation through different lenses.
For those who would insist that the rapture occurs later down the tribulation we are in agreement in one very relevant perspective, ALL CHRISTIANS MUST BE PREPARED TO LIVE THROUGH MUCH, EVEN GREAT TRIBULATION. It seems like the American Church is most guilty of teaching and believing that they will be spared from tribulation entirely by a pre-tribulation rapture. Christians are assured of persecution and trying to avoid it will likely keep you hiding in a pew, secure in orthodox beliefs but impotent in the war for the world until it is too late. Make no mistake that there will come a time in which the war of hell against heaven will find you in that pew and demand you renounce your faith in Jesus or die. If the rapture does spare you from that time it is only by the grace of God but American Christians must be prepared to face the same challenges as the Church in China, Iran, Syria, and Nigeria. Not only is this time in our future but these Churches are living out a great tribulation today as more Christians are martyred throughout the globe now than at any point in history. We must intercede in unity and give what we can for our brothers and sisters everywhere. The title of this article, “the No-Trib Rapture” considers that the rapture is not a product of or related to any specific tribulation. It does NOT imply that Christians should rest secure in a life free of tribulation until the rapture whisks us away from a lesser glory to a greater glory.
I do not insist that the rapture happens decades before the tribulation, but I believe in a scenario in which that scenario is just as likely as our traditional pre-trib, mid-trib, and pre-wrath teachings. I am convinced that this is what the scriptures suggests. If, for comfort’s sake you must be categorize me, you would find me more comfortable in a “pre-tribber” camp (pejorative if you must, but I am ordained as a Southern-Baptist after all), but that camp tires of me quickly if the matter is given to any discussion at all.
To conclude, I believe the rapture must be separated from the tribulation and taught as a return for a beloved, betrothed, chaste, ready, and faithful bride. Until this happens there will inevitably be a stigma of fear associated with what some consider a surreptitious rapture, a potentially terrifying event for many, ultimately divisive instead of understanding what should be the unifying blessed hope for all those who believe. Please consider the unifying potential of this separation between rapture and tribulation terminology as you teach and lead. Eschatology is the one field of doctrine which by nature, continues to be revelatory in the natural world. No one knows except the father the day or the hour, Christians today are experiencing more tribulation than at any other time in history. American Christians are not promised a life free from persecution and the teaching of a haphazard pre-tribulation doctrine which implies this may directly result in the undermining of the faith of many when persecution comes [10]. Rather exhort Christians to be bold enough to find persecution and teach them to stand in the face of death when it seeks them out. Pastors, call your people to the front lines, to charge the gates of hell, and to be encouraged when their garments begin to smell like smoke after pulling the lost from among the flames. Teach the to pray for the return of their Bridegroom and that when He does come back for us, whenever that may be, that he will find us working the harvest.
[1] For example, 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
[2] For example, Zephaniah 2:1-3, Psalm 50:3-6, Isaiah 26:17-21.
[3] Matthew 24:36-44
[4] Job 1:6
[5] 2 Corinthians 11:2
[6] Revelation 12:12
[7] Matthew 5-7
[8] Revelation 12:1-6
[9] Matthew 24:8
[10] John 16:33
[i] Greek ͑αρπαζω. Term meaning suddenly caught up or snatched away.
[ii] This is traditionally referred to as the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. The modern ideal of a pre-tribulation rapture is most famously promoted by John Darby (1800-1882) who is often wrongfully credited for being the first churchman to teach the concept and wrongfully accused of inventing it. Morgan Edwards (1722-1795) taught a pre-tribulation rapture but believed the Great Tribulation to be 3.5 years long rather than 7. His teaching is consistent with pre-tribulation teaching rather than mid-tribulation however from the view of the contemporary understanding of the 3.5 year mark being the mid-point of the tribulation rather than the beginning. It is worth noting that there is little difference between the two views, pre and mid tribulation, and both of these camps agree on most everything except the exact nature of God’s wrath and possibly, as Edwards and Darby diverged, the length of the time of actual tribulation. Both accept the doctrine of imminancy as key in the expections of Christ’s return. John Walvoord argues that the central feature of pretribulationism is the doctrine of imminency, the belief that Christ can and will return at any time without forewarning, and that is ‘a prominent feature of the doctrine of the early church.’” John F. Walvoord, The Rapture Question, revised and enlarged edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979), p.51.
[iii] The midpoint of the tribulation rapture perspective is divided by purpose and understanding. Some who believe in a mid-tribulation rapture believe this because of Jesus’ use of the phrase “Great Tribulation” in Matthew 24 and affirm the actual tribulation as the second half of Daniel’s 70th week. This group is akin to the pre-tribulation rapture believers but hold a slightly different understanding of what the bible teaches about the tribulation. The other group believes that the mid-way point is when the antichrist is revealed, and the actual outpouring of God’s wrath begins. This camp is more akin to the pre-wrath perspective and views the rapture as strictly a rescue mission from the wrath of God because he does not allow his own people to suffer his wrath.
[iv]The pre-wrath perspective is close to a post-tribulation perspective placing the rapture at the very end of the seven-year period just prior to the “Day of the Lord” or the time of the outpouring of the seven bowls of God’s wrath. This perspective generally teaches that the seals, trumpets, and other plagues are not examples of wrath and thus the Church will remain until the final series of plagues, the seven bowls, are unleashed upon the earth.
[v]“Early Christians explicitly compared God’s (or Christ’s) relationship to the church with a human marriage. Jesus apparently compared himself to the bridegroom and his disciples to the bride. Paul appropriates this metaphor to a much great effect.” Michael Satlow. Jewish Marriage in Antiquity (New Jersey, 2001), p.40.
2 Corinthians 11:2 says I have promised you in marriage to one husband–to present a pure virgin to Christ. The steps in a Jewish wedding began with an agreement between the fathers in which a purchase price called the mohar, was agreed upon. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says “you were bought with a price.” “In those days the betrothal was the more important of these two events [the other being the wedding] and maintained its importance as long as marriage was actually based upon a purchase. Hayyim Schauss, The Lifetime of a Jew: Throughout the Ages of Jewish History (New York, 1950), p.130. Jesus tells his disciples “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3) Customs in this tradition include the bridal cup, the separation between the bride and groom for an unknown period of time, the Father of the groom having control over the timing of the wedding, the groom’s wedding party retrieving the bride like a thief in the night with a shout and trumpet sound, and it continues further. For more information review Renald Shower’s Jewish Wedding Traditions & the Rapture by Dr. Renald Showers. Accessible at https://www.facebook.com/notes/jesus-is-the-lamb/jewish-wedding-traditions-the-rapture-by-dr-renald-showers/440113879346550/ Published June 3, 2012.
“Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain.” (Isaiah 26:20)
[vi] See Svigel, ST106_12_rapture_pt3 Power point presentation, part of the course materials for ST106 at Dallas Theological Seminary.
[vii] Matthew 24:8 says “all these things are the beginning of birth pangs.” The waiting period between the first and second coming of Christ is consistently compared to a pregnancy and birth process, and finally, when the child is born, when the last member of the bride of Christ find Jesus, the child is born and is immediately caught up into heaven, after which there is no more place for Satan and his angels in God’s heaven. There is a beautiful consistency throughout scripture when the imminent rapture, church age, wedding/bride/groom scriptures, pregnancy and delivery of the male child, war in heaven, and tribulation period are all viewed from this perspective. I would take it as far as to argue, as Jonathan Edwards and Dr. John Hanna do, that the reason for creation, the explanation for the procession of time, and the justification for the permission of evil and the ultimate overcoming of it, the answer to life, the universe, and everything, is this; when God saw His son without a proper and compatible companion (not to reduce the perfect union of the Trinity), just as He later saw Adam alone in the Garden, after the angels had been created above just as the animal had been created below, and among neither was there a proper partner for Christ or Adam, that God created man for His son just like He created Eve for Adam. This was so that Christ would have a companion to expand on His future work and experience the joy of revealing His love and passion anew for all eternity to a perfect and suitable companion. Of all this work, love, and creativity, we, the Church, are the eternal recipients.
[viii] On historic precedent; O faultfinder, it will not even be possible for you to show that Christ Himself is the one who is born. For long before the Apocalypse the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word was fulfilled. And John speaks concerning things present and things to come. But Christ, long ago conceived, was not caught up to the throne of God when He was brought forth, from fear of the serpent injuring Him. But for this was He begotten, and Himself came down from the throne of the Father, that He should remain and subdue the dragon who made an assault upon the flesh. So that you also must confess that the Church labors and gives birth to those who are baptized. As the spirit says somewhere in Isaiah: ‘Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.’” Methodius, On Chastity 8.7. Also see Tyconius (died ca. 390) Influenced Augustine, wrote commentary on Revelation, Quodvultdeus (died ca. 450), Student of Augustine, Primasius (died ca. 560) Wrote commentary on Revelation based on Tyconius, Bede (died ca. 735) Benedictine monk, wrote commentary on Revelation. All of these historic sources identify the child of Revelation 12 corporately as the Messiah and His saints.
On scriptural precedent: Revelation 12:5 and Isaiah 66:7-8. The vision of the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13-14 is interpreted corporately as the Messiah and His saints in 7:18; 26-27.
[ix] since we know, because of Lot’s story, that God cannot judge a place while the righteous remain. In this scenario the Beast’s supernatural campaign against the living saints would bring about the judgement as the righteous population dwindles.
[x] The Ezekiel passage specifically indicates, not only survivors of the tribulation period and their descendants, but non-Jewish people. This suggests more righteous survivors than the 144,000 or the entire nation of Israel. These scriptures suggesting a large population of righteous survivors of the tribulation also create a problem for the post-tribulation and pre-wrath views on the rapture, in which scenarios no righteous living humans remain on earth to fulfills these prophecies.
Camp of the Bride 