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Understanding the pre-tribulation rapture of the church

3/26/2025

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​Post courtesy: Tony Campbell

Disclaimer: There are several raptures throughout the Bible but when most people hear the word 'rapture' they instantly think of the rapture of the church. Therefore to keep things simple, when I say rapture I'm talking about the rapture of the church. Also, I expect everyone to look up each verse referenced including the surrounding context out of none other than the King James Bible.

There are 7 basic Bible concepts that need to be understood before approaching the timing of the rapture of the church. If you don't adhere to all 7 of these, please take the time to address whatever one you fall short on before approaching the understanding of the timing of the rapture.
  1. Literal Interpretation of the Bible. We are to take the Bible literally where it is intended to be taken literally. If you believe that the Bible is all allegorical then anybody can come up with any interpretation and nobody knows the truth. The metaphors, symbolism, parables, etc. are easy to see in scripture.
  2. Distinction Between Israel and the Church. Israel is a physical earthly nation and the church is a spiritual heavenly body. There are three different groups of people according to 1 Cor 10:32. There are Jews, Gentiles, and the Church of God. Failure to make these distinctions leads to Replacement Theology which is heresy.
  3. The Tribulation is One 7 Year Period. Daniel 9:27 tells us that the tribulation will be for one week. Scripture with scripture reveals that this week is defined as a 7 year period of time. I'm not going to crunch any numbers here but the first 69 weeks of "Daniel's 70 weeks" have already transpired.
  4. Imminent Return of Jesus Christ. The rapture can happen at any moment, there aren't any more prophetic signs that need to precede this event. Paul and the early church were expecting it to happen in their time 2,000 years ago! Language like "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up" in 1st Thessalonians 4:17 tells us this.
  5. The Church as a Mystery in the Old Testament. Old Testament prophets and even the apostles did not foresee the Church Age coming. Their understanding was that when Jesus came, things would roll right into His ruling and reigning (Millennial Kingdom). This mystery was not known until it was revealed to the apostle Paul.
  6. Dispensational Interpretation of the Bible. God dispenses rules/instructions differently to different people in different time periods. How do we know what to do with the differences? In 2nd Timothy 2:15 we are instructed to "rightly divide the word of truth" which in practice looks like finding who the verse is written to and what time period is being spoken of, and sorting out the doctrine accordingly. Not only is this the only way to harmonize scripture and reconcile apparent contradictions but it's literally the only way to understand the Bible. I cannot stress enough how important this is. If you do not study the Bible how God intended, you will not come to sound doctrine.
  7. Distinction Between the Rapture and the Second Coming. The rapture is where the church goes to meet Christ in the air. The Second Coming is where Christ comes back down to Earth with the church behind Him. Further compare/contrast will only show more differences between the two events. Things that are different are not the same.
Again, please do not continue with this post without being in alignment with these 7 basic bible concepts listed above. Doing so would be like trying to put the frosting on the cake before you bake it. LOL. But seriously, it would be worse than that.
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While what is already listed above should be enough to understand this fundamental Christian doctrine, I'm just going to drive the point home now. For the rest of this post I will be listing off different proofs for the pre-tribulation rapture. I will try to have them sorted out from the various types of scriptural proofs to the logical arguments and so on.
  • In famous rapture passage 1st Corinthians 15:51 Paul says, "Behold, I shew you a mystery" which means this has never been revealed before; this is the first time. The Second Coming on the other hand is the single most prophesied event in all of scripture, being mentioned all over the OT and even spoken of by Jesus Christ Himself (including Matthew 24), all of which was written before Paul's writings.
  • Christians are not appointed to wrath. Verses like 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, and Romans 5:9 make that very clear. The tribulation and it's entirety is a time of God's wrath and judgement! Luke 21:23 reads "But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people." Revelation 15:1, Revelation 6:16-17, and dozens of verses in the Old Testament call the tribulation God's wrath.
  • After one of the famous rapture passages in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 Paul says, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." The comfort of the rapture doctrine comes from knowing that we will be taken out of the world before the tribulation. There is zero comfort for the Christian in knowing that they would have to be here for the tribulation.
  • In Titus 2:13 Paul says, "Looking for that blessed hope". The rapture is what we are to look for next. If the rapture was anything but pre-tribulational, we would have all these other signs to look for first like the AntiChrist, mark of the beast, etc..
  • In Revelation 3:10, Jesus is speaking to the church telling them that He "will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." He follows that in verse 11 with "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." Likely referring to the crown of righteousness from 2 Timothy 4:8.

You're going to need to be thinking in terms of a timeline for the next couple of points (I will post a simple one in the comments for those who have a hard time visualizing).
  • Revelation 1:10 reads "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet," What does this mean? John was transported to the time of the tribulation / second advent and BEHIND him (on the timeline) he heard a great voice, as of a trumpet. God's voice is often likened unto a trumpet, especially in the famous rapture passages like 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 1 Corinthians 15:52. Are you seeing this? Then Revelation 1:19 lets us know we are about to receive an account of "the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;" which are the church age, the tribulation/second advent, and the Millennial Kingdom/eternity respectively.
  • Now this one is my personal favorites and it's a doozie. When Jesus is speaking to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, there is a threefold application. There is the spiritual application where Christian's all throughout the church age can take and practically / devotionally apply it to themselves. There is a doctrinal application which will be applied to local churches in the tribulation. Lastly there is a historical/prophetic application meaning these seven churches represent periods of time throughout the last 2,000 years of the church age. They are chronological, with Laodicea (means Civil Rights) being the period we are in at the end of the church age. Still with the timeline mentality, going through Revelation 2 and 3 we have just progressed through all of the church age. Now read Revelation 4:1-2 "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne." What does this mean? After the church age, John hears the voice of God saying "Come up hither" and then BOOM, John is in Heaven. Then chapters later the tribulation starts. Now if that doesn't scream pre-tribulation rapture of the church I don't know what does.
  • The church is not mentioned anymore in the book of Revelation after 5:9-10 until the end. The tribulation goes from chapters 6-19 and not once is the church mentioned there. Then in Revelation 19:4, the church is following Christ down out of Heaven for the Second Coming.

These next ones are doctrinal differences confirming both the pre-tribulation rapture and the necessity of rightly dividing the word. Although they are basic, I won't be getting into the details of these doctrinal differences because they can be just as extensive as the timing of the rapture. Just know there are multitudes of verses for each of these topics.
  • Right now in the church age we are saved by grace through faith. It is faith alone, "not of works" whatsoever (Ephesians 2:8-9). During the tribulation people will be saved by grace through faith AND works. During the tribulation, saints will have to "endure to the end" to be saved (Matthew 24:13). There are a plethora of 'works' included in enduring to the end but not receiving the mark of the beast is undoubtedly the most notable. This shows a difference in the plans of salvation between the two time periods, thus some sort of division needs to be made between the two because they are obviously contrary to each other. The rapture of the church separates them.
  • Practically the same as the point above but still worth vocalizing, there is different a gospel from the church age to the tribulation. Right now is the gospel of grace that saves (Acts 20:24) also known as Paul's gospel (Romans 16:25). During the tribulation it is the gospel of the kingdom that will be preached (Matthew 24:14). The gospel of the kingdom is what was preached during Christ's earthly ministry as well. Remember the mentality then was that they were going straight from Christ's birth / ministry to Him ruling and reigning in the Millennial Kingdom, they had no idea the church age was about to be inserted. Furthermore, later in the tribulation (Revelation 14:6) angels will be preaching the everlasting gospel. All of these gospels are now based off faith in the blood atonement of Christ on the cross through His death/burial / resurrection.
  • Right now, a Christian in the church age has the beautiful promise of eternal security. According to Ephesians 1:13-14 says a Christian is "sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession". That redemption is referring to the rapture, praise God. During the tribulation, saints will not be eternally secure (sealed with the Holy Spirit) and will be able to lose their salvation. According to Hebrews 10:26, "if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,". This is made clear in verses like Hebrews 6:1-8, Hebrews 10:26-31, and Revelation 14:9-11. Again, these major differences in salvational doctrine need some sort of division between the two because they are obviously contrary to each other and cannot both be true at the same time.

Typology and Symbolism

Song of Solomon is about a wedding between a Jewish bridegroom and a gentile bride i.e. Christ and His bride (the church). Analyzing what first century Jewish wedding traditions look like in comparison to Christ and His church reveals remarkable support towards a pre-tribulational rapture of the church. There is an 80 minute video discussing this in depth. You can watch it here.
  1. Groom leaves father's house | Jesus left Heaven
  2. Groom travels to desired bride's home | Jesus came to Earth as a baby
  3. Groom pays a great price for the bride | Jesus died on the cross for our sins
  4. Offer to be accepted or rejected | Jesus offers salvation to us
  5. Marriage contract / Legally Bound | If we accept we become His church (Bride of Christ)
  6. Groom goes back to father's house to prepare home | Jesus went to prepare a place for Bride
  7. Father sends son back when all is ready | God will send Christ for His church when ready
  8. Groomsmen announce groom's arrival | Archangel will shout
  9. Bride immediately taken back with groom | Church is raptured to Heaven
  10. The two enter wedding chamber for 7 days | Church and Christ in Heaven for 7 year tribulation
  11. Great wedding feast after 7 days | Church attends Wedding Feast of the Lamb
In Genesis 5, Enoch, who was a type of the rapture, was taken right before the worldwide judgement of the flood.
People often use Lot as a post-tribulation rapture argument because he was just kept safe from God's wrath and not raptured / translated but I think from the language used it's entirely possible that is another type of the pre-tribulation rapture. In Genesis 19:22 the Lord was speaking to Lot in the context of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah and it reads, "Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither". Likewise, God will not start His wrath until the church escapes thither.

Concepts
  • In Jeremiah 30:7 the tribulation is called "Jacob's trouble." Throughout scripture you will find that Jacob is another name for Israel. Jacob's trouble is a time were God goes back to dealing with the Jews/Israel. The tribulation is not "the church's trouble." The church age is over and the left behind gentiles are more of an afterthought so to speak. God resumes His prophetic timeline with regards to the nation of Israel.
  • The tribulation is also called Daniel's 70th week. The first 69 weeks were operating under a faith and works system, similarly the last week of Daniel will too. Only this time there is an amendment. The book of Hebrews is all about this. Now that Crist has died on the cross, His finished work there is now the object of faith. God going back to work through this program and the church age being closed out points to a pre-tribulation rapture.

Things that make you go hmmmm...
  • Church is not told to prepare for the tribulation (instead to look for our blessed hope).
  • Would Christ put His bride through the worst time in human history right before her wedding?

Now I know there is still a 'post-tribber' out there right now who has already disregarded everything I just listed and wants to tell me that Matthew 24 says "Immediately after the tribulation...And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds.." I get it. I want you to know that I believe that verse is 100% true and means exactly what it says. This entire passage is written TO Jews in the context of right before the second coming of Christ. THERE WILL BE A POST TRIBULATION GATHERING, A RAPTURE IF YOU INSIST, BUT IT IS NOT FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST, IT WILL BE FOR JEWS AND MAYBE OTHER TRIBULATION SAINTS.

We must rightly divide the word! Understand who the verse is written to and what period of time is being spoken about and sort out the doctrine accordingly. As a Christian in the church age, not everything in the New Testament is written to you. Therefore if a Christian starts applying anything and everything in the New Testament to themselves, they will come up with major wrong doctrine and ultimately leads to a false works based gospel.

I hope this post has been a blessing to you. Take this to the Lord in prayer if you must, it's what we should do to begin anything anyways. Please keep debate off this post, there are lost souls watching and we don't want to be a stumbling block for them.

This post is not exhaustive.

Brethren, look up because our redemption draweth nigh. Maranatha!
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Bible tools app

3/11/2025

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For a few months I have been looking into various programs that are used to create Web apps which can run on any platform because all platforms have internet browsers. With proper coding, users see the same application in Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, etc.

If I had it to do over again, I would have gotten into this type of programming years ago. But, I was both happy and stuck with programming small applications for MS Windows based PCs. While there are many of those, there are so many more internet users who only use phones.

Prior to this experience, I found a way to create several Bible references with a Web application called Twine. While Twine is intended to create Interactive Fiction through single web pages, it could also be used for nonfiction reference materials. All of the pages in here that have colored backgrounds were created with Twine.

The Bible Tools App has links to all of the Twine pages, to this website and several others. It has a familiar menu bar at the top of the window for PC users and three different Tabs below: Main, Other and Quick Access. The Tabs are more akin to what Mobile users frequently see. Below are a some screen shots you can click / tap through. I hope many of you find it useful as there is a lot of information consolidated into one application. The first page is basically a table of contents. One can access those same pages from the top menu or from the quick access buttons, whichever way works best for you. Here is a link to the Bible Tools App webpage.  ​https://bible-topics.michaels-tech-notes.info/BibleToolsApp.html
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Christmas 2024

12/25/2024

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Devotional for Dec 25:​

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.

The mystery is great, not because it is very mysterious but because it is so astounding. The mystery is the amazing truth that God was manifest in the flesh.

It means, for instance, that the Eternal One was born into a world of time. He, the Timeless One, lived in a sphere of calendars and timepieces.

The One who is omnipresent, existing in all places at one and the same time, confined Himself to a single place--like Bethlehem, or Nazareth, Capernaum or Jerusalem.

It is wonderful to think that the Great God, who fills heaven and earth, should compress Himself into a human body. As men looked at Him, they could say accurately, 'In Him dwells all the fulness of the godhead bodily.'

The mystery reminds us that the Creator visited this insignificant planet called Earth. It is only a speck of cosmic dust, relative to the rest of the universe, yet He bypassed all the rest to come here. From the palace of heaven to a cattle shed, a stable, a manger!

The omnipotent One became a helpless Baby. It is no exaggeration to say that He whom Mary held in her arms held Mary, for He is the Sustainer as well as the Maker.

The omniscient One is the fountain of all wisdom and knowledge, and yet we read of Him that, as a Child, He increased in wisdom and knowledge. It is almost incredible to think of the Owner of all arriving unwelcome on His own premises. There was no room for Him in the inn. The world knew Him not. His own received Him not.

The Master came into the world as a Servant. The Lord of glory veiled that glory in a body of flesh. The Lord of life came into the world to die. The Holy One came to a jungle of sin. The One who is infinitely high became intimately nigh. The Object of the Father's delight and of angelic worship hungered and thirsted, was weary at Jacob's well, slept in a boat on Galilee, wandered 'as a homeless stranger in the world His hands had made.' He came from luxury to poverty, with no place to lay His head. He worked as a carpenter. Never slept on a mattress. Never had hot and cold running water, or the other conveniences that we take for granted.
And it was all for you and for me!

O, come, let us adore Him!
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using workflowy for bible study

11/23/2024

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A couple weeks ago I ran across a web application called Workflowy. Its general purpose is to capture your thoughts, daily tasks, research notes and anything else you need to store.

One feature is quite unusual, the sharing of any node (a subsection of all notes), with anyone and they do not have to have a login account. Any number of users can be granted read only or the ability to change the shared information. This was very intriguing to me. The second feature that is very important is I can update the data from a phone, any browser or a Windows version of Workflowy. And the updates are VERY fast, like two seconds fast. 

So, I have been adding Bible related information for the last two weeks including a New Testament. The third feature of Workflowy that is also important is being search very quickly on any words or by tags. Searching the New Testament for say the word "holy" takes 1 second and finds 170 verses. Since this is so fast, doing Bible studies is very possible. Below are two screenshots, the New Testament table of contents and the results of searching for "holy." Each item with the ➡️⏺️ arrow and circle next to them is a node. Clicking the arrow opens up the node. Clicking on the circle will Zoom in so only one node is visible.
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The colored items at the top of the table of contents are tags. At the right side, entering holy into the search box, displays the above results. If I click on #grace, it will filter verses containing that tag as shown below. (Notice it puts #grace into the Search box automatically.)
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Below is a couple minute demonstration of using this tool. It is in light mode since that is how it will be displayed for users who click on the link provided here. 
https://workflowy.com/s/bible/FTNEGZ5cEOoGoSVM
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I hope many of you will get some use out of this resource. I will be adding to the Bible Extras part of it from time to time.
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CREATING PRESENTATIONS

10/22/2024

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For about a week, I have been studying 4 different ways to create slideshows on the Web. In the past, I have created several slideshows with Google Slides. But I was looking for something more neutral and independent of Google. 

The roundup of software included 1) Flowtime.js, 2) Impress.js, 3) Reveal.js and 4) Marp. 

All of these are quite interesting and capable slideshow JavaScript libraries. Flowtime and Reveal allow for both horizontal and vertical placement of slides, which can be great for having general information that can become more detailed by diving downward in your slides. Impress uses an infinite size canvas onto which you place each slide. This takes more work as does the formatting of slides. The animations in Impress are quite impressive. The first three programs all work well on PCs; however, they are not very seamless on Mobile devices.

Coming to the last program, Marp, I found it to work very well on PCs and Mobile devices. The learning curve for Marp was around overriding the formatting for individual slides and slide elements. Once I figured out how to format lists, links, paragraphs and headers to my liking, the rest was easy. On Windows, there are two programs that have plugins for Marp, 1) Obsidian and 2) Visual Studio Code. Obsidian is a general purpose note taking program with a wide array of plugins. I keep daily notes and other information in my Obsidian vault. Since I dabble with programming, I also have VS Code installed. It is first and foremost a programmer's editing environment.

Using the Marp plugin is almost identical in Obsidian and VS Code. One simply enters the appropriately formatted slide text then clicks on an icon to create a Marp HTML file which can then be uploaded to a web server. Since I already have a lot of text in Obsidian, I decided to use it along with the Marp Slides plugin. Below are a couple of screenshots from my first slideshow. The links in maroon color are active. The third picture show the navigational tool which contains previous, next, full screen and presenter buttons.

On PCs, spacebar, right or down arrows move to the next slide. Shift spacebar, left or up arrows move to the previous slide. The Home and End keys move to the first and last slides.

On Mobile devices, users can swipe left / down to move forward or right / up to move backward.
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Here is a link to the whole slideshow.  Click here
Perhaps some of you will find uses for these type of programs.
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