JOEL RICHARDSON: SABOTAGING PREWRATH!

(210) The Pre-Wrath Rapture Strengths & Weaknesses THE RAPTURE & ENDURANCE OF THE SAINTS - YouTube

Given my misgivings regarding Joel Richardson's ministry, I have some skepticism about his motives and whether he really does have genuine questions about the prewrath rapture view, or whether this is an attempt at sabotage. Reading the comments below this video, Richardson appears to have succeeded in putting his listeners into a spin! In any event, I will attempt to refute what Richardson refers to as prewrath "weaknesses" below for the benefit of those he has thrown into confusion. 

The day or the hour (Matthew 24:36)

According to Richardson, one of the common objections to the posttrib rapture view is that Jesus' return can be determined by calculating the time between the point at which the Antichrist takes his seat in the temple of God (2 Thessalonians 2:4) and Armageddon (Revelation 19:19). The period referred to in Revelation 11 and 12 is 1260 days, 42 months, a time, time and half a time based on a 360-day prophetic year. Daniel also refers to 1,290, 1,335, and 2,300 days. (Daniel 8:14,12:11-12). The posttrib camp amalgamates the tribulation and the wrath of God, and according to this view, the period referred to is exactly 42 months or 3.5 prophetic years. If the posttrib camp were to calculate the precise day of Jesus' return, I believe they would base it on 1260 days. Richardson's speculations regarding the various time periods specified in Revelation and Daniel are rather muddled.     

Two comings?

The information that Jesus will appear in heaven/come on the clouds of heaven immediately after the tribulation following the cosmic disturbances is unequivocal and is recorded in all three synoptic gospels. As such there can be no doubt that this is precisely when the rapture will occur.     

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31 cf. Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-27 cf. Revelation 7:14).

Richardson: "No matter how you slice it, the prewrath perspective has more than one coming of Jesus."

Richardson's misrepresentation of the prewrath view as "two comings" is a criticism often levelled against the pre-trib camp. Alan Kurschner and other prewrath scholars have demonstrated repeatedly that there is no disconnect between the rapture and the second coming (the Parousia). Rather the rapture initiates part of a unified complex event that begins following the cosmic disturbances.1  When the prewrath view is understood correctly as a unified complex event, this alleged "weakness" is easily debunked. 

Christ cannot return until all His enemies have been defeated?

Richardson argues that Jesus Christ cannot leave heaven until his enemies are defeated based on Psalm 110:1 and Matthew 22:44. The context of Psalm 110, particularly verse 5, reveals that this argument is deficient.

The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion: “Rule in the midst of Your enemies." Your people shall be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, to You belongs the dew of Your youth. The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead; He will crush the leaders far and wide. He will drink from the brook by the road; therefore He will lift up His head. (Psalm 110:1-7).

Following the great tribulation and the cosmic disturbances, the defeat of God's enemies is a foregone conclusion. (Revelation 6:16-17). Psalm 110:1 is an overview, whereas a more detailed description of what will occur follows. Before the rapture of the church, the mediatorial reign of Christ from heaven at the right hand of God is stated as His primary function. (Hebrews 7:25). Once the rapture has occurred there will be no more occasion for Christ's mediatorial reign. 

Bengel's Gnomen: 1 Corinthians 15:25. Δεῖ, He must) for it has been foretold.—αὐτὸν, He) Christ.—βασιλεύειν, reign) ררה, reign Thou in the midst of Thy enemies, Psalm 110:2.—ἄχρις οὗ ἄν, until) There will be no further need of the mediatorial reign.—θῇ, He hath put) viz. the Father.—πάντας, all) Paul brings in this, to prepare for a transition to what follows.—τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, enemies) bodily and spiritual, supply His, from that expression, His feet, to wit, the Son’s: but it is now elegantly elliptical; since Christ has long ago destroyed these enemies, in so far as they were the enemies of Christ; He will destroy them [their destruction is still future], in so far as they are our enemies. The remaining part of His victory bears the same relation to His triumph already achieved, as any frontier or corner does to the whole extent of any human monarchy which has been subdued. 2

In Psalm 110:5 there is a major shift in the activity of the Godhead. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in Psalm 110:1. In verse 5, the Father (Adonai), is at the Messiah's right hand in the day of His wrath. This shift occurs at the onset of the day of His wrath i.e at the breaking seventh seal of Revelation. 

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. (Revelation 8:1-5). 

Following a momentous silence in heaven for about half an hour, the seven angels who stand before God are given trumpets. Another angel offers much incense with "the prayers of all the saints". This indicates that the prayers of the saints are complete and confirms that the rapture has occurred. During the day of His wrath, Jesus directs the angels via the trumpet and bowl judgements from heaven. As such, Jesus no longer sits at the right hand of the Father following the prewrath rapture and during the Day of the Lord. 

Richardson's postrib "hybrid" view is problematic. When Jesus returns at Armageddon, His enemies are not literally under His feet until He has defeated them! The idea that Jesus must be seated next to the Father until His enemies are literally defeated is unsustainable.

The Last Trumpet?

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15).

The post-trib view makes the assumption that the church will be on the earth when the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15 is sounded. However, there are a number of reasons why this cannot be the case. Revelation 7:9-17 situates the resurrected saints between the sixth and seventh seal i.e. a great multitude suddenly appears in heaven prior to the breaking of the seventh seal. It is explicitly stated: These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; (Revelation 7:14). 

It is not possible for the seventh trumpet to be sounded before the breaking of the seventh seal. 

The seven trumpets in Revelation 11 signify judgments, they do not signify gathering. 

The announcement of the third woe immediately precedes the seventh trumpet. (Revelation 11:14). 

The narrative continues in Revelation 15-16 with the final seven plagues of God’s wrath poured out in the seven bowl judgments. (chapters 15–16). 

Paul knew nothing about the Book of Revelation. 1 Corinthians was written around 55AD, whereas the book of Revelation was written around 90-95AD, approximately forty years later. As such, the final trumpets of God's wrath were not in Paul's mind when he wrote this epistle.

For further details please refer to Alan Kurschner's article below. 

The tribulation must last for three and a half years?

He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. (Daniel 7:25).  

And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. (Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20).).

A critical aspect of the prewrath view is that the great tribulation will be cut short (koloboó). Literally "to mutilate (Polybius 1, 80, 13); hence in the N. T. of time (Vulg.brevio) to shorten, abridge, curtail: Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20.."3 Some describe this event as an amputation. i.e. the saints are physically amputated or snatched away at this time. The remainder of the seven-year period facilitates sufficient time for God to pour out His wrath. 

My concern is that Richardson's equivocations are likely to put a stumbling block in the way of those seeking answers to the rapture question. What is needed is a robust argument that stands up to genuine criticism, and in my view prewrath achieves this. 

1. Will Jesus Come FOR HIS CHURCH at the Rapture, But WITH HIS CHURCH at the Second Coming? - Ep 145 | ESCHATOS MINISTRIES (alankurschner.com)
2. 1 Corinthians 15:25 Commentaries: For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. (biblehub.com)
3. Strong's Greek: 2856. κολοβόω (koloboó) -- to curtail (biblehub.com)

Further Links

WOLVES IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING: FALSE PROPHETS AND BIBLE TEACHERS IN THE LAST DAYS: Joel Richardson (bewareofthewolves.blogspot.com)
Articles for Posttribulationism to Consider | ESCHATOS MINISTRIES (alankurschner.com)For THIS Reason the 'Last Trump' Cannot Be the Seventh Trumpet - Ep. 169 | ESCHATOS MINISTRIES (alankurschner.com)
A Response to Joel Richardson (alankurschner.com)
Why are Joe Schimmel and Jacob Prasch not discerning within their own camps? - UK Aplogetics Library (ukapologeticslibrary.net)
The Islamic Antichrist Theory Debunked - FULL 8 HOUR - AUDIO BOOK - Bible Prophecy (youtube.com)

7 Pretrib Problems and the Prewrath Rapture