Will The Elect Be Deceived? End Times Study - Part 1
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.( Matthew 24:24). The question is not, “Can the elect be deceived?” That line follows Jesus’ prior warning, and the imperative is explicit: See that no one leads you astray. (Matthew 24:4; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:3). Scripture places responsibility on believers themselves to remain alert, watchful, and resistant to deception. Jesus’ point is straightforward: vigilance prevents deception. This is personal responsibility, not an abstract claim that the elect are somehow immune by default.
Michael Grant (above) armed with his pretrib chart, not knowing that he has been sold a bill of goods.
The casual way many pastors treat eschatological differences as relatively inconsequential is, in my view, reckless. Michael Grant’s “We can still be friends” sentiment is true at a relational level, but it does not diminish the seriousness of the debate. I regard this issue as critical and I could not sit under pretrib preaching or attend a pretrib church. I am persuaded that the pretribulation doctrine is a lethal error with potential devastating consequences for believers at the close of the age. Notably, Andy Woods and Paul Wilkinson—both aggressive OSAS and pretrib advocates—state explicitly that the pretrib rapture is not a secondary issue - they regard it as the "blessed hope".
Andy Woods: "I don't think it is a secondary issue either and I mark and avoid people. I have a hard time appearing on their shows, appearing at their conferences.. A lot of them have contacted me and wanted to participate at our conferences and when I find out they are aggressively promoting some other perspective, I just have a difficult time unleashing them in front of God's people.."1
I do not level this criticism against Michael Grant, but in a number of cases I have questioned the integrity of pretrib leaders.2
Michael Grant believes that the
apostasia (falling away) is already underway in our time. (Matthew 24:10). While I do not dispute the reality of contemporary widespread apostasy, Jesus’ teaching in the Olivet Discourse points to a specific, identifiable
apostasia occurring at a defined moment within the eschatological timeline. Jesus specifically locates the
apostasia as an event precipitated by the persecution that follows the onset of the birth pains. (Matthew 24:7–9). This corresponds to the abomination of desolation at the midpoint of Daniel’s seventieth week. (Daniel 12:11). Thus:
“When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place… then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15–16). Notably, Jesus directs this warning to His disciples i.e.
believers.
The cosmic disturbances
Michael Grant is correct about the chronological linkage between 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Thessalonians 5, but he misidentifies the events. He asserts: “The rapture happens first, then the tribulation… Paul is connecting 1 Thessalonians 5 to the great tribulation of Matthew 24.” Michael Grant fails to distinguish between the great tribulation and the Day of the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Exegesis requires a clear distinction between thlipsis (tribulation) and orgē (wrath), as reflected in Malachi 4; Zephaniah 1:7–18; 1 Thessalonians 5:1–11; and 2 Peter 3:8–13. The Day of the Lord is identified throughout scripture as God's specific wrath beginning with the trumpet judgements in Revelation 8 which are opened after the seventh seal is broken. The ungodly anticipate God's wrath following the cosmic disturbances following the sixth seal: Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17).
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).
Joel 2 describes the cosmic disturbances as happening
before the day of the Lord.
The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. (Joel 2:31).
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12).
There are not only substantial theological difficulties with the pretribulation rapture; this view is also plagued by significant historical problems.
In 2015, I encountered the research of historian and author Dave MacPherson (The Rapture Plot). Dave MacPherson’s staggering research documents the methodological problems in attempts to place pre‑tribulation rapture teaching before John Nelson Darby. He demonstrated that such efforts rely on historical revisionism and selective, decontextualised use of sources such as Morgan Edwards and Pseudo‑Ephraem. His work effectively dismantled claims of a pre‑Darby, pretribulational “left‑behind” eschatology prior to the Irvingite movement and Darby in the early nineteenth century. Dave and I became friends and he often sent me his articles. I am now in the process posting his work online for the benefit of those who are not aware of the history: THE DAVE MACPHERSON RAPTURE FILES Sight of MacPherson's research should be enough to send pretrib believers running for the hills!
I feel a pressing need to sit down with Michael Grant and work through this subject with him point by point. Being in the UK makes that impractical, but my hope is that he will reconsider his position and undertake further research and study.
1. WOLVES IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING: FALSE PROPHETS AND BIBLE TEACHERS IN THE LAST DAYS: ANDY WOODS + PAUL WILKINSON: IS THE RAPTURE A SECONDARY ISSUE?
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