WHY I SUPPORT THE PRE-WRATH RAPTURE VIEW

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.. (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

I am posting the main scriptures that support the post-tribulation pre-wrath rapture view. It is vital that readers of this post study the critical subject of the timing of the rapture in detail for themselves in view of the repeated warnings from both Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul about spiritual deception. (2 Timothy 2:15).

I principally write this for the benefit of my pre-trib rapture friends, since my post-trib friends are not in the same danger of falling away. (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The classic post-trib position is that the rapture and the return of the Lord are one event i.e. the Church will be caught up to meet the Lord as He descends from heaven at his second coming (Parousia). The pre-wrath view is that the rapture occurs after the great tribulation, in between the sixth and seventh seal of Revelation.

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

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). 

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. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. (John 14:2-4).

Matthew 24:29-31

Tribulation/great tribulation. (Matthew 24:9-14;15-28).

29“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. 30Then 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. The sign of the Son of Man: Luke 21:25-28; Revelation 1:7; 6:12-14; Isaiah 13:9-10; Joel 2:30-31.

verse 31... THE RAPTURE

31And 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.

Revelation 6 describes the same cosmic disturbances:

12When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slaved and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16calling 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, 17for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:12-16).

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.. (Revelation 7:9)

Revelation 8:5-13: The wrath of God begins. The seals, trumpets and bowls in the book of Revelation occur chronologically. The seventh seal introduces the seven trumpets, and the seventh trumpet introduces the seven bowls of wrath. The pre-wrath view is that the sudden appearance of the innumerable multitude in heaven prior to the opening of the seventh seal explains the rapture. (Revelation 7:14).

A very helpful pre-wrath series by Robert Van Kampen is up on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL5hQLCYPXk&list=PLyMohrMoR8bwSTLruRK8PDlDELM_TxL1-

I do not know what Alan Kurschner's views are in other areas, but I do recommend his very thorough treatment of this subject: 

http://www.alankurschner.com/

PRETRIB RAPTURE STEALTH ! BY DAVE MACPHERSON

     Many evangelicals believe that Christ will "rapture" them to heaven years before the second coming and (most importantly) well BEFORE Antichrist and his "tribulation."
     But Acts 2:34-35 reveal that Jesus is at the Father's right hand in heaven until He leaves to destroy His earthly foes at the second coming.
     And Acts 3:21 says that Jesus “must” stay in heaven with the Father "until the times of restitution of all things” which includes, says Scofield, “the restoration of the theocracy under David’s Son” which obviously can’t begin before or during Antichrist’s reign.
     ("The Rapture Question," by the long-time No. 1 pretrib authority John Walvoord, didn't dare to even list, in its scripture index, the above verses! They were also too hot for John Darby - the so-called "father of dispensationalism" - to list in the scripture index in his "Letters"!)      
     Paul explains the “times and the seasons” (I Thess. 5:1) of the catching up (I Thess. 4:17) as the “day of the Lord” (5:2) which FOLLOWS the posttrib sun/moon darkening (Matt. 24:29; Acts 2:20)  WHEN “sudden destruction” (5:3) of the wicked occurs!
     The "rest" for "all them that believe" is also tied to such destruction in II Thess. 1:6-10! (If the wicked are destroyed before or during the trib, who'd be left alive to serve the Antichrist?)
     Paul also ties the change-into-immortality “rapture” (I Cor. 15:52) to the end of trib “death” (15:54). (Will death be ended before or during the trib? Of course not! And vs. 54 is also tied to Isa. 25:8 which Scofield views as Israel's posttrib resurrection!)
     It's amazing that the Olivet Discourse contains the "great commission" for the church but not even a hint of a pretrib rapture for the church!
     Many don't know that before 1830 all Christians had always viewed I Thess. 4’s “catching up” as an integral part of the final second coming to earth. In 1830 this "rapture" was stretched forward and turned into an idolized separate coming of Christ.
     To further strengthen their novel view, which evangelical scholars overwhelmingly rejected throughout the 1800s, pretrib teachers in the early 1900s began to stretch forward the “day of the Lord” (what Darby and Scofield never dared to do) and hook it up with their already-stretched-forward “rapture.”
     Many leading evangelical scholars still weren’t convinced of pretrib, so pretrib teachers then began teaching that the “falling away” of II Thess. 2:3 is really a pretrib rapture (the same as saying that the “rapture” in 2:3 must happen before the “rapture” ["gathering"] in 2:1 can happen – the height of desperation!). Google "Walvoord Melts Ice" for more on this.
     My many online articles on various aspects of the 187-year-old pretrib rapture view include “X-Raying Margaret,” "Margaret Macdonald's Rapture Chart," "Pretrib Rapture's Missing Lines," "Edward Irving is Unnerving," "The Unoriginal John Darby," "Edward Irving vs. John Darby," "Catholics Did NOT Invent the Rapture," "The Real Manuel Lacunza," "C. I. Scofield's Hidden Side," "Pretrib Rapture Pride," “Thomas Ice (Bloopers),” “Wily Jeffrey,” “The Rapture Index (Mad Theology),” “Scholars Weigh My Research,” “Pretrib Hypocrisy,” " "Pretrib Rapture Secrecy," “Deceiving and Being Deceived,” "GFM's DVD Survives Paul Wilkinson's Attack," "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty," and (in response to the outrageous claim that the rapture could occur this coming September!) "Ready for Rapture Astrology?"
      If you would like to find my articles on pretrib rapture history and theology in one location on the net, I would invite you to check out the worldwide British blog "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" hosted by Treena Gisborn who is an outstanding researcher and authority on Biblical topics including prophecy.

UNRAVELLING THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD PRE-TRIB RAPTURE STATEMENT

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5).

The following statement in blue is the report of the Assemblies of God committee to study the rapture of the Church. The report was adopted by the Assemblies of God General Presbytery, August 14, 1979.{1}

I have highlighted many flaws in their statement, and I have stated the scriptural position at the relevant points. The repeated warnings from both Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul that believers should not be deceived in these matters is testimony of the criticality of understanding the timing of the rapture and the second coming, and that we should rightly handle the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15).

AOG: “The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord is the imminent and blessed hope of the Church (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Romans 8:23; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:51,52).”

..waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing (epiphaneia) of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.. (Titus 2:13).

In context, "the blessed hope" in Titus 2:13 is synonymous with "the appearing of the glory". Technically, the rapture (harpazo), should be distinguished from the blessed hope since believers are to be caught up in the clouds prior to that event. (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Titus 2:13 refers to the second coming of Christ in glory i.e. Jesus Christ's epiphany/epiphaneia .. his appearing, manifestation., glorious display... conspicuous appearing.(2) Epiphaneia appears six times in the New Testament, and each time it refers to the visible appearance of Christ in glory at his second coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 1:10; 2 Timothy 4:1, 8). 

AOG: Jesus taught that He will return to earth. He was careful to warn His disciples to be constantly prepared for this (Matthew 24:42-51; 25:1-13; Mark 13:37; Luke 12:37).

They understood that the present age will end with His coming (Matthew 24:3). The assurance of His return was one of the truths with which He comforted His followers before His death (John 14:2, 3).
At the time of Christ’s ascension two angels came to the group of watching disciples to repeat the promise that He will return. They declared it would be in the same manner as He went away (Acts 1:11). This clearly means His second coming will be literal, physical, and visible.

The New Testament Epistles refer often to the Second Coming, and the theme of imminence runs through all the passages of Scripture dealing with this subject.

*Imminence is the doctrine that no specific events must take place before the rapture can occur aka any moment rapture. This is a false doctrine. Paul explicitly places the rapture (gathering together) after the rebellion (apostasia) and the manifestation of the man of lawlessness i.e. the Antichrist:

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.. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 ),

Further examples in the scriptures defy imminence, e.g. John 21:17-19;2 Peter 1:12-15; Acts 23:10-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-9; Luke 21:24.

AOG: Though there would be a period of time between the first and second comings (Luke 19:11), the whole body of teaching concerning the return of the Lord emphasizes that it will happen suddenly without warning; that believers should be in a state of continual readiness (Philippians 4:5; Hebrews 10:37; James 5:8, 9; Revelation 22:10). 

Philippians 4:5: Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
The Lord is at hand or near i.e. the Lord is omnipresent. In context with the passage, the Lord sees and observes the conduct of his people.

Hebrews 10:37: For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;
Paul utilises the OT prophets:
Isaiah 26:20: He that cometh will come and will not tarry.
Habakkuk 2:3: For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

(1) the certainty, notwithstanding delay, of the fulfillment of the Divine promise;
(2) the necessity meanwhile of continuance in faith and perseverance..{3}

James 5:8-9: You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

James 5:8 ..the coming of the Lord is at hand..

The context of James 5:7-9 is The Parousia! The Parousia is the particular term used for the epiphany i.e. the second coming of Christ at the end of the age.{4} Since the pre-trib view dislocates the rapture from the Parousia by a period of seven years, the AOG argument is nonsensical. The AOG would have to place the rapture and the Parousia synonymously if they want to use this verse as a proof text, but this then destroys pretribulationism. They cannot have it both ways! See also 1 Peter 4:7: The end of all things is at hand. cf. Matthew 4:17). The specific context of James 5:7-9 is the analogy of the natural progression following the early and late rains leading to fruit (Parousia). (James 5:7). This reflects Jesus teaching in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. In other words, certain things must happen before the Lord returns. The Greek word eggizó = near/at hand never means imminent, it means to come near or to approach, as also in Matthew 24:32.{5} 

..behold, the Judge is standing at the door. ..before a door (thera) is the literal translation..  thera does not preclude events before Jesus return. Compare Matthew 24:32: So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. (at the door). Revelation 3:20: Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

Revelation 22:10: And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.

The same argument applies to "near" (eggus). Revelation 22:12: "I am coming soon"..  as the judge.

Believers in the early days of the Church lived in this state of expectancy (1 Corinthians 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10). Paul’s “we” in 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 1Thessalonians 4:17 shows that he maintained the hope he would be alive when Jesus comes back.

Expectancy is not imminence. It is possible for the Parousia to occur in any given generation when the circumstances of Matthew 24 and 2 Thessalonians 2 allow. Early believers, including Paul, appear to have expected Jesus' return during their own lifetime, and yet other scriptures indicate something else.

The Thessalonian church expressed confusion about the timing of the Parousia/rapture. Paul explained to them that both these events would not happen until the Antichrist was revealed (2 Thessalonians 1-3). Since the Antichrist has not yet been revealed, the return of Christ and the rapture cannot be imminent.

2 Peter specifically warns about scoffers in the last days who will question the slowness of Jesus' coming: But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:1-13).

 
A comparison of passages of Scripture relating to the Second Coming shows that some speak of a visible event seen by all mankind and involving the judgment of sinners. Others describe a coming known only to believers and resulting in their deliverance from earth.

The latter is referred to among evangelicals as the Rapture. This word is not in the English Bible, but has been used so widely that one of the definitions of “rapture” in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged is: “Christ’s raising up of His true church and its members to a realm above the earth where the whole company will enjoy celestial bliss with its Lord.” The word raptured could well be used to translate the expression “caught up” of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Jesus said His coming will result in one individual being taken from a location while another is left. This indicates a sudden removal of believers from the earth with unbelievers left to face tribulation (Matthew 24:36-42).

Jesus spoke of His return as a time when the nations of the earth shall mourn as they see Him (Matthew 24:30). The apostle Paul spoke of the Lord’s return as a time of judgment and wrath upon the wicked (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).

Matthew 24:36-42 does not concern the tribulation, it follows it! These verses speak of the second coming of Christ to the earth (Parousia). Matthew 24 moves chronologically through the events leading up to the second coming of Christ. The "elect" are "gathered together" (episunagó) by the angels at the end of the age! 

Matthew 24:29:“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.. 
cf. Revelation 6:12-17; 8:6-13.

Matthew 24:36: But concerning that day and hour no one knows..

AOG: In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, he considered a different aspect of the Second Coming. This brief passage is the most direct and clear teaching on the Rapture in the New Testament. It speaks only of believers, living and dead. Nothing is said about the wicked seeing Christ at this time. Paul described Jesus as coming in the air, but nothing is said about His feet touching the earth, as we are told elsewhere they will at His return (Zechariah 14:4). It is the moment when 1 John 3:2 will be fulfilled, and we shall be like Him.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming (Parousia) of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

This passage concerns those who are alive, who are left until the coming (Parousia)
of the Lord. One must completely disregard Matthew 24 in order to fit parousia into a pre-trib rapture!

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming (parousia) and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). See also Matthew 24:27, 37, 39.

AOG: The same Greek word used in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 for “caught up” is used in Acts 8:39 to describe Philip’s being “caught away” after baptizing the Ethiopian. The latter verse states that the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away—identifying the source of the power that will remove believers from earth at the Rapture.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Paul called the Rapture “our gathering together unto him.” The Greek word for “gathering” is the same as the one used for “assembling” in Hebrews 10:25, referring to the assembling of Christians for worship. It is a picture of the saints congregating around Christ at His coming for them.

The supernatural removal of godly individuals from earth is not unknown in Scripture. The outstanding event in the life of Enoch was his miraculous disappearance from earth after years of walking with God (Genesis 5:21-24). The author of Hebrews called this experience a translation, bypassing death (Hebrews 11:5).

Although some aspects of Elijah’s translation differed from Enoch’s, it also involved the sudden removal of a believer from the world without experiencing death (2 Kings 2:1-13).

First Corinthians 15:51-54 deals with the same event as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Here also Paul spoke of the changes that will take place in both living and dead believers at the Rapture. He called this a mystery (1 Corinthians 15:51), a truth previously unrevealed but made known to him by the Holy Spirit.

In Philippians 3:21 Paul connected the Lord’s coming to the time when “our vile body” will be changed—another reference to the Rapture.

Passages which pertain to the Rapture describe the coming of the Lord for His people. Passages which refer to the revelation of Christ describe the coming of the Lord with His saints. Colossians 3:4 speaks of believers appearing with Christ at His coming. Jude 14 also foresees the Lord’s return with His people to execute the judgment referred to in many other passages relating to His public appearing.   

1 Thessalonians 3:13 refers to Jesus' Parousia with all his holy ones (hagios). Revelation 19:14,19: ..it granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. Scripturally the rapture does occur prior to the Parousia in order for the saints to return with Christ. However, the claim that the last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 51:51-54 is blown before the great tribulation is insupportable!

AOG: Since Scripture does not contradict itself, it seems reasonable to conclude that the passages describing Christ’s coming for the saints and with the saints indicate two phases of His coming. We believe it is scripturally correct to assume that the intervening period between the two is the time when the world will experience the Great Tribulation, involving the reign of Antichrist and the outpouring of God’s wrath on the wicked (Daniel 12:1, 2, 10-13; Matthew 24:15-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12).

Although God’s people may endure severe trials before the Lord comes, the Church will be raptured before the period called the Great Tribulation.

In 2 Thessalonians 2 Paul indicated certain things must take place before the Day of the Lord (of which the Great Tribulation is a part) can begin. An individual called the man of sin (Antichrist) will appear. The mystery of iniquity has been at work since Paul’s time but is being restrained by the power of the Spirit working through the true Church. Only when the Church is removed from earth by the Rapture can this man come forward publicly.

The Day of the Lord is distinguished from the Great Tribulation both by Jesus Christ and Paul. I refer again to Matthew 24:29 immediately after the tribulation of those days..   

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. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4).

Paul explicitly places the Parousia and the rapture together above. The great tribulation does not occur before the man of lawlessness takes his seat in the third temple at the mid point of the 70th week of Daniel. That day.. i.e. the day of the Lord and the rapture both follow the great tribulation. Paul warns about the possibility of believers being deceived about this subject. (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

AOG: In 1 Thessalonians 5, following the passage on the Rapture in chapter 4, Paul taught about the Day of the Lord. He warned of the destruction it will bring to the wicked (vv. 2, 3). He was quick to assure Christians that those who abide in Christ will not be overtaken by it (v. 4).

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (2 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The above passage is a further warning from Paul that believers should not be ignorant about eschatological events. Paul clearly places believers as being alive at the Parousia.

AOG: Still speaking of the Day of the Lord Paul wrote: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 9). It seems clear that he meant the deliverance of believers from the judgments of the Day of the Lord, including the Great Tribulation.

The scriptures clearly distinguish wrath (orge) from tribulation (thlipsis). The persecution of the Antichrist is not the wrath of God. As explained above, the Great Tribulation it is not the Day of the Lord.

AOG: Christians are told repeatedly in the New Testament to be watchful for the Lord’s appearing. Never are they taught to watch for the Great Tribulation or the appearance of Antichrist. To expect that such things must happen before the Rapture destroys the teaching of imminence with which the New Testament is replete.

Believers are told to wait “for his Son from heaven,” not the Great Tribulation (1 Thessalonians 1:10). When the signs of the end of the age are evident, they are to look up and lift up their heads in expectation of their redemption, not the Great Tribulation (Luke 21:28).

The Day of the Lord will come unexpectedly like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). However it will come as no surprise to believers, precisely because they will recognise the signs preceding it: But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. (1 Thessalonians 5:4). This is an illogical statement if pre-trib is correct. Why would believers "not be surprised" if they are not here? This verse directly follows Paul's statement that believers will be alive at the Parousia. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Jesus Christ and Paul went to great lengths to explain the specific signs in detail.. we ignore them at our peril if we are to avoid the tragic consequences of false hope. (Matthew 24:10; cf. 2 Corinthians 11:14).

The signs of the Lord’s coming will be fulfilled before His public appearing, but they do not have to be fulfilled before the Rapture. Any teaching that certain events must transpire before the Rapture is out of harmony with the doctrine of imminence.*

It is consistent with God’s dealings with His people in the Old Testament to believe that the Church will be removed from the world before the Great Tribulation. God did not send the Flood until Noah and his family were safe in the ark. He did not destroy Sodom until Lot was taken out.
The weight of Scripture supports a pre-Tribulation Rapture. Wherever teaching about the Second Coming occurs in the New Testament, imminence is underscored. To interpose other events before the Rapture does violence to such teaching.

The events of Sodom and Gomorrah was the wrath of God being poured out upon the ungodly.. it was not tribulation. Similarly Noah and his family were preserved through the flood, God's judgement upon the ungodly.. again this was not tribulation.

While Christians are looking forward to the coming of the Lord, it is well to remind themselves of Paul’s words to Titus: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).
https://ag.org/Beliefs/Topics-Index/The-Rapture-of-the-Church

In conclusion, the AOG  statement consistently and incorrectly identifies "the blessed hope" as the rapture. However, the scriptures identify the blessed hope as the Parousia or the Epiphany, and the rapture as gathering together (episuningage)/caught up (harpazo). Scripturally the Parousia and the rapture are synonymous, or almost synonymous events, and so the AOG argument simply falls apart.

{1} https://bible.org/seriespage/15-second-coming-christ-and-millennial-kingdom
{2} http://biblehub.com/greek/2015.htm  
{3} http://biblehub.com/hebrews/10-37.htm
{4} https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Parousia
{5} http://biblehub.com/greek/1448.htm

JESUS ARMY CULT LEADERS STEP DOWN

The Northampton Chronicle has today reported the news that Jesus Army cult leaders in Northamptonshire have stepped down after complaints over handling over abuse claims:

"The leaders of a Northampton-based Christian organisation, once branded a ‘cult’, have stepped down while complaints into how historical abuse claims were handled are investigated. The Jesus Army (JA) has confirmed five ‘apostolic’ leaders of the sect, founded in Bugbrooke in 1969, will now be subject to an independent investigation. Mick Haines, the senior pastor and de facto leader of the Jesus Army is among the men to have stepped down from ‘pastoral duties’, a spokesman told the Chron. The other four to face investigation are Mike Farrant, John Campbell, Ian Callard and Huw Lewis, the spokesman confirmed. In 2013, the JA called on ex-members to come forward and reveal instances of past abuse, either sexual, physical, financial or spiritual. Following investigations by ex-members of the fellowship and the Chronicle & Echo, it is now known about 150 claims were made. But the sect, which still has a strong base in Northampton and underwent a safeguarding review in 2015, has confirmed there have been complaints over the way the five men handled the abuse claims.Spokesman Laurence Cooper, said in a statement: “Questions have been raised about the handling of information by the senior leadership of the church, relating to past cases of abuse. “All five people have been involved in the handling of previous cases of abuse in the church. Allegations have been made about the way they handled historic cases. These are unproven allegations, but they do need to be treated seriously and investigated fully. “The five people you mention have agreed to step down immediately from pastoral duties and any leadership authority in the church while an independent investigation of the allegations is undertaken.”“They remain members of the church but they are not in a leadership position at this present time.”Mr Farrant was instrumental in setting up the Jesus Army’s common purse in the 1970s, which still exists in the communes of the organisation today. Mr Campbell, the Jesus Army’s former press officer, was described by Mr Cooper in May as having largely retired from the organisation. In 2013 the Chronicle & Echo reported that he was the leader tasked with collating responses to historical abuse allegations.A member from within the organisation, who did not wish to be named, felt the leadership team was not expecting so many people to come forward with abuse claims in 2013. “They were very taken aback by it. They were quite unprepared,” he said. In 2015, after being handed details of the abuse claims by the JA, Northamptonshire Police launched Operation Lifeboat. The probe, looking into historical sexual abuse at the JA, has led to two prosecutions to date, though a spokesman said more prosecutions were likely.The National Leadership Team (NLT) sits below the apostolic group consisting of the five individuals. Mr Cooper added that there would be no senior pastor in place while the investigation was ongoing.“Once the NLT receives the findings from this independent investigation, they will consult with (Christian safeguarding charity) CCPAS and other outside agencies to decide what steps need to be taken.”Victims groups have, in the past, raised concerns about a Christian-based group’s ability to be independent."
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/jesus-army-leaders-in-northamptonshire-step-down-after-complaints-over-handling-over-abuse-claims-1-8042088

CHUCK MISSLER - COPYIST ! BY DAVE MACPHERSON

     Many these days are abandoning the pretribulation rapture view, and the June, 1995 article by Chuck Missler (”Byzantine Text Discovery: Ephraem the Syrian”) reveals why there is such a mutiny!
     First of all, the authoritative scholar that Missler cited, Dr. Paul Alexander, referred only to “Pseudo-Ephraem” and not to Ephraem the Syrian. (If an unsigned ancient manuscript resembles the real Ephraem but there is a question of authorship, they assign it to “Pseudo-Ephraem” - the word “pseudo” meaning “possibly.”
     For some groundless reason, Grant Jeffrey, the one who reportedly found the “discovery,” changed Dr. Alexander’s terminology and wrongfully referred only to "Ephraem the Syrian"! For more info on Jeffrey, Google “Wily Jeffrey.”)
     And Missler’s scholarship is also questionable. According to the Los Angeles Times (July 30, 1992), about one-fourth of Missler’s 1992 book “The Magog Factor” (which he co-authored with Hal Lindsey) was a daring plagiarism of Dr. Edwin Yamauchi’s 1982 book “Foes from the Northern Frontier”!
     Four months later Yamauchi’s publisher revealed that both Lindsey and Missler had promised to stop all publishing of their book. But in 1995 they were found publishing “The Magog Invasion” (which was either a revision or a replacement of “The Magog Factor”) - which had a substantial amount of the same plagiarism! (My 1998 book “The Three R’s” has complete documentation on this and other pretrib scandals.)
     After listing “1820″ as the reported date of the birth of pretrib (he should have said “1830″), Missler sees a pretrib rapture in that Medieval writer’s phrase “taken to the Lord” and, since he evidently favors rewriting others instead of researching, is unaware that Dr. Alexander explained that this phrase really means “participate at least in some measure in beatitude” - which has reference only to doing acts of virtue on earth and not being raptured away from earth!
     Alexander included two summaries of Pseudo-Ephraem's end-time events in chronological order - both showing only one final second coming taught by him (and not any prior coming) which would follow the time of Antichrist! (Readers can Google my article “Deceiving and Being Deceived” to see how groundless the Pseudo-Ephraem claim is and to learn how desperate pretribs are to find any pre-1830 evidence for their escapist view. Dr. Robert Gundry of Westmont College has also demolished the Pseudo-Ephraem claim in his 1997 book “First the Antichrist.”)
     Since Missler also leans on Thomas Ice, readers can evaluate Ice’s qualifications by Googling "Walvoord Melts Ice," "Pretrib Rapture Pride," “Thomas Ice (Bloopers),” “Be Careful in Polemics - Peripatetic Learning," and (since Ice says he's working on a UOW doctorate) "Bogus degree scandal prompts calls to wind up University of Wales." For further light on the 187-year-old pretribulation theory, Google or Yahoo “Pretrib Rapture Stealth” and "Evangelicals Use Occult Deception."
     Since some pretrib rapture money-changers (including those who are Misslerized) are now drooling and even foaming over the "huge possibility" of a pretrib rapture blast-off this coming September, readers entrapped by such dispensational drivel can easily become hugely enlightened by reading "Ready for Rapture Astrology?" which can be found on the pace-setting blog "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" hosted by Biblical authority Treena Gisborn.
     Finally - why on earth would Chuck Missler, who reportedly has the brains of a rocket scientist, want to be taken up with the concept of an any-moment pretrib rapture? The answer may well be that there’s more money in elevating a rapture than in launching a rocket!

HUMBUG HUEBNER BY DAVE MACPHERSON

[Author's note: Here's another piece I was inspired to write shortly after the Twin Towers in New York City were destroyed by terrorists in Sep. of 2001. It reveals behind-the-scenes facts that pretrib traffickers had long wanted to cover up. -----D.M.]

     QUESTION: Which not-so-well-known prophecy writer (who attended neither seminary, college, nor even Bible school and is now a retired electrical engineer) has had a huge influence (while peddling his deliberate distortions of pretrib rapture history) on Walvoord, Ryrie, LaHaye, and many other pretrib leaders?

     ANSWER: New Jersey resident R. A. Huebner, described years ago by Moody Monthly as a "militant" member of the dwindling (Darbyist) Plymouth Brethren, a fanatical group dedicated to enshrining 19th century John Darby in the "Pretrib Hall of Fame" as pretribism's greatest teacher (if not its originator) even if they have to trample on several of the Ten Commandments in order to achieve their End!

     It's now my pleasure----nay, my duty----to share the following excerpt from my book The Rapture Plot (available on the Internet from Armageddon Books), a 300-page book containing a lot more of Huebner's deviousness:

     Since Huebner knew that the Irvingites had publicly taught pretrib as early as September 1830, all he could hope for in 1973 was an emphasis in his book on Darby's so-called underlying "truths" which supposedly evolved into pretrib, "truths" Darby reportedly had on his own as early as his first (1827) paper.

     But during the 1970's and 1980's Huebner was aware that many scholars were accepting my evidence that Darby hadn't been the first to express pretrib and that the well-known "truths" hadn't been used by anyone to create pretrib; they were used only after  pretrib's emergence as further support.

     Since Darby himself didn't establish a link between these "truths" and his understanding of pretrib in 1830 (if his 1850 memory is believable), Huebner's only hope was to find Darby expressing pretrib even before 1830. This way he could continue to discredit all of Darby's competitors.

     Eventually Huebner found what he claims is unanswerable proof that Darby was a pretrib rapturist in 1827. He presents it in his 1991 book, a book that knows how often and how close it can come to the pretrib "cobra" in The Morning Watch  without getting bitten!

     But if Huebner does in fact believe in his new 1827 claim for Darby, he has no reason to keep on detouring around Irvingism's 1830-and-later contributions. If Darby really did hold to pretrib in 1827, it would have been advantageous for Darby (and Huebner) to highlight (and not cover up) Irvingite development; they could have shown a Darby so innovative and influential he influenced even the Irvingite outsiders!

     The fact that Huebner, parroting Kelly, consistently conceals the Irvingite achievement tells me that Huebner is unsure of his 1827 claim for Darby. Indeed, when we go through Huebner's 1991 book, we see that he not only has second thoughts about his 1827 evidence but even explodes it in a later footnote!

     Huebner's fresh evidence is found in Darby's Memory No. 6 which we discussed briefly in our chapter on his reminiscences. Huebner says that this 1879 recollection expressed what Darby was thinking no later than January of 1827.

     In this memory, written 52 years after 1827, Darby wrote: "I saw there would be a David reign, and did not know whether the church might not be removed before forty years' time."

     After including this quote, Huebner writes that by January 1827 Darby "had already understood those truths upon which the pretribulation rapture hinges."

     But even more remarkable is Huebner's interpretation of what Darby wrote. He says that by this date Darby had "learned" that "Christ might come forty years before he would set up the Kingdom."

     Once again we see Huebner shifting a word around so that he can derive a conclusion and continue to credit Darby. Previously we've seen him taking Darby's daily expectation of Christ's coming and subtly detaching "daily" from "expectation" and attaching it to "coming" in order to change a final advent into a pretrib rapture that can happen "daily," that is, any day!

     This time Huebner takes the "before" which precedes Darby's 40 years and places it (in his interpretation) after the same years! But there's a huge difference. Darby in 1879 was merely recalling that in 1827, when he was still a historicist, he was expecting the final advent around the end of a remaining 40-year period. If, as Huebner asserts, Darby was saying that he expected the church's removal 40 years before "the Kingdom," Darby should have written "forty years before" instead of putting "before" where he did!

     The same language is used today. If a youngster says at 11 in the morning that he'll mow a lawn and be finished before an hour's time, we assume he'll be finished by noon. We surely don't conclude (if he mentions an hour) that he'll be finished before the hour begins!

     Also note that this 1879 Darby memory used the term "removed." Since his 1829 work spoke of an earthly "refuge" to "preserve" the church during a future earthly "scourge," his belief in 1827 of the church's removal at the start of a future millennium is hardly a concept of a pretrib (or even a small-gap, prior) rapture. Besides, we now know that in 1829 and 1830 he was expecting only the Revelation 19 coming.

     Readers may wonder why this 1879 memory pinpointed 40 years and not 30 or 50 years. When I first saw this new Huebner evidence, I realized that Darby's "forty years" was a vital aspect of the historicism that was still prevalent in the 1820's. Advocates, employing Daniel's 1260, 1290, and 1335 days which had long been viewed as years, were agreed that the 1260 years had ended around 1792 (the curtailment of Papal power during the French Revolution), the 1290 around 1822, and that the 1335 would end around 1867 (the approximate time of the second advent, according to their view).

     One of Le Roy Froom's volumes has a chart analyzing the leading historicists between the French Revolution and the mid-1800's (those who promoted the above time periods as early as 1794 and as late as 1842). Of the 26 who ended the 1335 years during the 1860's, three ended them in 1866, seven in 1868, and the majority (14) ended them in 1867. Those who pinpointed 1867 included Edward Irving (in an 1826 work of his); but he was only reflecting William Cuninghame (1813), James Frere (1813), Charles Maitland (1814), Archibald Mason (1820), and Edward Cooper (1825).

     The slight differences (1866-1868) were over the beginning of the 1335 years----whether Justinian's edict (the start of the 1260-year tribulation) was in force in 533 AD or slightly earlier or later.

     Huebner gives the impression that Darby in the 1820's was a thoroughgoing futurist holding to a future tribulation of 1260 literal days. But he was still defending the year-day theory in his December 1830 article. We've also seen Darby's 1832 paper criticizing futurism leader William Burgh; Darby was concerned "that Mr. Burgh's views divert the attention of Christians from the present anti-christian principles ...to some supposed or future actings of a personal Antichrist...."

     If Darby in 1827 was a futurist, he wouldn't have written about a future period of 40 years. He would have expected a future period of 1260 days, followed by 30 more days, followed by 45 days. His recollection that around 1827 he saw 40 more years takes us to 1867----and most historicists in 1827 likewise saw only about 40 remaining years. Moreover, if Darby in 1827 was a pretrib, he wouldn't have been expecting even a future 40-day period, let alone one of 40 years; he would have expected a rapture before even the initial 1260 days!

     Everyone agrees that Darby was a posttrib when he was ordained as an Anglican clergyman in 1825. And all agree that from the 1840's until his death in the 1880's he was clearly pretrib. Evidence demonstrates that in his 1829 and 1830 works he expected only the Revelation 19 (posttrib) coming.

     Huebner's new 1991 claim that Darby was pretrib in 1827 fashions a Darby who was posttrib (1825), then pretrib (1827), then posttrib (1829-30), then finally pretrib! But who can seriously imagine such a wishy-washy Darby?

     After presenting his new evidence for Darby, Huebner's 1991 book repeatedly states on following pages that he has proven that Darby was pretrib in 1827: "in 1827" Darby "held that the Lord might come 40 years before the reign of Christ," "already in 1827 he held a coming of the Lord before the Antichrist," "JND's mind was settled on the subject of the pretribulation rapture in the 1820's," etc.

      After parading these we've-proven-it statements, Huebner explodes his 1827 claim for Darby in the middle of his 1991 defense on page 100. He writes, concerning the Darby "forty years" quote: "Perhaps this means that he had thought that there might be a time interval of 40 years between when the church would be removed and the reign of Christ would begin. Or, he may have thought that the 40 years would be a period during which the enemies would be put down before the commencement of the kingdom (David reigned 40 years)."

     So, with belated second thoughts, Huebner admits that the 40 years in Darby's 1879 memory can just as easily refer to a final 40-year period of judgment! This sort of end-time judgment was typical of historicist outlook in the late 1820's which then saw the church past even the 1290 years and well into the final 45-year, judgments-packed "countdown."

     So, after all of the advance publicity from Thomas Ice in even Bib Sac in 1990, and after Huebner presents his new evidence in 1991, Huebner admits halfway through the same defense that he hasn't  proven that Darby's 40 years involved a pretrib (or even a prior) rapture!

     But after this incredible admission, he continues to say that he's proven (!) that Darby was pretrib in 1827: Darby "understood the truth of the rapture in 1827," etc.

     In late 1991 in another publication of his, Thomas Ice declared without reservation that Huebner's 1991 defense of Darby "documents" the fact that Darby held to pretrib as early as January 1827 (even though Darby at the time had only his "heavenly" theme which wasn't original). While still evidently unaware that Huebner had merely copied Kelly's selective-quotation and memory-injecting tactics in order to discredit the Irvingites and credit Darby, Ice also stated that Huebner has shown that the early Irvingites never held to pretrib.

     Since Ice apparently has been as intent as Huebner on defending and crediting Darby, I wrote him and asked if he'd been aware that Huebner's 1991 book explodes its new 1827 evidence on page 100. Ice had given this new claim a rave review and said publicly that Huebner has "positive evidence" that Darby was pretrib in 1827. Ice wrote back and admitted that he "did not overlook" Huebner's page 100 admission!

     Honest unawareness of historical data is one thing. But when we find Huebner, imitating Kelly, consistently coming within a sentence of clear pretrib teaching in Irvingism, it's impossible to believe that they didn't know what they were doing when they repeatedly played "leapfrog" over evidence that could have credited the Irvingites. If what they censored wasn't clearly pretrib, there would have been no reason for such a sustained pattern of deliberate omission.

     And how can Ice give Huebner's new evidence his unqualified endorsement if he is aware, as he admitted, that Huebner himself had second thoughts and said later on in the same book that Darby's "forty years" phrase isn't  proof that Darby in 1827 was pretrib? If Ice can perpetuate what Huebner himself has in effect canceled, my own readers may be able to supply an appropriate adjective  for Ice's eyes-wide-open action.

     R. A. Huebner lives in New Jersey  between the World Trade Center rubble and a bus terminal were military-type explosives were recently found----or maybe I should say New Germsey since he's also between two areas where anthrax-tainted letters have lately been found. Was Orson Welles' New Jersey-based "War of the Worlds" Halloween scare more than 60 years ago a bizarre forerunner of the stark reality of what's happening now?

     Even though I'm not a prophet, I predict that Huebner will stubbornly hang on to pretribism and Darbyism until entire cities are destroyed by nuclear weapons, germ warfare, or something else! 

PRETRIB HYPOCRISY ! BY DAVE MACPHERSON

      Yes, hypocrisy! Hypocrisy tied to pretrib rapture leaders as well as to the pretrib rapture view. (You can't believe how many "pretribbers" have told me over the years that they either have doubts about pretrib or don't even believe it----but they promote it anyway!)

     Pretrib icon C. I. Scofield could be hypocritically double-minded. In a 1921 letter to his daughter Abigail, who had a financial need while then living in San Luis Obispo, California, he advised her to pray to a Catholic saint: "...why don't you seek the special intercession of the San Luis in whose name-town you live?" (This entire letter is in Joseph Canfield's classic work The Incredible Scofield and His Book published by Ross House Books.)

     But a dozen years earlier in his Scofield Bible (p. 1346) he had begun predicting a future reign of "apostate Christendom, headed up under the Papacy"!

     Many evangelicals are still unaware that during the 1980's Hal Lindsey proudly announced that two of his daughters, Robin and Jenny, were then enrolled at Gonzaga University, a Jesuit Catholic school. (The Jesuits were originally Catholicism's arm to terroristically infiltrate and destroy the growing Protestant Reformation.)

     But years earlier Lindsey's There's A New World Coming (pp. 58, 103) stated, and continues to state, that the "dominant church" of the "Middle Ages" which "bound the people to image-worship, superstition, and priestcraft" is the "prostituted form of Christianity" that will eventually become "the Antichrist of Rome"!

     I still have a letter I received dated Nov. 14, 1971 and signed by a William T. Bruner. Here's the eye-catching part:

     "I was brought up to be a strong Pre-Tribulationist. In fact I never even thought that the other view was worth inquiring into. When Dr. Bob Jones called me to teach in the Bob Jones College one of the first questions he asked me was, whether I held to this view, and of course I said Yes. But while I was professor of Greek New Testament at the Bob Jones University, 1949-1955, one of my colleagues, Robert Besancon, happened to ask me if I had ever read anything on the Post-Trib side. I had to confess that I never had. He recommended two little books by Horner. I read them and was truly astonished to find that the Post-Trib view is the simpler, more Scriptural, and more reasonable of the two. So I am now a Post-Tribulationist. Very interestingly, though, there was at that time on the BJU faculty a great scholar, Dr. Charles Brokenshire, who could teach 25 languages and every subject in the School of Religion. But he was a Post-Tribulationist. Dr. Jones considered him worth more than any other faculty member, perhaps worth more than all of us put together. During the school year 1954-55 Dr. Brokenshire died. After he died Dr. Jones went before his faculty meeting and announced that from that time on he would be true to his old-time promise to the Christians of America that he would strongly emphasize the Pre-Tribulation doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ and that he wanted all his teachers in the School of Religion to stand in favor of that doctrine!"

     Well, it's apparent that the first Dr. Bob had been playing the role of hypocrite! (Dr. Roland Rasmussen, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Canoga Park, California, can verify the late Dr. Bruner's letter. As a BJU prof then, Rasmussen was at the same faculty meeting.)

     Several years ago my wife and I found ourselves chatting on the BJU campus with one of its best-known profs. We were astounded when he admitted that even though that school publicly promotes pretrib, professors can privately hold to differing rapture views as long as they retain at least a premill outlook!

     The year 1973 found me handing out posttrib literature on a Kansas City sidewalk to delegates going into the annual conference of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. It was easy for them to react by saying bluntly "We're pretrib!" and just as easy for me to say just as bluntly "Not only is pretrib not in the Bible, but it isn't in even your GARBC statement of faith!" After I widely aired their hypocrisy, they added pretrib wording to their official statement during a following conference so that their doctrine could finally begin practicing what the GARBC "doctors" had long been preaching!

     A Dec. 31, 1983 letter written on Southeastern College of the Assemblies of God stationery by one of their profs, J. Bashford Bishop, contained these shocks:

     "Thanks for the book. [I had given him my 1983 book The Great Rapture Hoax.] I'll do what I can to circulate your book through our Assemblies of God [who], as you know, are opposed to Post-tribism. Make a point of getting acquainted with Joseph Flower, our General Secy. at headquarters in Springfield. He and I were schoolmates and both of us were Post-trib then and ever since. He would be glad to discuss with you the subject----a real man of God."

     We'd been doing research there in Springfield, Missouri that winter and soon enjoyed two hour-long chats with Flower, the No. 2 AG leader. Secretaries outside his open office door could easily hear everything discussed. I asked how he could hold to a non-approved rapture view. He replied that AG ministers are required to uphold pretrib but privately can believe any other rapture view. When I remarked that such a rule encourages hypocrisy, Flower sheepishly agreed. Incidentally, those chats took place several years before any of the hypocrisy-filled scandals having to do with Bakker and Swaggart, two AG ministers!

     What you've just read is a tiny fraction of the gigantic amount of pretrib dishonesty uncovered by my decades-long research. To get your money's worth, get my 300-page book The Rapture Plot via armageddonbooks.com or by phoning 800.643.4645.