Walvoord, John: The Rapture Prior To The Tribulation

In our introductory study yesterday, we considered primarily two passages of scripture. First, briefly, uh, on chapter fourteen, which Dr. Ralph Kuiper dealt with so well last evening, presents the central truth that we do not need to be troubled because the Lord is coming for us, and that the rapture is a one-way street from earth to heaven, in contrast to the second coming of Christ to establish his kingdom, which is a one-way street from heaven to the earth. If you've ever been on a one-way street, you know the problems if you're going the wrong direction, and certainly, theologically, this sets apart the rapture from the second coming. Then, in First Thessalonians four, probably the major passage on the doctrine of the rapture in the New Testament, Paul answered the question of the relationship between the resurrection of Christians and the translation of living Christians at the time of the Lord's return. And in effect, he said they will occur at the same time. We will go up together to meet the Lord in the air. And he used this doctrine for practical application. You'll notice in every passage on the rapture, there is doctrine, there is also practical application. And of course, in First Thessalonians four there is first of all the practical application of being sure that we're ready for the Lord's return, the contrast of Christian hope to that of no hope for the non-Christian. But mostly, in First Thessalonians four, as addressed to Christians, it is a message of comfort to those who had lost loved ones in Christ, that the Lord could be coming. And I pointed out in the passage how there is nothing intervening, the possible return of Christ to catch up his church and the time in which we're living, an imminent return. Now, as we move on to First Thessalonians five, we come to a passage that is exceedingly complicated, and yet in its presentation is amazingly simple. In the Greek New Testament, in First Thessalonians four thirteen, it introduced the rapture by the Greek word death, which means this is a new thought, this is a new idea. Now, First Thessalonians five is introduced with the same word, so we're warned of a change in subject. And yet, as we read it, we discover that it's not an entirely new subject, but simply a natural question arising out of the preceding context. And in a word, it's precisely the question that was raised last evening. That is, when is the rapture going to occur? We have to face the fact, nineteen hundred years after the first coming of Christ, that the fact that the rapture is presented as an imminent event in the Bible does not necessarily make it soon. It is talking about possibility that it could happen any day, as far as our understanding is concerned. And because it's presented in this way, many of us believe that it must be harmonized with the truth about the Great Tribulation as an event which precedes it. Otherwise it would not be truly imminent. Now notice the opening verses. But of the times and seasons, brethren, that is, of the general time and of the specific time, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. Now here Paul is appealing to previous knowledge. He goes on to say in verse two, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Now, before we get into this, what is he saying? He is saying that the fulfillment of the rapture is an event without preceding signs. That as far as our understanding and knowledge is concerned, it could occur any day. A thief does not send a notice when he is going to arrive. He comes unannounced and unheralded, and so it will be with the rapture of the church. And accordingly, we believe the Bible clearly teaches that there are no signs of the rapture. Now, Bible scholars have gone off into two extremes on this. One is that some have tried to determine the time of the Lord's return. I constantly get letters from people who do think they've discovered the secret of the date of the Lord's return. And in the history of the church, there have been hundreds of guesses. So far, they've all been wrong. Then there is the other side. There is something about a Christian who is heavily involved in the world that makes them sometimes wish that the Lord won't come soon. They want to carry out their program first. They have plans. And so the concept of an imminent return of Christ is not too welcome. And so they welcome the concept and the emphasis that not only we can't know when the Lord's coming, but there is a great possibility that it may be greatly delayed. Now, I think the truth is in the middle. On the one hand, the Lord doesn't tell us when he's coming. On the other hand, the Bible clearly teaches a great deal of detail on the period which will immediately follow the rapture. And I personally believe that in the world today, we are seeing an amazing lining up of things that will lead to fulfillment of prophecy after the rapture. For instance, as we go through the scriptures, we find many things: Israel in the land, the movement towards world government, the movement towards world religion, movement towards world economic system, Russia in its place as a great nation to the north, Red China is a great nation to the east. We see so many, many evidences, even the state of the church moving toward a world church. All of these things are precisely the situation that is described as following the rapture. Now, most of these things have come into focus and into reality in our lifetime. And I think God assumes that we're not stupid, that we can read our newspapers, that we know what's going on. That does not require spiritual discernment. As we see these major elements that are perfectly obvious in our world, it should say something to us if the stage is being set for the events which will follow the rapture. It does not take much logic to realize that the rapture could be very near, and yet it's also true that we cannot set dates. God could maintain this present situation for many years if he so chose. But now this passage in First Thessalonians five specifically addresses itself to the question, when is this going to happen? What is the general characteristics of this period? What is the particular time that the rapture will come? And Paul says, it's like a thief coming in the night. You do not have any schedule. No preceding event can be pinned down as absolutely necessary for the rapture of the church. Now, supposing Paul was a post-tribulationist, and I pointed out yesterday that probably the leading problem within premillennialism and the evangelical discussion of this subject is whether the church is raptured before the end time troubles as the first event, or whether it comes as a phase of the second coming of Christ after all the preceding events. Now, supposing Paul was a post-tribulation, and the Thessalonian Christians presented him with the question, when is the rapture going to occur? Our loved ones have died. When will we see them again if the Lord comes? It is obvious that Paul could have replied exactly as Christ replied when the disciples came to him in Matthew twenty four and said, what are the signs of thy coming and the end of the age? And they were talking about the second coming of Christ to establish his kingdom. Now, if the rapture occurs at the same time, then the same signs would have been appropriate, and Paul could have written them even without the book of Revelation on the basis of Daniel's prophet- prophecy. Why, I must tell you that there are events which must occur first before Christ can return. That there has to be a dictator in the Middle East. That there has to be a seven-year covenant with Israel. There has to be a war with Russia. There has to be a world government, a world religion, a world economic system, and that world government must go on for three and a half years. There must be a time of great judgment of God, and then finally there must be a gigantic world war with armies coming to the Holy Land from the north and from the east and from the south. Daniel eleven, beginning in verse forty, describes this for us very clearly. In other words, on the basis of Old Testament revelation, Paul could have articulated the major events which unmistakably must precede the second coming of Christ. And he doesn't do it. Why not? Because I believe what he is teaching here very clearly is that these events will follow the rapture, not preceding. There are no signs for the rapture. The signs all relate to the second coming of Christ to set up his kingdom. Now, if you consult commentaries on First Thessalonians five, you'll discover that they are in great disarray and confusion and contradiction. And it's difficult to find commentaries that are good on this particular section. Some years ago, I wrote a brief exposition of the Thessalonian epistles, and of course I dealt with this passage. More recently, D. E. Hebert has come out with an excellent commentary published by Moody Press on the Thessalonian epistles. In my estimation, it's the finest recent commentary on this book, and it makes unnecessary anybody else trying to do it again. It really deals well with this. Now, the key to this chapter is the question as to what the day of the Lord is. And I'm sometimes amazed at scholars, particularly post-tribulational scholars, without any attempt to finding a biblical definition of this term, that automatically jump to the conclusion that the day of the Lord equals the second coming of Christ. Now, there's no need for that, because in the Old Testament, the term the day of the Lord occurs again and again and again. Moody Press recently published a work, I believe, by Walter Price on the day of the Lord in the book of Joel, a major contribution which sets this thing, I think, in its right perspective. What is the day of the Lord? Now, I hesitate to take the time, but because the passage and its interpretation hangs upon this, let me turn to four Old Testament passages. First of all, turn to Isaiah chapter two. Isaiah chapter two, beginning in verse twelve. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone who is proud and lofty, upon everyone who is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. And then it goes on to speak of the judgment of God upon the wicked. Now, this passage introduces the fact that in the Old Testament, the expression the day of the Lord covers any situation where God deals directly with human sin. And there are many portions on the day of the Lord in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in the Old Testament. In other words, it's not a technical term referring only to one period of time. It refers to any time when God deals directly with human sin. Now turn on to Isaiah chapter thirteen. The passage begins in verse six, but let me read beginning in verse nine. Isaiah thirteen: Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light. The sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine. And I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. Now, because of the description here of the disruption in the heavens, which as far as I know, never occurred in any historic fulfillment of the day of the Lord, we are taken forward in prophecy to the future time of the Great Tribulation, and we'll talk more of that in a moment. In other words, there are portions in the Old Testament which anticipate the whole series of judgments that lead up to the second coming of Christ, especially the whole great tribulation, and the Old Testament speaks of it frequently, and it will have its fulfillment in the future. Then there is another side to this, and that's found in the book of Zephaniah, chapter three. The day of the Lord is not only a time of judgment on the world, it is also a time of direct blessing, and here it anticipates the millennial reign of Christ, a period in which God will deal directly with human sin and righteousness. And in verse fourteen of Zephaniah, chapter three we read, Sing, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem, for the Lord hath taken away the judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy, the king of Israel, even the Lord is in the midst of thee. Thou shalt not see evil anymore. In that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear thou not, and to Zion, let not thine hand be slacked. And it goes on to say how they're going to rejoice in the direct blessings of God upon the people of Israel and the millennial kingdom. Now, as we think it through, we see that what the Bible is telling us is that in contrast to our present day of grace, when God is not dealing with human sin, at least in a universal or general way, that the day is coming, and I believe it begins with the rapture of the church, when God is going to deal directly with human sin. And it introduces a day, not a twenty four hour day, but a long period of time, beginning with the rapture, going right on through the tribulation and the second coming of Christ, and extending right on for the next thousand years till the end of the millennial kingdom. You see, in contrast to our present day, when God is not directly dealing with the world, beginning with the rapture, he will begin to deal directly with human sin, and this will continue throughout the millennial kingdom, when the Bible says he will rule as an earthly king of kings and lord of lords with a rod of iron. Now, when the millennium ends, Second Peter three intimates that there'll still be a third day, a day of God. Some equate this with the day of the Lord. It's going to begin, I believe, when the day of the Lord ends, at the end of the millennium. And the day of God is the eternal day in the new heaven and the new earth and the new Jerusalem. But now coming back to our reference to the day of the Lord, in First Thessalonians five, the Apostle Paul says that the day of the Lord cometh like a thief in the night. Why does he mention this subject when he's talking actually in the context about the rapture of the church? The answer is quite simple, and really it's rather amazing that even the post-tribulationists agree. The point is that the day of the Lord begins when the rapture occurs. Our only difference of opinion is that we be- the day of the Lord begins before the tribulation and includes it, whereas the post-tribulationists want to put the day of the Lord way at the end of the sequence of events in Revelation, and make it a part of the second coming of Christ. Now, we have still another passage, which I wish we had time to discuss, found in Joel chapter two, verse thirty and thirty one, which is also quoted, you remember, in Acts two seventeen to twenty one. And here we read this in Joel two: I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. Now, here we must understand what the Bible means when it says here, and what it says in First Thessalonians five, as the day of the Lord coming. You'll analyze all the many passages, and we've just touched a few of them. You'll find the day of the Lord is first any period where God deals directly with sin. Second, it is a time period that uses the symbolism of a twenty-four-hour day, which begins at midnight and ends at midnight. That is a day. And then sometimes it speaks of the day of the Lord in relation to the major events as coming in that day. And they are saying, in effect, when this event is taking place, the day of the Lord has come. Now there's a difference between having come and beginning. In other words, we have to recognize the distinction between the events which occur in the day and the time period in which they fall. Now turning back to First Thessalonians chapter five, what does he tell us? He said of the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves know perfectly. He'd already instructed them that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. And so when you go to the book of Revelation, what do you read? Why, you read in chapter six that, uh, in the fourth seal, that one fourth of the Earth's population is destroyed. You read on into the fifth and sixth seals, you discover that the heavens are disturbed, the sun and the moon and the stars, there are earthquakes, tremendous things. And then when the seventh seal is opened in the sequence of major events in the book of Revelation, out of this comes a whole series of sevens called trumpets, each one of them a judgment, usually extending to one third of the earth. And the sixth trumpet, you'll remember in chapter nine, describes it as being so devastating that a third of the earth's population is destroyed. Now, if the fourth seal accounts for twenty five percent, and the sixth trumpet takes a third of the remainder. A little mathematics will show you that half the world has been destroyed. And then when the seventh trump sounds, out of this comes the seven vials or bowls of the wrath of God, chapter sixteen, each of them following the symbolism of a full bowl poured out on the earth. And usually it is a devastating judgment extending to the whole world, climaxing in the seventh bowl, which is a great earthquake, which literally shakes the earth to pieces, and the cities of the nations of the Gentiles are shaken to pieces. Jerusalem seems to be the exception, it still stands. Now, all of this scene of desolation in the Great Tribulation is the day of the Lord. The judgments don't begin at the end of the tribulation, it includes the whole period. Now, just as in our twenty four hour day period, when midnight comes, most of us, if we're where we belong, we're in bed asleep, and we're unconscious of the passing from one day to the next, and we don't know what's going to happen until the alarm clock goes off, whenever that is in the morning. That's really when our day, as far as events, begin. And then we move on through the day. Our day may begin at eight o'clock in class or in the office, or it may begin with breakfast or something else, but the events are in the time period. Now, I believe it's just that way with the day of the Lord. It begins with the rapture. Now, things don't happen immediately. God doesn't immediately pour out his judgments on the world. He has to set the stage first, and that occurs in the early hours of the day of the Lord, and the treaty must be signed. The three and a half years of peace must be fulfilled. The war with Russia must take place. Then the great tribulation begins, as Christ brings out in Matthew twenty four, beginning in verse fifteen, and then the judgments of the day of the Lord begin. Three and a half years of terrible, terrible judgments. And so when Paul speaks here that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night, he means just that. It comes without any warning, and it comes as far as the Christian is concerned with the rapture of the church. Now notice verse three: When they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Now, please note that the day of the Lord begins with peace and safety. That is, the world is going to be saying peace and safety. Now, if you read what the Bible teaches about the Great Tribulation, they certainly are not going to be saying peace and safety just before the Lord comes in his second coming. The world is going to be engaged in the greatest conflict of war that the world's ever seen. It's going to be a time of terrible bloodshed, a terrible time of trial and trouble. But in the earlier period, immediately after the rapture, there may seem to be a false peace, and this is going to be, uh, aided by the peace treaty with Israel, which begins the final seven-day period. And so they're going to say peace and safety. But then three and a half years later, when the Great Tribulation hits, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travel upon a woman with child. Now he says, you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Now notice he's contrasting not simply situations, but times. You see, the world is going to be plunged into the day of the Lord, and he says, you are not, you don't belong to that day. Verse five: uh ye are the sons of light, the sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Now here he's contrasting that in a twenty-four-hour day period, there is darkness and there is light, but you and I don't belong to the darkness of that day of the Lord. And so he gives us an application, verse six: Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober-minded. Watch for what? The beast and the false prophet? No. Watch for the great tribulation? No. Our hope is what he spoke of in the preceding chapter, the rapture of the church, the coming of the Lord. Let us s- not sleep as do others, let us watch and be sober-minded. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, they that are drunk are drunk in the night. But let us, that is believers who belong to this present day of grace, let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation. You see, our hope is not the day of the Lord. Our hope is the rapture of the church. And then he concludes in verse nine: for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, one of the things that's very obvious is that the Great Tribulation is a time of divine wrath and a time of satanic wrath. Both are true. There are some post-tribulational scholars that try to build a distinction on this, and they say it's a time of satanic wrath, but not of divine wrath, and therefore the Christian will escape. We all agree that Christians are going to escape divine wrath, but if it's a time of satanic wrath, against whom is satanic wrath directed? Why, it's obviously directed against those who are the children of God, and instead of proving that Christians can go through the Great Tribulation unscathed, it proves just exactly the opposite. If we are going to be plunged into a time of satanic wrath in the Great Tribulation, the probability is that we would be one of that great throng. In Revelation chapter seven, the multitude which no man can number of every kindred tongue and people are seen in heaven. When the question is raised, where did they come from? The answer is these are they who came out of the Great Tribulation. They came out of it by sealing their testimony as martyrs with their own blood. And if the church has to go through the tribulation, its possibility is remote. Mathematically, if you believe Revelation and what it teaches about the tribulation, if we're going to go through the tribulation, your chance is about one in ten of survival. And I frankly don't think that that is a comforting hope, or a hope that should lead us to the conclusion that our hearts should not be troubled. Now you notice in verse nine again, the contrast between days, not simply situations. He is saying, our appointment is not to this time period, to this time of wrath. Our appointment is to salvation. We are living in a day of grace, a day when Christ is coming for his own. And so, as we conclude this portion of study, what do we find? In answer to the major question as to when the rapture is going to occur, this passage says nobody knows. It's going to occur like a thief coming in the night. But when it comes, it's going to begin the day of the Lord, and a time of unprecedented trouble and judgment from God. How grateful we can be that we are living in a day of grace. I do not mean to say by this that there was no grace in the Old Testament, and that there will be no grace in the tribulation. There will be many thousands. Thousands will be saved after the rapture of the church, the same way that we are, by faith in Christ. But they weren't ready when the rapture came, and so they're left behind. But how wonderful it is to live in this day of grace and realize that the foreboding scriptures that describe in such dramatic terms this great day of the Lord when God is going to deal directly with human sin. This is not our appointment. Our appointment is to meet the Lord in the air, and then proceed in triumph to the Father's house, and to be forever with the Lord. To be sure, we're going to be involved in the second coming, but it's not a question of our rising from earth to meet him. We're going to be in that procession. We're going to be part of the victory. When Christ comes back in power and glory from heaven, accompanied by the saints and angels, we're going to be in that procession, and we're going to come back to the earth, and Christ is going to bring in his millennial kingdom. He is going to judge the wicked. He is going to deliver the godly remnant of Israel and those among the Gentiles who are still living, who are saved, the sheep of Matthew twenty five, if you please. He's going to deliver them and usher them into his millennial kingdom. But our hope is the coming of the Lord. How soon is it going to come? Well, all the present indications to me are that we may well be moving into that generation when this is fulfilled. It seems like the whole world today is living in a state of expectation. I don't care whom you read, whether it's the secular writer, the atheist, or what, they all expect something is about to happen. And whether it's atomic war, or whether it's a tremendous energy crisis, a tremendous change in culture, in our habits of life, no one expects the world to be the same twenty five years from now. Everyone that has any sensitivity to what's going on in our world predicts dramatic change, more dramatic change in twenty five years than have occurred in the last nineteen hundred. It seems that if God is saying something to us, while on the one hand we should not be over eager to try to pin the date of the Lord's return, something that no one can do. On the other hand, we should not be blind to the many indications on every hand that God may be winding things up. Now, what should we do about it? Well, this passage gives us some of the exhortation. We should watch and be sober. We should be busy about the Lord's return. We should be busy in evangelism. If you really believe that Christ is coming, and he's coming soon, it'll be a spur to every kind of Christian testimony and endeavor, and the time may be short. And if God is saying anything to this generation through prophecy, it's get busy, full speed ahead, do everything you possibly can to further the cause of Jesus Christ. For one of these days, without any warning, suddenly there'll be a shout from the blue, and almost before we realize what's happening, earth will recede and heaven will open, and we will see our Lord and Savior face to face. And all about us will be our friends and loved ones in Christ. One great family reunion, never to be separated again, to be forever with the Lord. Shall we pray? Our Father, we thank thee for this word from the inspired pen of Paul, as he tells us that the Lord could come without signs, without warnings, and that unlike the world that isn't ready, we should be ready. O our Father, if there is one in the sound of my voice who isn't ready, because he's never really put his trust in Jesus Christ, never really accepted what Christ did when he died on the cross for our sins and rose again, never really committed himself to the free gift of God, salvation through Jesus Christ. We pray as we live in these prophetic days that we may not miss what God is saying. Get ready. The Son of God is coming. When he comes, if you're not ready, it'll be too late to be included in the rapture. And so, our Father, give us that sense of expectancy, this sense of excitement. Help us to love his appearing, to eagerly greet each new day, possibly the time of our gathering together into him. How wonderful it'd be, even in this prophetic conference, right in the middle of all these activities, suddenly we should transfer to heaven. What rejoicing, what blessing, what joy to our hearts. So speak to us, Lord, make these truths plain to us, for we ask in Christ's name, amen.