Left Behind, Tribulation Force, Nicolae...

[the_human_being]

pretrib= pretribulation rapture. The church (born again Christians) will be raptured before God pours out His wrath on unbeliever's.

Scripture actually stating this please?

1 thes ch.4


The Return of the Lord
…15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.…

Didn't see anything here about a pretrib rapture. I do see the resurrection of the saints occurring at the "coming of the Lord" which is after the Great Tribulation.

Again, please post actual scripture stating your pre-trib rapture of the Church.

I am not sure which way the rapture will be. It is still a work in progress for me, though here is some interesting arguments made for a pre-trib rapture.

Sixteen scriptural proofs that the rapture is pre-tribulation *
Proof #1: Revelation 19:11-21 doesn't mention a resurrection.
The rapture is a resurrection of those "in Christ" (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Isn't it a little bit odd that in Rev. 19:11-21, which is the clearest picture of the second coming of Christ, there is no mention of a resurrection? The rapture will be the biggest event since the resurrection of Jesus where hundreds of millions of Christians will be resurrected and translated, yet there isn't any mention here. Don't you think it deserves at least one verse? The rapture isn't mentioned because it doesn't happen at the second coming.

Proof #2: Zechariah 14:1-15 doesn't mention a resurrection.
This is an Old Testament picture of Jesus returning to earth at the second coming. Again, no mention of a resurrection.

Proof #3: Two different pictures are painted.
In the Old Testament, there were two different pictures painted of the Messiah—one suffering (Isa. 53:2-10, Ps. 22:6-8, 11-18) and one reigning as King (Ps. 2:6-12, Zech. 14:9,16). As we look back on these scriptures, we see they predicted two separate comings of the Messiah—the 1st coming as a suffering Messiah and the 2nd coming (still future) as a reigning King.

In the New Testament, we have another picture added. Again, we have two pictures painted which don’t look the same. These two different descriptions of Jesus’ coming point to two separate events we call "the rapture" and "the second coming."

Proof #4: The Known Day and the Unknown Day.
Concerning the return of Jesus, the Bible presents a day we can't know and a day we can know. Matthew 25:13 says Jesus will return at an unknown time, while Revelation 12:6 says the Jews will have to wait 1,260 days for the Lord to return. The 1,260 days begins when the Antichrist stands in the Temple and declares himself to be God (Matt. 24:15-21, 2 Thess. 2:4) This event will take place at the mid-point of the seven year Tribulation (Dan 9:27). The Antichrist has authority to rule for 42 months, which is 1,260 days (Rev. 13:4) and will be destroyed by Jesus at His second coming (Rev. 19:20, 2 Thess. 2:8). The known and unknown days must happen at different times, meaning they are two separate events.

Proof #5: A door open in heaven (Revelation 4:1).
The door in heaven is opened to let John into heaven. We believe John's call into heaven is prophetic of the Church being caught up at the rapture (see proof #6). In Revelation 19:11, heaven is opened again, this time to let the armies which are already in heaven out. This is the Church, which has been raptured at a previous time, following Jesus out of heaven at the second coming.

Proof #6: "Come up here." (Revelation 4:1).
A voice called for the apostle John to "Come up here," and immediately he was in heaven. This could be a prophetic reference to the rapture of the Church. The words "Come up here" are spoken to the two witnesses who are killed in the middle of the Tribulation, who are resurrected and ascend into heaven (Rev. 11:12). Therefore, the phrase "Come up here" could mean the Church is raptured in Rev. 4:1. The word "Church" is mentioned 22 times in Rev. 1-3, but is not mentioned again until Rev. 22:17.

**Proof #7: The 24 elders have their crowns.
After John is called up into heaven, he sees the 24 elders with their crowns (Rev. 4:4-10). We know that Christians will receive their rewards (crowns) at the rapture (2 Tim. 4:8, 1 Pet. 5:4). We will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14). The elders couldn't receive their crowns unless the resurrection (rapture) has taken place.

Proof #8 Holy ones are already with Jesus in heaven (Zech. 14:5, Rev. 19:14).
The armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, follow Jesus out of heaven at His second coming (Rev. 19:14, Zech. 14:5, Col. 3:4). These are not angels because Rev. 19:8 tells us the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. In order to come out of heaven we first have to go in, indicating a previous rapture.

Proof #9: Kept from the hour of testing (Rev. 3:10).
Revelation 3:10 says we will be kept out of the hour of testing which will come upon the whole earth (the Tribulation). Some have wrongly believed "keep" means to keep through, or protect through the Tribulation. Suppose you approach a high voltage area with a sign that says, "Keep Out." Does that mean you can enter and be protected? No, it means you are forbidden from entering the area. But this verse also says He will keep us from the hour of testing. It is not just the testing, but the time period. If a student is excused from a test, he still may have to sit in the class while others take the test. But if he is excused from the hour of testing, he can go home. The Church will be called home before the hour of testing.

Proof #10: Angels don't resurrect people when they gather them for judgment.
When the angels are sent forth to gather the elect at the second coming (Matt. 24:29-31), some have wrongly interpreted this as the rapture. There is one huge problem with this interpretation. If we are resurrected at this time, why would we need angels to gather us? In the resurrection, we will be like the angels (Matt. 22:30), able to travel in the air at will. Obviously, these people who are gathered are not resurrected, therefore it can't be the rapture. No one would claim the wicked are raptured at this time, yet Matthew 13:39-41, 49 says the angels will not only gather the elect, but also the wicked. This gathering is not a resurrection.

Proof #11: Both wicked and righteous both can't be taken first.
First Thessalonians 4:13-17 says the righteous are taken and the wicked are left behind. Matthew 13:30, 49 says the wicked are taken first and righteous are left behind. This points to two separate events, the rapture and the second coming.

Proof #12: Jesus returns from the wedding.
When Jesus returns to earth at the second coming, He will return from a wedding (Luke 12:36). At the rapture, Jesus is married to His bride, the Church. After the wedding, He will return to earth.

Proof #13: Jesus will receive us to Himself, not us to receive Him (John 14:2-3).
Jesus said He would prepare a place for the Church in heaven, then He would come again to receive us to Himself. Why would Jesus prepare a place for us in heaven and then not take us there? At the rapture, He will come to receive us to Himself, "that where I am (heaven), there you may be also." If the rapture occurred at the same time as the second coming, we would go up to the clouds and then immediately come back to earth. That would contradict John 14:2-3.

Proof #14: The one who restrains is taken out of the way.
In 2 Thess. 2:6-7, Paul says "the one who restrains will be taken out of the way" before the Antichrist can be revealed. We believe this refers to the rapture because the Church is clearly the biggest obstacle to the Antichrist becoming a world ruler.

Proof #15: The separation of the sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-46).
If the rapture occurred at the second coming, why would the sheep and the goats need to be separated immediately after the second coming? A rapture at the second coming would have already separated the sheep and the goats. With a Pre-Tribulation rapture, the people saved after the rapture will need to be separated after the second coming.

Proof #16: Who will populate the Millennium?
If the rapture occurs at the second coming and the wicked are cast into hell at that time, who will be left to populate the millennium? Only people in their natural (non-resurrected) bodies will be able to have children (Matt. 22:30). With a Pre-Tribulation rapture, the people saved after the rapture who are alive at the second coming will populate the earth during the Millennium*16 proofs are from Cornerstone Church garden city Kansas website **(I do not think proof 7 is valid since I do not believe the 24 elders are the Church)
http://www.fellowshiponline.org/bib.html

There is no rapture. There are two or more resurrections. The first resurrection is the resurrection of the saints who are brought forth from their graves or changed at the appearance of the Christ at His coming into spirit beings having eternal life and who will reign with Christ in the earthly Kingdom. The Second Resurrection and possibly the third one is the resurrection of all the remainder of mankind into flesh and blood human beings again.

Your argument is not very convincing, on just your say so. Show me some proof.

Certainly: The Rapture A Popular but False Doctrine - World News and Prophecy United Church of God

 

[the_human_being]

The Bible speaks of two things occurring in the end times. It speaks of a Great Tribulation brought on by world events and the policies of one entity popularly called the antichrist. Secondly, it speaks of the wrath of God being poured out on the earth. Christians will go through the Great Tribulation. The wrath God pours out upon the earth appears to be a selective wrath in that believers are sealed (not removed or raptured off the earth) and protected from the effects of God's wrath.

Tribulation is hardly anything new. Christ's own inner circle, the Apostles, suffered great tribulation. Most all of them suffered death. The recent murders and rapes of Christians in Iraq was a great tribulation to them. None of these folks were raptured. The word "rapture" does not appear anywhere within the text of the entire Bible. The words "falling away" simply means "apostasy" according to Strong's Concordance. The rapture theory is a man-made, feel-good theory that was not preached in the early Church, by the Apostles, nor by Christ. The rapture theory only appeared in the 1600's.

 

[Mad Scientist]

"Pre-Tribulation Rapture" is a Lie designed to get Good Christians to take all the persecution that gets dished to them and not complain because God is gonna' save you from all that.

It aint gonna' happen. How many Martyrs got Raptured? Has Rapture ever happened before? No.

Don't bet on it EVER happening.

 

[ninja007]

"Pre-Tribulation Rapture" is a Lie designed to get Good Christians to take all the persecution that gets dished to them and not complain because God is gonna' save you from all that.

It aint gonna' happen. How many Martyrs got Raptured? Has Rapture ever happened before? No.

Don't bet on it EVER happening.

you guys are clueless...

 

[Delta4Embassy]

As some of you know, I've been reading the "Left Behind" series by Jenkins and LaHay about the rapture and tribulation period before the "Great Appearing." I'm on the 3rd book now, "Nicolae: The Rise of the AntiChrist."

As I said before, some crazy, scary stuff!

Before this, I had never read Revalation, and I don't remember EVER hearing about any of this in church, except for the perfunctory phrase in the Apostle's Creed, "Christ will come again the judge the living and the dead."

Do your churches discuss it? I kind of thought only fringe, holy-roller, Bible-thumping churches (and I don't mean that to be offensive--seriously) ever brought up stuff like the 4 horses of the Apocolypse.

What have been your experiences?

Premium cable series "The Leftovers" is about the Rapture (though they kinda gloss over the actual cause and deal with things years afterwords.)

Were some halfway decent movies made about the Left Behind series too. See em on local religious channels every now and then.

Rapture though isn't Biblical but something a Protestant invented out of thin air in the 1800s. So before cashing in your IRA should learn about what you're believing:

"Authors generally maintain that the pre-tribulation Rapture doctrine originated in the eighteenth century, with the Puritan preachers Increase and Cotton Mather, and was then popularized in the 1830s by John Darby.[12][13] Others, including Grant Jeffrey, maintain that an earlier, 373 A.D. document called Ephraem or Pseudo-Ephraem already supported a pre-tribulation rapture.[14]

Regardless, pre-tribulation rapture theology was popularized extensively in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren,[15] and further popularized in the United States in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible."
Rapture - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[ninja007]

many other early church scholar's believed in the pretrib rapture. The purpose of the trib is 1. punish unbelievers 2. bring Israel back to God. Believers will not be here. But we WILL be returning WITH Jesus to defeat His enemies at the very end of the seven year tribulation, at the battle of armegeddon.

 

[The Irish Ram]

As some of you know, I've been reading the "Left Behind" series by Jenkins and LaHay about the rapture and tribulation period before the "Great Appearing." I'm on the 3rd book now, "Nicolae: The Rise of the AntiChrist."

As I said before, some crazy, scary stuff!

Before this, I had never read Revalation, and I don't remember EVER hearing about any of this in church, except for the perfunctory phrase in the Apostle's Creed, "Christ will come again the judge the living and the dead."

Do your churches discuss it? I kind of thought only fringe, holy-roller, Bible-thumping churches (and I don't mean that to be offensive--seriously) ever brought up stuff like the 4 horses of the Apocolypse.

What have been your experiences?

There is more written about this time in history than any other time on earth. Rev. is a really hard read though. It was rarely taught before this time because there were no signs pointing to it. Now it is like reading the nightly news. I would suggest every one on earth read the Left Behind series or watch the videos because it is indicative of what most qualified preachers and teachers believe is the correct sequence of events prior to the return of Christ.
It is indeed scary, and sad, but has a wonderful ending. The most loving, kind creature in all of creation returns to the place He was butchered, and replaces hate with love. His judgment is this, "I forgive you".

Isaiah 19:25 The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance."

There is a blessing attached to those who understand Rev. I believe that blessing is knowledge a forehand. When you see these things come to pass you will recognize them for what they are, that they have been prophesied, and what they represent.
For instance, without knowledge, the world will see an assassination attempt on a world leader, that he will survive. With knowledge you'll realize that it was a mortal wound, and what survives is Satan inhabiting the body of the man mortally wounded. And when he/it brings statues to life, you won't be fooled into thinking he must be God, he works miracles.

 

[ninja007]

there have already been a few raptures- Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Enoch...

 

[the_human_being]

many other early church scholar's believed in the pretrib rapture. The purpose of the trib is 1. punish unbelievers 2. bring Israel back to God. Believers will not be here. But we WILL be returning WITH Jesus to defeat His enemies at the very end of the seven year tribulation, at the battle of armegeddon.

Please post a link or two in support of your argument that many early church scholars believed this lie.

 

[ninja007]

many other early church scholar's believed in the pretrib rapture. The purpose of the trib is 1. punish unbelievers 2. bring Israel back to God. Believers will not be here. But we WILL be returning WITH Jesus to defeat His enemies at the very end of the seven year tribulation, at the battle of armegeddon.

Please post a link or two in support of your argument that many early church scholars believed this lie.

1. Its not a lie. 2. I'll post proof. 3. Why would the church go through the trib? (God's wrath) 4. do you know the PURPOSE of the trib? 5. Post your evidence, I'll refute every single point. I have been studying this for 20 years.

 

[the_human_being]

many other early church scholar's believed in the pretrib rapture. The purpose of the trib is 1. punish unbelievers 2. bring Israel back to God. Believers will not be here. But we WILL be returning WITH Jesus to defeat His enemies at the very end of the seven year tribulation, at the battle of armegeddon.

Please post a link or two in support of your argument that many early church scholars believed this lie.

1. Its not a lie. 2. I'll post proof. 3. Why would the church go through the trib? (God's wrath) 4. do you know the PURPOSE of the trib? 5. Post your evidence, I'll refute every single point. I have been studying this for 20 years.

Well?? I'm waiting. Where's your proof? You made the statement now back it up.

 

[The Irish Ram]

If those whose names are written in the Book of Life are not removed then God lied about not being appointed to His wrath. We go missing. We are caught up, snatched out of, and Christ's foot never touches the earth when it happens. It is the event that Jerome painstakingly translates from the Greek text into the Latin Vulgate, very early on in History.

To have your name written in the Book of Life, Thank your Redeemer, and ask Him into your heart.

 

[ninja007]

many other early church scholar's believed in the pretrib rapture. The purpose of the trib is 1. punish unbelievers 2. bring Israel back to God. Believers will not be here. But we WILL be returning WITH Jesus to defeat His enemies at the very end of the seven year tribulation, at the battle of armegeddon.

Please post a link or two in support of your argument that many early church scholars believed this lie.

1. Its not a lie. 2. I'll post proof. 3. Why would the church go through the trib? (God's wrath) 4. do you know the PURPOSE of the trib? 5. Post your evidence, I'll refute every single point. I have been studying this for 20 years.

Well?? I'm waiting. Where's your proof? You made the statement now back it up.

tonight...

 

[ninja007]

many other early church scholar's believed in the pretrib rapture. The purpose of the trib is 1. punish unbelievers 2. bring Israel back to God. Believers will not be here. But we WILL be returning WITH Jesus to defeat His enemies at the very end of the seven year tribulation, at the battle of armegeddon.

Please post a link or two in support of your argument that many early church scholars believed this lie.

1. Its not a lie. 2. I'll post proof. 3. Why would the church go through the trib? (God's wrath) 4. do you know the PURPOSE of the trib? 5. Post your evidence, I'll refute every single point. I have been studying this for 20 years.

Well?? I'm waiting. Where's your proof? You made the statement now back it up.

Irenaeus
Irenaeus (130 A.D. – 202 AD) was a bishop of the church in Lyons, France. He was an eyewitness to the Apostle John (who wrote the Book of Revelation) and a disciple of Polycarp, the first of the Apostle John’s disciples. Irenaeus is most-known for his five-volume treatise, Against Heresies in which he exposed the false religions and cults of his day along with advice for how to share the Gospel with those were a part of them.


In his writings on Bible prophecy, he acknowledged the phrase “a time, times and dividing of times” in Daniel 7 to signify the 3 ½ year reign of the Antichrist as ruler of the world before the Second Coming of Christ. He also believed in a literal Millennial reign of Christ on earth following the Second Coming and the resurrection of the just.

On the subject of the Rapture, in Against Heresies 5.29, he wrote:

“Those nations however, who did not of themselves raise up their eyes unto heaven, nor returned thanks to their Maker, nor wished to behold the light of truth, but who were like blind mice concealed in the depths of ignorance, the word justly reckons “as waste water from a sink, and as the turning-weight of a balance — in fact, as nothing;”(1) so far useful and serviceable to the just, as stubble conduces towards the growth of the wheat, and its straw, by means of combustion, serves for working gold. And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, “There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.”(2) For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.”

Irenaeus in this passage describes the church leaving the sinful world just before unprecedented disasters. Note his use of the term “caught up” which is Rapture terminology as that is the meaning of harpazo, the term for “caught up” in the King James Bible describing the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4. He then quotes Matthew 24:21 where The Lord Jesus Christ says: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” And it is during this time that those who convert to Christianity during the final years will receive the incorruptible crown mentioned by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:25. In Irenaeus’ belief, the Rapture took place prior to the end times Great Tribulation.



Cyprian
Cyprian (200 AD – 258 AD) – Cyprian was Bishop of the church in Carthage. During his short stint as leader of the church, he guided the flock through intense persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire. In 258 AD after spending seven months of confinement to his home by order of Roman authorities, he was beheaded for his faith. Several of his works still exist today.

In Treatises of Cyprian he wrote in describing the end times Great Tribulation:

“We who see that terrible things have begun, and know that still more terrible things are imminent, may regard it as the greatest advantage to depart from it as quickly as possible. Do you not give God thanks, do you not congratulate yourself, that by an early departure you are taken away, and delivered from the shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent? Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free from the snares of the world and restores us to paradise and the kingdom.”

Again we see use of language commonly found in reference to the Rapture as Cyprian describes the judgments of the end times as “imminent.” And he makes his belief on the timing of the Rapture when he wrote that Christians will have an “early departure” and be “delivered” from the devastating global judgments that come during the Day of The Lord.
In line with the Apostle Paul who wrote that “God has not appointed us to wrath, but salvation..” Cyprian expressed joy and encourages the believing reader to rejoice that the Church will be “taken away” before the disastrous Great Tribulation. Just as The Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 24 used the same language of one “taken away” and the other “left.” Additionally Cyprian references the mansions which The Lord Jesus Christ promises to come back and take His believers to in John 14.

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” – John 14:1-3.

As Beginning and End detailed in our article “The Red Moon Rapture – The Biblical Timing of The Rapture”, in both the Matthew 24 passages (“one taken, the other left”) and in John 14 (“..receive you unto myself..”) the Greek work paralambanō is used for taken and receive. The meaning of that word is “join to one’s self” indicating that Jesus is coming to fully unify with His church – which takes place at the Rapture. Clearly Cyprian believed and taught that the Rapture takes place before the Great Tribulation.

Ephraim The Syrian

Ephraim (306 AD – 373 AD) was made a deacon in the church in Syria in 338 and later became the bishop of Nisibis. Although he was made a “saint” in the Roman Catholic Church, he was not involved in Catholicism and did not even live in the Roman Empire until the final years of his life. The book Pseudo Ephraim was one of his still existing works. It was called “Pseudo” because of later dispute over authorship. However the book’s one reference to the rapture is very compelling:

In his work, On The Last Times 2, he wrote:

“We ought to understand thoroughly therefore, my brothers, what is imminent or overhanging. Already there have been hunger and plagues, violent movements of nations and signs, which have been predicted by the Lord, they have already been fulfilled (consummated), and there is not other which remains, except the advent of the wicked one in the completion of the Roman kingdom. Why therefore are we occupied with worldly business, and why is our mind held fixed on the lusts of the world or on the anxieties of the ages? Why therefore do we not reject every care of worldly business, and why is our mind held fixed on the lusts of the world or on the anxieties of the ages? Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from the confusion, which overwhelms all the world? Believe you me, dearest brother, because the coming (advent) of the Lord is nigh, believe you me, because the end of the world is at hand, believe me, because it is the very last time.

Or do you not believe unless you see with your eyes? See to it that this sentence be not fulfilled among you of the prophet who declares: “Woe to those who desire to see the day of the Lord!” For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins. And so, brothers most dear to me, it is the eleventh hour, and the end of the world comes to the harvest, and angels, armed and prepared, hold sickles in their hands, awaiting the empire of the Lord. And we think that the earth exists with blind infidelity, arriving at its downfall early. Commotions are brought forth, wars of diverse peoples and battles and incursions of the barbarians threaten, and our regions shall be desolated, and we neither become very much afraid of the report nor of the appearance, in order that we may at least do penance; because they hurl fear at us, and we do not wish to be changed, although we at least stand in need of penance for our actions!”

With a sense of urgency and strong warning, Ephraim writes that the end times are upon this world and could start at any moment. This text very clearly states the saints and elect of God, all born again believers in The Lord Jesus Christ, will be “taken to the Lord” before the Great Tribulation. Ephraim also identifies the Old Testament “Day of The Lord” and the end times Great tribulation as the same event (in line with the teachings of the Beginning and End Rapture Series). Ephraim quotes Amos 5:18 which says: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.”

The point he makes is that a Christian should know the Day of The Lord is coming. In the first part of the passage Ephraim notes that:
“We ought to understand thoroughly therefore, my brothers, what is imminent or overhanging. Already there have been hunger and plagues, violent movements of nations and signs, which have been predicted by the Lord, they have already been fulfilled (consummated)” And not only that but that true Christians will be taken away before it starts.
Here he is describing the first 3 of the first 4 seals of Revelation 6 – wars, famines and plagues. These are the same end times signs Jesus Christ describes in Matthew 24:

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. – Matthew 24:3-8.

Jesus describes these events as “the beginning of sorrows.” He also says that when these things come to pass “the end is not yet.” Ephraim’s writing agrees with this interpretation as he says those same events have been “fulfilled (consummated)” in his day, but it was still not the actual Great Tribulation. This also falls in line with Beginning and End’s Rapture series as explained in our article Who Are The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse? (The first four seals of Revelation 6 were opened at the time Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven. And the rapture itself does not occur until the opening of the 6th Seal.)

Ephraim in very strong language warns the reader not to be consumed with the cares of the world because the world in its current form, is coming to an end. As the Second Advent or Coming of The Lord Jesus Christ grows near, believers are to look to Heaven and set their hearts on pleasing God. It is clear that Ephraim distinguishes the Second Coming of Christ from the rapture, placing the Rapture before the Great Tribulation to come.

The Early Church Believed In The Rapture


The ancient writings are clear – the belief in the Rapture has existed since the days of the Apostles.

Although there are not a great number of writings on the end times from the early centuries of the church, there is no question that there was a belief in the Rapture among the church fathers and they taught it with strong language and scriptural support. In terms of the timing of the Rapture, the early church fathers placed it before the end times Day of The Lord/Great Tribulation. The writings of early saints in the church are not Scripture and should not be treated on the same level of the Bible. These writings also do not “prove” that the pre-Great Tribulation Rapture or the Beginning and End Rapture series are correct. Only rightly divided Scripture from the Bible can determine if a specific belief is accurate or in error. But the writings of church fathers can serve as useful commentaries (just as we use Bible commentaries today in our studies) and certainly prove that the Rapture doctrine existed well before John Darby and has been a part of Christian belief since the earliest days of the Apostles.


What Did Ancient Church Fathers Believe About The Rapture Beginning And End​

 

[ninja007]

KEEP IN MIND Jesus always talked about watching and imminency for His return.

 

[ninja007]

Defending The Pre-trib Rapture

 

[ninja007]