When discussing the Post Tribulation Rapture doctrine with a friend, her immediate response was not, “What does the Bible say?” It was more on the order of ‘You’re crazy! We could never live without electricity and grocery stores! We’ll all die!’
Less than 150 years ago many people had neither, but because of their grit, determination and hard work they survived and even thrived! They didn’t believe that electricity, an unknown force at the time, was their right, or that every scrap of food they ate should be produced by others.
When I brought this up, she looked at me wide-eyed and said, ‘But that’s not how we live now! We don’t know how to survive like that, we’d die!’
I didn’t know what to say to her at the time. She was right, and suddenly I knew the scriptures I had prepared to share with her would seem invalid or at least unimportant in light of the fact that the grid might be down in the future.
I reflected later upon the change that had taken place inside of me since I began a serious study of this subject. At the beginning, it had seemed inconceivable that we would be expected to live during the time of Tribulation. But once I understood that God’s wrath is not poured out until the Day of the Lord, I was able to separate ‘tribulation’ from ‘wrath’ and it changed my thinking.
I Thessalonians 5:9-10
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
Does this scripture mean that we are raptured out of the earth at the beginning in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture? No! Nowhere in this passage does it say that! In fact, in the next letter to this very same church, Paul gave two events that have to happen before the Day of the Lord:
II Thessalonians 2:1-4
1Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
(This passage is discussed in detail in my book, “Where’s Jesus? I thought He’d be here by now!”)
So, if we are here on the earth during the Tribulation, won’t we be the unintentional victim of God’s wrath? According to Peter, the answer is no.
II Peter 2:9 KJV
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
So, how did studying God’s Word change my thinking from a state of fear and outright rejection of truth to a state of purposeful calm?
I wondered, how did I get here, and how can I bring others along with me?
I believe the first step is to show people what God’s Word says about the timing of the rapture. No, I’m not taking about the day or the hour, just the order of events as laid out in God’s Word. And, yes, there is one!
Next, they need to be convinced of God’s love for them. If you are not convinced that God loves you, you will not trust Him when you need Him most. He is just and right. He is not going to punish the righteous with the wicked. We don’t have to be worried about being a victim of ‘friendly fire’. Even if He judges the wicked who live beside us, He will distinguish between us and them.
Often people take on the label ‘Christian’ but they are not, He knows the difference between those who follow and obey, and those that merely identify with Him. If you are not living as life of obedience, you have reason to fear Him!
To enjoy calm peace when the rest of the world is in a state of panic will take a deep reliance on His divine justice. I believe Noah had peace while in the ark, certainly Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had it in the fiery furnace. Daniel had it in the lion’s den. None of them were whisked out of danger or raptured before enduring the trial. They survived and thrived, determined to stay faithful to God even if they were killed for their faith.