July 1, 2009

Elijah Must Appear Before the Day of the Lord, and thus Before the Rapture

Malachi explicitly states that Elijah will be sent before the Day of the Lord: "Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD arrives" (Mal 4:5). How should we understand this in light of the eschatological Day of the Lord? Does not Jesus identify this prophecy as fulfilled already in the coming of John the Baptist, thereby rendering any expectation of a future literal coming of Elijah as unnecessary?: "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John appeared. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come" (Matt 11:13-14; cf. 17:10-13). We should look at all that Jesus says about this, and keep some other points in mind:

(1) There are two phases to the kingdom work of Christ. Jesus inaugurated the kingdom at his first Coming redeeming a people for himself. And he will consummate the kingdom at his Second Coming. Jesus taught this two-phase truth throughout his ministry explicitly, e.g. Matt 24-25. And implicitly, e.g. His synagogue reading of Luke 4:16-21. In this Luke passage, he reads from Isaiah 61:1-2a proclaiming salvation in fulfillment of his first Coming, but stops short of reading Isaiah 61:2bff indicating that the ultimate judgment and blessings of God are yet to be fulfilled.

(2) Given that Jesus envisioned his kingdom-ministry in two phases, it makes sense then when he says that Elijah has already come in that John the Baptist functioned as a precursor or a type for Elijah; but he also envisioned a future, literal fulfillment of Elijah when he appears in the future: "He answered, "Elijah does indeed come first and will restore all things. And I tell you that Elijah has already come." (Matt 17:11-12). It should be mentioned that Jesus said this after John the Baptist had died.

(3) That John the Baptist does not fulfill the coming of Elijah in a literal sense, but in a typological sense, is confirmed by Gabriel: "And he will go as forerunner before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him." (Luke 1:17).

(4) In John, we are told that when the Jewish leaders asked John the Baptist if he was the Elijah to come, John answered in the exclamatory negative: "So they asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not!" "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No!"" (John 1:21). The only natural way to understand that Elijah has already come, but has not already come, is to view this in Jesus' two-phase Comings: John the Baptist came in the "spirit and power" of Elijah at Christ's first Coming; but the literal fulfillment of Elijah will unfold in proximity to Christ's second Coming, as a sign to the Day of the Lord (Mal 4:5).

(5) A strong case can be made that one of the Two Witnesses in Revelation will be Elijah. The powers granted on these witnesses is said to be: "These two have the power to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the time they are prophesying" (Rev 11:6a). This is exactly the power that Elijah possessed (1 Kgs 17:1; Jas 5:17).

(6) It should be pointed out that Elijah is one of the few Old Testament figures who did not experience death: "As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses appeared. They went between Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm." (2 Kgs 2:11).

(7) In the same context that Jesus tells some of his disciples that Elijah is coming and will restore all things is the very same context of the theophanic Transfiguration in which these disciples witness a preview of Elijah being associated with Christ's Coming in future glory (Matt 16:27-17:13).

So it is maintained that based on this Biblical evidence, there should be a real, future expectation of Elijah before the Day of the Lord. This point is important because on the very same day as the rapture takes place, the Day of the Lord's wrath begins to unfold (Luke 17:22-35; 2 Peter 3:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10) Therefore, if Elijah is said to be a precursor-sign to appear before the Day of the Lord, the logical inference is that he will appear before the rapture. Thereby, the prophecy of Elijah establishes Christ's Coming as expectant, not imminent. This point is often missed in pretribulational literature.

June 30, 2009

Conference Hotel Reservation's Reminder

Here is a quick reminder for those planning on staying at The Plaza Hotel and Suites during the conference. I want to remind you if you have not done so already, that July 2nd is the last day that you can receive the guaranteed conference discount. After that date, you may still be able to get the discount but it will not be guaranteed.

Also, those staying at the Hotel, we will be sending you information on shuttle times to the Church and back during the conference. We will be using the Church's van for shuttling.

June 23, 2009

Prewrath Pastor from the Netherlands to Speak at Conference

Prewrath Pastor Ton Verdam will be coming all the way from the Netherlands to speak at the Prewrath Conference. Having worked and studied closely with individuals who were involved with Corrie ten Boom, he will bring to the conference Boom's wise perspective on the subject of the Great Tribulation and persecution in general.

Ton Verdam

In the ministry since 1980, Pioneered 2 churches from zero to about 150.

Ordained minister of the denomination "Broederschap van Pinkstergemeenten" (Brotherhood of Pentecostal Churches), which is fully affiliated with the Assemblies of God in the USA.

Pastored a 350 member church in Amsterdam and now pastoring a 200 member church in the city of Almere (near Amsterdam)

Former editor-in-chief with a few dutch publications (leadership level, churchmember level and childrens level.)

Initiator and first chairman of the board of 3 Dutch Evangelical Highschools. (in Utrecht, Amsterdam and Utrecht with a total of about 2000 students now)

Initiator and evangelical pre-school planter in different cities besides his hometown Almere. (all government subsidized evangelical schools now).

June 16, 2009

The 2009 Prewrath Conference Schedule is Now Available

Click Here to Download the Conference Schedule

Just a couple of other items on the conference. There is free admission to children under the age of 18.

Also, those who are staying at the Plaza Hotel, we will be contacting you about providing you shuttling to the Church and back during the conference.

June 13, 2009

Help Us Advertise the Conference!

In just over a month there will be Pre-wrathers rolling into Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We are advertising on the radio, mailings and other media. This afternoon, I just thought of two ways for you die-hard prewrathers to help us advertise.

First, you can click here to download and print off the conference flier. Post it up on your church bulletin and hand out copies to your prophecy-minded friends.

Second, if you have a website or blog, feel free to link to our conference page here.

Thanks!

June 13, 2009

The First Six Seals Are Not God's Wrath...

I have written about this subject in the past, but I think it is worth noting again.

Many Pretribulationalists have wrongly assumed that the six seals are God's wrath and thus part of the Day of the Lord. This is simply assumed and necessary for the Pretrib system because they cannot allow any prophesied events to unfold before the rapture because that would undermine imminency.

The seals are not God's wrath but precursors to the Day of the Lord. The following is not meant to be an exhaustive explanation of this supposition, but an outline of salient points.

First, the Cosmic Disturbances of the sixth seal announce God's wrath upon the ungodly, "The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD." (Joel 2:31) And this is what we have at the sixth seal.

Second, both the responses from the martyrs in the fifth seal and the ungodly in the sixth seal reveal that God's wrath is soon to come--they have not viewed it already in the past. The fifth seal martyrs are asking when God will pour out his wrath; and the ungodly in the sixth seal are running to the caves and crying out about the impending wrath.

Third, the fact that there are two groups of people, one group being sealed and the other delivered, just before the seventh seal suggests strongly that they are being sealed and delivered from something looming that will come upon the whole world.

Fourth, the nature of the events in the first four seals are "natural" (but intense) catastrophes (wars, famines, etc.) carried out by "horsemen." This is in contrast to when the seventh seal (supernatural contents) is opened up and the unmistakable wrath of God is mediated directly by angels via the trumpet and bowl judgments against the ungodly. (By the way, a fourth of mankind is not killed in the fourth seal; there is only, "power over a fourth of the earth.")

Fifth, the first five seals in Revelation chapter six parallel Jesus' teaching about this being the "beginning of birth pangs" in Matthew 24:5-8.

Sixth, obviously the fifth seal is not God's wrath because it specifically speaks of the martyrdom of believers. And since believers are promised protection from the Day of the Lord's wrath, to argue that the fifth seal is God's wrath is contradictory.

Seventh, when the seventh seal is opened, immediately it says that there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour. The most plausible explanation for this silence is for all the members of the heavenly court to observe the grave and profound significance of the event that is to follow: The Eschatological Day of the Lord's wrath. Immediately after this silence it says,

"Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake."

This unprecedented dreadful opening act of God's wrath is then followed by how the Old Testament prophets characterized the Day of the Lord: fire and destruction. And this is realized in the trumpet and bowl judgments.

Eighth, pretribulationists argue that the sixth seal indicates that God's wrath already started in the past, thereby proving that the seals are God's wrath. For example, Mal Couch writes:

[I]n Revelation 6:16-17, the world cries out..."Hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the WRATH of the Lamb; for THE GREAT DAY OF THEIR WRATH "HAS ARRIVED" (Aorist Tense...) and who is able to stand [up under it].

Couch invokes the Greek tense called the "Aorist" suggesting that God's wrath has already been happening. That understanding of the aorist tense is in error. In Greek there is a common tense called the "aorist" which we do not have in English. Contrary to popular thought the aorist tense is the least significant tense in Greek. Strangely one will hear pastors often preaching and making a big deal about this or that word in the "aorist." I personally think this misunderstanding is due to the fact that it is not found in the English grammatical system so it seems mysterious to those who do not know Greek.

Let me demythologize the aorist tense. The aorist does not denote "past time" as some commonly understand it; and it does not denote a "once-for-all action." Some wrongly believe that it is a past tense because it can often be found in a past action context. Though it is commonly in past action, it can also be an action in the present, future, or just timeless. Only context -- not the fact it is aorist -- tells us what time the action occurs.

The aorist is what is called the "undefined" tense. It does not tell you the type of action such as specifying its duration, nor again does it tell the time that the action takes place.

The aorist is often known as the "background" or "snapshot" or "summary" tense (there are some nuances to those notions). Sometimes it is thought of as the "default" tense in Greek, but that may be too much of an understatement of its function. An author would choose the aorist tense to represent the action of the verb as a complete whole -- i.e. stating an undefined action without giving specific information of the type of action such as focusing on the beginning, duration, or ending of the action, or whether it is repeated or not. That information about the action of the verb can only come through lexical, grammatical, or other contextual indicators, and not its tense.

So going back to Couch's claim that the wrath of God has been unfolding because "has come" (ἦλθεν, elthen) is simply in the aorist tense is fallacious and does not account for context that indicates that the ungodly are fleeing to the caves because of the impeding wrath of God.

The aorist tense-form is used frequently in "impending or ingressive action" contexts. A few good examples that context determines the meaning of this tense:

The same exact verb in the aorist tense is used in Rev 19:7, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come (ἦλθεν, elthen) and His bride has made herself ready." Here, the context is that the marriage of the Lamb is about to happen (ingressive aorist).

As well in Rev. 14:15b, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come (ἦλθεν, elthen), for the harvest of the earth is ripe."

Another example where the exact same word in the aorist is found with the idea of an ingressive or impending action,

In Mark 14:41, Jesus says, "the hour has come (ἦλθεν, elthen); behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners." The context clarifies that Christ is speaking of impending or ingressive action.

Context determines meanings, not an isolated use of a tense-form.

June 12, 2009

A Response to Gary DeMar and Preterism

This week on Gary DeMar's radio program he responded to the Prewrath position, briefly. For those who do not know Gary DeMar, he is a preterist author and teacher. Listening to his comments on the Prewrath position, I found them surface-level at best. Basically, his conclusion was: since Prewrath shares a futurist approach to Matthew 24 along with pretribulationism, prewrath does not have any new critiques for the preterist position.

He also claims that Prewrath does not have good scholarly exegesis that would critique preterism as well as support prewrath. I find this odd since it has been over a year now that Charles Cooper's book has been published, God's Elect and the Great Tribulation: An Interpretation of Matthew 24:1-31 and Daniel 9. This book is a solid, scholarly book that not only supports prewrath but has substantive critiques against preterism, some critiques that I am sure Gary DeMar is not even aware of. So I would challenge DeMar to read the book and respond to it.

Moreover, Gary DeMar in his show laments that premillennialist teachers are not eager to debate or interact with preterists. I will give DeMar the benefit of the doubt here since he is mostly (if not exclusively) exposed to pretrib premillennialists.

DeMar has debated pretrib teacher Thomas Ice for example, and I have heard this debate, which I was left shaking my head since I was not impressed by either of them. (Incidentally, Thomas Ice will not defend his pretribulationism in debate with a prewrath teacher, but he will with a preterist. That should tell you something.)

I am writing a couple of books right now and my second book is specifically on a refutation of preterism. Would it not be fitting that once that book is published there could be a public debate with DeMar with copious amounts of cross-examination? I think so. And I am sure Cooper would desire to defend his exegesis in his book in a debate with a preterist.

One of the radio programs that DeMar comments on the Prewrath, he gave his garden-variety preterist arguments to Matthew 24: "This generation," the second-person "you," the term "Antichrist" is not mentioned, etc., etc. He also gives the impression that "we preterists are scholarly, and you premillers over there are just 'popular.'"

I was at a conference in Florida earlier this year where I met DeMar briefly, unrelated to eschatology, but he had a booth in which I bought several preterist books that I have been wanting to read for a while. I was disappointed by these preterist books since they did not provide much meaningful exegesis. And some of the salient issues that should have been discussed were completely ignored such as distinct purposes of the gospel writers for the Olivet Discourse (Preterists just assume that the writers had one purpose).

Again, I give DeMar the benefit of the doubt since he has been exposed all his life to sensational-popular, surface-level pretrib teachers who are not interested in meaningful interaction. But there is a new kid in town, the prewrath position, a kid who is much more sober about the Biblical text and seeks to be exegetically faithful to Scripture.

June 9, 2009

The Awesome Shekinah-Parousia on a Global Scale

In my research I am working through a monograph on Biblical theophanies entitled, God At Sinai: Covenant & Theophany in the Bible and Ancient Near East by Jeffrey J. Niehaus (PhD Harvard). He is an expert in Ancient Near Eastern literature and Old Testament theology. I was blessed to have him as a professor when I took a course on Old Testament prophetical books and learned a lot from him to which I am grateful.

His work unpacks the different features and kinds of theophanies in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, as well as Ancient Near Eastern backgrounds.

There are a number of nuggets in his work that I will be incorporating into the book I am writing on Prewrath. There are a myriad of theophanies in the Bible, but just to pick out one that strikes me as awesome is when God appeared to Ezekiel. Just to quote one paragraph from Niehaus, he writes:

God appeared also to Ezekiel by the Kebar River--no less awesome (and perhaps more) than at Sinai: "I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north--an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light....This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard a voice like thunder" (Eze 1:4-28, author's translation)

Just picture that theophany on a global scale! When I read this, I just envisioned how this would play out when Christ comes back. Truly, when Scripture notes that the sign of his Coming with be as lightening, this is certainly not natural lightening, but rather nothing short than his Shekinah-Brightness piercing the darkness with booming-thunder.

It is no wonder that people will be running for the caves to hide. Not just because of the power behind the theophany, but primarily his holiness. Isaiah says of the Day of the Lord that for the ungodly "all hands hang limp, every human heart loses its courage" and "they look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red." And Luke exclaims that "people will be fainting from fear."

But for believers we are told to "stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

For the ungodly that par excellence of theophanies will be a Shekinah-Judgment. For believers, it will be Shekinah-Deliverance.

Is your spiritual house ready for his awesome Shekinah-Parousia? Will your hands hang limp, or will your head be lifted up?

June 7, 2009

More Problems for the Notion that Antichrist's Rule Will Only be Regional

There are a minority view that thinks that Antichrist's rule will only be limited to the region of Israel and its proximity. I have argued recently here that this is in error. Further, it is a dangerous premise since it lulls the universal Church into thinking that they will not be persecuted by Antichrist during the Great Tribulation.

I want to add some more Biblical reasons why the "Regional" position lacks Biblical support.

First, Revelation 11:15 reads:

"Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.""

This verse is in the context of the blowing of the seventh trumpet and consequently there is a celebration of the certainty of the Lord's kingdom defeating the current world kingdom.

The only antagonist kingdom that is in view in Revelation is the Satan-inspired Beast's (Antichrist's) kingdom. And given the fact that a directed portion of the trumpet and bowl judgments are against the Beast's kingdom, it is clear that the celebration of defeat is over his kingdom. Further, it should be noted that it is in the singular, and it has the definite article noting a particular kingdom. The article can be considered in the Greek category of articles as "Well-Known" or even the "Par Excellence."

Also, it is important to note that the Greek word for "world" in this verse is kosmos, which is a term that denotes primarily a "universal" sense. This is a salient fact because those who believe in the "Regional" view argue that kosmos is never used to refer to the Beast's rule. But this instance of kosmos that refers to the Beast's kingdom undercuts that claim.

Second, Paul warned the Thessalonians of the coming Antichrist and his persecution, thus his exhortation to stay faithful. Where was Thessalonica located? That's right, in Macedonia, which is part of modern day Europe! The Antichrist's rule will reach Europe according to the logical inference from Paul.

Third, the scope of Revelation is global, not local. This fact is denied by those who limit Antichrist's rule. There is nothing that they point to in Revelation that proves this, they can't. What they do is they go back to Daniel and cite selective passages about how past empires were limited to the Near East and argue that since inhabitants of the Near East used "world" to describe their phenomenological surroundings, therefore Antichrist's rule must also be limited to a particular region.

In response, no one denies that often when the ancients used the term "earth" or "world" it was limited to their geo-political surroundings. But it would be a mistake to ignore the innumerable instances in which they used those same terms to refer to all that existed in the world, even though they themselves were not aware of all the world in its entirety.

When Genesis 1:1 says that God created the earth, are we suppose to believe that God only created a region of the earth? Indeed Near Eastern Ancients conceived of the earth of mostly their surrounding nations and demarcated oceans. But from our vantage point we can see that Genesis 1:1 encompassed much more than the environs of the Near East!

Also, it is a false deduction to read those limited regional instances into contexts such as Revelation, a book that portrays for us a global, cosmic perspective.

Fourth, John writes:

"Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour." (1 John 2:18).

In this verse, one of the things he warns us is that Antichrist is coming. Then later he writes:

"and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world [kosmos] already." (1 John 4:3).

We are told that the spirit of Antichrist already has a reaching kosmos. The Greek uses the combination of the terms nyn (now) and ede (already) stressing that his kosmos presence has already begun. The combination of these terms is significant because it is connecting what is happening at the moment (kosmos domain of the spirit of Antichrist) with what will also be the case of a future Antichrist (a kosmos domain).

In other words, John is saying, do not wait to be vigilant for the future kosmos presence of Antichrist, his spirit is already in the kosmos.

This text is incongruent to the notion that the future Antichrist's realm will be limited to one particular region.

Fifth, John writes:

"We know that we are from God, and the whole world [kosmos] lies in the power of the evil one." (1 John 5:19).

Here John states that Satan's realm is global. And we are informed by Paul that the Antichrist will be controlled by Satan:

"The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders" (2 Thess 2:9).

Since Satan's power encompasses the entire world, and since the Antichrist will be controlled by Satan, it is consistent to understand that Antichrist's domain will cover the entire world.

June 6, 2009

The Pre-Wrath Rapture - A Biblical Synthesis

[Recently, we have had new readers being introduced to the blog and the Prewrath rapture through the advertising of the upcoming National Pre-Wrath Conference and some other media. So the following is a primer on Prewrath by Charles Cooper]

The Prewrath Rapture position is a biblical synthesis of pre-, mid-, and posttribulationalism, together with a refinement of the timing issue that brings harmony to all of the rapture passages in question.

A thorough examination of the Prewrath position reveals that an unquestionable truth from each of the three positions is kept while the errors of each position are discarded. The proponents of these three major positions would probably concur that the major area of disagreement concerns the actual timing of the rapture which, they would have to admit, also influences their interpretation of many passages that deal with issues related to the rapture question.

Each camp on the rapture question has committed followers of Jesus Christ as adherents. Dr. John F. Walvoord was an advocate of the pretribulational view. Having studied at Dallas Theological Seminary and spent time in his company, I can personally testify to Dr. Walvoord's love for God and His Word. "A giant of the faith in modern time" is a fitting title for this man of God. The fact that he believed the church will be taken before Daniel's Seventieth Week begins makes him no less an honorable man. Dr. Gleason L. Archer, Jr. on the other hand follows the midtribulational viewpoint. He argues that Christ returns to rapture His church at the mid-point of the Seventieth Week. I have not personally met Dr. Archer, but I have read and utilized his writings. As an Old Testament professor, Dr. Archer has distinguished himself as a first rate exegete of God's Word. The fact that he believes the church will be taken at the mid-point of the Seventieth Week, before the "great tribulation," makes him no less a serious student of the Bible. Dr. Douglas J. Moo endorses a posttribulational rapture. As a Professor of New Testament, Dr. Moo has demonstrated an outstanding mind for New Testament exegesis. The fact that Dr. Moo believes Scripture teaches that Christ will return at the end of the Seventieth Week to rapture His church, after the "great tribulation" and after the six trumpets and six bowl judgments, makes him no less a committed follower of Christ.

The number of faithful followers of Jesus Christ who hold to each of the positions stated above are many. Logically, it makes sense that the correct position on the timing of Christ's return is some combination of the three major views, given that each view is based on the same passages of Scripture. It is arrogant and illogical then to conclude that only one of these positions is absolutely right and the other two are totally wrong.

The question that each position is attempting to answer concerns the timing of the rapture. This continues to be the irreconcilable difference. Countless hours of time and gallons of ink have been expended in order to prove the other two positions wrong. Scholars continue to search for the one argument that will close the debate in favor of their own particular position. The sad result is that the discussions have gotten so trivial and the distinctions between words so technical that the average follower of Christ cannot follow the arguments. The price of this continual infighting is, on the one hand, an uneducated laity convinced that the truth cannot be known. On the other hand, committed godly men and women support pre-, mid-, and posttribulationalism with fierce devotion to their position. For now, the debate is purely esoteric. No real danger exists, for all things continue as before. However, one day there will be a world full of people that will be called upon to be that final generation of humanity to experience the climactic events of history. The old adage that end-time events "will all pan out in the end" will not be taken so lightly by the generation that will see these things begin to happen.

A Starting Point
The Church of Jesus Christ is exempted from the eschatological wrath of God. On this point, posttribbers (George E. Ladd and Robert H. Gundry), midtribbers (Gleason L. Archer Jr. and J. Oliver Buswell), and pretribbers (John F. Walvoord and Leon Wood) are in accord. The message of 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9 is unmistakable in asserting that believers are promised deliverance from the eschatological wrath of God. But in light of this fact, certain questions arise. Precisely, then, what is the wrath of God and when does it occur? What method will God use to deliver His people? Will He remove them from the world or merely protect them while in the world?

To illustrate the eschatological positions, let's use a chair. This chair has a beautiful place in which the believer sits--the rapture. The problem: the legs are missing. The correct eschatological position must give the seat the support it needs--four solid legs--for the chair to be complete, reliable, and practical.

The Truth of Pretribulationalism
Pretribbers teach that the Church of Jesus Christ is exempted from the eschatological wrath of God. However, every other element of the pretrib position can be and is debated. The flaw of the position is the insistence that the entire Seventieth Week of Daniel is the direct wrath of God, thereby requiring the Church to be evacuated from the earth before the Seventieth Week begins. There is no incontrovertible biblical support that says the entire Seventieth Week of Daniel is the wrath of God. Perhaps this is why Dr. John F. Walvoord wrote some years ago, "Neither posttribulationalism nor pretribulationalism is an explicit teaching of Scripture. The Bible does not, in so many words, state either." (1) The pretrib position also allows for contradictions. While arguing that Matthew 24 is not applicable to the Church, they consistently use Matthew 24:36 to support their claim for an imminent rapture. In this writer's opinion, the pretrib position has only one valid leg to stand on.

The Truth of Midtribulationalsim
Midtribulationalism also recognizes that the church is exempted from the eschatological wrath of God. But midtribbers also make a fundamental distinction in the nature of the Seventieth Week of Daniel that is different than those of the pretribulational persuasion. Dr. Gleason L. Archer, Jr. indicates two sources of wrath during the Seventieth Week. When speaking of the wrath issue, he writes,

It simply regards the first three and a half years, during which the Antichrist will increase his power and mount his persecution against the church, as a less tribulation, not nearly as terrifying or destructive of life as those fearsome plagues that will dominate the last three and a half years. In other words, this interpretation makes a clear division between the first half as the period of the wrath of man, and the second half as the period of the wrath of God. For the reasons adduced . . . we understand that the final generation of the pre-Rapture church will be subject to the wrath of man, but spared from the wrath of God. (italics added) (2)

He also adds that,

. . . when we speak of the "wrath of man" as the distinctive feature of the first half of the "week," we mean that the wrath of the Antichrist and his associates in government is the dominating feature on the stage of this drama. . . . But as the second half of the week comes into play, with the church safely removed from the scene, the indignation of the Lord breaks forth with overwhelming, supernatural power. . . . Hence we rightly speak of this period as the "wrath of God." (3)

I agree with Archer in that a distinction must be maintained between the wrath of Antichrist/man and the wrath of God. This is a critically important point. Satan's wrath marks the second half of Daniel's week according to Revelation 12:7-17.

However, like pretribulationalism, the flaw of this position is Dr. Archer's incorrect assessment of the nature of the Seventieth Week when it comes to the timing of the rapture. Daniel 9:27 indicates three-and-a-half years of tranquility for Israel followed by three-and-a-half years of intense persecution at the hands of "the Prince who is to come." New Testament Scriptures emphasize that Satan, the beast, and the false prophet will execute a reign of terror against the people of God during the second half--42 months--of the Seventieth Week (4) and Revelation 12:12-14 explains that these final three-and-a-half years of persecution is "Satan's wrath." More specifically, Satan will give his power to Antichrist who will persecute the people of God.

Revelation 6:12-17 indicates when God's wrath begins upon the earth, beginning with the trumpet judgments, and Revelation 15:1 explains the end of His wrath, the bowl judgments. It is clearly the wrath of God that brings Satan/Antichrist's wrath to an end. Therefore, the wrath of Antichrist and the wrath of God will both be evident during the second half of Daniel's Seventieth Week. This, in part, contradicts the midtribbers who insist that only God's wrath will be incurred during the second half of Daniel's Seventieth Week. This position also contradicts Matthew 24:36 by indicating the midpoint of Daniel's Week as the day of the rapture.

Continuing the chair illustration, while the pretrib position has only one solid leg to stand on, the midtrib chair has two solid legs to stand on: the exemption from the eschatological wrath of God and the distinction between God's wrath and the wrath of man.

The Truth of Posttribulationalism
The posttrib position takes the rapture question one step further. Like the midtrib position, posttribbers recognize the involvement of both the wrath of God and the wrath of Satan during Daniel's Seventieth Week. (5) However, posttribulationalism offers a different explanation for the order of events and the timing of the rapture. Dr. Douglas Moo explains that the great tribulation will be the persecution of the saints by Antichrist and will continue for a large portion of the second half of the Seventieth Week. The wrath of God will be concentrated in the very last part of the Week. The wrath of God is limited to the eschatological Day of the Lord which Dr. Moo argues is "a decisive intervention of God for judgment and deliverance." (6) Since the eschatological Day of the Lord involves both the judgment of God (7) and the deliverance of His people, (8) posttribbers argue that the eschatological Day of the Lord and "the great tribulation" cannot be the same event. Dr. Moo writes,

Several factors suggest that it is not. First, no reference to the eschatological 'day' in the New Testament clearly includes a description of the Tribulation. . . . Second, Malachi 4:5 (the coming of Elijah) and Joel 2:30-31 (cosmic portents) place what are generally agreed to be Tribulational events before the Day. . . . Third, Paul seems to suggest in 2 Thessalonians 2 that the Day cannot come until certain, clearly tribulational, events transpire. (9)

Second Thessalonians 2:3 indicates that "the man of lawlessness" is revealed before the "Day" begins. Therefore, posttribbers contend that the eschatological Day of the Lord follows the period called "the great tribulation" that occurs at the beginning of the second half of the Seventieth Week. Since Paul teaches that the coming (parousia) of Christ ends the reign of "the man of lawlessness," the Parousia must occur at the very end of the Seventieth Week, i.e., posttribulational. Dr. Moo writes,

The Parousia is indisputably posttribulational in Matthew 24:3, 27, 37, 39 and in 2 Thessalonians 2:8. . . . On the other hand, the Parousia of Christ is explicitly stated to be an object of the believer's expectation in 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; James 5:7-8; and 1 John 2:28. . . . If, then, believers are exhorted to look forward to this coming of Christ, and this coming is presented as posttribulational, it is natural to conclude that believers will be present through the Tribulation. (10)

Continuing the chair illustration, posttribulationalism is three-legged. Like the first two positions, posttribbers hold to the Church's exemption from the eschatological wrath of God. Like the midtribbers, the Seventieth Week of Daniel will evidence both the wrath of God and the wrath of Antichrist. Thirdly and differently from the other two positions, the eschatological Day of the Lord and "the great tribulation" do not cover the same time period during the second half of Daniel's Seventieth Week, but the "day of God's wrath" follows the time of Antichrist's tribulation. It is my position that all of these legs are incontrovertible.

The flaw of the posttrib position is in its timing of the rapture. By placing it at the end of the Seventieth Week there is insufficient time allowed for the trumpet and bowl judgments to occur sequentially (as the text indicates), and for the salvation of Israel's remnant and some Gentile converts to populate the millennial kingdom. Another flaw of the posttrib position states that believers will not be removed from earth during the eschatological wrath of God, but rather that they will be protected from it as if under a big umbrella. The rather fancy attempt by Dr. Robert H. Gundry to explain how God's people can be protected if God's judgment is selective does not measure up to biblical scrutiny. (11)

Posttribbers' continual insistence that believers will be caught up to heaven and immediately returned to earth cannot be harmonized without serious problems in sequencing as outlined in Revelation. The correct position must allow sufficient time between the rapture and the Second Advent. Dr. Paul Feinberg outlines this necessity when he writes,

To begin with it is important to see the need for saints in nonglorified, physical bodies. While the Millennium will see the radical reduction of evil and the flourishing of righteousness, sin will still exist. . . . There will be sickness and death (Isa. 65:20). . . . All of these are not usually thought of as a part of the life of those who have been glorified. (12)

Matthew 25:31-45 indicates that only believers will enter the millennial kingdom. Isaiah 19:18-25 clearly indicates that Gentiles along with Jews will populate the millennial kingdom in nonglorified bodies. Since the fully glorified do not sin, and some earthly kingdom constituents will sin, the rapture must have an interval between it and the coming of Christ at the battle of Armageddon to allow for the salvation of those nonglorified people who will populate the millennium. While it is certainly true that God has in the past protected His people in the midst of judgment, Scripture indicates a different type of protection in the last days . . . as in the days of Noah . . . as in the days of Lot.

The Truth of Prewrath
I believe that the Prewrath position adds the fourth leg to the chair illustration. By taking what is biblically defensible from each of the other three positions, the Prewrath position begins with strong supports already in place. As do all the rapture positions discussed, I also believe that the saints will not experience the eschatological wrath of God. Like those who hold to the midtrib position, I see a distinction between the wrath of God and the wrath of Antichrist/man. Like the posttrib position, I believe that the wrath of God will be evidenced only after the persecution of Antichrist is finished. Therefore, like the posttribbers, I believe that the Church will experience the direct persecution of Satan/Antichrist.

This is where the Prewrath position adds the critical fourth leg to the chair. The Word of God teaches that Satan/Antichrist's persecution will be cut short (13) in Matthew 24:22. (14) How? By removing the object of the evil one's persecution--the Church--to heaven and putting the remnant of Israel in protective custody. (15) This one refinement makes several things possible: 1) it provides sufficient time for all of God's wrath to occur without manufacturing a way for the Church to be present while that wrath rains down all around them; 2) it provides the necessary time needed for the salvation of Zechariah's prophesied one-third remnant of Israel who will be the inhabitants of the millennial kingdom; 3) it provides the time necessary for the salvation of a remnant of Gentiles from the nations who refuse to take the mark of Antichrist.

Therefore, the Prewrath position stands on four solid legs. One leg involves the Church's exemption from the wrath of God (pretribulationalism). One leg consists of a distinction between the wrath of God and the wrath of Antichrist (midtribulationalism). One leg constitutes a distinction between the "great tribulation" and the eschatological Day of the Lord (posttribulationalism). The last leg shows that the persecution by Antichrist will be cut short (16) before the end of the Seventieth Week, providing the interval between the rapture and Christ's coming at the battle of Armageddon during which time all of the trumpet and bowl judgments will be played out.

The identification of the wrath of God with the eschatological Day of the Lord is the key. All sides agree that the eschatological Day of the Lord involves both the final judgment of God and the deliverance of His saints. Drs. Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bock in reference to 1 Thessalonians write,

Deliverance in the Day of the Lord is a special theme of 1 Thessalonians. At His return, Jesus "delivers us from the wrath to come" (1:10). Paul teaches the church that the Day of the Lord will not "over take you like a thief" (5:4). . . . In the context, this deliverance would seem to be the blessing of resurrection and translation into immortality which Christ will grant His own at His coming (1 Thes. 4:13-18), an event which is called the Rapture. . . . This deliverance, or rapture, would appear to coincide with the inception or coming of the Day of the Lord, since that is the focus in 1 Thessaolonians 5:2-4. (17)

Both Drs. Blaising and Bock taught at Dallas Seminary during my time of study there. It was from Dr. Blaising that I studied eschatology. Both are solidly pretrib, yet they recognize the biblical basis for claiming that the eschatological Day of the Lord and the timing of the rapture must occur at the same time. J. Dwight Pentecost writes in his book, Things to Come,

The only way this day could break unexpectedly upon the world is to have it begin immediately after the rapture of the church. It is thus concluded that the Day of the Lord is that extended period of time beginning with God's dealing with Israel after the rapture at the beginning of the tribulation period and extending through the second advent and the millennial age unto the creation of the new heavens and the new earth after the millennium. (18)

Pentecost is obviously pretribulational. However, he too recognizes the necessity that the eschatological Day of the Lord follows the rapture. The timing issue can be settled if the beginning of the Day of the Lord can be determined within the frame work of end-time events. The Prewrath position acknowledges that the eschatological Day of the Lord will be signaled by a sign given in the sun, moon, and stars, a sign distinctly described in the eschatological book of Joel. (19) Jesus indicates in the Olivet Discourse that His Parousia will immediately follow the sign Joel prophesied, which marks the inception of the eschatological Day of the Lord. Jesus also indicated in His revelation to John that Joel's sign in the sun, moon, and stars will be the sign that announces the day in which His wrath begins, a sign given in the heavenlies that will be displayed at the breaking of the sixth seal. Therefore, as one compares the six seals to the events outlined in the Olivet Discourse, one quickly sees that the rapture must occur after the Seventieth Week of Daniel begins, after the mid-point of that same Week has begun, and after Satan/Antichrist's persecution of the Church is cut short (Matt. 24:22) when the sign of the eschatological Day of the Lord and the parousia of Christ is given in the sun, moon, and stars. The exact day or hour when the sixth seal will be broken is not detailed in the Scriptures (Matt. 24:36), but when that happens it will announce to the entire world the inception of the eschatological Day of the Lord.

Does the timing component offered by the Prewrath position have incontrovertible biblical support? If you search the Scriptures we believe that it does. Our four-legged chair is durable, reliable, and practical. Have a seat, and test it for yourself.

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ENDNOTES

1. John Walvoord, The Rapture Question, (Findlay, Ohio: n.p. 1957), 148.
2. Richard R. Reiter, Paul D. Feinberg, Gleason L. Archer and Douglas J. Moo, The Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Tribulational? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 139.
3. ibid., 108.
4. See Dan. 9:27 and Rev. 12:7-13:18.
5. See Mark 13:14; 2 Thess. 2:3; and Rev. 13:1-8 with Rev. 15:1, 7 and 16:1.
6. Richard R. Reiter, Paul D. Feinberg, Gleason L. Archer and Douglas J. Moo, The Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Tribulational? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 183.
7. See Ob. 15; Zeph. 1:15-18 and Is. 13:6.
8. See Is. 27; Jer. 30:8-9 and Joel 2:32.
9. ibid., 182.
10. ibid., 177.
11. Robert H. Gundry, The Church and the Tribulation, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), 44-63.
12. Richard R. Reiter, Paul D. Feinberg, Gleason L. Archer and Douglas J. Moo, The Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Tribulational? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 72.
13. The term koloboo in the passive sense refers to that which has been amputated or reduced in size. The LXX used this verb to explain the actions of David's men in 2 Samuel 4:12 where clearly amputation is the sense. Extant occurrences of the term support a literal interpretation in Matthew 24:22.
14. It is important at this point for the reader to understand that it is the persecution that Christ is referring to, not the second half of the Seventieth Week of Daniel. Antichrist will reign for three-and-a-half years, but his persecution will not.
15. This position is argued in detail in The Rapture Question Answered Plain and Simple and The Sign by Robert Van Kampen.
16. See endnote 14 above.
17. Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bock, Progressive Dispensationalism, (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1993), 263-64.
18. J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, (Grand Rapids: Dunham Publishing Company, 1967), 230-231. Dr. Pentecost would make the Day of the Lord 1007 years long--a fact that is greatly debated.
19. See Joel 2:28-32; Matt. 24:29-31; Acts 2:14-21 and Rev. 6:12-17.