March 3, 2007

Got Milk?
Pretribulationism on Rev. 1:7

In Dave Hunt's The Berean Call, in the Q&A section of this past month's newsletter titled, "Artificial Milk,” someone asks the question followed by Hunt's answer,

QUESTION: When will “every eye see Him” (Revelation 1:7) and every knee bow (Philippians 2:10)?

RESPONSE: This will not occur at the Rapture, because at that time Christ does not come to earth but catches up His espoused bride to meet Him in the air. Only the redeemed who are taken to heaven will see Him: “Looking for that blessed hope...the glorious appearing of...Jesus Christ...”

(Ti 2:13); “When he shall appear, we shall be like him” (1 Jn 3:2), etc. It will be at the Second Coming, when He returns to earth in power and judgment that “every eye shall see him...and all kindreds of the earth shall wail...” (Rv 1:7). Then “every knee should bow...and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil 2:10,11), etc.

Pretribulationism is often called the "secret rapture" view. That is, when Christ comes back it will be known only by those in the rapture, and the world will see only the effects of the rapture: empty running cars, piles of clothes on the ground with iPods playing "Jesus is coming to earth again, What if it were today?..."; and news of disappearing friends and relatives, etc.

Essentially this error stems from how Hunt and other pretribs unwarrantedly separate the rapture from the Second Coming. They just simply assume it with no meaningful explanation.

According to pretribs, the "first stage" of Christ's return (rapture) is contrasted with the "second stage of the glorious appearing" of his Second Coming seven years later at Armageddon and when Christ physically comes to earth.

Of course, you will never get a single Bible passage that teaches this seven year separation between the rapture and the Second Coming. You will get though numerous explanations, hoops to jump through, and unwarranted inferences.

Observe how the apostle Paul does not separate the rapture event from the Second Coming; rather he teaches that it is the rapture which is God's first divine purpose at Christ's Second Coming,

According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming [Parousia] of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1Th 4:15-17)

Note the consistency to which Jesus' teaching connects the gathering of the elect (rapture) at the beginning of the Second Coming,

For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming [Parousia] of the Son of Man... At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Matt 24:27; 30-31)

One is left wondering how Hunt and other pretribs can separate the rapture event from the Second Coming when both Jesus and Paul connect the two together? What possible motive or Tradition would lead to such conclusions in the face of the consistent teaching between Jesus and Paul?

I submit to you that this is motivated by the Tradition of the pretribulational Holy Grail: Imminency. This is the belief that no prophesied events must occur before the rapture. And therefore, according to pretribs, Christ can come back "at any moment."

Given that definition how do they account for Matthew 24 and all those events that Jesus' says must occur before his Coming? Their simple answer: the church is raptured before all of those events. And the Coming in Matthew 24 has nothing to do with the rapture or the church, but it applies to "Armageddon." However (the pretrib continues), the Coming that Paul teaches in 1&2Thessalonians refers to the Rapture event and not the Second Coming.

In other words, the pretrib, in an act of desperation by protecting "immimency," will build a brick wall between Jesus' teaching on his Second Coming and Paul's teaching on the Second Coming. Such an attempt will only persuade the uninitiated. I have responded to this assertion elsewhere.

In addition to the pretrib's claim that the rapture event is secret only to believers, Paul informs us that the rapture will be anything but "secret"; for we are told in 1Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

There is nothing in the text that would even suggest the notion that this event will be "heard only by believers" as some would attempt to argue a "secret rapture."

Further, we are told in Luke 21 when Christ comes back there will be two immediate responses from the world--both from the godly and ungodly. These responses are not separated by "7 years" as Hunt and other pretribulationists would have you believe. The text reads,

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:25-28

So there is not only a response from the godly at the time Christ comes back, "When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” But the ungodly will be very aware of his return and will "faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.” (i.e. the impending Day of the Lord's wrath.)

This is consistent with Revelation 1:7, "Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, [not just believers] even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen."

I will close with Cooper's Revelation commentary concerning this verse,

Revelation 1:7

Behold, He is (1) coming with the (2) clouds, and (3) every eye will see Him, (4) even those who pierced Him; and (5) all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen.

1. The first explicit prophecy of the book = coming (verb=erchomai); coming from one point to another. No explicit reference is given concerning what the Lord’s destination is.

2. Clouds = associated with the Lord’s return in Acts 1:9-11, I Thessalonians 4:17, and Matthew 24:30. This is the first indirect reference to the book of Daniel in the Revelation. Daniel 7:13-14 provides the backdrop for the return of the Son of Man. The Revelation presents a detailed exposition of Daniel 7. We shall discuss this in detail later.

3. Every eye = universalistic (both Jews and Gentiles as indicated by the phrase "those who pierced Him.")

4. Those who pierced Him = Israel and Romans - Acts 7:51-52; John 19:31, 37; ca. Zechariah 12:10

5. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him = refers to mourning out of despair at the return of Christ by the wicked. This is the sense of Matthew 24:30.

While some would argue that Revelation 1:7 is a reference to the Lord’s return at Armageddon, a closer examination supports the parousia of Christ. This is when He gathers His church to heaven and begins to punish the wicked on earth with His Day of the Lord’s wrath. John uses the future tense to refer to the mourning of the wicked, i.e. they will mourn. John indicates that the wicked begin to mourn when the Lord is seen coming with the clouds and not before. Question: wouldn’t the wicked have already experienced God’s wrath in the form of the trumpets and bowl judgments if this were an Armageddon return? It is inconceivable that the wicked have experienced the wrath of God before the Lord’s return at Armageddon, but have not mourned. The only indication in the book of Revelation of the wicked mourning occurs in Revelation 6:15-17, which depicts the beginning of the Day of the Lord. (See later discussion on Revelation 6:12-17.) John indicates that the response of the wicked to the trumpet and bowl judgments is either a lack of repentance or men blasphemed God, but no mourning.