Which is Next –
the Rapture or the Second Coming?
Lesson 38
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Two men will be in the
fields; one will be taken and the
other left. Two women will be
grinding with a hand mill; one will
be taken and the other left behind.
Therefore keep watch, because you do
not know on what day your Lord will
come.
Matthew 24:40-42
There are six
apocalyptic prophecies in the book of
Daniel and they “stack” on
top of each other much like the
layers of a wedding cake. Each
prophecy has a beginning and ending
point in time and each prophecy
contains an orderly sequence of
events. For example, Daniel 2 is the
bottom layer or
“foundation” prophecy and
its time span reaches from 600 B.C.
to the Second Coming. The second
apocalyptic prophecy (Daniel 7)
stacks on top of Daniel 2 and covers
the same time span as Daniel 2. The
third prophecy or layer starts around
538 B.C. and reaches to the Second
Coming. The fourth prophecy begins in
about 457 B. C. and ends with A.D.33.
By layering the prophecies of Daniel
on top of each other, God eliminated
several problems before they even
began! First, when we examine these
six layers, a large amount of
information unfolds that is otherwise
unknown. By linking the six layers
together with prophetic events, God
says a great deal with the fewest
possible words. This is an
important consideration because books
of the Old Testament were duplicated
by hand for almost 3,000 years.
Second, by layering the prophecies on
top of each other, God implemented a
process which scholars call
repetition and enlargement. It allows
the Bible student to confidently
arrange and define all the prophetic
elements within each prophecy. As
each layer of prophecy is added to
the “stack”, the underlying
layers have to be correctly
interpreted and chronologically
arranged or the next layer will not
make sense. Last, by layering the
prophecies, God hid the meaning of
these prophecies in the book of
Daniel until the time of the end
would arrive. (Daniel 12:4,9) I
believe God did this so the last
generation on Earth could quickly
understand the fulfillment of 26
centuries of prophecy. In other
words, an ordinary person can now
understand the sweeping prophetic
progression of 26 centuries with just
a few hours study. Now that the
layering of the prophecies has been
discovered, people can determine
which elements of apocalyptic
prophecy are in the past and which
are forthcoming! A brief discussion
about the six layers in Daniel has
been presented because of this
statement: “The six prophecies
of Daniel do not support the idea of
a pre-tribulation or mid-tribulation
rapture of the saints.”
There are twelve
apocalyptic prophecies in the book of
Revelation and these also
“stack” on top of each
other just like the six layers do in
the book of Daniel. Even more, the
twelve layers of Revelation
harmoniously align with the six
apocalyptic prophecies in Daniel.
When all eighteen prophecies are view
together, there is one marvelous
prophetic story that unfolds in
chronological order. All eighteen
prophecies are interconnected. Each
layer has a starting point in time
and an ending point in time, and the
events in each prophecy (or layer)
occur in the chronological order
given. When a person understands how
past fulfillments of prophecy conform
to this well defined architecture, it
is possible to determine with some
certainty the chronological timing
within God’s prophetic plans. It
is important to understand that the
chronological layers of Daniel and
Revelation do not support a
pre-tribulation or mid-tribulation
rapture.
When the eighteen
layers of apocalyptic prophecy are
arranged correctly, the progressive
fulfillment of prophecy is confirmed
by recorded history. This occurs
because apocalyptic prophecy produces
a chronological “timeline”
showing past, present and future
events. Knowledge of this time-line
prevents a misapplication of end-time
statements that occur throughout the
Bible. For example, the opening text
for this chapter (Matthew 24:40-42)
is often used by proponents of the
pre-tribulation rapture to justify a
sudden snatching away of people from
Earth. There are two problems with
this assertion. First, the
chronological order of Daniel and
Revelation does not support a
pre-tribulation rapture and second,
the context itself does not support a
pre-tribulation rapture. If a person
has the notion of a pre-tribulation
rapture already in mind, Matthew
24:40-42 can be presented in a way
that makes it appear to support a
pre-tribulation rapture. Before a
sincere Bible student draws a
conclusion, efforts should be made to
reconcile many texts that are not in
harmony with the pre-tribulation
rapture. We need to ask, can we
“pick and choose” texts
that only favor our notions and
ignore those we do not understand or
like? Truth is found in the harmony
that comes from the sum of all the
parts. There is an explanation for
Matthew 24:40-42 that harmoniously
aligns with the chronological order
given in Daniel and Revelation, as
well as all the other texts that do
not harmonize with the doctrine of a
pre-tribulation rapture.
New World Order
The world stands at
the door of a great transition. The
nations of Earth as we currently know
them, are about to undergo a radical
change. I am not describing another
world order based on political
realignment. Political realignment
has been an ongoing process ever
since the nations came into
existence. Instead, I am describing
the destruction of earthy nations and
the creation of a new world whose
order God will establish. The Bible
is the only source of truth on this
subject and it is the only book that
contains a comprehensive roadmap of
soon coming events. The Bible is the
only authority that speaks for God on
this matter. For these reasons,
people should carefully consider the
prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.
The people of Earth need to
understand that the Most High God is
about to bring this world of sin to
an end.
Many people sense that
something big is about to happen and
indeed, something very big is about
to happen. Jesus is going to startle
billions of people with an enormous
demonstration of divine authority.
Confusion, mayhem and extreme
suffering will be everywhere and a
trustworthy roadmap explaining the
forthcoming actions of Jesus will be
indispensable. Although the roadmap
of Bible prophecy does not reveal a
pretty picture for the immediate
future, it does provide light of
eternal hope shining through a short,
but very dark tunnel. For this
reason, the information contained in
this Bible should receive our highest
attention. After investigating Bible
prophecy for many years, I am
convinced that whether we agree or
disagree with the events described in
the Bible prophecy, man’s
opinion do not affect God or His
actions. He will do what He said He
would do. What we believe about God
has nothing to do with God’s
behavior-all that He has predicted
will come to pass. Therefore, it is
imperative that we approach Bible
prophecy from an honest perspective
for the purpose of understanding the
ways of God. The Father has put Jesus
in control of closing events. With
this thought in mind, let us consider
what the Bible has to say about the
Second Coming and the concept of a
pre-tribulation rapture.
Views on the Rapture
Protestants basically
support one of four views about the
gathering of the saints. Many
Protestants believe in a
pre-tribulation rapture. A smaller,
but significant number, believes in a
mid-tribulation rapture (Christians
are taken to Heaven midway through
the seventieth week of seven years).
A third group of Protestants believe
in a pre-wrath rapture (Christians
are taken to Heaven just before the
outpouring of the seven last
plagues). Last, a minority of
Protestants believes in a
post-tribulation gathering of the
saints at the Second Coming. The
concept of a rapture (regardless of
timing) is a complicated study
because so many ideas are involved.
In fact, the study of Bible prophecy
is a lot like weaving a potholder out
of many pieces of colored yarn. Small
pieces of yarn are not very strong or
important by themselves. However, if
a person weaves the yarn together
just right, the result can be an
attractive and durable potholder. The
same is true with the study of
prophecy. Eventually, every student
of prophecy ends up creating his or
her own “prophetic
potholder” out of yarn given to
him or her! (Sorry about the pun.) As
so often happens, many rush out to
assure others about the superiority
of their potholder and the weakness
of all others. (If this topic were no
so serious, I would find this
process, which includes my work, to
be amusing.) The object of owning a
potholder is to keep from getting
burned and a parallel can be drawn
for a prophetic potholder as well.
(Again, sorry for the pun.) There are
a lot of people out there that say
I’m totally wrong about my
prophetic potholder could not
possibly come from a logical study of
God’s Word. My standard response
(defense?) is that the arrangement of
the yarn makes the difference! Be
assured, time will confirm all that
God has said. Nothing but the passage
of time can confirm how close or how
far we are from rightly interpreting
God’s Word.
With that said,
however, I want you to know right up
front that even when I put the
chronological order of Daniel and
Revelation aside for a moment, there
are numerous scriptural reasons why I
cannot accept the doctrine of
pre-tribulation rapture. Let me
address a few of these issues:
Just One Gathering of
the Saints!
Some Christians say
the righteous dead do not participate
in the pre-tribulation rapture and
others say the righteous dead are
included. What the Bible says? When
are the righteous dead resurrected?
Jesus said, “And this is the
will of him who sent me, that I shall
lose none of all that he has given
me, but raise them up at the last
day. For my Father’s will is
that everyone who looks to the Son
and believes in him shall have
eternal life, and I will raise him up
at the last day.” (John 6:39,40)
When does “the last day”
occur? Does it occur at the beginning
of the 70th week (of seven
years)? No! Paul wrote,
“According to the Lord’s
own word, we tell you that we who are
still alive, who are left till the
coming 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.” (1 Thessalonians
4:15-17) These verses contain four
important points:
a.
The livings do not precede the dead
to Heaven.
b.
Jesus Himself will come down from
Heaven.
c.
He will call the righteous dead to
life with a loud command.
d.
As the dead ascend, the living will
joins with them to meet Jesus in the
air.
Look again at the
text. Paul says, “After that
[resurrection of the righteous], we
who are still alive and left will be
caught up to meet the Lord in the
air.” Some people distort
Paul’s words to mean,
“After that [the rapture], we
who are still alive and left [behind]
will be caught up to meet the Lord in
the air [later on at the Second
Coming]…”But this is not
the meaning’s of Paul’s
remarks. Consider verse 15 again:
“According to the Lord’s
own word, we tell you that we who are
still alive, who are left till the
coming of the: Lord, will certainly
not precede those who have fallen
asleep.” Paul states two things:
First, the living will not precedes
the dead to Heaven. The two groups
meet the Lord at the same time.
Second, Paul refers to individuals
who are alive when the Lord appears
will unite with the dead to meet
Jesus in the air. Paul’s idea is
quite different from being “left
behind after the rapture.”
Review verses 15-17 and notice
Paul’s use of the pronoun
“we.” Why does Paul use the
inclusive pronoun “we” in
these texts? Paul thought that he,
with other living believers
(“we”), would live to see
Christ appear in the clouds and the
dead raised from their graves without
experiencing death themselves. (1
Corinthians 7:29,30) Paul did not
believe in or teach a pre-Second
Coming rapture.
Paul has more to say
about the resurrection of the
righteous. Notice this text which was
written a few years after 1
Thessalonians: “Listen, I tell
you a mystery: We will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed – in
a flash, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trumpet. For the trumpet
will sound, the dead will be raised
imperishable, and we will be
changed.” (1 Corinthians
15:51,52) Did you notice that the
Apostle Paul uses the inclusive
pronoun “we” because he
believed that he would live to see
Jesus return. Of course, Paul had no
idea time would last 2,000 more
years.
On the basis of what
we have read, the Bible teaches there
is one gathering of the saints, both
the dead and the living, at the last
day. This fact proves the rapture
doctrine to be deficient because it
requires two gatherings of the
saints, one gathering at the
beginning of the 70th week
and one gathering at the Second
Coming.
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