Why I Questioned the Pre-Tribulation Rapture

My inspiration for the study of the Bible, before I was even a Christian, was Chuck Missler, and I can’t begin to describe his influence on my life because of his teachings. He was a firm believer and teacher in the pre-trib rapture theory, and while I believed him at the time, I had a problem with a couple of passages he used. As part of his presentation on the pre-trib rapture, Missler always pointed to 2 Thes 2:6-8 in relation to the scheduled appearance of the anti Christ, and it was this portion of his teaching that became a stumbling block and the reason I questioned the pre-tribulation rapture.

And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. NKJV

1. 1. 1. The Church is raptured
      2. The Holy Spirit is taken out of the way with the Church
      3. The anti-Christ is reveled
      4. The anti-Christ signs a 7 year peace treaty with Israel (Dan 9:27)

1. 1. 1. Just who is the “one who now holds it back?” There is no place in the Bible that explains this reference. I looked!
      2. If the Holy Spirit is the “one who now holds it back,” how do we know that the Holy Spirit isn’t taken out of the way by God just telling it to stop holding it back?”

The reason I point these assumptions out is that I know the Bible is the True Word of God (notice the name of the web site). It’s all true, not just parts of it. And when there is a contradiction, you know something is wrong. THE BIBLE CAN NOT CONTRADICT ITSELF!

As for the contradiction in this instance, look at the text just a few verses earlier in 2 Thes 2:1-3:

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, NKJV

We know that Paul is speaking to the Church in Thessalonica, and he’s doing so because a false letter was circulating, supposedly from him, that told the Church that they had missed the rapture. Just like the books in the Left Behind series, the people belonging to the Church in Thessalonica must have freaked. I say this because it’s important to note that he was talking to the CHURCH, and not Jews, not to the “tribulation saints”, and not to some other group of people.

Notice what he says in verse 1; he says ” Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” He’s talking about the second coming and the rapture. (gathering the church together to him). He also says this event is called the “Day of Christ” or the “Day of the Lord” depending on your Bible version. He also says that that day hasn’t yet come.

1. 1. 1. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
      2. The Rapture
      3. The Day of the Lord

1. 1. 1. There is a falling away or apostasy
      2. The man of sin (anti-Christ) is reveled

Did you catch the contradiction? Verse 7 and 8 says that the Church is raptured before the man of sin is reveled, and Verse 3 says the Church is raptured after the man of sin is reveled. Which one is correct?

How do we know which is correct? Ask yourself, where are the assumptions? In verses 6-8, we assume the Holy Spirit is the “restrainer,” and we have to further assume that the only way the restrainer can be taken out of the way is via the rapture of the Church.

However, in verses 1-3 there are no assumptions. Paul tells the Church (us) in plane Greek that the second coming, the rapture, and the Day of the Lord are all the same event, and that that event happens after the man of sin is reveled.

This was the stumbling block that caused me to question the pre-tribulation rapture theory. The closer I looked, the more I found in the Bible that expressly says that the rapture will happen at the end of the tribulation period. I know scripture says the Church isn’t appointed to wrath; however, the modern Church conflates the terms tribulation and wrath. When the Bible says tribulation, it means tribulation. When the Bible says wrath, the Bible means wrath. They are not the same thing, nor do they happen at the same time. To believe the Church will not go through tribulation is foolish (look at the tribulation our brothers and sisters have in other parts of the world). The Great Tribulation, while not the wrath of God, is God’s plan to purify his church as you refine gold to make it pure (1 Peter 4:12-16).

It is often difficult to see beyond your own understanding of what is true, to question ideas you believe are so self evidently true that you don’t even question them. I’ve found that, in my own life, so many of the things I believed true just weren’t. Some of them crushed my worldview and made me question everything, put everything to the test to make sure I knew the truth, not just believed it was the truth. This is what ultimately brought me to Jesus Christ. I found a way to test the Bible, and although I originally believed the Bible was nothing but a collection of stories written by Jewish religious leaders to subjugate the Jewish people, what I actually found is that the Bible is true – absolutely!

Test everything. Research everything. Start with this article, and compare what I say here with the true word of God contained in the Bible. Don’t believe anything important until you have tested it for yourself!