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The pre-millenial return of Jesus and the pre-tribulational removal of his church

The subject of eschatology, that is, what is going to happen at the end of the world, is one which has excited a great deal of debate and caused people to come to some radically different conclusions. There are three main camps, which are called premillennial, postmillennial and amillenial. These names refer to whether Jesus is expected to return before or after the millennium (the 1,000 year reign of Christ) or whether there is to be no such 1,000 year reign at all.

The amillennial camp broadly includes the Catholic church and the other traditional churches. The postmillennial camp includes many in the Kingdom Now movement and also the preterists. Kingdom Now and similar ideas say that the church has to come to rule the world before Christ will or can return. Preterism says that the prophecies of Christ's return have already been fulfilled! They claim that this happened when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD.

I find it difficult to state the positions of the amillennial and postmillennial groups fairly, since they both seem to me to be so completely contrary to the scripture. The preterists seem to be the ones with most respect for scripture, though to my mind they distort it quite out of shape to support their interpretation. The amillennialists and the other postmillennialists don't really seem to care what scripture says at all. That being so, I don't propose to waste any more time on them. There are plenty of other websites to explain their views to anyone interested.

A brief summary of prophecy

Here is a brief outline of events prophesied in the bible that should occur after Jesus' death and resurrection and have not yet happened.

A united attack on Israel by neighbouring nations with a view to wiping her out. Psalm 83 (This is a prayer, but in relation to circumstances that have never yet happened, or alternatively happened in the war of 1948-49 — but Egypt is not mentioned in the psalm.)
War of Gog and Magog -- an invasion of Israel from the North destroyed by God Ezekiel 38,39 (This might follow the next item.)
Resurrection of the Christian dead and the removal of the church from the world to be with Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 2 Thessalonians 2:3
Agreement of Israel with the Prince that shall come (the Antichrist) Daniel 9:27
World rulership by the antichrist Revelation 13:7
144,000 Jews sealed - thought to be evangelists Revelation 7
Two witnesses preach judgement and the gospel for 1260 days Revelation 11:7-13
Persecution of the believers Revelation 12:17
Breaking of agreement with Israel by the antichrist Daniel 9:27
The mark of the beast Revelation 13:16-18
Two witnesses killed and resurrected after 3 days Revelation 11:7-11
Antichrist sets himself up in the temple of God to be worshipped as God Matthew 24:15
Plagues on the earth Revelation 6,8,9
Total and permanent destruction of Babylon Revelation 18
Destruction of two thirds of the Jews by war Zechariah 13:8-14:2
Flight of many (believing?) Jews to Bozrah (thought to indicate Petra) Revelation 12:14
Further plagues and judgements on the earth Revelation 16
Israel repents and asks Jesus to return Zechariah 12:10
Return of Jesus, followed out of heaven by the resurrected and raptured believers, to destroy all his enemies Revelation 19
1,000 year reign of Jesus on earth Revelation 20:4
Final release of Satan and final rebellion crushed Revelation 20:7-10
Resurrection of all unbelievers for the final judgement Revelation 20:11-15
Creation of new heaven and new earth Revelation 21:1
New Jerusalem sent down from heaven by God Revelation 21:2
Jesus hands all things over to the Father for his eternal rule 1 Corinthians 15:24

Now my listing of those events in that order is itself tendentious, because preterists would argue, it seems, that some of them will not happen as stated, or that many of them already happened in 70 AD. Certainly, amillennialists and postmillennialists do not expect to see most of them. However, all these things are clearly stated in the bible, and it seems quite obvious that they have not in fact happened yet, so the onus is on anyone who denies them to justify that position.

The role of Israel

There are a huge number of prophecies in the bible about Israel and about the Messiah's kingdom, in which Messiah will reign over all the world from Jerusalem. Clearly, this has not happened in human history; therefore the premillennialist says it must be due to happen in the future. The preterist, on the other hand, along with postmillennialists and amillennialists, appears to think that Israel's role in prophecy has been taken over by the church. However, there is almost no biblical warrant for this, and it is explicitly contradicted by Romans 9-11.

Israel is never identified with the church in the New Testament. The only verse which supports such an identification is Galatians 6:16:

And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

This can hardly be said to be a firm foundation for a doctrine which ignores God's unconditional promise to Abraham. Even the language of this verse does not support an identification between the church and Israel, though it does suggest that God distinguishes between Jews who have believed in Jesus and those who have not; and, of course, believing Jews are united with believing Gentiles in the church, until the time that the church is taken out of the world.

Why a pre-tribulational removal

There are a number of biblical reasons for this and opposed to any other interpretation. But first let me look at reasons why I used to believe in a removal of the church after the tribulation.

A superficial reading certainly suggests that Jesus' return will be sudden and will take place suddenly and quickly.
A superficial reading does not appear to show any possibility of an extended period for the second coming.
Revelation speaks of believers who have gone through the great tribulation and been martyred in it.

Now let me show the reasons I changed my mind:

Jesus said his coming would take people by surprise. If it is preceded by the seven years of the great tribulation, it is impossible for it to be a surprise. Therefore his coming for his church must precede the tribulation.
We are told to be ready at all times for Jesus' return. There would be little point in that warning if the revelation of the antichrist were to happen first and put us on alert for a seven year countdown.
In the world we have tribulation, at the hands of other people, but God does not put his own people through his judgement:
- Noah was taken out of the world and preserved in the ark, and God shut the door on him to keep him separate from the world.
- The angels told Lot that they could not carry out their judgement on Sodom until he had escaped to Zoar.
- The Israelites and the land of Goshen were spared most of the plagues that God put on Egypt. They were told to put the blood of the lamb on their doors and stay inside when the angel of the Lord passed over. Those who did were protected from the disaster of the death of the first born.
- When Rahab gave her allegiance to Israel and to God, she and her family were spared the destruction of Jericho. But they had all to come into the house to do so. Just so, the church must go out of the world to the place Jesus has prepared for us.
- In Rev 3:10 Jesus promises to keep the church from the hour of trial that is coming on those who dwell in the earth. Therefore the church will not be dwelling in the earth.
- Jesus tells us (Luke 21:34-36) to pray that we will escape the wrath that is to come on everyone on earth; this shows that his own will not go through it and that they will not be on earth when it happens.
The church is the bride of Christ. According to the old Jewish wedding custom, the bridegroom would go to prepare a dwelling place for his bride. (This is referred to in John 14, where Jesus says he goes to prepare a place for us.) When the bridegroom's father judged it ready, he would come without warning to take his bride to the place prepared. The two would be shut up together for seven days until the wedding feast. This corresponds to a removal of the church before the last seven years (a year for each day of the new couple's seclusion) followed by the marriage supper of the Lamb and then the return of Jesus to earth with his bride. (Revelation 19)
The bride of Christ cannot be the same as the guests at her wedding; they must be distinct. So the guests must have come to God separately from the church. Since being joined to the church is universal at the moment, something must change; this is the removal of the church from the world.
If all believers are raised from the dead and go to be with Jesus after the tribulation and at the moment of his return to earth, no one will be left to populate the renewed earth and for Israel and the church to rule over with Jesus. This is because all unbelievers will be slain at his return, and those who are glorified do not reproduce. In fact, the earth will be populated by the nation of Israel and the surviving Gentile believers who were converted after the removal of the church.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, it says that the day of the Lord cannot come unless the "apostasy" comes first. "Apostasy" is a transliteration of the Greek word, "apostasia", whose root meaning is "standing away". Jerome, translator of the first Latin bible in the fifth century, along with Wycliffe, translator of the first English bible (and all the translations before the King James version), translate this as "departure". If we adopt this translation, the passage means that the day of the Lord cannot come before the departure of the church from the world. This makes better sense in the context of the letter than does the more usual translation. How could we distinguish the particular level of apostasy that would fulfil this passage? There has always been apostasy in the church. Indeed, in the late middle ages one could argue that it was almost completely apostate. Paul says he told them these things before. His letters do not say anything explicit about a general apostasy, but 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 does speak of the last trumpet at which we shall meet the Lord in the air. So the Thessalonians are worried that they might have missed the day of the Lord -- they were being got at by first century preterists -- and Paul tells them not to worry, because the departure of the church will happen first and they will certainly not miss that.
The first three chapters of Revelation deal with the church, but after the voice says to John, "Come up here" at the beginning of chapter 4, there is no more mention of the church until after Jesus returns. From chapter 4 till 19, people on earth are called saints and believers, as were godly Israelites in the Old Testament, but they are never called the church. This is because the church is not involved in the judgements on the earth, which are described from chapter 4 onwards.
The twenty-four elders in Revelation are dressed in white robes, which is the sign of redemption, and their song says that they are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they must represent the church and the Old Testament saints (12 apostles and 12 tribes of Israel, or 24 royal priests, corresponding to the 24 courses of the Levitical priesthood). Either way, the church is included and is therefore already in heaven before the judgements of the last 7 years.
The twenty-four elders in Revelation have crowns (Rev 4:4), but 1 Peter 5:4 says: "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." Therefore Jesus has already appeared for them.
When Jesus returns to rule he is followed by the armies of heaven, who are dressed in white linen Rev 19:14. In verse 8 we have just been told that "the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints", so this army is the army of the redeemed, who are therefore already in heaven when Jesus returns to the earth.
The last seven years are centred on Israel, as prophesied in Daniel 9. This last seven years occurs after the destruction of the temple and we know it hasn't happened yet, so it corresponds to the seven years prophesied in Revelation. Since this concerns Israel, the church's time must be over.
The church is characterised by sin mixed in with holiness; this can be seen from the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven, and from the fact that the offering for Shavuot (Pentecost) was the only one which used leaven, which represents sin. So long as we repent of sin, it is all washed away by the blood of Jesus. Pentecost, of course, is the birthday of the church. However, believers in the time of the tribulation are required to endure to the end in order to be saved.
The gospels prophesy a sudden separation of believers from non-believers. Two will be working together; one will be taken and the other left. This is clearly to do with the time of the end. If everything happens on the one day, why should any be left? Are the sinners not all to be destroyed immediately?
Matthew 25:31-46 tells of the coming judgement of the sheep and the goats. But when the church is caught up to Jesus in the air, there is no mention of any judgement and the process is instantaneous -- "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye". Therefore these cannot be the same events, nor the same people.
Jesus says of the church, "The gates of hell will not prevail against it." However Daniel and Revelation say that the antichrist (the beast) overcomes the saints. Therefore those saints cannot be the church.
In John 14:2 Jesus said "In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also." If the rapture and the first resurrection are after the tribulation, this will not be fulfilled since the saints will not arrive in "my Father's house", but will instead meet Jesus in the air and immediately return to earth with him.
Furthermore, Jesus tells his disciples, "I will come again and receive you to myself". That is, he will come in person for his bride, whereas at his second coming to earth, the angels gather up the elect. (Matthew 24:31)
In Matthew 24:20, Jesus says, of the time just before his final return, "Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on a Sabbath". This clearly indicates that his warning is not to the church, for whom there is nothing to prevent flight on the Sabbath (Saturday), but for Jews in the land of Israel, and an Israel still operating under the Old Covenant. On the Sabbath in Israel (at least in Jerusalem), transport does not run and shops are not open.
In the "little apocalypse", in Isaiah 26:17-21, we read: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity..." While the judgement of God is in progress, his own people will be kept out of it.
In Revelation 4, John is taken up into heaven and sees 24 elders, sitting on thrones, wearing crowns, dressed in the white of the redeemed. The only place that 24 of the same kind are found is the 24 courses of the priesthood. So these are both kings (because they are crowned) and priests. This means they are of the church, from 1 Peter 2:9. They are not believers converted and killed in the Great Tribulation, for one of these elders explains who those Tribulation believers are (Revelation 7:13-14). In the presence of these elders, the Lamb (Jesus) takes the book from the hand of the Father and only after he begins to open the seals of the book do the judgements of the Great Tribulation begin to fall on the earth. Therefore the church, represented by the elders, has been taken up into heaven before the Tribulation begins.
Revelation 19 describes the return of Jesus to earth. There is absolutely no mention here of the catching up of believers in the air. Instead, the saints are already following behind him. If the rapture event were really to take place at the end of the Great Tribulation, we should expect to see some mention of it in Revelation.
It is argued that the term for Jesus' coming (παρουσια - parousia) is a technical term for the visit of a king or Caesar to a town, and that the citizens would come out to meet him and escort him back into the town. Therefore, it is argued, this is what is to happen when Jesus meets his church in the air. However, Paul uses this word for the coming of ordinary people, as in 1 Corinthians 16:17, so whether or not the word is used for such a royal visit does not require the customs of such a visit to control how we see Christ's coming for his church.
Those believers who are killed during the tribulation come to life again AFTER Jesus has returned. (Revelation 20:4)) They are not caught up to Jesus in the air at all. Therefore they are not included in the removal of the church in 1 Thessalonians 4 and the church must have been removed earlier.

The Jewish wedding custom has a great relevance to the removal of the church. Here is an explanation.

More to come as new points occur to me - please check back occasionally.

Links

Rapture Ready site
Are You Looking For The Christ Or The Antichrist?

Andy Woods series on the rapture:

A series of sermons Dr Woods is currently (May 2021) giving.