After the Tribulation - Alf Cengia - http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=7891
A new Left Behind movie is set to be released soon and the fever pitch is sky high. Yet the excitement isn't being generated from pretribulation rapture fans. I'm referring to those who are troubled about pretribbers being deluded by the Antichrist when he allegedly shows up before Jesus. However, not all criticism is kindly motivated.
Steve Anderson has produced a movie called After the Tribulation which went viral over the internet. It contains the sort of rants we have become accustomed to hearing. He thinks the pretribulational rapture is a satanic deception. Anderson also denies a prophetic relevance to modern Israel and has produced several anti-Semitic videos. Sadly, people swallow this stuff.
Someone also recently observed:
"[As opposed to pretribulationists] we believe in a face-value of God's word and Jesus said that the rapture would happen immediately after the tribulation."
Did He?
This "rapture" is a reference to Matthew 24:31 and this is prewrath proponent Anderson's contention. In a previous column I argued why the gathering in v 31 should be seen as Israel's re-gathering back into the land after their redemption. There is a scriptural rationale for this in the Old Testament and it fits the context of the Olivet Discourse.
Many commentators recognize the parallels between Zech 12:10 and Matt 24:29-30. Compare also Deut 30:1-5; Isaiah 11:10-12, 27:13; Hos 5:15 and Matt 23:39. Israel's repentance will result in its prophesied gathering. That the disciples didn't ask Jesus when the rapture would occur demonstrates that they understood verse 31 as Israel's re-gathering (Acts 1:6-7). You and I would have had the rapture foremost in mind.
Ironically, the prewrath system teaches a separate coming of Christ in order to gather Israel back into the land. They criticize pretribulationism for its "secret rapture" yet they have four comings within their Parousia Event. If Matt 24:31 doesn't pertain to Israel then prewrathers are also teaching a secret coming to gather Israel into the land. It's a secret because the Bible is silent about it.
What actually happens after the tribulation?
Note that the Matt 24:29-31 gathering occurs after the tribulation and after the signs. If the rapture is the gathering after the tribulation then it cannot cut the tribulation short, as is often claimed. If the rapture occurs after the tribulation, after the cosmic signs and after the sign of the Son of Man, then the Great Multitude of Rev 7:14 has not arrived from the tribulation via the rapture. This group is continuously arriving from within the tribulation (See Robertson's notes).
How long is the great tribulation (Jacob's trouble)? See Dan 7:25, Dan 11:36, Dan 12:7, Rev 13:5 and Rev 12:14. It is 1, 260 days. That's a problem for Anderson's prewrath view right there.
Most importantly, why is the tribulation ended? It is terminated otherwise no flesh would be saved (Matt 24:22). This flies in the face of the argument that Rev 3:10 means protection within, rather than from the time of trial. If God protects within, there is no reason for Him to terminate the great tribulation. That there are tribulation saints to be resurrected at Rev 20:4 rejects the protection within view.
If the tribulation is cut short by the rapture, why are there still martyrs to be resurrected? To solve this dilemma, Van Kampen suggested they were the 5th seal martyrs who weren't raptured. This position has since been revised.
Like posttribulationists, they now backdate the resurrection event of Rev 20:4. This is done to satisfy a connection between the 7th trumpet and Paul's Last Trump, or maintain a "single" First Resurrection. It ignores the "face-value" approach and contradicts Dan 12:13, which implies Daniel's resurrection will be after the 1,335 days.
Contra Van Kampen and Rosenthal, several leading prewrathers have now flip-flopped and embraced Rev 3:10 as a prewrath rapture passage. In so doing they deny evidence of God's wrath in the seal judgments and that these constitute any part of the "trial" which tests the earth dwellers. It appears theirs is a work-in-progress system.
What happens to the church at the rapture? According to 1Co 15:51-52 and 1Thess 4:16-17, the dead in Christ are resurrected and the living are instantly glorified. The tribulation is brought to an end to preserve the "elect" in their physical bodies (note the word flesh) in order to populate the millennium (Matt 24:22). Therefore it makes no contextual sense to say that God intervenes otherwise no believers would remain alive to be raptured.
Regardless of when the rapture occurs in relationship to the 70th week, people must be saved to populate the millennium. It occurs under the wrath of God and it necessarily affects new saints. The fact that there are new saints doesn't preclude a prior rapture. Yet it's often argued the church cannot have been raptured because Revelation speaks of saints being on the earth.
The closer the rapture event to the beginning of the millennium, the more problematic and redundant the Sheep-Goats Judgment event becomes. If the rapture occurs towards the end of the 70th week, then why is there need to sift Sheep from Goats? How does anyone enter the millennium in non-glorified bodies?
One popular posttribulationist argues that the Sheep-Goats are unsaved yet the Sheep still enter the millennium. He attributes this to a "blood covenant" which appears to owe at least some debt to E W Kenyon's teachings.
The Sheep avoid the Mark of the Beast and thus escape the "Wicked Tares Judgment." They resist the everlasting gospel which is preached to all those who dwell on the earth (Rev 14:6-7); therefore they also evade the rapture and progress to the Sheep-Goats Judgment. They merit a last-minute reprieve because of a "works/heart" based judgment (Matt 25:34-40).
The Goats also escape the "Tares Judgment" because they haven't taken the Mark of the Beast. However, they don't make it into the millennium because of their lack of "heart/love" commitment to the persecuted (Matt 25:41-46). How they could posses the character to resist the Beast yet not possess the "heart/attitude" to be Sheep isn't explained.
In contrast to this innovation, the Bible teaches that there are two categories of people - saints and earth dwellers. Only the righteous inherit the kingdom (1 Cor 6:9-11). The appropriate response is that if these Sheep were not saved then they rejected the everlasting gospel (2 Thess 2:8-12; Rev 13:7-8; Rev 14:6-7).
Posttribulationist Robert Gundry also attempted to address the issue. He proposed that the Sheep-Goats Judgment occurs at the end of the millennium. Hardly a "face-value" approach. Ron Rhodes has written a response.
The question remains - how do saved people (and Israel) enter the millennium in their physical bodies if Christ's return at the end of the 70th week is contingent to Israel's redemption? The pretribulational position best answers these thorny questions. It isn't a matter of escapist dogma. We look for its evidence in Scripture.
Living each day abiding in Christ, trusting and expecting Him prepares Christians for whatever tribulation may come prior to rapture or death. We're quite capable of seeing the differences between Christ and the Antichrist, and a difference between historical tribulation and God's eschatological wrath.
Sadly, this new Left Behind movie has attracted fresh excuses to mock pretribulationism. Perhaps the energy might be better expended on more useful pursuits.
Keep looking up!
A new Left Behind movie is set to be released soon and the fever pitch is sky high. Yet the excitement isn't being generated from pretribulation rapture fans. I'm referring to those who are troubled about pretribbers being deluded by the Antichrist when he allegedly shows up before Jesus. However, not all criticism is kindly motivated.
Steve Anderson has produced a movie called After the Tribulation which went viral over the internet. It contains the sort of rants we have become accustomed to hearing. He thinks the pretribulational rapture is a satanic deception. Anderson also denies a prophetic relevance to modern Israel and has produced several anti-Semitic videos. Sadly, people swallow this stuff.
Someone also recently observed:
"[As opposed to pretribulationists] we believe in a face-value of God's word and Jesus said that the rapture would happen immediately after the tribulation."
Did He?
This "rapture" is a reference to Matthew 24:31 and this is prewrath proponent Anderson's contention. In a previous column I argued why the gathering in v 31 should be seen as Israel's re-gathering back into the land after their redemption. There is a scriptural rationale for this in the Old Testament and it fits the context of the Olivet Discourse.
Many commentators recognize the parallels between Zech 12:10 and Matt 24:29-30. Compare also Deut 30:1-5; Isaiah 11:10-12, 27:13; Hos 5:15 and Matt 23:39. Israel's repentance will result in its prophesied gathering. That the disciples didn't ask Jesus when the rapture would occur demonstrates that they understood verse 31 as Israel's re-gathering (Acts 1:6-7). You and I would have had the rapture foremost in mind.
Ironically, the prewrath system teaches a separate coming of Christ in order to gather Israel back into the land. They criticize pretribulationism for its "secret rapture" yet they have four comings within their Parousia Event. If Matt 24:31 doesn't pertain to Israel then prewrathers are also teaching a secret coming to gather Israel into the land. It's a secret because the Bible is silent about it.
What actually happens after the tribulation?
Note that the Matt 24:29-31 gathering occurs after the tribulation and after the signs. If the rapture is the gathering after the tribulation then it cannot cut the tribulation short, as is often claimed. If the rapture occurs after the tribulation, after the cosmic signs and after the sign of the Son of Man, then the Great Multitude of Rev 7:14 has not arrived from the tribulation via the rapture. This group is continuously arriving from within the tribulation (See Robertson's notes).
How long is the great tribulation (Jacob's trouble)? See Dan 7:25, Dan 11:36, Dan 12:7, Rev 13:5 and Rev 12:14. It is 1, 260 days. That's a problem for Anderson's prewrath view right there.
Most importantly, why is the tribulation ended? It is terminated otherwise no flesh would be saved (Matt 24:22). This flies in the face of the argument that Rev 3:10 means protection within, rather than from the time of trial. If God protects within, there is no reason for Him to terminate the great tribulation. That there are tribulation saints to be resurrected at Rev 20:4 rejects the protection within view.
If the tribulation is cut short by the rapture, why are there still martyrs to be resurrected? To solve this dilemma, Van Kampen suggested they were the 5th seal martyrs who weren't raptured. This position has since been revised.
Like posttribulationists, they now backdate the resurrection event of Rev 20:4. This is done to satisfy a connection between the 7th trumpet and Paul's Last Trump, or maintain a "single" First Resurrection. It ignores the "face-value" approach and contradicts Dan 12:13, which implies Daniel's resurrection will be after the 1,335 days.
Contra Van Kampen and Rosenthal, several leading prewrathers have now flip-flopped and embraced Rev 3:10 as a prewrath rapture passage. In so doing they deny evidence of God's wrath in the seal judgments and that these constitute any part of the "trial" which tests the earth dwellers. It appears theirs is a work-in-progress system.
What happens to the church at the rapture? According to 1Co 15:51-52 and 1Thess 4:16-17, the dead in Christ are resurrected and the living are instantly glorified. The tribulation is brought to an end to preserve the "elect" in their physical bodies (note the word flesh) in order to populate the millennium (Matt 24:22). Therefore it makes no contextual sense to say that God intervenes otherwise no believers would remain alive to be raptured.
Regardless of when the rapture occurs in relationship to the 70th week, people must be saved to populate the millennium. It occurs under the wrath of God and it necessarily affects new saints. The fact that there are new saints doesn't preclude a prior rapture. Yet it's often argued the church cannot have been raptured because Revelation speaks of saints being on the earth.
The closer the rapture event to the beginning of the millennium, the more problematic and redundant the Sheep-Goats Judgment event becomes. If the rapture occurs towards the end of the 70th week, then why is there need to sift Sheep from Goats? How does anyone enter the millennium in non-glorified bodies?
One popular posttribulationist argues that the Sheep-Goats are unsaved yet the Sheep still enter the millennium. He attributes this to a "blood covenant" which appears to owe at least some debt to E W Kenyon's teachings.
The Sheep avoid the Mark of the Beast and thus escape the "Wicked Tares Judgment." They resist the everlasting gospel which is preached to all those who dwell on the earth (Rev 14:6-7); therefore they also evade the rapture and progress to the Sheep-Goats Judgment. They merit a last-minute reprieve because of a "works/heart" based judgment (Matt 25:34-40).
The Goats also escape the "Tares Judgment" because they haven't taken the Mark of the Beast. However, they don't make it into the millennium because of their lack of "heart/love" commitment to the persecuted (Matt 25:41-46). How they could posses the character to resist the Beast yet not possess the "heart/attitude" to be Sheep isn't explained.
In contrast to this innovation, the Bible teaches that there are two categories of people - saints and earth dwellers. Only the righteous inherit the kingdom (1 Cor 6:9-11). The appropriate response is that if these Sheep were not saved then they rejected the everlasting gospel (2 Thess 2:8-12; Rev 13:7-8; Rev 14:6-7).
Posttribulationist Robert Gundry also attempted to address the issue. He proposed that the Sheep-Goats Judgment occurs at the end of the millennium. Hardly a "face-value" approach. Ron Rhodes has written a response.
The question remains - how do saved people (and Israel) enter the millennium in their physical bodies if Christ's return at the end of the 70th week is contingent to Israel's redemption? The pretribulational position best answers these thorny questions. It isn't a matter of escapist dogma. We look for its evidence in Scripture.
Living each day abiding in Christ, trusting and expecting Him prepares Christians for whatever tribulation may come prior to rapture or death. We're quite capable of seeing the differences between Christ and the Antichrist, and a difference between historical tribulation and God's eschatological wrath.
Sadly, this new Left Behind movie has attracted fresh excuses to mock pretribulationism. Perhaps the energy might be better expended on more useful pursuits.
Keep looking up!
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