Great disservice has been done to the pre-Trib Rapture truth of God’s Holy Word. People such as Harold Camping and others have, by setting dates, thrown disrepute on the fact that Christ will call all believers into the clouds of glory before the dark and terrible time of the Tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week).
By making predictions of the exact date when the Rapture will happen, such as found in the book by Edgar C. Whisenant titled 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988, some have contributed to fulfilling the Apostle Peter’s prophecy:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Peter 3:3–4)
We seem to have a growth of pre-Trib skeptics within Christianity today. That’s because the erroneous date-setters have skewed truth in the Bible that Jesus said no one knows the time except His Father.
Now, some might say these skeptics are doing little or no harm. All believers, if the pre-Trib view is biblically correct, will be raptured. The only prerequisite for going in the Rapture to be with the Lord is to be saved–that is, believe in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross at Calvary. It isn’t necessary to believe in the pre-Trib Rapture to be saved. Those who believe in another view of prophecy are “in Christ,” so will be evacuated from this fallen planet when Christ shouts, “Come up here!”
This is, of course, true. One doesn’t have to believe in the pre-Trib Rapture to be saved.
However, the first thing I would say in answer to that reasoning is that we who are in God’s family–are saved—are to strive to understand things God wants us to understand:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
The pre-Trib Rapture of the Church is built upon an extensive body of Scripture. The Rapture is a clearly presented doctrine, and even most pre-Trib naysayers admit that the Rapture is in God’s Word. However, they, in most cases, adamantly deny that it is a pre-Trib Rapture that the Bible presents.
They give all sorts of arguments for when it will occur, all pointing to the Rapture taking place during the Tribulation, the time when Antichrist will be ruling as history’s last, most despotic dictator.
But these ignore—or convolute through twisting—God’s promise to keep believers out of that terrible time of God’s wrath:
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)
This promise to spare believers of the Church Age, or Age of Grace, is seen while Jesus in His ascended form is revealing prophetic truth to John, who wrote the Revelation. Jesus here is talking to the seven churches. That’s the churches now in the dispensation of the Church Age. Jesus is telling believers of the Church Age that He will keep them out of the Tribulation.
Most who come against the pre-Trib timing of the Rapture refuse to accept that God deals with humankind in dispensations. And therein lies much of the problem with them not being willing to “rightly divide the word of truth,” as found in 2 Timothy 2:15. Unless this concept of dispensations is understood, the pre-Trib Rapture cannot be easily discerned.
And this matter of not understanding dispensational truth, I prayerfully hope, brings this article’s title into proper focus. Looking at prophecy yet future through the pre-Trib prism procures discernment. The pre-Trib viewpoint provides accurate perspective on issues and events as they might pertain to things to come. For an example, we only have to look at the prospect of nuclear war at this moment in history.
As I mentioned above, we, as a generation alive on the earth, are in the Age of Grace, or Church Age dispensation. Within the pre-Trib view, a nuclear war or even a World War III that would decimate the planet just isn’t foretold in God’s Word.
Yet rumors of nuclear war are abounding at present. Even writers on Bible prophecy are warning that nuclear war is about to break out at any moment. These writings are coming from those who are, in some cases, avidly against the pre-Trib Rapture viewpoint. These also, in most cases, deny that God deals with humanity in dispensations, as I’ve mentioned.
As of this writing, I have before me several articles proclaiming that China is on the verge of attacking the United States. The drone sightings, the huge balloons shot down some months ago, the sightings of Chinese subs off the coasts of America…all of these things indicate that China is scoping out our defenses in order to launch nuclear attacks.
I heard just hours ago a U.S. representative voicing that all of the illegals pouring into the nation, many of them young Chinese men of fighting age, portends an attack from the Chinese war machine that is about to take place.
And these kinds of warnings have been going on for several years.
I can say with authoritative confidence based upon God’s Word that such war-making by China is not in view for this dispensation. Here is what I mean.
Any such massive nuclear attack would bring equally massive retaliation by this nation. America has submarines under the ocean waters of the world–including waters near China. Each of the subs has as its nuclear repertoire MIRV ballistic missiles, each with multiple warheads armed with nuclear ordnance. These would obliterate the Chinese mainland when launched upon America being attacked.
So the world would be drastically and profoundly damaged if this scenario was played out.
Jesus told us (Luke 17:28–30) that when He next catastrophically intervenes into earth’s evil, all will be going along as it was in Sodom at the time Lot and his family were removed. There would be no destruction preceding that removal. People would be, as we are at present, conducting the business of life as usual–buying, selling, planting, etc.
Massive nuclear exchanges involving earth’s military powers simply are not scheduled this side of the Rapture.
We can logically understand that China will be a power as part of “the kings of the east” found in chapters 9 and 16 of Revelation. At that time, they will indeed destroy one-third of all humankind, the prophecy says. So they won’t have been destroyed, but will be greatly enhanced militarily.
So looking, dispensationally, at the fearful things to come through the pre-Trib scope of the Bible’s prophetic radar, we get an accurate—even precise, in some cases—picture from God’s great and perfect perspective.
Terry James Prophecy Line 
Jesus to Maurice Sklar, January 10, 2010: “If you don’t BELIEVE I am coming for you to take you out before the coming wrath is poured out upon the Earth, I have no obligation to do so. But, remember, all those that will be left behind will be killed for their stand for Me.”
Full Prophecy . .
“Not all of My people will be ready when I sound the shofar of My appearing in the air. In fact, half of those that profess belief in Me will be left behind, as it is written in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. I am coming for those that are prepared and awaiting My return. But, I am not leaving the Earth without a strong witness of My grace, My presence and My glory. In fact, I’ve allowed some to choose whether they want to stay to be a part of the greatest revival and harvest of all of history or to go on before to My Wedding Supper. But [staying] it is not My best for them. I do not want to see them suffer. It will be the worst time in all of history!
Remember, it is only by FAITH that you will escape these things coming upon the Earth shortly. If you don’t BELIEVE I am coming for you to take you out before the coming wrath is poured out upon the Earth, I have no obligation to do so. But, remember, all those that will be left behind will be killed for their stand for Me. Many will not stand for Me in that hour and will lose their souls when the persecution heats up against them. That is because they were never really Mine in the first place. But also many champions for Me shall arise and not compromise during the time of Jacob’s Trouble. I will arise and protect those that will stand for Me then until their works are finished and then they shall all give their lives for Me and the truth of My Gospel.
I have already separated My Bride from the Laodicean church. I have warned the church over and over. Time is running out fast! Get into the ark of safety! Flee from the love of sin, the flesh and the world before it is too late! Do not look back upon Sodom like Lot’s wife. Flee the city of destruction! Flee from the wrath to come! Come into My secret place! The doors are closing soon. Embrace the truth of My promise that I have not appointed you for wrath, but to obtain My salvation and to be a part of My Bride. Blessed and holy are those that obtain this first resurrection. Amen. I am coming for those who love Me; My soon Appearing in the sky; My Wedding and My Glorious Supper; I am coming for those that love Heaven and the coming Kingdom more than they love the passing pleasures of sin upon this present Earth. DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY FALSE TEACHING THAT ROBS YOU OF THE BLESSED HOPE OF MY COMING! I am the Great King and Bridegroom! Keep your lamps burning brightly! The midnight hour is here!”
This post is based on some kind of supposed “new revelation” by Jesus in 2010, which makes it heresy. None of it can be accepted, because it is not included in the canon of scripture. All scripture was closed when the Book of Revelation was given to the Apostle John by Jesus in around 95 AD.
I urge you to repent of spreading this kind of information; at the very least it creates confusion and division. True Believers know who is behind all lies, confusion and division.
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy and He never changes. I would take what He says over what anyone else says – anytime!
Dr Sklar is a false teacher and he regularly assembles with the most apostate of false teachers: Kenneth Hagin, Jr., Kenneth Copeland, Che Ahn, Benny Hinn, Rod Parsley. He is to be marked and avoided; he certainly does not speak for Jesus.
He claims to hear directly from Jesus quite regularly, and says he has been transported to Heaven. He has made so many failed ‘prophecies’ over the years that it is impossible to count them all. (Maurice Sklar is fortunate that he is not living in the Old Testament era because he would have been put to death as a false prophet long ago.)
Believe what you want to believe, just keep in mind that you will account for every word you speak when you meet the Lord face to face. I urge you, do not promote evil men or spread the lies of the wicked.
If you want to hear directly from Jesus, READ THE BIBLE. He is not giving new revelation today, and certainly not to men of this world who are liars and self-promoters.
This verse was written for men like Mr. Sklar and all who heed his words 2 Timothy 4:3-4
3-“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 3-and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
If you truly love the Lord you’ll willingly accept holy warnings, and eagerly turn away from the wicked.
Agreed. We should be sticking to what the Bible teaches and not to supposed additional revelation that goes besting the Word.
I’m with you, Robin. We are not supposed to add or subtract from God’s word (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19).
We are are saved by faith in Jesus and him alone (John 3:16-18), not on “details.” For instance, I figure a “young Earth” believer and an “old Earth” believer will both be saved if they meet the John 3 standard.
The Bible contains all the revelations we need and no new ones are forthcoming, though as the years pass, interpretations of latter day prophecies may become more clear.
For example, with the innovations of technology, we now see how Revelation 13 can be realized, something which was not possible in the past. Yet the prophecy itself remains unchanged from when John first wrote it down, circa AD 95.
Note that Daniel’s 70th week is a covenant period of 7 years between a world ruler and “the many”, assumed to be Israel. There is no place in the entire bible that says that this is a 7 year period of tribulation, and Daniel specifically states that the tribulation is 3 1/2 years. This is affirmed by both Jesus and by John (in The Revelation). The first 3 1/2 years of the covenant period is probably going to be a period of peace, under which the Jews rebuild their temple and institute their sacrificial system. After this period of peace, sudden destruction will come upon them when the world ruler enters the temple, desecrates it, and demands to be worshiped.
True. Jesus only made reference to the great tribulation beginning with the abomination of desolation. However, with the church gone prior to the 70th week, it’s not going to be pretty for those who dwell on the earth. There are other wars prophesied and likely the first 5 seals in the first half. I agree with this post that nuclear war does not seem to be part of the prophetic picture.
Sorry but I disagree.
First, the first 3.5 years of the clearly defined the 7-Year-Tribulation, known as the time of Jacob’s Trouble, will be anything but peaceful. The first 3.5 years are not as bad as the second 3.5 years, which Jesus called the “Great Tribulation”. A study of Daniel and Revelation clearly lays all of this out.
The first 3.5 years will begin as a false peace facilitated by the Antichrist, which will be very short lived, and then wars (plural) will break out..followed by famine, plagues, violence, and deaths caused by wild animals.
The Gog/Magog war in Ezekiel 38 and 39 describe destruction and cleanup that is identical to nuclear war. Additionally, the total destruction of Damascus in Isaiah 17 may be nuclear since that city is utterly destroyed overnight, and becomes forever uninhabitable. The destruction of Elam says that all of her people will be scattered among all of the nations because it can not be occupied. All of these sound like nuclear, neutron or biological weapons, or a combo of all three.
Anyone who thinks the first 3.5 years are going to be peaceful needs to go back and study scripture. When over 2,000,000,000 (billion) people die in that time frame, the entire planet is going to be in chaos. Right now, approximately 62,000,000 (million) people die globally each year. If you increase that by 10 times, it still doesn’t match the number of people who will die in the first half of the Tribulation, and that’s only the beginning. Just trying to bury all the dead is going to be a herculean task.
There are excellent books about the whole Tribulation period by Ron Rhodes, Jeff Kinley, John MacArthur and many other reliable Christian teachers. I recommend studying them to get an accurate, scriptural perspective.
Another good source is Bill Salus and Dr Ken Johnson. There are many things that can fulfill the Damascus and Elam prophecies, it’s not categorically going to be nuclear. Maybe, but as a former Air Force officer understanding the nuclear scenarios, I doubt it. Ezekiel 38 does not sound like a nuclear exchange which would make the land unapproachable by anybody and the nuclear fallout and affects on the earth in ways that don’t seem to track with prophecy. But again, just my opinion knowing what I know about nuclear war. I respect other viewpoints. The good news is we won’t be here to find out.
Mr. Robin, please show me scripture that says the time of Joseph’s trouble is 7 years. Please show me scripture that says that the tribulation is 7 years. Please show me scripture where 2,000,000,000 die in the first 3 1/2 years of the 7 year covenant.
I am not saying that you’re wrong. I am saying that you cannot support several of your statements using scripture. What you can support, scripturally, is the following:
1) A 7 year covenant
2) A 3 1/2 year period of great tribulation
3) A reintroduction of the Jewish sacrificial system
4) A third temple
5) A pre-tribulation rapture (and probably pre-covenant)
Bonus: The Jews need a period of time to build their temple, and implement and maintain their sacrificial system. I cannot see that happening with 2b people around them dying, the world in utter chaos, asteroids falling, earthquakes, and the bible specifically stating that there will be a time of peace for Israel and then sudden destruction comes upon them. And remember, they will be sacrificing until the 1,260th day of the covenant period when the world ruler stops the daily sacrifices, enters the temple, and demands to be worshiped as god.
I’ve believed the same way you did most of my life, then I had a friend tell me to verify my beliefs using only scripture, and I couldn’t. It led to a lot of questions that no one has been able to answer, and for which I don’t have answers. The good news is that these are peripheral and not part of our salvation. So we can discuss, agree, disagree, and be brothers without impacting our future.
As far as the books you recommend, I’ve read several. The issue is that most people have been taught the “theory of dispensationalism” most of their lives and they don’t have the ability to be objective. Instead of using scripture to prove “doctrine” (or theory in this case), they are using theory to prove scripture and that is always bad. I can give you hundreds of official doctrines of various churches that are unbiblical and wrong.
JDean, I am not a Mr.
And I am not willing to do the hard work required in order to understand eschatology. This is a link that will answer some of your questions. https://www.gotquestions.org/tribulation.html
As to the number of people who die in the first half of the Tribulation, when the fourth seal is opened which clearly happens in the first 1/2 of the Tribulation, John sees a pale horse. “Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him” (Revelation 6:7–8). The result of this fourth seal is that one fourth of the earth’s population are killed “by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” I assume that the population of the earth is approximately 8 Billion at the start of the Tribulation, so 1/4 would be 2 Billion. The global population is currently around 8.3 billion so an adjustment is made accordingly.
You don’t have to agree, but I don’t think your ‘friend’ who opened your eyes did you any favors, and has led you astray. You can believe what you choose to, but I won’t agree with your interpretation, because it is simply not scriptural.
So since there is no pre-trib rapture, what Paul should have wrote to the Thessalonians was “you will enter a time of great tribulation with intense shakings the world has never seen which will bring about intense suffering and death. The Antichrist will try to track you down and execute you. One quarter of the world will be killed during war at the 2nd seal. If you survive these, you will nearly starve from hyper inflation at the 3rd seal. If you survive that, you could be killed by pestilence that comes upon the Earth during the 4th seal.”
Comfort one another with these words!
But he didn’t. And it’s immortalized in the canon of scripture.
If you don’t believe Terry’s article, you might try some studies by Lee Brainard. I don’t think Terry would object to me recommending these. In his book Ten Potent Proofs for the Pretribulation Rapture he breaks-down the Day of the Lord into the phases of the day with scriptural references to back them up.
Aside from the obvious Revelation 3:10, where Jesus tells John that the Church (of Philadelpia) will be saved from (not through) the time of testing (the tribulation) to come, Lee observes that the Day of the Lord, proper, is the millenial kingdom which is preceded by the morning star (the rapture), dawn (the seven day/year tribulation priod ) and the sunrise (the Second coming). He also provides an analysis of Greek terms that differentiate between the second coming (parousia) and meeting of the Church in the air (the apantesis) and how they related, in context of the day, the royal procession of a coming king.
Lee also compares, in terms of the wedding, the difference between the Bride (Rev 19:7, the present Church) and the guests (Rev 19:9, the innumerable tribulation saints under the throne, Rev 7, who will endure the trials of the Antichrist and martyred for their beliefs). These are those who are blessed to be “invited” to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
IMHO the Bride is not invited as she’s the Bride. She doesn’t need an invitation. She’s part of the show, one of the central figures.
It’s a good, short, easy read, intentionally for the skeptic.
He also wrote a short and concise study called Recent Pre-Trib Findings in the Early Church Fathers where he examines several of the works of Irenaeus, Eusebius, et-al and their views on the second coming vs. the rapture providing evidence that the rapture belief preceeded Darby, the scholars of the reformation and Augustine. I just finished this one, it’s hard to put down.
Kudos to you Ken. You are spot on with your recommendations.
Once you learn the truth of the pre-trib Rapture promises, and the evidence for it throughout scripture, you can’t unsee it. It provides comfort like nothing else.
I have to respectfully disagree about the depiction of China role in end Times prophecy. Revelation 9 and 16 have nothing to do with China. I wrote several detailed posts about this awhile back. But, in my opinion, China disappears into prophetic insignificance as does many other nations including the US as prophetic focus becomes increasingly on Israel. China persecutes God’s people and changes his Word and will come under the judgements of Revelation like the rest of the world. Even now, they are dealing with massive internal problems to include a collapse of their population, their economy, and possibly their government.
John {3:16} For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. {3:17} For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
{3:18} He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
1 Thessalonians {1:9} For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; {1:10} And to
wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, [even] Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
1 Thessalonians{4:13} But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. {4:14} For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. {4:15} For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. {4:16} For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: {4:17} Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. {4:18} Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Seems very clear to me!