Chapter
Nine
"The
Great Cloud of Witnesses"
In this chapter, we are going to look at the witness of several New
Testament writers concerning the Second Coming of Christ. It is a fact
that there will be a great cloud of witnesses one day that will prove,
beyond the shadow of doubt, that PTR is a false doctrine. They will be the
courageous believers who endured the tribulation, faced the Antichrist,
and never denied their testimony. Some of the people whom we will be
considering in this chapter will be in that group. The
Witness of Matthew Twenty-four: "Now
as He sat on the In
Matthew twenty-four, there is a series of verses in which Jesus
chronologically outlines the events in Revelation. His teaching here is in
response to the disciples' asking Him three questions: 1.
"When will these things be?" 2.
"What will be the sign of Your coming?" 3.
"What will be the sign of the end of the world?"
Jesus responds by giving a brief chronological order of events that
are perfectly in harmony with Revelation. Here is His response in the
order and with the corresponding Scriptures in Revelation. Notice that He
does not mention a pretribulation rapture anywhere in His teaching.
He begins by warning them about deception. Deceit, deception, and other
forms of the words are mentioned often in the Scriptures regarding the end
times. The strong delusion that God sends is because people reject the
love for the truth and develop a love for deceit instead. "And
for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should
believe the lie, {12} that they all may be condemned who did not believe
the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thess. 2:11-12
NKJV)
Professing Christians should be more concerned about avoiding
satanic deception and the subsequent strong delusion more than missing a
mythical secret rapture. Although I do not intend to elaborate in detail,
the point needs to be made that the love for deceit begins in a seemingly
harmless way. Our society today has developed an addiction to the
fictional imagery that flows into each home via the television. We live in
a world that is wildly obsessed with fantasy. Some people even refer to
fictional characters in movies and television dramas as if they truly
exist.
I don’t say that there isn’t a place for fiction and fantasy,
but when it leads people into a delusion and to rebel against God’s
Word, it should be opposed and exposed.
For this reason I stand totally opposed to the Left Behind book
series written by Dr. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins because in my
opinion it alters scriptural truth to the degree that people can be
deceived. I might mention here
that I wrote an eschatological fiction novel that I hope people will read
who have read some of the books the Left Behind series and are left with
questions and other concerns. The
novel is scheduled for publication soon and I will be sending out advance
notices to everyone on our mailing list.
I spent a great deal of time debating whether or not to write the
novel and discussed it with my friends and family.
I came to the conclusion that even though Posttribulationism does
not need fiction to support it, it may be necessary in this situation to
fight fire with fire. Apparently
there are people who believe the pretrib fiction books without consulting
the Scriptures. I hope and
pray that my novel will inspire them to study the Word of God for
themselves concerning this and all other matters.
Deception is addictive, because it shields us from reality. Most
purveyors of deception today employ the use of sensationalism, mystery,
intrigue, and etcetera to make it extremely appealing.
For this reason it is sometimes expedient to present fiction that
oppose deception such as C. S Lewis did with his popular children’s
books, The Chronicles of Narnia.
If a child is interested in fantasy it would be much more
beneficial to give them a The Chronicles of Narnia than the Harry
Potter series.
When a person becomes addicted to deadly deception, his or her love
of truth gradually dies. Deception often feels good to the natural mind,
but the end result is always costly. "Bread
gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled
with gravel." (Prov.
To be under a delusion is to hold onto a belief in the presence of
evidence that would normally be sufficient to destroy that belief. I
believe that pretribulation rapture adherents are deceived, but I also
believe that some of them are actually under a delusion because they
refuse to let go of the doctrine in spite of the abundant evidence that
destroys and exposes the false doctrine.
The following table is but another presentation of evidence that
exposes the heresy that many call the pretribulation rapture.
After repeatedly warning about deception, Jesus begins to give a
chronology of events. I will list the events and the Scripture references
in Matthew and Revelation here. The chart will help you to get a visual
understanding of how incredibly accurate Jesus' enumeration of the
Revelation events really is.
The
Matthew twenty-four is the most concise and complete teaching that
Jesus gave on eschatology. I have already said that there is no mention of
a pretribulation rapture in Matthew twenty-four and on that point most
dispensationalists would agree with me. But the way that they get around
the lack of a pretribulation rapture being mentioned in Matthew
twenty-four is to declare that those Scriptures are meant for 1.
Jesus is teaching in direct response to questions asked by His disciples
that were Christians. "Now
as He sat on the 2.
The disciples became the foundation stones of His Church. "Now,
therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints and members of the household of God, {20} having been
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief corner stone, {21} in whom the whole building, being
joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, {22} in whom you
also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the
Spirit." (Eph. 2:19-22 NKJV) 3.
They were the first to be born again, blood-washed, and Spirit-filled.
They were also believers in His Lordship and resurrection and
therefore met all the criteria to be called saved. As such, they were His
future Church, which is His Body. There is no difference between these men
whom Jesus taught in Matthew twenty- four and anyone else who is a
Christian. Their nationality
is of no concern when it comes to salvation. "For
by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body; whether Jews or Greeks,
whether slaves or free; and have all been made to drink into one
Spirit." (1 Cor. "Therefore
remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh; who are called
Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by
hands; {12} that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. {13} But now in Christ Jesus
you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
{14} For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken
down the middle wall of separation, {15} having abolished in His flesh the
enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to
create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, {16} and
that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross,
thereby putting to death the enmity." (Eph. 2:11-16 NKJV) "For
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. {27} For as many of
you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. {28} There is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor
female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. {29} And if you are Christ's,
then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
(Gal. 3:26-29 NKJV) 4.
Thus, the Israelites who are saved are not any different than Gentiles who
are saved. They are not saved another way, nor do they become a part of
us, but we become a part of them. "For
if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their
acceptance be but life from the dead? {16} For if the firstfruit is holy,
the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. {17}
And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive
tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the
root and fatness of the olive tree, {18} do not boast against the
branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root,
but the root supports you. {19} You will say then, "Branches were
broken off that I might be grafted in." {20} Well said. Because of
unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty,
but fear. {21} For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not
spare you either. {22} Therefore consider the goodness and severity of
God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you
continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. {23} And
they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for
God is able to graft them in again. {24} For if you were cut out of the
olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature
into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural
branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? {25} For I do not desire,
brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be
wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." (
By ignoring these and other Scriptures, dispensationalists have
caused a whole new method of interpreting the Bible to ensue, which they
repeatedly call literal interpretation. We have completely proven, and
will continue to prove, that this is a misnomer that Dispensationalism is
very far from the truth and literal interpretation of the Scriptures. When
their erroneous interpretations are compared with the Scriptures in
context, the inconsistencies of the dispensationalist claims are evident.
The only conclusion from the above Scriptures is that Jesus was teaching
His Church, not the nation of
The answer to all of these questions is "No." Are we to
conclude by the answer to these questions that the Bible is a Jewish book
and has absolutely no relevance to Gentiles whatsoever? I don't think so!
Who should determine what part is meant for us and what part belongs to
the Jewish people? Let the Scriptures speak for themselves, not J. N.
Darby. It is clear from the Scriptures what parts of the Bible belong to
whom. The entire Bible belongs to the Church and some are Jews while
others are Gentiles, but they are all one in Christ and of no nationality.
I do not see how anyone could honestly declare that Jesus separated His
disciples from the Gentile part of His Church in this teaching, when He
knew that the two would become one and He did not specifically state His
intention in this regard. He knew that He would break down the wall of
partition between us and them. Of all the things that Jesus knew, He
certainly knew His purpose and His people.
I might add here that I believe Dispensationalism's improper and
anomalous emphasis on Comparison
of Matthew Twenty-four with Other Scriptures
I believe that the Scriptures in 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 fit very
well with 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 which, in turn, goes well with the order
in 1 Corinthians 15:20-26. We will be raised at His coming, and then comes
the end. They also fit with what Jesus said in Matthew twenty-four. In
Matthew twenty-four, Jesus had an excellent opportunity to present the
pretribulation rapture doctrine, but did not. One cannot just assume
without evidence that the Scriptures in Matthew twenty-four are anything
other than Scriptures declaring His Second Coming. Is it not strange that
the disciples did not ask about a pretribulation rapture, yet
dispensationalists declare it to be a valid Bible doctrine? Is it not even
stranger that Jesus goes into great detail about the eschatological order
in response to the disciple’s question, but never once mentioned a
pretribulation rapture? The fourteenth verse gives us a key to
understanding Jesus' eschatological order. "And
this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness
to all the nations, and then the end will come." (Matt. 24:14 NKJV)
Again, we do not see a double Parousia mentioned. He warns them to
beware of false Christ's, but who is looking for Christ besides
Christians? The Jews are looking for the Messiah, according to their
biased interpretation of the Scriptures—so, Jesus would not have been
warning the Jews about false Christ's. Besides that, the Jews today will
not read the New Testament in which this eschatological teaching is
recorded; so, what was the point in Matthew's recording it exclusively for
them?
And why are Christians looking for Christ during the seven-year
period? The obvious answer is because they are still here. Let us look at
the following comparison of Scriptures. First, there are the Scriptures in
Luke seventeen: "And
as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son
of Man: {27} "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were
given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood
came and destroyed them all. {28} "Likewise as it was also in the
days of
Jesus is talking about His Second Coming here in great detail, yet
He leaves out discussing or even mentioning the rapture. Jesus described a
time of complete apathy prior to His coming by pointing to two other time
periods in history. He declares that last days people will live as the
people in these two examples, totally oblivious to His coming. He declares
that He will come suddenly in a day when they are not looking for Him and
destroy them all. Again, there is no mention of a double coming. It sounds
more like the Parousia depicted in second Thessalonians one. "and
to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed
from heaven with His mighty angels, {8} in flaming fire taking vengeance
on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ. {9} These shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
{10} when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be
admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was
believed." (2 Thess. 1:7-10 NKJV)
Notice in these Scriptures that there are no double coming
references. Also, notice the point of time at which the saints will be
given rest. It is at His coming, with fire and destruction (which is God's
wrath), just as Matthew twenty-four and Luke seventeen declares.
Pretribbers use these verses intermittently for rapture and Parousia
scriptures until they are pinned in a corner by such duplicitous
maneuvers—at which point they pin the whole affair on the Jews. No one
has the authority to force Second Coming scriptures to double as rapture
scriptures or whatever is convenient for him or her. We would have to see
the two events clearly depicted in one context and labeled respectively in
order to say that there are two separate events. Take the example of
seeing twins one at a time. You would never know that they were twins
unless you saw them together and you would not be able to tell them apart
except with name tags.
Pretribbers declare that there are twin events and they apply the
name tags at will with no proof or accountability to the Scriptures. There
are no places in God's Word that pretribulation rapture scripture(s) pose
together with Second Coming scripture(s) so that a distinction can be made
that they are two separate events set apart by a span of time. The only
place where we see anything that even comes close to resembling such a
situation is when Paul speaks of the Coming of the Lord and our gathering
together to Him (rapture), but there is no span of time depicted between
these two events. They are
presented as the simultaneous events. "Now,
brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the second
coming of the Lord) and our gathering together to Him, (the rapture) 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
(notice "day," singular) had come. {3} Let no one deceive you by
any means; for that Day (again, "Day" is singular) will not come
unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the
son of perdition," (2 Thess. 2:1-3 NKJV)
By presenting the two events as simultaneous, these Scriptures give
evidence that there is no double Coming of the Lord Jesus. The order that
Paul presents declares that the man of sin (Antichrist) will be revealed
before the gathering together (rapture) to Him, which effectively ends any
notion of a pretribulation rapture. The Antichrist is supposed to be
revealed at the beginning of the seven-year period. The rapture in 2
Thessalonians 2:1-3 occurs after this revealing of the Antichrist.
Thus, no pretribulation rapture is an honest and literal
interpretation of these verses in context.
Also consider that the same Paul wrote first Thessalonians. The
Witness of Daniel
There is also the comparison of Matthew twenty-four with the Book
of Daniel. In the Scriptures in Matthew twenty-four where Jesus teaches
the Church, He links the New Testament with the Old in this Scripture and
others. "Immediately
after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon
will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers
of the heavens will be shaken. {30} "Then the sign of the Son of Man
will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory. {31} "And He will send His angels with a great sound
of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other." (Matt. 24:29-31 NKJV)
Robert Gundry points out that Jesus refers to Daniel 7:13 not only
in Matthew 24:30, but also in Matthew 26:64 and Matthew 28:18. This
connects the Old Testament, a book written especially to the Jewish
people, with the New Testament, a book written specifically to the entire
Body of Christ. (1) "I
was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they
brought Him near before Him." (Dan.
Jesus describes His return as a descent to the earth. Consider the
words of Gundry here: "Rather,
thrones are set, and the Ancient of days sits on one of them. It is hardly
probable that a throne for God would be set in heaven, since that is his
usual place of abode. Furthermore, according to verse 22 the Ancient of
days "came." It is by far most natural, then, to understand that
a throne was placed for God in the terrestial sphere and that he came and
sat on it." (2)
We can conclude that according to Jesus, the witness of Daniel is
also important in describing the eschatological sequence of events, and is
especially helpful in discovering a pretribulation rapture. A diligent
study of Daniel reveals that there is no pretribulation rapture. In fact,
the opposite is true. Daniel depicts a posttribulation resurrection. "At
that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over
the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as
never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time
your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the
book. {2} And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
{3} Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and
ever." (Dan. 12:1-3 NKJV) {8}
"Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord,
what shall be the end of these things?" {9} And he said, "Go
your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of
the end. {10} "Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but
the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but
the wise shall understand." (Dan. 12:8-10 NKJV) {13}
""But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and
will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.""
(emphasis added) (Dan.
At the time of Daniel's resurrection, we see both the lost and the
redeemed coming out of the ground. If the pretribulation
resurrection/rapture is only for the saved which is what PTR proponents
believe, then someone might declare that this is another rapture that
occurs at the end of the seven-year period. However, Daniel only mentions
one resurrection, not two, and does not mention a two-phase Second Coming
of Christ. It is apparent here and in the rest of the Scriptures that no
mention of a double rapture exists. Rather than a double rapture,
Revelation depicts an event more like Daniel's resurrection. The dead, the
lost, and the saved come out of their resting places and stand before God
to receive their reward. "Then
I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
{12} And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books
were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And
the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were
written in the books. {13} The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and
Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were
judged, each one according to his works." (Rev. 20:11-13 NKJV)
Since people are judged by both of the books, including the Book of
Life in which only the redeemed are recorded (Phil. 4:3; Rev. 3:5, 13:8,
17:8), this means that both the lost and the saved are resurrected here.
Of course, this is the Millennium-end judgment, and pertains only to the
Millennium. In chapter six, I prove conclusively that an identical
judgment occurs at the end of the age, which is the end of the
Tribulation. That is the resurrection that Daniel recorded when he
received the prophetic information from the angel. To me, this is
conclusive evidence that the Pretribulation Rapture position is not a
biblically sound position. Paul told Timothy to be careful of his life and
doctrine because of the potential to harm souls. We should take heed to
this exhortation and make very sure that everything we believe and promote
is scripturally correct. We should also be open to change whenever we are
corrected. "Take
heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this
you will save both yourself and those who hear you." (1 Tim.
The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew twenty-five is also proof
against a pretribulation rapture. Although some pretribulationists take
great liberties with this parable in order to force it into proof texts
for PTR, we will see that this is not possible with literal
interpretation. "Then
the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps
and went out to meet the bridegroom. {2} "Now five of them were wise,
and five were foolish. {3} "Those who were foolish took their lamps
and took no oil with them, {4} "but the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps. {5} "But while the bridegroom was delayed,
they all slumbered and slept. {6} "And at
The faulty pretribulation argument that comes from these Scriptures
is that we will be raptured, get judged at the Bema seat of Christ, attend
the Marriage of the Lamb, and eat the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, all
during the seven-year period. Again, there are no Scriptures for this
scenario; therefore, it has been presumed and imposed upon the text.
Simple inferences in the Bible should not be counted as actual events.
Pretribbers attempt to show that the Marriage and Marriage Supper take
place during the seven-year period for several reasons. First, they want
to prove that there is not enough time for these things to be fulfilled if
the rapture is posttrib. Secondly, they need proof that the rapture is
pretrib. By placing the Marriage and Marriage Supper during the seven-year
period, they can declare that the Church has already been raptured before
the seven-year period.
I disagree with the idea that the Marriage Supper will be eaten
during the seven-year period for several reasons. First of all, the Bride
is not yet complete, and will not be until the end of the Tribulation.
There are martyred saints throughout the final half of the tribulation,
which indicates that the Bride is not complete until the end. These
martyred saints are given honored status, as is evidenced by Revelation
twenty. It is unnatural that
Jesus would be orchestrating a devastating series of calamities on the
earth while eating supper with only part of His Bride or Church. Does this
mean that as believers are martyred, they go straight to their seat at the
table? Where is the completing of the Bride that must take place before
the Marriage Supper? "And
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to
Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.
And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. {5} But the
rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection. {6} Blessed and holy is he who
has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with Him a thousand years." (Rev. 20:4-6 NKJV)
It is difficult to insist that these people who are blessed and
holy are not a part of the Marriage or the Marriage Supper. As long as
they are on the earth, there cannot be a Marriage or a Marriage Supper.
Jesus reveals when the Marriage will take place. "And
at
There is no doubt that the Marriage is after Jesus comes. Also,
this Scripture does not mean that there is a pretribulation rapture, as is
evidenced by the following Scriptures in the same chapter. "When
the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then
He will sit on the throne of His glory. {32} "All the nations will be
gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." (Matt. 25:31-32 NKJV)
The second reason that I disagree that the Marriage Supper occurs
during the Tribulation is for the same reason that pretribbers disagree
with the posttribulation rapture—because there is not enough time. If we
are to take the mention of an event in the Scripture to be the actual time
of the occurrence, then read where the Marriage Supper is mentioned. It is
mentioned right before the Second Advent. "Let
us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb
has come, and His wife has made herself ready." {8} And to her it was
granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen
is the righteous acts of the saints. {9} Then he said to me, "Write:
'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'
" And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."
{10} And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "See
that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren
who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy." {11} Now I saw heaven opened, and behold,
a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness He judges and makes war." (Rev 19:7-11 NKJV)
It is clear to me from these Scriptures that the voices and the
angel are simply announcing that the Marriage and the Marriage Supper are
about to happen, but not that they are occurring at that very moment. What
cued them to make that announcement? They most likely realized that Jesus
was getting ready to descend to the earth for the final battle and bring
back His Bride. They knew that these events would take place after the
final battle. Jehoakim Jeremias gave some insight into the parable of the
ten virgins in his book, The Parables of Jesus. (3)
First, he discusses the delay of the Parousia. "The
common element of suddenness is a figure of the unexpected incidence of
catastrophe. The crisis is at the door. It will come unexpectedly as the
We can gather by this opinion that it was not a parable about the
rapture followed by the Tribulation, but about the Second Coming followed
by the judgment. Concerning the wedding itself, Jeremias writes: "The
wedding ceremony usually took place in the bridegroom's house; it began
with the fetching of the bride by the bridegroom and his friends. The
virgins are the bride's companions, who await the arrival of the
bridgegroom, that they may take him in to their friend, and then proceed
with the bridal pair to the bridegroom's house." (5)
The wedding feast takes place before the Marriage. This being the
case, we should consider the Scriptures that depict the wedding feast, or
Marriage Supper, taking place on this earth. The Marriage itself is the
union of Christ with all His people, both Old Testament and New Testament
believers. I believe that the Bride cannot be complete until all the
people of God have left the earth. Only at the end of the seven-year
period, when all the saints are gathered to Christ, can any sort of
complete union be possible. Isaiah
24 Luke
22
When the point that the marriage supper takes place on the Lord’s
mountain is combined with the fact that there are no Scriptures depicting
a Marriage or a Marriage Supper during the Tribulation, there is
convincing proof that these two events do not occur during the
Tribulation. This eliminates another argument that pretribbers present
against Post-tribulation Rapture.
Anthony Hoekema states that the Marriage Supper will take place on
the earth. First, he explains the meaning of the Greek prepositional
phrase, eis apantsin. "Apantsis
is a technical term used in the new testament times to describe a public
welcome given by a city to a visiting dignitary. People would ordinarily
leave the city to meet the distinguished visitor and then go back with him
into the city.(6)
On the basis of the analogy conveyed by this word, all Paul is saying here
(1 Thessaloniasn 4:16-17) is that raised and transformed believers are
caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord as he descends from heaven,
implying that after this joyful meeting they will go back with him to the
earth." (7)
(Parenthesis added) Hoekema
uses the illustration in Acts 28:15. "And
from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us (eis
apantsin hmin) as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them,
he thanked God and took courage." (Acts 28:15 NKJV) (The fellow
believers came out to meet Paul and then went back with him into the
city.)
The part that pertains to the subject at hand is when Hoekema
points to the use of apantsin in the parable of the Ten Virgins.
Consider the following: "The
other use of the word is found in Matthew 25:6, in the Parable of the Wise
and Foolish virgins: 'But at The
Witness of Paul
The apostle Paul gives some of the most conclusive Scriptures
against the pretribulation rapture. Consider the conclusive declaration of
2 Thessalonians about the order of eschatological events. "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, the son of perdition, {4} who opposes and
exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that
he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."
(2 Thess. 2:1-4 NKJV) (emphasis added)
Although these Scriptures are absolute evidence against PTR,
pretribulationists insert words between these words of Paul, and even
change the order around to fit their doctrine. Although I cover this in
greater detail in another chapter, I believe that it is worth mentioning
here as well. Here is the way Dr. Tim LaHaye deals with this passage.
Notice that LaHaye goes on to intersperse Darbyism throughout the text. "The
whole subject is referred to in the first verse as 'the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.' Then Paul uses a conjunction, usually translated
"and" but also rendered "even." In either case, he
refers to 'our gathering unto Him.' The Second Coming refers to the two
phases separated by seven years. Our "gathering together to Him"
cannot mean the Glorious Appearing, since that is when all living
creatures are congregated for the judgment of the nations and the
establishment of Christ's kingdom. The "gathering together to
Him" refers to the Rapture, the event when He welcomes His church to
be with Him. Thus in verse 1 we find both the Glorious Appearing and the
"gathering together unto Him." Paul then follows with one
of the most detailed descriptions in the New Testament of the Antichrist's
activities, which he places between these two distinct events. Just as
John locates the Antichrist's coming before the Glorious Appearing in the
Book of Revelation, so Paul in this passage does the same. "The day
of Christ" is the public appearance of Christ to the earth, which
will not take place until the man of sin, the son of perdition, that
lawless one will be destroyed by the Lord, "at the brightness of His
coming" -- the Glorious Appearing." (9)
(emphasis mine)
Paul does not mention a two-phase Second Coming separated by seven
years in any of his writings. In fact, there is no such thing anywhere in
the Bible. He also does not place the activities of the Antichrist between
the two events glorious appearing and gathering together to Him. This is
emphatically clear and it does not take an accredited theologian to see
this point. What Paul does teach is that the glorious appearing (Parousia)
and our gathering together to Him (episunagoge) are simultaneous
events which occur on the Day of Christ.
Episunagoge is an important word here, because its meaning
implies that this gathering together to Him is the final gathering of
God's people, not a pretribulation Gentiles-only secret rapture. "episunagoge,
ep-ee-soon-ag-o-gay'; 1997 in the Strong's Greek Dictionary; from G1996; a
complete collection; spec. a Chr. meeting (for worship):--assembling
(gathering) together."
Notice that it says that this event is a complete collection, which
differs with the PTR belief that it is a partial collection of God's
people. There are more people entering Heaven during the Tribulation as
saints are martyred for their loyalty to Christ. Therefore, it is not
feasible to declare that this is a pretribulation rapture that Paul is
writing about here. H. A. A. Kennedy points out that there is a
parallelism between the words of the Apostle Paul and many passages in the
Synoptic Gospels. "
The phrase certain conditions imply that the idea of imminency is
not a New Testament doctrine. The believers in Thessalonica were worried
about imminency, but Paul assured them that there are certain conditions
that have to be met before the Lord's coming. Mark writes that the same
sort of instructions came during Jesus' teaching. "But
when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such
things must happen, but the end is not yet. {8} "For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes
in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the
beginnings of sorrows." (Mk. 13:7-8 NKJV)
This seems to connect the passage in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 with the
teachings of Jesus on eschatological events in the Synoptic Gospels.
Paul also taught that the restrainer would be moved out of the way
in order that the man of sin would be revealed.
Pretribulationists take this to mean that the rapture takes place
before the Antichrist is revealed. They reason that if the Holy Spirit is
removed from the earth, the Church could not possibly remain here. Jesus
promised that the Holy Spirit, who is the Comforter, would remain with us
forever. "And
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may
abide with you forever;" (John
Pretribulationists forget that the Holy Spirit is a member of the
Godhead, and is therefore infallible, omnipotent, omniscient, and
omnipresent. How can He be removed from any place if He is everywhere? And
where would He be removed to? It is obvious that He is not removed from
the earth, but that He quits restraining. Some have declared that this
Scripture may not even refer to the Holy Spirit, but to the archangel
Michael. I have not studied this out for myself, but I would advise
everyone else to do so thoroughly before accepting this claim. There will
be saved people, or people saved (whichever way you want to believe it),
during the Tribulation Period. (Rev
6:9-11 NKJV) " When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar
the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the
testimony which they held. {10} And they cried with a loud voice, saying,
"How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our
blood on those who dwell on the earth?" {11} Then a white robe was
given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a
little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and
their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed."
These people who are under the altar are evidently saved, or they
would not be in Heaven. They were killed because of the Word of God and
their testimony. Anyone who would die rather than forsake or
deny Christ is certainly qualified to leave earth in a pretribulation
rapture, if there were such a thing. Yet, here they are being
martyred for the name of Christ. "After
these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could
number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches
in their hands, {10} and crying out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation
belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!' {11} All the
angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living
creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
{12} saying: 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor
and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.' {13} Then one
of the elders answered, saying to me, 'Who are these arrayed in white
robes, and where did they come from?' {14} And I said to him, 'Sir, you
know.' So he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great
tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb.'" (Rev. 7:9-14 NKJV) "And
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Rev.
12:11 NKJV) Since
these are saved people, the Holy Spirit is on the earth. If they were
saved during the Tribulation, then the Holy Spirit had to be involved. If
they were saved before the Tribulation, then the Holy Spirit never left
the earth. "teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the age. Amen." (Matt. 28:20 NKJV) The
Bema Seat of Christ
The final witness of Paul is to debunk the idea that millions of
people must be judged during the seven-year period at the Bema seat of
Christ, which would take some time. Along with the Marriage, the Marriage
Supper, and the Bema Seat Judgment, PTR proponents argue that there is not
enough time to complete all of these things after a posttribulation
rapture. Since we have eliminated the Marriage and Marriage Supper during
the seven-year period, we posttribbers get more time.
As a result, our credibility is growing by the moment. Well,
we’re going to get even more time as we take a look at the so-called
Bema Seat Judgment.
First, we need to discover if there is a Bema Seat Judgment during
the seven-year period. When we set out to discover the Bema Seat Judgment
during the seven-year period, we find that there is not one scripture that
supports such a notion. I did not believe that we would find it there
because of the reasons that we gave for the refutation of a seven-year
period Marriage and Marriage Supper. All of the people of God, not just
some, would have to be there if there is going to be a judgment. There are
still believers on earth, as we have already pointed out. If pretribbers
are going to have a Bema Seat Judgment, get married, and then eat, some
will be eating while others are being judged and still others are getting
married. That is not a nice thing to do to your bride and I do not believe
that Jesus is going to do such a thing to His Church.
Where did the doctrine of a Bema Seat Judgment come from anyway? We
cannot find the word Bema any where in the Bible (these non-biblical words
just keep popping up). There is one scripture in Romans fourteen and
another in 2 Corinthians five where Paul refers to a judgment seat. Other
than these two, I can find no other reference to the judgment seat of
Christ. "But
why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your
brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. {11}
For it is written: 'As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.'" ( "For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad." (2 Cor. Here
is this article from Holman's Bible Dictionary. New
Testament Development "
The New Testament builds on the foundation of the Old Testament and
utilizes the language and imagery of the Jewish writings to present the
full revelational picture of Judgment Day. As in the Old Testament, divine
judgment is both a present and a future reality. Jesus' first coming
represents a divine judgment (John
It is apparent that what pretribbers call the Bema Seat Judgment
is none other than the judgment of all souls that Christ will perform
after His Second Coming and conclusive victory over Satan. This is
indicated in the first two Scriptures that I posted from Romans fourteen.
In the eleventh verse, Paul quotes from Isaiah 45:23. Here is that
scripture in context: "Assemble
yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the
nations. They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save. {21} Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient
time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is
no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides
Paul simply refers to the last day judgment as the judgment seat of
Christ. There is no special Bema Seat Judgment by Christ of only His
people, especially of "raptured only" people during the
Tribulation. Why did Paul not use the title God instead of Christ? To the
Apostle Paul, Christ and God were one in the Godhead, and he had no
intention of presenting a doctrine of a saints- only judgment before
Christ. This is further proof that the timing arguments that pretribbers
use are baseless straw formed by men for the sole purpose of defending an
indefensible doctrine called pretribulation rapture. They are going to
have to come up with something that they can defend with the Word of God
rather than more uncorroborated frivolities.
There are more arguments from the PTR camp that I look forward to
refuting in the coming chapters. I have not seen a good defense, or a
Biblical argument, postulated by pretribbers to date. All the efforts of
leading pretribbers appear to be nothing more than sad, deluded attempts
to save a dying doctrine that is on fictional life support and is barely
hanging on. Technology and the recent phenomena of quick access to
information have finally provided people with the tools to expose false
doctrines that have been plaguing the Church for many years now.
I thank God that many people are not letting themselves become
mindless zombies that sit in Church pews and feast on someone else's
knowledge, but are studying the Bible and Church history for themselves.
The result is that many are beginning to understand how important it is to
check out everything with the Word of God. PTR was taken at face value
when it arrived. The problem was that it was a counterfeit and was not
worth the paper it was written on. One man lead astray, J. N Darby,
influenced another man, C. I. Scofield, and millions have believed in a
lie for almost two hundred years as a result. It is time to set the record
straight.
In conclusion, I can only shake my head in amazement that so many
professing Christians have fallen for and are still clinging to such an
aberrant doctrine that will adversely affect the Church and could doom
multitudes to hell. 1.
Robert Horton Gundry, The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthews Gospel,
(Leiden) E. J. Berrill, 1967, pp. 231-233 2.
Ibid, pg. 233 3.
Joachim Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus, Charles Scribner's Sons, 4.
Ibid, pg. 42 5.
Ibid, pg. 132 6.
E. Peterson, "apantsis," TDNT, I, 380-81 7.
Anthony A. Hoekema, The Bible and the Future, William B, Erdman's
Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. 1799, pg. 168 8.
Ibid, pp 168-169 9.
Ibid, pg. 79, ch. 2 10.
H. A. A. Kennedy, St. Pauls Conception of Last Things, Hodder and
Stroughton, London 27, Paternoster Row, 1904, pg. 166 11.
Lorin L. Cranford , Judgement, Holman bible Dictionary
|
