The Rapture is presented as a coming in blessing while the Second Coming is a coming for judgment. "In the clear Rapture passages, the Lord's coming is presented as a coming in blessing for the saints. Nothing is said about His coming for judgment. On the other hand, passages about the second advent speak of the Lord's coming in judgment upon His enemies
Rev. 19:11; Joel 3:12-16; Zech. 14:3-5." (John Feinberg, p. 198). "In each of the Rapture passages there is no mention of trial before the event. Rather, there is the bare promise of Christ's return for His own." (Paul Feinberg, p. 81)
Second Coming passages are in the context of the setting up of the Kingdom while the Rapture passages make no mention of the Kingdom. "Second advent passages are invariably followed by talk of setting up the kingdom after the Lord's return
Matt. 24:31; 25:31ff; Zech. 14; Joel 3; Rev. 19-20. So, the second advent is preparatory to the establishment of the millennial kingdom.
Glorified bodies at the Rapture "It is very clear from
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51 that at the rapture those gathered to the Lord will be glorified.
On the other hand, second advent passages say nothing about anyone (living or dead) receiving a glorified body." (John Feinberg, p. 198) "Nowhere in the texts that deal with the Second Advent is there the teaching about the translation of living saints." (Paul Feinberg, p. 82)
In the central Rapture passage dealing with this issue,
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, the time of the resurrection of dead saints in clearly stated to be during the descent of Christ of to the earth. Those raptured, living and dead saints, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Contrast that information with what is found in
Revelation 19-20. There, the order seems to be: the descent of Christ, the slaying of His enemies, the casting of the Beast and the False Prophet into the lake of fire, the binding of Satan, and then the resurrection of the saints. It seems as though the resurrection of the dead will be during the descent at the Rapture, but after the descent at the Second Coming.
Differences in destiny at time of comings There seems to be an inconsistency between the destination of those who are raptured in the Rapture and the destination of those who participate in the Second Coming. In the posttribulation understanding of the events that surround the Second Coming, the church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and will immediately accompany Him on His continued descent to the earth. Compare that with
John 14:3. In the Rapture the Lord is going to come and take those raptured to be with Him. The clear implication is that the raptured saints will be taken to heaven, not earth. If this is so, then the destination of those caught up in the Rapture will be heaven. According to the Second Coming passages, however, the saints involved are headed for the earth. So who are they coming with, Jesus Christ of course.
The role of the angels in the comings At the Second Coming, the angels are the ones who will gather the elect
Matt. 24:31. At the Rapture Jesus is the direct agent of the gathering
1 Thess. 4:16.
The "mystery" nature of the Rapture "Paul speaks of the Rapture as a 'mystery'
1 Cor. 15:51-54, that is, a truth not revealed until it was disclosed by the apostles
Col. 1:26. Thus the Rapture is said to be a newly revealed mystery, making it a separate event. The Second Coming on the other hand, was predicted in the Old Testament
Dan. 12:1-3; Zech. 12:10; 14:4.
No mention of the Church in
Revelation 4-18 Revelation 4-18 gives the most detailed account of the seven year Tribulation period. If the Church were to be in the Tribulation period, surely one would expect at least one reference to the Church in this time period. The Church, however, which is referred to nineteen times in the first three chapters of Revelation, is suddenly silent and never referred to in chapters
Rev.4-18. "It is remarkable and totally unexpected that John would shift from detailed instructions for the Church to absolute silence about the Church for the subsequent 15 chapters if, in fact, the Church continued into the tribulation." (Richard L. Mayhue, Snatched Before the Storm, p.
Pretribulationism best explains the presence of nonglorified saints who will enter the Millennial Kingdom. The Bible indicates that living unbelievers will be removed from the earth and judged at the end of the Tribulation. Yet the Bible also teaches that children will be born during the Millennium and that people will be capable of sin
Isa. 65:20 and Rev. 20:7-10. How can this be? The pretribulational view allows for people to be saved after the Rapture and during the Tribulation who will then enter the Millennial Kingdom in nonglorified bodies. As John Feinberg says, "According to pretribulationism, after the rapture the Tribulation begins. The gospel is preached throughout the Tribulation and there are some who believe. Though many who believe are killed
Revelation 13:7, 15, not all believers are killed during the Tribulation. Those who live through the Tribulation go into the kingdom in natural bodies. In addition, some people accept the Lord when he returns at the end of the Tribulation
Zech. 12:10. Many of these people do not die at that point, and there is no evidence that they are given a glorified body when they receive Christ. These people are also available to go into the kingdom in natural bodies. For a pretrib position, there are seven years to get people saved prior to the kingdom, and some of those can go into the kingdom in natural bodies. . . . The position that is really in trouble with respect to this issue is the posttribulation rapture view. If everyone who goes at the rapture is glorified, and if the rapture occurs at the end of the Tribulation, who is left to enter the kingdom in natural bodies? All believers will have been raptured and glorified by that time."
Nature of Tribulation centers on Israel According to
Daniel 9:24-27 the "seventy weeks" prophecy including the final "one week" (seven years) is for Israel ("your people").
Jeremiah 30:7 refers to the Tribulation period as a time of "Jacob's distress."
Purpose #1: Preparation of Israel "The Bible teaches that the Tribulation is a time of preparation for Israel's restoration and conversion
Deuteronomy 4:29, 30; Jeremiah 30:3-11; Zechariah 12:10."
Purpose #2: Judgment for an unbelieving world
Revelation 3:10 refers to the Tribulation period as "the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth." The second major purpose of the Tribulation, then, is to test the unbelieving world. "Those who dwell upon the earth" refers to those who are unbelievers on earth during the period described in
Revelation 4-19. (Thomas Edgar, "An Exegesis of Rapture Passages," in Issues in Dispensationalism, p. 216)
The nature of the Church If the nature of the Tribulation is Jewish and the purpose of the Tribulation is to bring Israel to belief and to judge the unbelieving world, what purpose does the church have in relation to this period? As shown already, the church is promised deliverance from this time of wrath
1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10.
The expectation of the Church is the imminent coming of Christ not the Tribulation period. "Passages such as
1 Corinthians 1:7; Titus 2:13 and Philippians 3:20 are applicable at this point. The believer is pictured as eagerly waiting and earnestly expecting the Savior.
The Thessalonian's expectation That Paul had taught a Pretribulational Rapture can be inferred from
2 Thessalonians 2:2-3. In this passage, Paul notes that the Thessalonians had been "shaken" and "disturbed" because they had been led to think that they were presently in the Day of the Lord (i.e. the Tribulation period). The fact that they were disturbed is significant. If Paul had taught a posttribulational rapture, the Thessalonians would have had no reason to be disturbed since they would be expecting signs and persecution before the coming of the Lord. Thus, they could joyously look to the soon coming of the Lord after the Tribulation. However, the fact that the Thessalonians were shook up indicates that they did not expect to be in the Day of the Lord. A fair inference is that, in line with Paul's previous teaching, the Thessalonians expected to be raptured prior to the Day of the Lord.
Concluding thoughts, shows that a biblical case for the pretribulational rapture position. The judgmental and Jewish nature of the Tribulation seems to exclude the Church who is promised deliverance from this time of wrath. The differences between Rapture and Second Coming passages, though not convincing to all, seem weighty enough to make it very possible that the two are different events happening at different times. If this be the case, this view harmonizes well with the fact that the Church is nowhere to be found in the very detailed Tribulation section of
Revelation 4-19. This view also harmonizes well with the fact that there must be a time period allowed for people to be saved and then enter the Millennial Kingdom in nonglorified bodies.
