1A. Meaning of "Rapture"

1Thessalonians 4:13-18
"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

"Rapture" comer from the words "caught up" in I Thessalonians 4:17. In the Greek the word is harpazo - "to seize upon by force", "to snatch up." The Latin translators used the word rapturo.

2A. Other Important Terms

Millennium - 1000 years of history during which Christ will reign as King of Kings (Rev. 20:2-7)

Premillennialism - That Christ will return to Earth before the Millennium.

Postmillennialism - That Christ will return after reigning from Heaven during this present age

Amillennialism - That Christ is already reigning spiritually

Mystery - An event not previously revealed in the Scriptures, but now made known

3A. Various Pre-Millennial Views views:

Pre-Tribulation Rapture - That Christ will Rapture the Church before the Tribulation begins

Mid-Tribulation Rapture - That Christ will Rapture the Church at the Mid-point of The Tribulation

Post Tribulation Rapture - That Christ will Rapture the Church at the end of the Tribulation

Pre-Wrath Rapture - That Christ will Rapture the Church just before the Battle of Armageddon

Partial Rapture - That Christ will Rapture those who are ready and leave the rest to go through the Tribulation

Multiple Rapture - That there are more than one Raptures, during which Christ receives those who are ready

"Pan-Trib" Position - No clue about future events, but think it will "all pan out in the end" (Not really funny - too many people just claim ignorance of this vital subject.)

4A. Why we expect a Pre-Trib Rapture

1B. Any-moment expectation (Imminence)

1Thessalonians 5:1-6
Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.

Revelation 22:7, 12, 20
...I am coming quickly.

1 John 3:2-3
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Titus 2:13 - The blessed hope

2B. Absence of the Church

Revelation, Chapters 4 through 22
Constant reference to the church and the seven churches until 4:1 where John is told to "come up here."(cf. Revelation 11:12 Not the Rapture, but translation of the Two Witnesses). The church is not mentioned again in the book except in the summary in chapter 22, verse 14. (See "Saints in the Presence of the Lord" below.)

Absent church accounts for lawlessness
2 Thessalonians 2:3-8
(See " Antichrist not revealed until hindering force removed" below.)

3B. Deliverance of the Saints from Wrath

Luke 21:36
"But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength toescape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

1 Thessalonians 1:10
And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-- Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

1Thessalonians 5:9
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

2 Peter 2:6-9
And if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

Message to the Church of Philadelphia
(Missions Period)Rev 3:10
Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.

4B. AntiChrist not revealed until hindering force removed

II Thessalonians 2:1-8
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

John 16:7-8
[The Holy Spirit]
... convict the world concerning sin...

5B. Events between Rapture and Return

1C. Saints in the Presence of the Lord

Revelation 5
24 Elders representative of the redeemed saints
Revelation 5:8-10
And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."
"In the New Testament, elders as the highest officials in the church do represent the whole church (cf. Acts 15:6; 20:28), and in the Old Testament, twenty-four elders were appointed by King David to represent the entire Levitical priesthood (I Chron. 24). When those twenty-four elders met together in the temple precincts in Jerusalem, the entire priestly house was represented. Thus it seems more likely that the elders represent redeemed human beings, . . . the church is included."
Dr. Charles Ryrie - From "Necessity of an Interval Between The Rapture and The 2nd Coming", by Thomas Ice,
http://www.novia.net/~todd/tt1.html

2C. The Bema Seat Judgment

2 Corinthians 5:10
All believers of this age must appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
See also Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians. 3:10-15; 4:2-5

I Corinthians 4:5
"Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come."

3C. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Revelation 19:7-9 Rev 19:7-9

Christ's Bride is in Heaven before He returns! "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are true words of God."

6B. Our Return with Christ

(with Glorified, Immortal Bodies - 1 Corinthians 15:35-50)

Revelation 19:11-14
And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.

Colossians 3:4
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

I Thessalonians 3:13
...at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

7B. The Centrality of Israel and Jewish People During The Tribulation

Note about the "Saints" of the Tribulation. They are believers in Christ - Jews and Gentiles alike, but they are not referred to as the Church. The Apostate church of the period will be corrupt, and will give its influence to Antichrist (Revelation 18).

1C. Daniel's 70th Week Daniel 9:27

2C. The 144,000 Sealed from the 12 Tribes of Israel Revelation 7:1-8

3C. The Two Witnesses Revelation 11:1-12

4C. Flight of Israel - Revelation 12

5C. Treaty with Israel, Defilement of the Temple - Revelation 13

"All other views of the Rapture have the church going through at least part of the 70th week, meaning that all other views mix God's 70-weeks program for Israel and Jerusalem together with His program for the church." - Dr. Renald Showers

From "Necessity of an Interval Between The Rapture and The 2nd Coming", by Thomas Ice, http://www.novia.net/~todd/tt1.html

8B. Population of The Millennium by Mortal Believers

1C. Judgment of the Nations (Sheep and Goats) just before the Millennium

Revelation 25:31-46

2C. Taking of Some and Leaving of Others

Corresponds to the Parable of The Wheat and The Tares - Matthew 24:35-42;

Matthew 13:24-30

The tares are collected first, and tied into bundles to be burned, then the wheat is gathered into the barn.

9B. Differences between The Rapture and The 2nd Coming

The Rapture	The 2nd Coming
Christ comes for His own 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18	Christ returns with His own Revelation 19:14
Believers taken to Father's House John 14:3	Believers come to Earth Matthew 24:30
Seen only by believers 1 Corinthians 15:52	Every eye will see Him Revelation 1:7; 19:11-16 Matthew 24:30
No reference to Satan	Satan bound Revelation 20:1-3
Earth not judged	Earth judged Revelation 20:4-5
A Mystery - 1 Corinthians 15:51	Foretold in Old Testament - Dan. 12:1-3; Zech. 12:10; 14:4

5A. Consideration of Some Objections to the Pre-Trib Position

1B. "The Church of Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) was in danger of going into the Great Tribulation

This is the period of the Dark Ages of the Catholic Church. Representatives of all church ages still exist today. The idolatrous, unfaithful church will indeed exist during the Tribulation and will give its power to Antichrist. (See "Mystery Babylon"- Revelation 17). Contrast this with the promise to the Philadelphia church that they will be delivered from wrath.

2B. "Christians are not delivered from trials but through them."

Difference between trials (even persecution) and wrath Such as the flood, Sodom and Gomorra, the 10th plague in Exodus (death of Firstborn)...

3B. "The Last Trump should be identified with the seventh trumpet in the Book of The Revelation"

Rapture- I Thessalonians 4:16 - Trump of God -

Revelation 10:7 - Trumpet blown by an angel

Events at the Rapture- "In the twinkling of an eye"

Events at 7th trumpet take several days

Result at the Rapture- joy and transformation

Result of 7th trumpet is "the third woe" (Revelation 11:14)

4B. "The Olivet Discourse does not confirm a Pre-Trib rapture."

"The Rapture is not mentioned in the Olivet Discourse."

The Church was a mystery, announced by Christ (Matthew 16), but not described until Paul's writings. Ephesians 3:1-11

The Rapture was also a mystery

1 Corinthians 15:51-53

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

5B. "The Premillenial view was not developed until recently."

Without question, premillennialism was the earliest and most widely held view of the earliest centuries of the church. The dean of church historians, Philip Schaff has said, "The most striking point in the eschatology of the ante-Nicene Age [A.D. 100-325] is the prominent chiliasm, or millenarianism, . . . a widely current opinion of distinguished teachers, such as Barnabas, Papia, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodius, and Lactantius."2 German historian Adolph Harnack has said, "First in point of time came the faith in the nearness of Christ's second advent and the establishing of His reign of glory on the earth. Indeed it appears so early that it might be questioned as an essential part of the Christian religion. . . . it must be admitted that this expectation was a prominent feature in the earliest proclamation of the gospel, and materially contributed to its success. If the primitive churches had been under the necessity of framing a 'Confession of Faith,' it would certainly have embraced those pictures by means of which the near future was distinctly realized.

-From "Why The Bible Still Prohibits Date Setting," by Thomas Ice http://www.novia.net/~todd/tt8.html

Justin Martyr (about AD 100)

Ireanaeus and Lactantius of the second and third centuries made apparently or explicitly premillennial statments. (Paul Thigpin, "The Second Coming", Charisma, Feb. 1989, p. 44)

Ephraem of Nisibis, the most important and prolific of the Syrian Church fathers (306-373) taught the pre-trib position in a sermon entitled, "On The Last Times, The Antichrist, and The End of the World." He wrote, "For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins." (Chuck Missler, Personal Update, June 1995, p. 12)

Resources:

Books:

No Fear Of The Storm, Tim La Haye, Sisters, Oregon:Multnomah Press, Copyright 1992.

Internet:

The Thomas Ice Collection

Thomas Ice is Executive Director of the Pre-Trib Research Center in Wash. D.C.

The Research Center was founded a few years ago by Tim LaHaye and Mr. Ice. http://www.novia.net/~todd/ttcol.html

See features of The Prophecy Puzzle, Bible study software for prophecy students.