The Pre-Tribulation Rapture (2) - a podcast by The Oxford Bible Church

The Rapture of the Church is the final event of the Church Age, the ingathering of the harvest of the Church, when Christ comes for His Bride (all believers in Christ, who have been saved in the Church Age), and takes them to Heaven. In this video, we see how the Pre-Tribulation Rapture originates from the teaching of Jesus.

In John 14:1-3, Jesus established key truths about the Rapture, distinguishing it from His 2nd Coming to the earth in power and glory: (1) It is a Coming of Christ for believers only. (2) His Purpose in the Rapture is to be reunited with His Bride and take her to Heaven, whereas the Purpose of the 2nd Coming is to judge His enemies and establish His Kingdom on earth. (3) In the Rapture, Christ does not come and land on the earth and dwell and reign here, as He does in the 2nd Coming (Zech 14:4), but He comes close to the earth to receive His Bride to Himself, for: “we will meet the Lord in the air” (1Thess 4:15). (4) He then returns with His Bride to the place He has prepared for her in Heaven, where they abide together during the time of Judgment on earth, called the Day of the Lord (Tribulation), after which we will return with Him in His 2nd Coming.In Matthew 24:3 (the Olivet Discourse), Jesus was asked 3 questions: (1) when will the Temple be destroyed, (2) what will be the Sign of Your Coming, and (3) what will be the Sign of the End (Consummation) of the Age (the Tribulation)?” Jesus answered the 1st Question in Luke 21:20-24, and the 2nd Question in Matt 24:7-35, which means He answered the 3rd Question in Matt 24:36-44, starting with: “But of that day and hour (of the Start of the Tribulation) no one knows (it is God's secret)"(v36). In contrast to the Day of Christ’s Coming in power and glory, which is clearly signposted and its timing knowable in advance, this Day, when the Tribulation starts, is unknowable, without any warning signs - it will happen suddenly. Then in v37,39,42,43,44 this key moment when the Tribulation starts is described as'the Coming of the Son of Man'indicating that the Coming of Jesus in the Rapture is the signless initiating event of the Tribulation (the Day of the Lord), whereas His Coming in power and glory is the sign-posted event bringing the Tribulation to its end (the Great and Awesome Day of the Lord).

In v37-41, Jesus compared the events before, during and after His Coming in the Rapture to the days of Noah. In this analogy, He uses the world-wide Flood as a fitting type of the world-wide Tribulation, as it's the only example in history of a world-wide judgement. (1) In the days before the Flood, normal life was going on, with no signs of what was about to happen. Then (2) the believers entered the Ark, a place of safety above the scene of judgment, which triggered (3) the sudden outpouring of the world-wide Flood to fall from Heaven on the very same day. So, likewise (1) before the Tribulation, normal life will be going on. Then (2) just before Tribulation-Flood falls, all believers will be removed in the Rapture to safety in Christ, our Ark of Salvation, above the scene of judgment. Then (3) the Tribulation will immediately start. So, just as the disappearance of the believers into the safety of the Ark was the initiating event for the Flood, so the disappearance of believers into Christ at the Coming of the Son of Man at the Rapture, will be the initiating event for the Tribulation. v40-41 then confirms that at this Coming of Christ at the start of the Tribulation, He will call the believers to Himself, taking them from the earth to be with Him ('para-lambano'), leaving the unbelievers behind to face the world-wide judgment of the Tribulation, for'one will be taken, the other left', just as God called Noah's family to Himself in the Ark (Genesis 7:1), leaving the rest to face the world-wide Flood. So Jesus spoke of an unknowable Day without any preceding signs, when He will come to take us to be with Him, just before the Tribulation-Flood, which is different from the signposted Day, at the end of the Tribulation when He will come to the earth in power and glory.

Then in v42-44 He emphasised that His Coming in the Rapture is imminent, which means God keeps the timing of the Rapture secret, so as far as we are concerned, Christ could come at any moment. But, His Coming at the end of the Tribulation is not imminent, for all the events of the Tribulation must happen first. So, He must be talking about 2 distinct events on 2 different Days. In v43, He compared His Coming in the Rapture to a Thief, for He will come to take His precious ones from the earth, so to the world it will seem as if a Thief had come. But He is no Thief, for He will only take His own, who belong to Him (purchased with His Blood). Believers will not experience His Coming as a Thief, but as our Bridegroom coming for His Bride. In 1Thessalonians 5:2-3, Paul summarises this teaching of Jesus.

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