‍ ‍4. The Short Answer:
A “pre-tribulation rapture” is a misinterpretation of God’s Word.

Now, the details….

‍ ‍ The rapture of Christians or “the church” before the antichrist begins his assault on the world ( “the tribulation”, from Matt 24:29), is not a universally-believed doctrine.  The word “rapture” does not even appear in Scripture.  Southern Baptists, many of whom promote this ideology, do not include it on their website.[1]  Please allow me to defend my belief that Christians and the Christian church will be on earth during the tribulation of the antichrist, and not hiding in clouds.

‍ ‍1.     A pre-tribulation rapture implies that our Lord comes to earth three times, yet there is no mention in the entire Bible of a third return of our Lord.  Zachariah 9:9-10 describes and contrasts aspects of the first and second “earthly” realms of our Lord.  And, following our Lord’s Immaculate Conception and His earthy ministry and ascension, He and the Holy Spirit spoke/speak of His singular return throughout the New Testament.  In Acts 1:11 we read  “…this same Jesus, Which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”  Revelation 19 details His glorious return and His ensuing destruction of the “kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together go make war against Him...”

‍ ‍2.   Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21:7-36 provide triple confirmation/prophesies given by Jesus Himself to the Disciples who are foretold regarding the “end of the world,” including that there will be tribulation, vengeance, persecution and great distress.  In each of these three prophecies, our Lord returns “after that tribulation” (from Mark 13:24), to gather together His elect “…from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of the heaven.” (from Mark 13:27)  Indeed, Jesus provides a parable in Matthew 24:43-46 in which the “faithful and wise servant” is caring for his lord’s household when his lord returns.  A similar parable is given in Mark 13:34.

‍ ‍3.    The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD is but a foreshadowing of the , rather, world-wide.  For example, there are many large stones remaining in the western Wailing Wall, so Jesus is not speaking of that earlier destruction in Matthew 24:2, but of the end-times.  Indeed, when Jesus prophesizes that there would not be “one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down,” the Disciples had specifically asked Him “when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (from Matt 24:3)  (underscoring added)

‍ ‍4.    Included with the pre-tribulation rapture theory is that only Christians are raptured, while Jews/unbelievers remain on the earth.  This false belief is based on the “144,000….tribes” spoken of in Rev. 7:4. The belief that these are Jews is because they are spoken of in context with the 12 Tribes (Rev. 7:5-8). This is a tenant of the church “replacement” theory, of which this author does not subscribe either, and as the Apostle Paul made quite clear (ref. below).  For, immediately preceding the reference to these “tribes” is their description as “…the servants of our God.” (from Rev.7:3)  And, following their “sealing,” they are described as “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…” who will praise the Lord (Rev. 7:10-11).  It could be that this number is a symbolic number reflecting the perfect scope of God’s redeemed, because we read of “144,000“ again in Rev. 14:1 as having been “redeemed from the earth” (from Rev. 14:3), after the tribulation of the antichrist. But, they were “sealed” on the earth during the tribulation. Furthermore, this sealing cannot mean their salvation, because they were already described as “…servants of our God.”  I think this could be a special sealing against the antichrist and his evil tactics.  Christ has already told us that “those days” of the “great tribulation” will be shortened for the “elect’s sake”, or there would be no flesh saved, (from Matt 24:21-22), also documenting believers’ presence on earth during this time.

‍ ‍5.      Indeed, Paul does not differentiate between believing Jews and Gentiles. He tells us that baptized believers are now all “one in Christ Jesus” (from Gal 3:28; Col 3:11).  So, essentially, there are but two peoples (or races): believers and non-believers.  In Revelation, we read rather of these believers: churches, brethren, fellow servants, His people, saints and prophets.  We don’t read of “Jews” (two exceptions), or “Gentiles” (one exception that really means “nations.”) 

‍ ‍6.    As for only 2 times Jews are mentioned in Revelation (2:9 and 3:9), these are actually pretend Jews, and are described as belonging to “the synagogue of Satan.”  In both these instances, with reference to the Churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia, this can only mean these Jews must have been of the same cloth as those self-righteous, pious, hypocritical, evil leaders who crucified our Lord, and subsequently persecuted the New Testament church. Thus, those Christians who were members of those 1st Century seven churches described in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3 must have included many believing Jews, because the imposters continued their persecution of believers - Jews and Gentiles.  Indeed, most of those who followed Christ during His earthy ministry were Jews. (As a secondary lesson, those two churches were the only ones that were not admonished by Christ, because they were teaching about the fakes.)

‍ ‍7.    Just who/where are today’s “Jews,” including descendants of those 1rst Century churches?  We know that the northern 10 Tribes of the original Jewish Nation were banished from their land – the “northern Kingdom” - by the Assyrians. Since people of Jewish descent now live throughout the world, we can conclude that this is initially due to this dispersion. They are not “lost.” God knows where they are!  They were prophesized to populate the entire world as far back as Jeremiah 29:14.  Those who initially returned to Jerusalem following subsequent Babylonian captivity of the Southern Kingdom were primarily from the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin.  (The Apostle Paul was a Benjamite. Phil. 3:5.)  I believe that there are many people who are actually of Jewish descent without knowing it.  Indeed, Jewish DNA has been found remotely in even southern Africa. It is entirely possible that these scattered Jewish people are the ones responsible for our present-day Christian nations and churches.  (See study of the Lost Tribes.)

‍ ‍8.     1 Thessalonians 4:13-17:  These prophesies given by the Apostle Paul are often cited in defense of the pre-tribulation rapture belief. When studied in context, the subject matter of these verses is concerning ‘where are the dead?’ (“them which are asleep”) as stipulated in v.13.  Paul essentially reminds the reader that they are with Jesus, and that He will bring them back with Him when he returns (again, by inference, a second time).  Unfortunately, v. 17 is the perhaps most misunderstood, because the word “air” and “spirit” have the same Greek prime word/verb meaning “to breathe”  psucho – Strong’s 5594.  However, when “air” is used specifically to denote air that, for example, birds fly in, or the heavens, the Greek word ouranus – Strong’s 3772 - is used (e.g., Matt. 6:26).  So, in the context of v.17, the reference is to spirit (Strong’s 109), and describes how we will unite with our deceased loved ones upon Christ’s return.  And, again, the subject is one of consolation in knowing that our dead are with Christ, and we will see them again upon His second return, when we who are still alive (not asleep) are all “changed.” (From 1 Cor. 15:51) 

‍ ‍9.      As well, a belief that we will be forever with our Lord in the clouds contradicts Revelation 21:1-3, where we read that our Lord will set up “a new heaven and a new earth” living “with men.”

‍ ‍10.  There was apparent confusion among even the Thessalonians regarding Paul’s first letter, because his second letter states they should not be “troubled” regarding the return of Jesus Christ and “our gathering together with Him,” as had been previously described in “letters from us.”   (2 Thess 2: 1-2).  Their confusion was not that Christ would ‘fly us all away,’ but that His return was imminent.  Paul reminded them in 2 Thess 2:3: “that day shall not come (Christ’s return), except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”  2 Thess 2:8-9 confirm that the “son of perdition” is in fact satan who will have been masquerading himself as God, only to be consumed and destroyed by the Lord with the “brightness of His (second) coming.” (Parenthetical, italics added.)  This is not to say that 1 Thess 1:13-17 is erroneous, only that it had and continues to cause confusion.  

‍ ‍11.  The teaching of a pre-tribulation rapture was not taught in any Christian church doctrine until the 19th century, when two British so-called Christian sects began espousing this theory.  These events are detailed in the book The Rapture Plot.[2]  Nor was the rapture taught by theologian greats, such as George Whitefield, Charles Wesley, or Charles Spurgeon.  And, even among modern theologians, a pre-tribulation rapture is not universally believed or taught.  Indeed, the Wycliffe Bible Commentary teaches that the context of 1 Thess 4:13-17 is to “Comfort One Another with the Hope of the Second Coming.” The Thessalonian believers were concerned as to where all the martyrs would be who had already passed on when Christ did return? [3]   (See above No. 8). “Would death have robbed them of participation in the Grand Event?”[4] (underlining, emphasis added.)  And, noted Bible teacher/writer, J. Sidlow Baxter, argues that the rapture theory implies a “secret” return of our Lord, when this clearly contradicts all other descriptions of our Lord’s singular return.[5]

‍ ‍12.  Proponents of the pre-tribulation rapture belief also cite 2 Thess 2:6-7:  “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.   For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth (withholdeth) will let, until he be taken out of the way” (parenthetical word added), believing that the he “who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way” refers to the church and/or God’s angel as holding the antichrist/tribulation at bay until the 2nd he is the church taken out of the world.  (Note:  “letteth” is better translated as “withholdest” as it is in verse 6; in fact, they have the same original Greek word, “katecho,” Strong’s 2722.  So, in both verses 6 and 7, there is a withholding, or to hold down.)  First, it is important to remember the subject of these verses: the timing of the Day of the Lord as occurring after the antichrist’s tribulation (as discussed above in No. 7 and in the immediately preceding verses 3-5). Secondly, Christ’s church is rarely if ever referred to in the masculine, rather, in the feminine, indeed, His “bride” for whom He is the “Bridegroom.” Thirdly, a careful reading/study of transitive pronouns would indicate that the two he  pronouns in verse 7 are referring to the immediate entity in verse 6, the entity that is withholding.  And, the he pronoun in verse 6 is similarly referring the previous entity referenced in verses 3-4, none other than “that man of sin.”  Thus, my interpretation of these verses is that Michael or a similar Godly authority is holding back the antichrist and the devil himself (Revelation 12:7).  And, at some time, the devil de facto masquerading as the antichrist will be released back to the earth (Rev 12:9), marking the beginning of his final persecution of Christians and the tribulation.  And, this begins when the withholder is taken out of the way of withholding.  It follows logically in verse 8 that the wicked one will then be revealed, only to be destroyed by the Lord Himself “…with the brightness of His coming.”  Hallelujah!!

‍ ‍13.  A careful study of Revelation will reveal that there are in fact two tumultuous times: the tribulation of the antichrist, followed by the “wrath of God.”  (Matt 24:29-31).  Overlooking this single fact has led many to believe in the rapture, for how could the church survive God’s wrath poured out on the earth?  (Rev 16 – 19) While the tribulation of the antichrist may last from 5 months to 3.5 years, The Day of the Lord will be quick and powerful!! (Rev 18:8)

‍ ‍14.  Finally, a pre-tribulation rapture doesn’t make sense.  Nowhere in God’s Word are His children told to run from their enemies, rather, to fight and/or “stand.”  (There are a few exceptions when God warned them not to fight, because He was not going to be with them due to their sin or faithlessness.)  Why would God take His church out of the world when the world needs it/them the most?  Indeed, Christ prophesies that in the end days Christians will actually stand in the synagogue of satan, and that they should “take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak….for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit.” (From Mark 13:11). These testimonies will be a world-wide witness (Matt 24:14; Mark 13:11; Luke 21:12-15).

‍ ‍Conclusion

‍ ‍ We know that God through Jesus Christ never changes (Hebrews 11:8).  Not one of the 10 plagues that besieged the Egyptians touched the Israelites, or even their livestock.  (Exodus 7:14 – 11:10; 12:29-30).  Daniel’s faithful friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were protected in the fiery furnace by “the son of God.”  (Daniel 3:8-27)  And, Daniel himself was protected from a fearsome lion in its den. (Daniel 6:16-23)  Why would any Christian be afraid that God cannot protect him/her during the tribulation?  How faithful is that?  Rather…”the just shall live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17).  Praise the Lord!  This is a great time to be alive in the Lord!!  I think we almost lost our Christian country because many Christians did not feel the need to vote in 2019…rather, they were hoping to be “raptured” out, or they have been misled to believe that the Church does not need to be involved in our government. Praise the Lord that there has been a change in sentiment – perhaps in desperation - in 2023, perhaps even realizing that Christians have a vital role during these escalating “end times.”

‍ ‍ As well, “fear not” is a commandment that appears in the Bible hundreds of times. Thinking we’ll escape the tribulation is in effect an admission of fear or doubt that God can and will protect us. And, the most important thing a Christian need not fear is mortal death. Rather, what a time it will be to reach the lost!
I believe that those brave Christians who are brought before the synagogue of Satan, through whom the Holy Spirit will speak, will be heard around the world. We are already seeing this, too.

‍ ‍ Our Lord says Himself that those “days,” speaking of the tribulation, will be shortened (Matthew 24:22), or no elect could be saved.  So, they will be on earth. 

‍ [1]‍ ‍Baptist Faith and Message. From https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/  assessed Sept. 15, 2026.

[2] Dave MacPherson, The Rapture Plot (OK: Artisan Publishers, 1994).

[3] Charles E Pfeiffer, Everett F Harrison, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1962), p. 1355.

[4] Ibid.

[5] J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore the Book, Vol. Six: Acts to Revelation (Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960), p. 219.

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