First, let's read the following Scripture (Revelation 20:4-6) paying special attention to verse 4:

• 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
• 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION.
• 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
• (Revelation 20:4-6)

We have seen, over and over, the clear declaration of Scripture that the church does suffer persecution, and that this happens after the abomination is raised in the temple, and that the church is credited with resisting the reign of the antichrist, even listing details of that resistance (did not worship, did not accept the mark, etc.).

Then we have the clear statement of Scripture that these people who did resist the rule of the antichrist, who are gathered around the throne, were all part of the FIRST resurrection...by definition, the rapture !

The first resurrection INCLUDES those who have lived through the persecution of the church by the antichrist; therefore, the rapture cannot happen UNTIL the persecution by the antichrist has occurred.

Finally, we must state what has become obvious to us: there are a number of roadblocks in the way should we ever attempt to become "pre-trib", like so many evangelical leaders of our day (that is, to place the rapture before the beginning of the seven year treaty). Other roadblocks bar the way should we ever attempt to become "post-trib". Having taken the position we have (which we call "prewrath"), we are now hemmed in by Scripture (THAT'S WHERE WE WANT TO BE !), and movement forward or backward in time is blocked.

Here are the roadblocks.

There are three in Matthew 24. First, the words "immediately after the persecution of those days" (vs. 29) emphasizes that Jesus is describing a sequence of events as they happen. The second roadblock is the phrase "and then" in verse 30, and the third is the word "and" in verse 31. All of these clearly teach that a SEQUENCE OF EVENTS is being taught, disallowing any attempt to "scramble" the events to fit some other pattern.

The word "immediately" is important in realizing that this sequence of events is in rapid succession. We see a rapid fulfilment of each of these items, all packaged in the middle of the seven year period (events that occur AFTER the "abomination" and BEFORE the wrath of God begins). We believe the rapture takes place at the same time as Jesus' appearance in the skies.

There is no delay inferred in Scriptures that connect the Lord's return to the skies and the rapture of the church. For instance:

• For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
• Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
• (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

Proper meditation on the obvious meaning of these words in context will make it most difficult (we think impossible) to transport one item in the sequence from its listing to another location. Since the same sequence appears in Revelation, the Bible student determined to produce a "pre-trib rapture" is now obligated to show how that "de-sequencing" can be done without doing violence to the Scripture.

In other words, to defend the sequence of events contained in this study, we have only to quote Scripture -- Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 17, Luke 21, II Thessalonians, Revelation, etc. We ACCEPT the literal, Biblical statement without change, and without inventing additional prophetic items not found in Scripture (such as multiple resurrections totalling the rapture, etc.).

Those who have produced another sequence must explain their authority for changing the sequence. Simply reading Scripture and saying, "Here's what I believe" is a stronger argument than being forced to explain and explain. What a relief we have found in being able to simply quote the text!

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION at this point should be given to an ancient document of the early church, called The Didache. This church manual, dated between 50 and 100 A.D., is considered to be written by those who knew the apostles.

After we completed the writing of this book, The Didache was brought to our attention because of the prophetic order of events that it contains -- identical to the order listed in this chapter: (a) false prophets and deceivers, (b) appearance of the last world ruler, (c) the abomination, the "fiery test" of believers, (d) the signs in the heavens, (e) the sound of a trumpet, (f) the resurrection of the saints, (g) the Lord returns with His saints.

It appears the authors of The Didache did NOT believe in an imminent rapture (pre-trib.), but expected: (1) the antichrist to begin his reign, (2) great persecution, (3) the abomination, and, (4) signs in the sky -- all to precede the rapture.

LANDMARK BIBLESCHOOL INTERNATIONAL	/Index /back /next
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 3A4	Rev. Harvey G. Lainson, B.B.R.   Last update February 17 2011 URL: http://home.golden.net/~stefanm