Why the Pre-Tribulation Eschatological Paradigm Is Impossible

Since there is a massive Middle East war that is affecting the entire globe in some way or another, End Times speculation is back on the table for Christians who might not normally dabble in such circles.

My personal take is that we have a long way to go, but I watch events like this in case they turn prophetic at some point. I could well be incorrect, and it might unfold in my lifetime, though I think it is highly unlikely.

But the reason I’m mentioning this is that there is a tendency for Christians to think they get a “get-out-of-the-Great-Tribulation-free” card.

The problem is that the pre-tribulation perspective on the gathering of the saints in what is colloquially known as the Rapture event is impossible.

How do I know this?

And what is the kiss of death for such an idea that is impossible to defend against?

Revelation 20.

Revelation 20 is impossible to defend against if you believe in the pre-tribulation doctrine.

“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4-6 [ESV]).

Christians often quote Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians to comfort themselves about not going through the Great Tribulation. Which, I should mention, is never once stated to be seven years long. But it is stated multiple times to be three-and-a-half years long.

Also, who is the Antichrist killing and persecuting that hold to the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus? If we’re not around, how is this possible?

Let’s dive into Paul’s words in the previously mentioned section of Thessalonians, though.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 [ESV]).

If those who didn’t take the Antichrist’s mark and worship the Image of the Beast are resurrected in the FIRST resurrection, and Paul says here the dead in Christ rise FIRST, the pre-tribulation doctrine cannot possibly be true.

There is no getting around this.

It’s like prophetic geographical references. You can’t get around the Bible naming the specific nations Jesus fights upon His return. In the same way, you can’t get around the Bible calling the resurrection of those who didn’t worship the Beast the first resurrection.

What do we have as the truth, then?

Jesus tells us the gathering of the saints happens AFTER the Great Tribulation.

Who do you believe? Jesus, or men?

“‘Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other’” (Matthew 24:29-31 [ESV]).

So, the sequence is:

1.     The Great Tribulation beginning with the Abomination of Desolation (Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15).

2.     The sun and moon go dark, and even the stars are affected (many references throughout the Old Testament about the celestial signs of the Day of Yahweh: Isaiah 13, Joel 2, Joel 3, Ezekiel 32, Zephaniah 1, Revelation 6, etc.).

3.     The Son of Man appears in the sky for all to see (Daniel 7:13; Revelation 1:7, Isaiah 19).

4.     The angels gather the saints in what is commonly known as the Rapture of the Church.

This doesn’t seem like a secret event.

It will be globally visible, loud, and inescapable. Humanity will be terrified when they see Jesus Christ in the sky. Heck, they’ll be terrified when the sun goes dark, the moon goes dark, and the stars disengage their orbits and darken.

So, again, the pre-tribulation viewpoint cannot possibly be correct.

Whether this war will turn prophetic (echoes of Jeremiah 49, perhaps) remains to be seen.

But the gathering of the saints will never occur until Jesus returns, not in some secret event before the last of the last days.

Blessings and shalom to you. May you not be deceived by the misinformed.