Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Are you ready for the Rapture? I hope you said yes. Today we’re going to look at this upcoming historical event. And did you know that there are at least five different views of the Rapture? There will be a short description of each and we’ll let you know where we stand. By the way, this is Grace in Focus. Thank you for joining us today. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website is faithalone.org. We’d love you to subscribe to our free magazine. It comes out six times per year, published bi-monthly. Beautiful magazine with Free Grace articles. We want you to have it in your home. It is free, all except if you live outside of the 48 contiguous United States. You do have to pay the postage. Otherwise, it is free and we want you to have it. Get signed up for it today at faithalone.org. 

And now with our discussion about the Rapture, here’s Bob Wilkin, along with Philippe Sterling. 

BOB: We’re discussing eschatology, which is a course you’re going to be teaching this coming semester in the Grace Evangelical Society. 

PHILIPPE: That’s the doctrine of things to come. 

BOB: Things to come, 

PHILIPPE: Of end things, or we might say, the end. 

BOB: Finé in the French, is that how you say it? 

PHILIPPE: Fini. 

BOB: Yes, Fini. La fey. They’re in the end. I thought “la fe” is “the faith.” Oh, that’s in Spanish. Well, today we’re going to discuss the issue of the Rapture. Now, we overviewed the Rapture a little bit in the last one. But it turns out based on what you’re saying that there are quite a few different views of the Rapture. I mean, some people don’t believe there’s going to be a rapture, but of those who believe there’s a rapture, there’s five distinct—

PHILIPPE: At least five distinct views that we can, over the last decades that have. Because there’s three main views normally. You know, what’s called the pre-tribulational rapture that before the judgments of Revelation 6 to 19, the church is taken up and to be with Christ. 

BOB: Okay, so that’s when the Rapture, just to review for those who missed the last show. The Rapture is all Church age believers will be caught up, living, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Well, and also all dead Church age believers. 

PHILIPPE: Yeah, will be resurrected. In fact they’ll be preceding slightly, you know, those of us who are still alive, if that happens in our generation. 

BOB: You know, the big joke on that, where it says the dead in Christ shall rise first. All the people say, that’s the Baptists. You know, I’ve been a former Baptist so I can joke on that. But other people would say, no, that’s this other group or that group. But no, those who have already died, they go first, then we who are alive are caught up. 

PHILIPPE: Yeah, and we meet them together in the air to be with the Lord. 

BOB: Okay. And one view is that occurs before the seven-year Tribulation. 

PHILIPPE: Right, that’s the end of the Church age, you know, basically, occurs before the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation, as Jesus talked about it in Matthew. 

BOB: So the first three and a half years are the Tribulation and the last three and a half are the Great Tribulation. 

PHILIPPE: Yeah, Jesus, who said the first three and a half are the beginning of sorrows, and then the Great Tribulation after the abomination of desolation. 

BOB: Okay, what’s that? That’s when the man of sin, 

PHILIPPE: Or the beast and the false prophet, the beast of the earth, they’re set up the image and the fouls the Tribulation era temple that’s been rebuilt and sets himself up as God in the Tribulation temple. 

BOB: Right. Okay. So that’ll occur at the midpoint and then the second half is called the Great Tribulation. So the judgments will be worse in the last three and a half years. 

PHILIPPE: But primarily the bowl judgments and perhaps some of the trumpet judgments, that occurred here, all being the wrath of the Lamb. It unleashes His wrath, His judgment, specifically temple judgments, upon the nations of the earth. 

BOB: Okay, so first option on the Rapture is called the pre-trib rapture. 

PHILIPPE: Yes. 

BOB: But there are other views. 

PHILIPPE: Yeah, there’s a view that’s called the mid-trib. 

BOB: Okay, and the mid-trib, I assume, says that the Rapture is going to occur about the time of the abomination of desolation. at the end of three and a half years. 

PHILIPPE: Right, before the judgments of the second period of the three and a half years. 

BOB: So church age believers would then go through some pretty bad times, but not as bad as the second half. 

PHILIPPE: Yes, exactly. And then the third view is the post-tribulation view. 

BOB: Now, the post-tribulation means it’s after all seven years. 

PHILIPPE: Yeah, after all seven years. So believers of the church age will go through the seven years and many of them be among those who are martyred during that tribulation period. All right. And then a fourth view is the partial rapture view. 

BOB: Okay, now I’ve read about this and heard about this. So does it mean then that like an arm goes up or a leg goes up because you don’t get your whole body isn’t raptured just part of you goes? No, that’s not what it means. What is a partial rapture? 

PHILIPPE: It feels generally there. The Rapture was, a reward matter. You know, we might say. So at the beginning, the Tribulation period, those who’ve been faithful to the Lord are perhaps taken up. 

BOB: The overcomers. 

PHILIPPE: Yeah, overcomers, but the unfaithful believers are left to go through the judgments of the Tribulation period. But in that period of time, there may be some who become faithful in everything. And then as they become faithful, then they are raptured. So you might have multiple, actually, raptures through the Tribulation period. 

BOB: So in this view, we’re looking at the body of Christ corporately, the church. And we’re saying the whole body doesn’t go up at once. Instead, my joke about the arm or the leg is kind of true. You could have some of the body of Christ, some believers are going up at the time before the Tribulation. But then others are going up at different times during the Tribulation. And some I assume would go through the whole seven years. Okay. Now that’s not a real encouraging view, but okay. 

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BOB: Now, that’s not a real encouraging view, but okay. Is there another? 

PHILIPPE: Yeah, there’s another one called the pre-wath view. 

BOB: Yeah, I read this view too. And pre-wath, I thought the whole seven years is wrath.

PHILIPPE: Yes, but the final bowl judgments are especially wrathful. So this is a view that was developed, I think, by Marvin Rosenthal. Like in 1990, thereabout. But he says again that the church will go through the Tribulation, but the final phase of it, where practically the whole earth is entirely destroyed, the final bowl judgments, you know, the hundred pound hail and all of that. That believers are removed just prior to that. 

BOB: Come back again. 100 pound hail. What’s 100 pound hail? Well, does the book of Revelation say that at the very end, there’s going to be hail, a single hail ball, a hundred pound.

PHILIPPE: And massive earthquake, where every mountain and every valley, everything is leveled ,all the cities of the earth, including then this massive hail. But of course, that follows through what happened in the judgments of Egypt. You know, during the 10 plagues, you know, one of them was concerning a massive storm and hail that destroyed in all the crops. And so some of the judgments of the Tribulation period mirror some of the judgments that occurred with Egypt and the redemption of Israel out of Egypt. 

BOB: Wow, that is bad. We don’t want 100 pound hail stones and we don’t want all of these judgments. But so some people say that this will be a pre-wrath rapture. And I’ve talked to people who hold this view and often they’re adamant. I mean, 

PHILIPPE: Oh, yes. In fact, I’ve had people who had gone to Dallas Seminary. And then with me, one of them actually came to meet with me to try to convince me of the view. And really adamant in saying that I only were being unfaithful by not preparing people, you know, to go through the Tribulation. 

BOB: Now, I want to, I want to take a moment real quick here and say, I’ve had that same experience with Dallas Seminary graduates and I find they become evangelists for the pre-wrath position rather than evangelists for the free gift of everlasting life. Let me say to each of you are listening, eschatology is very important. The idea of the Rapture is very important. This is very edifying teaching. 

But having said that, we evangelize people about the free gift of eternal life. John 3:16, John 5:24. We don’t evangelize people about the Rapture. We can talk to people about the Rapture, sure. But if it’s an unbeliever, our purpose in talking to them about the Rapture is to get them to believe in the free gift of eternal life, right, Philippe? 

PHILIPPE: Yes. It’s just a comforting hope, you know, that we have in the Rapture, but we can talk about it, but it comes back to you. You know, just we want to prepare people to be with the Lord forever. Right. Everlasting life. That’s our primary mission and not to prepare people to prepare for the Tribulation and to have a bunker in which in provisions and all of that. 

BOB: And yeah, that’s right. And the other thing I would say is if we’re dealing with believers, let’s say I’m talking to someone who knows they have eternal life, they believe the promise of life. My first concern is not they believe my view of the Rapture. My first concern is they’re prepared for the Judgment Seat of Christ. They know we’re going to be judged and they know that if we’re faithful, we’ll rule and reign with him and that we should long for Him to say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We should long for His approval. That’s our first concern, right? Not that they adopt our view of the Rapture. 

PHILIPPE: Right, right, our first concern was the message of love. The second is the whole matter of rewards and to be prepared for the Judgment Seat of Christ and that to be an overcomer and to rule with him. 

BOB: Okay. So we got five basic views of the Rapture. Are there any others after the pre-wrath? Is that the last one? 

PHILIPPE: Well, people are quite imaginative. I imagine we could go out there and find some modification of these various views because each view might be slight notifications among the adherents. 

BOB: But now there’s also a sixth view which is no rapture, right? And there are people like, people we call preterists that believe, if they’re full preterists, they believe the whole book of Revelation has already been fulfilled. Is that right? 

PHILIPPE: Yes, it was all a pre-70 AD judgment of Israel. Everything has been fulfilled and all, the only thing that has yet to be is just the coming of Christ to bring about a new heaven and a new earth. But there’s no rapture as we’ve come, you know, to understand. 

BOB: And a lot of people who believe in all millennialism, there’s no millennium. We’ll talk about this more later. Or they believe in post-millennialism. They don’t believe in rapture either, do they? 

PHILIPPE: Right, yeah. Because post-millennialists will be saying that, you know, we are in a kingdom period, but we’re just making it more and more perfected until we’ve brought it to the point where Christ can come and take it in and go with it. 

BOB: It’s hard to look at the trajectory of our planet in the last 50 years and say things are getting holier and holier and better and better. I mean, I was born in 52 and I was in high school between 66 and 70. And I thought things were pretty wild and loose and immoral when I was in college between 70 and 74. Today, things are so much worse and so much more immoral. So I don’t think the post-millennial position seems to be bearing out. 

But so I appreciate your discussion of the five views of the Rapture. And we’ll go on talk about some more key elements in eschatology. Thanks Philippe, and let’s keep grace in focus. 

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