So far in the “A Look at the Rapture” series, we've introduced the subject, laid out the basic differences between the Pre-Tribulational rapture view and the Pre-Wrath rapture view, walked through Matthew 24, and we took a look at the differences between the 70th Week of Daniel, the Tribulation, and the Day of the Lord.
In this installment, it's my intention to address the question of imminence.
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:36-39
This passage certainly leaves the impression that the Lord will return at a moment no one suspects to gather His elect. It is a key passage in the Pre-Tribulational view. No other single aspect of Pre-Tribulationalism has as firm of a grip on the people who hold to the Pre-Trib view as does the doctrine of imminence. The fallacy of equivocation, which we discussed in part 3, often comes up because it is necessary to the Pre-Tribulational understanding of imminence.
So just what is imminence? The Pre-Tribulational view of imminence is the teaching that Jesus could (and will) return to gather His church at any moment, with no advanced notice, and no signs necessary for it to happen. They essentially teach that, following Pentecost, there are no more prophecies that must be fulfilled before Christ can return to gather the Elect. The word “imminent” could mean that something is certain to happen, it's only a matter of time. We speak of imminence in our daily lives in this manner often. For example, at the time of this writing, there have been tensions in Ukraine for a few months between the pro-western Ukrainians that live mainly in the western part of that country, and the pro-Russian Ukrainians that live mainly in the east. It seems that a civil war, or even a Russian invasion, are imminent. Pre-Tribulationists use this very meaning of imminent, be the certainty of Christ's return is assured, not just assumed, as in the case of war in Ukraine.
Another way of looking at imminence is simply to say that something is certain to happen, and we know when it will happen. Independence Day, 2014 is imminent. We not only know it's coming, we know it's a week from Friday. The midterm elections are also imminent. They will happen on November 4th, 2014. Knowing the day does not make it any less imminent than the imminence of the next major California earthquake.
Along the lines of the second understanding of imminence, there is the case of knowing something will happen, and knowing generally when it will happen, but not knowing exactly when it will happen. In Minnesota, the first major freeze is generally in October or November. We don't know exactly when it will happen, it could be mid-October to as late as the end of November, but we can be certain it will happen. If I don't get the water in my irrigation system blown out before it happens, I can be certain I'll be digging up busted pipe the following spring if I wish to water my lawn again. My dad, who blows out irrigation systems in the fall for extra cash, generally comes over sometime in the second week of October to do it for me.
It is this latter understanding of imminence that Pre-Wrathers look to in our understanding of the timing of the return of Christ. Having looked at Matthew 24, we've already dealt with this to some degree. Also, looking above to the quote of vs. 36-39, it would be the Pre-Wrath view that we do know the season of the Lord's return to gather His elect (like we know the season of the first hard freeze in Minnesota), we just don't know the day or hour.
The Logical Dichotomy
In the debate between Pre-Trib and Pre-Wrath, it's easiest to boil things down to a simple dichotomy, or two possible options. On the Pre-Trib side, we have a doctrine of imminence that says there are no signs that precede the return of Christ to gather His church. They hold to the first understanding of imminence above. The only other option to no signs is: there are signs that precede the return of Christ to gather His church. If we can disprove one option of this dichotomy, we can necessarily disprove the rapture view that follows that particular option. (Note that the logical construction of this argument does not require either Pre-Trib or Pre-Wrath to be true, it is merely constructed to attempt to disprove one, the other, or both).
The Giving of Signs
We've already looked at Matthew 24, which is a sizable passage of Scripture and deals with the issue of signs. The passage begins with the disciples asking what signs we can look for to know that Jesus is returning soon:
As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?†– Matthew 24:3
I won't rehash what we've already been through in Matthew 24, but just remind the reader that the response given by Jesus is a multitude of signs to look for.
Matthew 24 is just the beginning though, let us turn our attention to other passages that refer to the return of Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
[1] Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, [2] not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. [3] Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, [4] who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. [5] Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? [6] And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. [7] For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. [8] And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. [9] The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, [10] and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. [11] Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, [12] in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. – 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
This passage is very revealing. Pre-Tribbers will refer to it in their own discourse, but don't let them confuse you as to what this passage actually says. In fact, before reading what I have to say, take the time to read it again. Read very carefully and see for yourself what is going on here.
Did you see it? This passage is dripping with signs. Let's take some time to carefully unpack it.
[1] Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, [2] not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
What's going on here? Clearly the Thessalonian Saints had been hearing rumors that Christ had returned for His Saints, and they had been left out. Paul was writing to tell them not to worry. He's about to give them signs to watch for to know that Christ is soon to return.
This passage is especially devastating to the “secret rapture” subset of Pre-Tribulationism. This is a view that says not only that Christ will return before the 70th Week of Daniel to gather His elect, but that He will do so secretly. If you're at all familiar with the Left Behind series of novels, you're probably familiar with the secret rapture view. Suddenly and unexpectedly, millions of believers around the world simply disappear. All that is left of them are the clothes they were wearing. Cars are suddenly without drivers and planes are suddenly without pilots. That's exactly what Pre-Tribbulationists will say the Thessalonians were afraid of, that their brethren in other cities had simply disappeared, and they were left behind. What follows is an explanation by Paul that it's not going to work that way.
Beginning in v. 3, Paul explains that Jesus will not return until after the “man of lawlessness” (commonly known as the Anti-Christ) is revealed. This is absolutely antithetical to Pre-Tribulational thinking. They have the revelation of the identity of Anti-Christ coming after the rapture of the church. They'll tell you that we, the church, will never see the Anti-Christ, we'll be gone before the world knows who he is (we may know who the man is, but won't know he is the Anti-Christ until after we are taken up in the rapture.) I've even heard some Pre-Tribbers teach that this “restrainer” that is mentioned in vs. 6-7 is somehow either 1) the Church, or 2) the Holy Spirit as He indwells the church. The argument for the latter is that we are promised the Holy Spirit, and if He is taken out of the way, we must necessarily be taken out with Him. There is no indication in the text that either is the case. In fact, the male pronoun is used, which essentially eliminates the first option from even being considered. It's not important to this particular discussion to identify the “restrainer” in view here, but more likely it is an angel tasked with holding Satan back, restraining him (think leash, not straight-jacket).
So we see from this passage that Paul's words are consistent with Jesus' words from Matthew 24; he tells the Thessalonian Saints to look for the Anti-Christ. Furthermore, in v. 4 he points to the same sign that Jesus pointed to in Matthew 24:15-16, the “Abomination that causes Desolation.” Paul is describing exactly what that Abomination is: to sit upon the seat in the Temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
Furthermore, Paul emphasizes that Jesus will “bring to nothing” this “man of lawlessness” “with the appearance of his coming” (v. 8). We see again that Jesus' coming is both the great event we as believers are to watch for, and also the destruction of the wicked. Never are the two separated in the Scriptures. We don't see a return to gather the Elect, and a separate return to judge the wicked.
Revelation 6:9-11
For our next passage, we'll look at Revelation 6. I won't quote the entire chapter, but recommend setting this post aside to read it, then come back.
Revelation 6 describes six of the seven seals that Jesus opens on the scroll that John saw. Each seal that is opened in Heaven is accompanied by an event on Earth during the 70th Week of Daniel. Especially relevant to this discussion is the fifth seal:
[9] When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. [10] They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?†[11] Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. – Revelation 6:9-11
This is an interesting passage. I'd like to look at it from both the Pre-Trib and Pre-Wrath views, beginning with the Pre-Trib view.
Here we have the Saints who have been martyred for their witness. According to the Pre-Trib view, the Saints aren't on the Earth at this point in history, they've been raptured with Jesus and are waiting out the 70th Week of Daniel from Heaven. They're waiting for the green light to follow Christ back to Earth to judge the wicked. This is problematic, in my opinion, because here we see the Saints being told to wait. They want judgment on the Earth for the wicked, and are getting impatient. The Pre-Trib view says that judgment is already coming upon the Earth. That's what they say the 70th Week of Daniel is about! (They say it has two goals in mind: judge the wicked, and bring unrepentant Israel to faith in the Messiah they rejected).
Pre-Trib, remember from Part 3 of this series, lumps the terms “70th Week of Daniel,” “The Tribulation,” and “Day of Lord” together and considered them synonymous. Though we didn't explore this passage in Part 3, it further illustrates that there are differences.
I recently heard on Pre-Tribber describe The Tribulation as a great inversion. Tribulation has been directed toward believers for the entire duration of the Church Age, and following the Rapture of the Church, things will be inverted and it will be unbelievers who undergo Tribulation. This passage betrays that teaching, however, as it is the wicked that are still inflicting Tribulation, and it is the Saints that are still on the receiving end. Such inversion hasn't happened yet in Revelation 6.
Revelation 6:9-11 is perfectly in line with the Pre-Wrath view, however; it's exactly what we'd expect to see. The Great Tribulation is still underway. The Saints have largely been murdered for their witness, but there are more Saints remaining. Verse 11 suggests that there is a specific number of Saints that will be allowed by the Lord to be murdered for their witness, and once that number is reached, the Tribulation will be brought to a close and the Day of the Lord can begin. Going back to the original purpose of this installment of the Rapture series, that is the idea of imminence (we have been exploring signs in order to illustrate what we mean by imminence), we see that Revelation 6:9-11 has the imminent return of Christ to judge the wicked in full view. It will happen. We don't yet see when it will happen, but the fact that it will happen is assured.
Conclusion
Between the two views of imminence, only the Pre-Wrath view fits the descriptions given in Scripture. Recall that the Pre-Trib view says that Christ's return to gather the Elect is imminent in the sense that it can happen at any moment, and there are no signs preceding it; nothing else must happen. They say that Christ could return for the Church before I am able to finish and post this installment of the series, or before you are finished reading it. The Pre-Wrath view says that Christ's return is imminent in the sense that it is assured, it will happen, and even that we don't know when it will happen, but that we can be watching for it because we have been given signs that will tell us that He is getting closer.
We took a look at the competing claims that there either are or are not signs that precede the Lord's return. Between this installment and the previous one, we've shown that there are distinct periods of time during the 70th Week of Daniel (the term is not synonymous with “The Tribulation” or “The Day of the Lord”), and that the earlier portions of that period of history contain the signs we need to see that the latter period is what we've been waiting for since the Ascension of the Lord on Pentecost.
We've seen that language has some looseness to it, and the concept of Christ's return as “imminent” can mean that it is certain, but does not require that it precede all other signs and events concerning the 70th Week of Daniel. We'll circle back to this concept in a later installment, as I begin bringing in outside commentary, opinion, and explanations to the discussion. Until then, I'll continue the series using the Scripture alone.
We'll continue into Part 5 in the coming days with a look at two of the seven letters to the Churches of Asia Minor that are in Revelation 2 & 3. Pre-Tribbers use Revelation 3:10 to prove that the rapture must come before the 70th Week of Daniel, and we'll address this claim.
