The Watchman’s Call

Guest (Male): Standing at the intersection of the word and the world, there is a clear sound for uncertain times. Welcome to The Watchman’s Call. Join us as we stand on the ramparts of scripture to examine the intersection of biblical prophecy and modern culture. The headlines are changing, but the blueprint has already been written. Listen as Pastor Andy Woods uncovers the prophetic significance of the world we live in. The Watchman’s Call starts now.

Dr. Andy Woods: I want to welcome you back to The Watchman’s broadcast where we have been engaged in an interesting set of teachings on the rapture, talking about when is the rapture, meaning when is it coming relative to the seven-year tribulation period. I have explained in our prior shows that I’m a pre-tribulationist, meaning I believe the rapture will happen before the tribulation period even begins. It’s not just wishful thinking. It comes from biblical evidence, which I’ve tried to give earlier.

With all of that being laid out, I don’t think any one argument seals the deal, but all seven arguments cumulatively develop a powerful case for pre-tribulationism. But having said that, my view is not the only view out there. There are other views that say different things and I want to just spend a little bit of time on this particular broadcast interacting with some of those other positions.

One of the views out there is called mid-tribulationism. They believe that the rapture will happen at the midpoint, roughly 42 months or 1,260 days into the tribulation period. You might ask, what do I think about that view? What I think about that view is what I think about all these other views: they don’t interact well with the seven arguments I gave earlier.

Having said that, they believe they have a case from Revelation chapter 11, verse 12, which happens around the midpoint of the tribulation period and it says, “They heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, 'Come up here.' And they went up to heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.” This is clearly a rapture, and the people say that’s proof that the church will be raptured midway through the tribulation period.

I would say in response, look at what that verse is talking about. That’s not talking about the church. That’s talking about the two Jewish witnesses in the tribulation period itself. Apparently, they will be killed by the beast. The whole world, verse 8, will be aware of their death, and the whole world will watch as they are miraculously brought back to life and taken to heaven. So that’s an interesting rapture, but it’s not the rapture of the church. That’s the rapture of two servants of God in the tribulation period itself.

What about post-tribulationism, the idea that we’re going through the tribulation period and assuming we’re not killed or martyred, you’re taken up in the rapture only to make almost like a U-turn in midair and instantaneously come back down to the earth and participate with Jesus in his second advent? This is called post-tribulationism.

One of the big problems with that is it doesn’t allow for certain prophetic events in heaven to take place. So with that being said, let me sort out for you the Jewish marriage analogy because I believe that our future with Christ is analogous to a Jewish Hebrew marriage ceremony. First, there’s a marriage covenant. This is initiated by the groom. The covenant was established upon payment for the bride, and that is represented by what Jesus did for us 2,000 years ago. He initiated a relationship with us through his sacrificial death.

Then the bride, number two, is set apart. She’s set apart exclusively for the groom, and that’s where we are today as the church. We’re positionally sanctified, set aside for Jesus. Number three, the bridal chamber is prepared. The groom separates from the bride and returns to his father’s house to prepare the bridal chamber. That’s what’s been happening right now over the last 2,000 years. Jesus is separated from his church. After his ascension, he has returned to heaven and he is preparing heavenly dwellings for us. That’s what’s described in John 14, verse 2, when he says, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” That’s what’s been happening over the last 2,000 years.

Then number four is the betrothal period, the loyalty test. Are we going to be loyal to Christ during this age? If we’re loyal to him, we will be amply rewarded for it during the judgment seat of rewards called the Bema seat judgment. Rewards are being determined for us yet future based on our loyalty to Christ now. We demonstrate our loyalty through correct belief, that’s called orthodoxy, and correct practice, that’s called orthopraxy.

Then number five, the bride is retrieved. The groom comes at an unknown time preceded by a shout with escorts to retrieve the bride. That’s the rapture, which is coming at an unknown time. That’s John chapter 14 and verse 3 where Jesus says, “I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.”

Then that takes us to the sixth step in this Jewish marriage analogy where the bride and groom are hidden in the Father’s house for seven days. They’re hidden in the Father’s house for seven days where three events will transpire. That is describing the experience of the church in heaven as the events of the seven-year tribulation period are unfolding on the earth below.

This takes us to number seven, the bride is cleansed. The bride undergoes a ritual cleansing prior to the wedding ceremony. That’s analogous to the Bema seat where our self-centered works and carnal works are burned up. Whatever is left after the fire finishes burning is gold, silver, and costly stones, which apparently is part of our reward above and beyond salvation.

Then comes number eight, the wedding ceremony. This is the meeting with the Father’s assembled guests and wedding guests. A private wedding ceremony transpires and this is our meeting with Old Testament saints and so forth in the Father’s house. Then number nine, there’s the consummation of the marriage. The bride and the groom consummate the marriage. That’s Ephesians 5, verse 27.

Following that, you have the public presentation of the bride. She is unveiled and there’s a marriage feast on the earth. This is our public disclosure with Christ at the end of these seven years where we return with him no longer as his bride but now his wife. We are unveiled, we are ruling and reigning with him, and wherever he goes, we go. That’s Colossians 3, verses 3 and 4, and Revelation 19, verse 9.

Do you see an issue here with post-tribulationism? According to this 10-step process for the Jewish marriage analogy, there are certain things that have to happen in heaven. One of them is the Bema seat judgment for Christ where Christians will be given rewards or not given rewards based on their faithfulness to Christ now. There will be an incorruptible crown given to the believer who gains mastery over the flesh (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). There will be a crown of rejoicing given for the soul winner (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20). There will be a crown of life given to the believer that endures trials (James 1:12; Revelation 2:10). There will be a crown of glory given to the believer that faithfully shepherds God’s people (1 Peter 5:2-4). There will be a crown of righteousness given (2 Timothy 4:8) to the believer that longs for Christ's appearing. We take those crowns (Revelation 4:10) and we cast them at his feet.

Do you see a problem here? There’s no time for that judgment to happen if we are raptured to heaven and make a fast U-turn and return back to the earth the way post-tribulationism contends. We’re in the Father’s house where about three events will transpire: the bride is cleansed, there is the wedding ceremony, and there's the consummation of the marriage. There’s no time for any of that if we’re raptured to heaven, make a sudden U-turn, and return with Jesus to the earth. This is a big glaring problem with post-tribulationism.

There’s another problem. Jesus is building eternal dwellings for us, or heavenly dwellings better said. He’s promised us in John 14, verse 2, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.” He’s told us he’s preparing dwellings for us in the Father’s house. Where is the Father’s house? It’s in heaven. We’re told to pray, Matthew 6, verse 9, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.”

What has Jesus been doing for 2,000 years? He’s been preparing heavenly dwellings for us. Think about this for a minute. If we’re raptured up, make a U-turn in the sky, and come immediately back to the earth the way post-tribulationism contends, then Jesus has been working for 2,000 years on these heavenly dwellings that will not be needed because we’re coming back to the earth with him to rule and reign. If that’s true, why build heavenly dwellings for us? These are issues that the post-trib folks never seem to be asked, but their view has some glaring problems with it.

Hal Lindsey in his book, The Rapture, brings this up. He says since he is going to come in order that we may be with him where he is, we would have to be with him here on the earth. Do you see the problem? The dwelling places in the Father’s house would be unused. This makes Jesus' whole promise in John 14, verse 2, ridiculous. Why would he speak of preparing a place for us in the Father’s house if he didn’t mean that his return would take us there?

There’s another major problem with post-tribulationism, and that’s the idea that if all living believers are placed in glorified bodies at the rapture and this takes place at the end of the tribulation period, then who in the world are these mortals that are described in the tribulation in the millennial kingdom itself? You look at the millennial kingdom and there's going to be some activities that take place that only mortals in non-resurrected bodies could do. For example, they’re going to bear children (Isaiah 65:20, 23). They’re going to sin (Ezekiel 45:22; Zechariah 14:16-19; Revelation 20:7-9). There’s actually going to be death during the millennial kingdom (Isaiah 65:20).

So let me ask the post-tribulationists a question. If all believers are resurrected at the end of the millennial kingdom, then who is present to go into the millennial kingdom in mortal bodies and repopulate the earth so that these mortal activities can be conducted? If every living believer is placed in a resurrected body at the end of the tribulation period, then who are the mortals to go into the kingdom to repopulate the earth and engage in mortal activity? You don’t have any.

My view, pre-tribulationism, has an answer for that. As does mid-tribulationism, as does three-quarters rapturism. There’s a rapture, the church is taken to heaven, and then there are those left on the earth that are converted after the church is gone. Some will survive the tribulation period, make it to the end of the tribulation period. My view has seven years for that, other views have 42 months for that or perhaps half of a half of the tribulation for that. They’ll make it to the end as mortal believers. They will pass through the sheep and goat judgment and they will enter the kingdom in mortal bodies and repopulate the earth. That’s why you have activities done by mortals during the thousand-year kingdom.

But post-tribulationism has no real answer to that because they’ve got everybody raptured and resurrected at the end of the tribulation period. All believers are in resurrected bodies, no mortals. So who goes into the millennial kingdom and repopulates the earth? Just think on that. This is something that post-tribulationists have a difficult time answering. They have a very difficult time understanding the sheep and goat judgment where Jesus gathers the nations at the end of the tribulation period and separates believer from unbeliever. Believers enter the millennial kingdom in mortal bodies and repopulate the earth. Unbelievers, the goats, are cast off the earth into Hades. You’ll find that described in Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 through 46.

Here’s a question for the post-tribulationist: who are the sheep and the goats in Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 through 46? After all, they’ve already been separated according to the post-tribulation rapture view, so why would a separation here be even needed? Well, with my view, a separation is needed because these are people that survive the great tribulation period after the church is gone. Some are unbelievers, some are believers, and there has to be a separation at the end. Why separate them at the end if the rapture post-trib just separated the believer from the unbeliever?

I understand that some of these concepts are a little archaic, some of them are a little esoteric, but these are valid questions that post-tribulationists rarely get asked. What about this pre-wrath rapture teaching that the wrath of God really doesn’t start until the final 25 percent of the tribulation period, so we’re going to be here for about three-quarters of the tribulation period? I would simply say that that is a very poor understanding of the seven-year tribulation period. The whole tribulation period is the wrath of God. Jesus is opening a seven-sealed scroll, which is bringing these judgments to the earth. The seventh seal will trigger the trumpets and the seventh trumpet will trigger the bowls.

The wrath of God starts right away. I don’t have to see the wrath of God, the word wrath, in those early judgments to conclude this is the wrath of God. After all, as these seals are opened, we’ve had the antichrist, war, famine, death of 25 percent of the world’s population, massive martyrdoms, and cosmic disturbances. Do I have to see the word wrath to conclude that this is the wrath of Jesus? No, the concept is there.

It’s interesting you study the flood. The flood itself, to my knowledge, is never called the wrath of God, and yet clearly the flood was an expression of God’s wrath. So God’s wrath starts right away and this is why these pre-wrath rapture types are confused because they think the initial judgments do not represent the wrath of God when in fact they do. Remember what Robert Thomas said in his commentary on Revelation 6 looking at verses 16 and 17 where the unbelievers say the wrath has come. He says the verb elthein, "has come," is an aorist indicative referring to a previous arrival of wrath, not something that is about to take place. The unbelievers at this point are concluding this is the wrath of God. The wrath of God backs up to the beginning of the chapter.

Let me throw at you one more view that needs to be refuted and that’s this idea of partial rapturism. The truth of the matter is Paul divides the body of Christ into three categories. There’s the spiritual believer, the maturing believer. There’s the carnal believer. Then there is the babe in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). What this view says is when the rapture happens, only the spiritual believer, the growing believer, the maturing believer is going to be taken. The carnal believers or the infant believers will be left behind and the purpose of the tribulation period is to straighten them out. As they come into a place of sanctification, then they’ll be raptured to heaven one by one. That’s what’s called partial rapturism.

They’ll use, for example, a passage like Hebrews 9, verse 28, which says, “So Christ also having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who are eagerly awaiting him.” So they’ll say if you’re not eagerly awaiting him and you’re in a backslidden state when the rapture happens, you’ll be left behind. This is called partial rapturism.

What are some problems with partial rapturism? I have several, but very fast: every divine blessing is given on the basis of grace and not human effort, and it’s the same with the rapture. We have this by grace, not based on our performance. Number two, symbolic parallels mandate that carnal as well as sanctified Christians will be taken. Just look at Lot as an example. He was very carnal as a believer, but he was removed from harm’s way before judgment hit in Sodom and Gomorrah. Number three, the promise of the rapture is mentioned in Paul’s letter to the carnal Corinthians. That’s a very carnal group of people, and yet Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51, “We will all be changed.”

Number four, a partial rapture would sever the body of Christ, which can’t happen according to 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 through 14. It’s like an ear and an elbow taken, everything else being left behind. Christ would never let that happen to his body. Number five, the partial rapture view subjects believers to God’s wrath. The carnal Christians go into God’s wrath, and yet the church has been promised an exemption from divine wrath.

Number six, partial rapturism makes the Bema seat, the judgment of rewards, unnecessary because everyone arrives in heaven in a mature state. Number seven, partial rapturists never exactly quantify the exact degree of faithfulness or spiritual maturity that’s necessary to participate in the rapture. So what if you have a bad thought or a bad month or a bad week? Does that mean you’re not going? You never know.

Number eight, partial rapturists appear very individually biased. Everyone that teaches this, I’ve noticed, assumes they’re part of the group that’s leaving. Number nine, partial rapturists dispensationally misapply passages. They love the whole story there of the bridesmaids. Some were wise, some were not, and they try to apply that to the rapture, but the division there is between believing and unbelieving Israel in Matthew chapter 25, verses 1 through 13. That has nothing to do with having your lampstand trimmed so that you’ll participate in the rapture. That’s the division between believers and unbelievers within Israel at the end of the tribulation period.

Then number 10, partial rapturists misapply passages promising a reward. They’ll camp on a verse like Revelation chapter 3 and verse 11 where the Lord says, “I am coming quickly. Hold fast to what you have so no one will take your crown.” The crown they want to apply to the rapture, but the crown has nothing to do with the rapture. The crown is talking about a reward, which you can lose, but participation in the rapture you can’t lose.

Whether we’re talking about mid-trib, post-trib, three-quarters rapturism, or partial rapturism, none of those views make a lot of sense. The best view on the table from our perspective is pre-tribulationism. It requires some work to study this out, but what we have tried to disclose in this series are seven reasons for the pre-trib view. The tribulation period concerns Israel. There’s no biblical reference to the church on earth during the tribulation period. The church is promised an exemption from divine wrath. Only pre-tribulationism handles well the passages of imminency and comfort. The antichrist can’t even come to power until the church is gone. The various symbolic parallels from the Old Testament, whether we’re dealing with the days of Noah or the days of Lot, all explain that God gets his people out of harm’s way before judgment hits.

Well, I hope this study has enhanced your confidence and your optimism for the future. Before the seven-year tribulation period comes upon the earth, we will be taken out of the way through the rapture. Praise the Lord.

Guest (Male): You’ve been listening to The Watchman’s Call, exploring the intersection of prophecy and culture. This program is a ministry of Sugar Land Bible Church, a place where the Bible is taught and the times are discerned. Visit this Sunday in person or connect with them anytime at slbc.org. That’s slbc.org. Until next time, may the Lord give you a spirit of discernment in the week ahead.