We are going to answer a question today: “Is the Pre-Trib rapture theory biblical?”

To be clear, my goal today is to show why pre-tribulation rapture theory is not only unbiblical, but it is also a doctrine of demons. For much of the Western church, end-times study is often fixated on the timing of the rapture, and among *premillennialists such as myself, it is a topic of much debate.

*Premillennialism is the belief in a literal return of Jesus to the earth, where He will establish a 1,000 year kingdom in Israel.

When teaching on anything related to the end-times, I rarely address the timing of the rapture. Other than an article where I write about biblical hospitality, it has been almost ten years since I have addressed the topic of the rapture.

While I believe in the rapture, for many years I believed it to be a minor point of doctrine that I don’t want to waste my time debating. On the whole, pre-trib rapture theory has been dying out in respect to global Christianity. I have been of the mind to let it die and move on with more important things. Recently though, I am beginning to see a resurgence of this theory that concerns me. After being quiet about this for a long time, I believe now is a good time to address the matter.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time on the common arguments, but I will begin with some of the most commonly cited verses about the return of Jesus connected to the timing of the rapture:

“But 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 the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

(Matthew 24:29–31)

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

(1 Thessalonians 4:14–18)

“…we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”

(2 Thessalonians 1:4–8)

“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

(2 Thessalonians 2:1–4)

“Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the restoration of all things about which God spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets long ago”

(Acts 3:21)

“…this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool”

(Hebrews 10:12–13)

Jesus remains in the heavens until “immediately after the tribulation of those days”. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests a secret coming of Jesus, only a visible return where every eye will see Him. Jesus’ death is associated with His atonement for sin, and Jesus’ return is associated with the salvation of those who have been atoned and eagerly await His return.

“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation… to those who eagerly await Him.”

(Hebrews 9:27-28)

Pretribulational rapture theory is a point of doctrine from a larger theological system, called Dispensational Premillennialism. As a premillennialist myself, the reality is that I have more in common with those who hold to dispensational premillennialism than I have differences.

*For those who like to study various theological views, I hold to a view called “Jewish Cruciform Apocalypticism”. Essentially, it is a form of historic premillennialism that is favorable to the covenant promises of God to Israel.

It should be noted that while I believe the Pretribulational rapture theory is unbiblical and even dangerous, this is not something that prevents me from fellowship or from serving alongside my brothers and sisters who hold a different view. Even though I believe it is incorrect, there are many people I love and respect (and learn from) who hold to this view.

So, why bring it up in the first place?

The biggest problem with Pretribulational rapture theory (and Dispensational Premillennialism on the whole) is its definition of the church as it relates to Israel and the Jewish people. Throughout the biblical testimony, there is only one covenant people. Dispensational theology teaches that we are now in a “church” age, an age of grace that occurs between the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and presumably will end when the church is raptured. Within this belief, the idea is that Israel has been cut off until their restoration after the final seven year tribulation. In Israel’s place, for the time being, is the church. They believe Israel will be restored to their covenant promises, but not until after the church has been raptured into heaven and the Jewish people endure the tribulation. In a way, dispensationalism serves as sort of a temporary replacement theology where the church has, at least in part, taken preeminence as the chosen people of God. Jews can, of course, receive Jesus and join the church under this view.

The irony here is that the Bible actually communicates almost the opposite viewpoint. When a Jew becomes a follower of Jesus, they are not receiving the promises granted to the church in a dispensation of grace. They are joining themselves to the true covenant promises of Israel. When a Jew is born again they are becoming the firstfruits of Israel in and through Jesus the Messiah, something that only a Jewish person can do. All Jews are truly Jewish according to their ethnic calling and election, but to become full covenantal inheritors of the ethnic, territorial, and covenantal promises to Israel, the Jew must receive Jesus as Messiah.

I say that the bible communicates almost the opposite viewpoint because it is not the Jew who joins themselves to the Gentile church when they receive Jesus. May it never be! Rather, it is when the Gentile receives Israel’s Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, that the Gentile is grafted into Israel as an adopted child (Gentile = anyone who is not an ethnic Jew).

Does this mean that the Gentile Christian has now become Jewish? Not at all. Jesus has no intention of forcing you to become Jewish. Gentiles who are in Messiah’s family and household are encouraged to keep their own ethnic identities and callings while also receiving a co-inheritance with Israel in the promise of Jesus.

As it pertains to God’s salvation, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, for all come to Messiah by grace through faith in Him. When a non-Jew comes to believe in Jesus, they have been given a unique freedom. Such ones have been joined to Israel’s promise in Messiah without having to become Israel. The Jewish people will, in Jesus, receive covenant promises related to their ethnic calling and identity. By being joined to Israel, the non-Jew receives the full covenantal promises belonging to each their own family nation(s), something that is inaccessible unless faith is placed in Israel’s Messiah. This is so, because God’s covenant to Abraham was not to make everyone a Jew, but to bless (provide a fatherly inheritance to) all nations through Abraham’s lineage.

Almost the entirety of the earliest church in the book of Acts was Jewish. Only later was it more evident that Gentiles could also be saved and receive the Holy Spirit. The question of the New Testament wasn’t “what happens to Jews when they become followers of Jesus”. The question was, “do non-Jews need to become Jews according to Torah?” In Acts 15, the Jewish apostleship only required non-Jews to adopt the laws pertaining to resident aliens of Israel.

What does this have to do with a Pretribulational rapture?

If Jews and Gentiles are heirs together in the promise of Messiah, we are also co-partakers of His suffering.

“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

(Philippians 3:8-11)

The church has neither replaced Israel, nor is it an entity that can exist separate from Israel. Therefore, it cannot be raptured until Israel is raptured. Israel supports the church, not the other way around. Consider these passages:

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

(Ephesians 3:2-6)

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

(Romans 10:9-13)

“I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means… So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace”

(Romans 11:1 & 5)

“Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?”

(Romans 11:11-15)

“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved.”

(Romans 11:25-26)

We know from our earlier referenced passage in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 that the dead in Christ shall rise first. In Romans 11, we see that the salvation of all Israel is connected to the resurrection of the dead. If the dead in Christ rise first (at the rapture), and all Israel must be saved prior to the resurrection of the dead, how then can the rapture happen before the salvation of Israel?

The biggest problem with the Pretribulational rapture theory is that it communicates an unbiblical relationship between Jew and Gentile that wrongly divides the church and Israel in a manner that can only be described as spiritual abuse against Jewish people. If all Israel is not saved prior to the rapture, there is no church to rapture.

The beauty of this is how God has tied up all the loose ends. The “full number of the Gentiles must come in” before Israel is saved, and Israel must be saved prior to the resurrection of the dead. The “fullness of the Gentiles” can be understood two-fold. First, it is the full rejection of the Gospel in the nations by the apostates who reject Jesus. More importantly however, it is the full embrace and maturity of those who do receive Jesus. A massive and unprecedented spiritual revival throughout the nations will precede the final and complete salvation of Israel. All of this will take place before and during the tribulation, and most importantly, prior to the resurrection and the rapture.

Furthermore, if Gentile followers of Jesus are not present on the earth during the tribulation, it means that they will have been removed from the earth prior to completing their most important prophetic assignment. What do I mean? Let’s conclude with Revelation 12.

“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

(Revelation 12)

In Revelation 12, we do have some interpretive elements that need to be addressed. The woman clothed with the sun is Israel. The male child is Jesus. The dragon is Satan. The earth refers to the nations. The woman’s “other offspring” refers to anyone who is a follower of Jesus.

Among other things we will not discuss at this time, this chapter highlights the persecution of Israel by Satan during the final 3 ½ years (1,260 days) of the tribulation period. This will be the most terrible time of human history for the Jewish people, far greater than their time in Egypt or during the Holocaust. It will be the glory of Gentile followers of Jesus throughout the nations during this great tribulation to become a people of refuge for the Jewish people. If the Holocaust taught us anything, we know the Jewish people will need the assistance of their non-Jew brothers and sisters in Messiah.

This coming tribulation demands Jew and Gentile co-laboring and co-enduring to the end, where we will receive a shared reward and inheritance. To labor against this end is to labor against biblical prophecy.

The Pretribulational rapture theory is nothing more than a doctrine of demons. It robs the body of Messiah from vital components of our identity, mission, and prophetic destiny in God. Moreover, while I didn’t address it in this particular article, a pre-trib rapture also sets up the body of Christ for another great disappointment, plausibly one that could lead to a great falling away.

– J. S. Marek