Short Answer
The rapture is clearly taught in Scripture, but the main question is when it will happen. A pre-tribulation view holds that the church will be taken up before the seven-year tribulation begins, as this period is primarily focused on God’s plan for Israel. This view distinguishes between general suffering in the world and the specific end-time judgment described in prophecy.
The Overview
Christians generally agree that the rapture—the event where believers are taken up to meet the Lord—is a biblical reality. The debate centers on its timing in relation to the tribulation. The pre-tribulation perspective teaches that the church will be removed before the seven-year tribulation begins, while other views place it during or after that period.
According to the pre-tribulation view, the tribulation is not primarily about the church but about God’s plan for Israel. This period, often called the “70th week of Daniel” or the “time of Jacob’s trouble,” focuses on bringing Israel to repentance and fulfilling God’s promises to His people. During this time, God’s attention shifts toward Israel, as seen in prophetic passages and the emphasis on the 144,000 in Revelation.
This view also makes a distinction between two types of tribulation. Christians are promised that they will experience trials and persecution in the world. However, the tribulation described in Revelation is seen as a unique period of divine judgment—God pouring out His wrath on a rebellious world. Because of this distinction, the church is believed to be taken up before this judgment begins.
Ultimately, the pre-tribulation perspective emphasizes that believers are not escaping hardship but are being removed before a specific period of divine judgment. Meanwhile, God continues His redemptive work on earth, particularly among Israel and those who come to faith during that time, leading up to Christ’s return to establish His kingdom.
Key Takeaways
- The Rapture Is a Biblical Event
All Christians affirm that believers will be caught up to meet the Lord. - The Main Debate Is About Timing
Views differ on whether the rapture occurs before, during, or after the tribulation. - The Tribulation Focuses on Israel
It is described as the “time of Jacob’s trouble” and fulfills God’s promises to Israel. - There Is a Difference Between General Suffering and Divine Judgment
Everyday persecution is different from the end-time tribulation described in Revelation. - Pre-Tribulation View Sees the Church Removed Before Judgment
Believers are taken up before the seven-year tribulation begins.
The Source — The Speaker Transcript
00:00:00
I told you I wasn’t going to forget your question here. Do you believe in the pre-tribulational or post-tribulational rapture? Uh here’s the thing. We all believe in the rapture and and I like the way you asked that because post-tribulational rapturists sometimes think, well, I don’t believe in the rapture. We got to believe in the rapture because the rapture is in the scripture, right? The the church is going to be taken up to meet the Lord in the air. So, the question is when? So,
00:00:21
that’s a good question. It’s well worded. That’s the way I would like to answer the question. And I’m going to say I am pre-tribulational. Not because I think the church is supposed to be protected from tribulation. No, we’re going to have tribulation. Jesus says we’re going to have tribulation. It’s we’re going to get tribulation from the world. And the tribulation designed for the end of time is what the Bible would describe as the time of Jacob’s trouble or the 70th week
00:00:48
of Daniel, which was decreed for Israel and Israel’s people. It’s before the promises of God reassembling all 12 tribes in the land. And so it seems to me in my understanding of scripture that that last 70th week as God turns his attention to the tribes of Israel as it begins even in Revelation chapter 6 by naming 144,000 very special agents of God’s saving work with no mention of the church in this period of time but just saints that are being won to Christ because of the 144,000. that that period
00:01:21
of time, that seven-year period that’s going to be split in two, as it says in Daniel chapter nine, we’re going to have the first half and the second half, and it’s going to get just worse as we go through it. This whole time that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24, the Olivet discourse, all that’s going on with the temple that is functioning in Israel with Israel being persecuted and running into Edom and Petra and hiding from all the wrath that is being poured out against them, that that remnant is going
00:01:45
to be saved when Jesus comes back to put his feet on the Mount of Olives as Zechariah says. And we’re going to see a very different arrival as God completes this season of life before we start the millennial kingdom as he prepares his own people. This is what I think Romans 11 is talking about. The preparation and salvation of the of the people of God takes place on the earth for seven years as God turns his attention primarily to Israel to turn them from rejecting Christ to accepting their Messiah. while
00:02:16
the church is engaged in the marriage supper of the lamb, at least the beginning of it, and probably going through the beacy judgment. So, uh, I’m here’s where people say, well, if you don’t believe in a post-tribulational rapture, then you’re trying to live this kind of Americanized escapism, and I’m not. I expect to be persecuted. And in our world, we’re being persecuted more and more. and uh certainly in other countries around the world, you lose your life just for reading a Bible in
00:02:41
public or passing a Bible to someone who’s got a a Muslim background or whatever. So, we know we’re going to have tribulation in the world, but the kind of tribulation that is described starting in Revelation chapter 6 is a kind of of tribulation that is coming from God to the earth as the last uh generation is represented of God’s anger toward what’s been going on. Just like the flood in that one generation, he’s saying, “I’ve had enough of all that the world has become.” And so, it’s reserved
00:03:09
for fire, as it says in second Peter 3. So, John, that’s why I am a pre-tribulational rapturist. I’m not an escapist, but I’m one who believes that the uh 70 weeks of Daniel, the time of Jacob’s trouble, the preparation of Israel is all something that the Bible says the church is going to be, as I understand it, at least, the church is going to be taken up before that to meet the Lord in the air. the Israelites and all those Gentiles saved in the tribulational period will meet the Lord
00:03:35
on the ground and he will come and set his feet down on the Mount of Olives as Zechariah 14 says. So that’s my quick answer on that.
