Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to present a summary of some of the key Biblical passages that have led many students of the end-times to become posttribulationalists. (Here is a longer version of this paper if you are interested in more detail.) I have also provided a little more detailed audio study, in three parts, beginning here.

Posttribulationalists don’t choose posttribulationalism because it is a “feel good” doctrine. Most posttribulationalists would be delighted to be wrong about their conclusions. (Few of us voluntarily choose to go through times of testing and trial! But God has always allowed His people to endure times of great trial in order to prepare us for eternity. He makes no mistakes!) Posttribulationalists become posttribulationalists as a result of careful reexamination of the relevant Scriptures with a teachable spirit and a heart open to God’s truth. All the posttribulationalists I have known have been very serious students of God’s Word and very serious about the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

A few pretribulationalists have tried to convince me that posttribulationalism removes a motivation for serving Christ. I suppose the logic is, “Well, if I don’t think Jesus is coming today, then why bother serving Him?” Personally, I suspect that if one’s obedience to Christ depends on whether He might come today, one needs to reexamine His relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, some of the people I have known who claimed to believe that He could come today have also been some of the least faithful people I have known. A stirring emotional message that convinces hearers that Jesus might return today may elicit an emotional response. But genuine faith and lasting commitment are often overlooked in the emotion of the moment. God is not so much interested in our intense emotional responses as He is our day-to-day faithfulness and commitment.

Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh. He died the horrific death of crucifixion to pay the death penalty for my sin. He conquered death and rose from the grave. He ever lives to make intercession for us. He loves me. He has called me. He has justified me. He has ransomed me from the enemy. He has given me the gift of eternal life. He has filled me with peace, joy, and a reason for living. He indwells me in the person of the Holy Spirit. He has made me part of His eternal family. He has made me into a new creature. He is coming back.

For someone to say that if I don’t believe He might come back today means that I will be less committed to Him or that I will serve Him with less enthusiasm is, I believe, for that person to show a stunning lack of understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

As you read this summary, you will find click-points throughout that will take you to a longer discussion of these things. For a really complete study, try Robert Gundry’s excellent book, The Church and the Tribulation.

Posttribulational Bible Scholars

Many outstanding Bible-believing Bible scholars of the past and present have been posttribulationalists. (Some of their names are mentioned in my longer paper on posttribulationalism.) Most evidence indicates that belief in a  pretribulational rapture (with two distinct returns of Christ, 7 years apart) was not known or taught before about 1830. It seems unusual that the early church would have missed such a significant point if it is really taught in the Bible. 

Ultimately, of course, it does not matter who is or who is not a “pretribber” or a “posttribber.” What really matters is what God says about it in His Word. Read on!

Matthew 24-25 and The Book of Revelation

We see no hint of a pretribulational rapture in the most comprehensive statement Jesus made about the end times (Matthew 24-25). In fact the ONLY coming Jesus Himself refers to in this extended discussion is after the great tribulation.

Matthew 24: 21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Matthew 24: 29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

The same can be said for the entire book of Revelation. His return is described in Chapters 19 and 20—clearly after the great tribulation. There is no hint of a rapture to be found earlier in the book. (A few pretribulationalists have tried to make the words directed to John in Chapter 4 into a veiled reference to the rapture. However, the plain meaning of the verse is otherwise.) 

It seems strange that if there is to be a rapture of the church before the tribulation, that it would not be mentioned or even hinted at  in these two lengthy discussions of the end times. I challenge you to re-read these important passages with a heart open toward God’s truth!

The First Resurrection Occurs AFTER the Great Tribulation

All Bible-believing Christians believe that the dead in Christ shall be raised first–before the church is caught up to be with them when the Lord returns.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

But in Revelation, we are told that this first resurrection does not occur until the Great Tribulation is past.

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)

Pretribulationalists explain this reference to the “first resurrection” by claiming that the first resurrection must have a pretribulational “phase” and a posttribulational “phase”. The problem with that explanation is that there is no Scripture to indicate that there might be more than one “phase” of the first resurrection. In the absence of such support, the plain meaning is the best way to interpret the verse. When the Lord returns, after the tribulation, the dead in Christ shall be raised (in the first resurrection) and we shall be caught up with them to be with the Lord. (Instead of “phases”, a better assumption might be that if there were to be a resurrection seven years after an earlier resurrection, it would be called the “second resurrection!”) 

The Last Trumpet Sounds After the Great Tribulation

Believers agree that the rapture occurs at the “last trump”

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

The question is: “When does this last trump sound, before or after the tribulation?”

If it occurs before the tribulation, we have a problem because the only other trumps discussed in the Bible regarding the end times are found to be sounding after the beginning of the tribulation. Therefore, any trump that sounds before the tribulation cannot be the “last” trump. (And if the last trump sounds before the tribulation, then what are the other previous trumpets?And since there are other trumpets [referred to in Revelation] that occur after the great tribulation, why would a trumpet sounding before the tribulation be called the “last trumpet?”)

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)

The “last trumpet” we read about in Revelation is found in Revelation chapter 11.

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth (Revelation 11:15-18)

Three Big Events

There are three major prophetical events that give us insights into the order of things in the end times. First: The Great Tribulation; Second: The Signs in the Heavens; and Third: The Day of God’s Wrath which marks  the beginning of what the Bible calls “The Day of the Lord.” 

If the pretribulational belief is correct, then there is no reason for warnings like 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6. Instead, Paul might have said, “But ye, brethren, should take no thought of that day. You will have long before been gathered together with the Lord in the clouds!” Instead, we hear these words:

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (1Thessalonians 5:1-6)

Satan’s Wrath and God’s Wrath

Throughout history, God has allowed His people to be purified and prepared for eternity through intense persecution and suffering at the hand of Satan and Satan’s pawns. Many believers, including most of the apostles in the early church, have died as martyrs as they remained faithful and steadfast to their Lord.

God has also, from time to time, poured out his wrath on unrepentant men. In those times, He has carefully kept His children safe from harm.

Similarly, there is no Biblical reason to suppose that Christians will be spared from the time of Satan’s wrath (the Great Tribulation). But there is quite a good Biblical basis that Christians will be spared from the time of His outpoured wrath on the kingdom of the Antichrist. 

Imminency

(Read more details on the question of the imminent return of Christ)

Jesus taught his followers not to expect His immediate return.

And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. (Luke 19:11) [Jesus proceeds to give them a parable to remind them that He would NOT return immediately]

The early disciples knew that certain things had to happen before the Return of the Lord. (e.g., Peter knew he had to die first. The apostles knew they had to take the gospel to the whole world first. Paul knew he had to go to Rome first. Etc.)

Therefore, the disciples knew that passages that might seem to us to teach an imminent return,  actually did not teach the imminent return of Christ at all! They knew His return was not imminent, because they knew that some things had to happen first.

A close study of the context [a very important Bible study principle!] of passages that seem to teach imminency make it clear that ONLY after the Great Tribulation has passed can we begin to look for His imminent return. 

2 Thessalonians 2—Three Signs

To keep believers from thinking that the rapture could occur at any time, The Holy Spirit gave Paul the warning in 2 Thessalonians 2. In essence, some of the early church had decided that His return was imminent! And so the Spirit inspired Paul to warn them that His return was not imminent. There were three signs they were to watch for: the rise of the Antichrist; the rebuilding of the temple; and the great apostasy of the church.

In our day, we can certainly see the enormous apostasy of the church. However, as of this writing, we do not yet know who the Antichrist is going to be. And, as of this writing, the temple has not been rebuilt.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

Conclusion

These are just a few of the many reasons why a posttribulational understanding of the end times seems to be more accurate than a pretribulational one.

If  your appetite is whetted or your curiosity is aroused, you may wish to read more in the more detailed paper.

If there are certain passages that have seemed to you to support a pretribulational rapture of the church, you will find some answers in the last part of the longer paper.

If you would like to meditate on the practical differences between the pretribulational  and the posttribulational positions, you may wish to read this paper on the practical differences.

Read what the Bible says about The Antichrist.

You may also wish to read Is the Return of Christ Imminent?

Steve Hall, 2004