Reader questions keep pouring in — so keep `em coming! Readers may also want to be on the lookout for a Talkin' Rapture book, a compilation of former columns, along with expanded columns and entirely new sections, coming out next year.

Q: A friend of mine has shown me the following scripture, which she uses to support the pretrib position: “Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hands, to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the written judgment — This honor have all His saints” (Ps 149:5-9). Specifically, she uses this to say that the “armies” mentioned in Rev 19:11 are the saints (raptured Church) coming with the Lord at Armageddon.

A: There are two very important reasons this verse can't be used to support the belief that the saints come with Jesus at Armageddon.

First, Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 15:52 that the rapture was a mystery to the Old Testament saints. In other words, it was unknown to them. So, too, was the Church and the Church Age that now exists between the 69th and 70th weeks. Therefore, there can be no direct references to the Church or the rapture in the Old Testament. Evidence of other events that will occur during the 70th Week (such as the resurrection of the just, which occurs at the same time as the rapture) help us to piece together the puzzle of when the rapture will occur, but this blessed event and the Body of Christ that is the Church will not be found there directly. If your friend uses this or any other verse from the Old Testament to refer directly to the Church, she is mistaken.

Second, the Church is never identified in the scriptures as the army of God. This is a term reserved exclusively for angels. Indeed, in 2 Thess. 1:7-8, Paul tells us that it is the angels, not the Church, who return with Christ to deal out retribution: “Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:6–8).

Even if scripture did support the idea that the raptured saints of the New Testament will return with Jesus at Armageddon (which it doesn't), this would not support a pretribulational rapture in any case. If the saints are raptured after the sixth seal, what would preclude them from coming back with Jesus at Armageddon?

This does not exhaust the reasons that this verse cannot support a pretribulational rapture, but I hope they are sufficient to show that, in no way, can this verse be used to support the belief your friend holds.

Q: I have a question about Rev 16:15-16: "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." Who do you think "they" is?

A: The most reasonable interpretation is that verse 15, “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches...” is a parenthetical statement directed at the reader. The scriptures strongly suggest that all salvation will occur by the conclusion of the trumpet judgments at the end of the 70th Week. By the time the bowls are poured out, there will be no one left who is able or willing to repent. Thus, the inclusion of this statement in the text at the end of the bowls does not make sense unless it is a parenthetical statement.

Such parenthetical statements occur frequently throughout the Bible, including several chapters later, in Rev. 22:7: “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Jesus gives this parenthetical statement after describing the glory of the New Jerusalem after the end of the Millennium, clearly a reference back to His Second Coming more than a thousand years earlier. Likewise, the reference in Rev. 16:15 looks back to the same period — reminding readers that there is a very contemporary message here, as well as a prophetic one: preparedness. Jesus is telling us, “I'm coming quickly — don't snooze and miss this one.”

Q: I have a question that has been on my mind for awhile. Out of the last 17 years, I have spent 15 of them in Japan. Having said this, what percentage of the church/born-again Christians in the U.S. would you say are pretribbers and what percent would you say are prewrath/posttrib? And is the pretrib position predominate only in the U.S.? Or is it the predominant view in other countries as well?

A: I really wish I could answer that question, but I don't know. I had someone ask a similar question a few months ago. I know that pretrib is not predominant in all sections of the country, only in pockets, but it seems to be the predominant view in the mainstream media. It is also the accepted view of the charismatic, Pentecostal, and evangelical churches. Mainstream denominations tend to have less of a formal position on this issue. The Catholic Church is largely amillennial or doesn't teach on the subject at all.

Post-trib, preterist, and amillennial positions are competing secondary views. In my geographic area, believers are generally either pretrib (the evangelical community) or amillennial (the Amish and Mennonite communities, which are strong here).

Prewrath is its infancy, but the high visibility of ministries like Zion's Hope and Sola Scriptura (formerly The Sign Ministries) are helping to bring the message into the mainstream. I believe that hunger for a better understanding of the scriptures is growing, especially as we see more and more fulfilled prophecy, and doors to hearts are being opened. Prewrath is the only view that answers the questions completely, consistently, and literally, and I believe that it will continue to grow strongly because it is the Lord's truth.

Here are the responses of several readers around the world whom I have asked this same question:

<<In most Protestant churches I attended approximately 10 years ago, pre-trib was favourite. I think the Left Behind series of recent books have contributed to this theory. Baptists and Evangelicals also hold to this view, or at least they did. But not a lot of teaching of anything of a prophetic nature happens here. — June, Great Britain.>>

<<To answer your question on the end time beliefs in South Africa, you'll either laugh about it or cry your heart out. Most of the people here are totally ignorant concerning the end times. They don't preach it and they don't teach it. The ones that dare to do that, like me, are [considered to be] either stupid Christian fanatics or someone who's bored and has nothing else to do. Most are ignorant and are not prepared to talk about it. The ones that do talk about it have a pretribulation rapture idea. There are some with a mid trib idea and then a very few with a post trib idea. —Herman, South Africa.>>

<< Yes, pretrib is a belief in other countries but only because we (American missionaries) popularized it there. And it's only accepted primarily in areas without major persecution. A friend of my family has been a missionary for about 25 years and has contacts with other missionaries in many countries and keeps in fairly good communication with them. They have found that those in countries living under regular persecution who hear about our pre-trib belief think we are crazy. Not only can they not find it in the Bible, but they have less respect for us because of our escapist mentality. One man asked my friend, "You Americans already have it easy. Why do you think you are so special? Why will God give you special treatment so that you will avoid the end times suffering too?" This seems to be the norm, according to my friend. — Dave, U.S.>>

A: What about the 10th, 11th, and 12th books of Revelation? They seem to describe the Second Coming as being the sounding of the seventh trumpet.

Q: In some places, Revelation 10, 11, and 12, especially Revelation 12, do, indeed, seem to suggest that this may be when Jesus returns. This cannot, however, be the case. When we look at all of the scriptures that relate to this event, there is too much clear, direct, and incontrovertible evidence that the Second Coming and the rapture occur after the sixth seal.

Because of the clarity of the scriptures on this point, those who believe that Jesus comes after the seventh trumpet must believe that the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments occur concurrently (thus, Jesus' return is simultaneously after the sixth seal and after the seventh trumpet), not consecutively. This creates too many scriptural problems to be so. No, this is a different event.

If Jesus' Second Coming happens after the sixth seal, why do the elders cry, "The kingdoms of the world have now become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ"? Because the 70th Week has been concluded and God is now about to pour out His wrath upon the world in the final 30 days of 1290 days of Daniel's prophecy in Dan. 12:11. At this time, God's time of patience and long-suffering is over. The bowls are quick, in rapid succession, and as soon as they begin to pour out, Armageddon, and consequently the anointing of the Messiah, is not far behind.
 

Recommended reading on the rapture debate