“WILL THE CHURCH GO THROUGH THE TRIBULATION”
(A Study on What the Word of God Teaches Concerning the RAPTURE)
Pt. 2
by George Zeller
Salvation, Not Wrath
In
1 Thessalonians 5:9, Church Age believers are told that "God hath not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ."
Thus as we look to the future we should expect SALVATION and not WRATH.
What
did Paul mean when he spoke of WRATH and what did he mean when he spoke of
SALVATION?
(1)
WRATH. Believers are not appointed unto
wrath. We have been delivered from the
wrath that is coming (see 1 Thess.
1:10). Although it is true that
believers are delivered from the wrath of God which the ungodly will forever
face in the lake of fire, Paul's focus in 1 Thessalonians 5 is upon the "day
of the Lord" (verse 2-3), a very specific time when God's wrath will
be poured out upon earth dwellers. This
period of wrath is also described in Revelation chapters 6-19. It is also known as the greatest time of
trouble or tribulation the world has ever known (Matt. 24:21).
God has not appointed us to face this time of wrath. Instead we have an appointment to meet the
Lord in the air prior to the unleashing of God's fury upon the earth.
(2)
SALVATION. People obtain salvation the
moment they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31), but the SALVATION
spoken of by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 refers to the believer's final
salvation when Christ comes for us to complete the great salvation which He
began! Thus, instead of facing God's wrath being poured out on the earth, we
will enjoy the consummation of our so-great salvation. What a comforting hope (verse 11 and compare
1 Thess. 4:18)!
In
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 we learn that the man of sin will not be revealed until
the Restrainer is taken out of the way (out of the midst). Who is this Restrainer?
In
verse 6 He is described in neuter terms: "And now ye know what
withholdeth [lit., that which restrains] that he might be
revealed in his time." In
verse 7 He is described in masculine terms: "For the mystery of
iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [restrains] will
let [restrain], until He be taken out of the way."
How
can the Restrainer be both neuter and masculine? This only makes good sense if
the Restrainer be God the Holy Spirit.
He is masculine because He is the blessed third Person of the Triune
Godhead. He is neuter because the Greek
word for "Spirit" (pneuma) is always neuter in gender. Thus the Bible sometimes describes the Holy
Spirit in masculine terms (see John 16:13-14 and notice how many times the
pronoun "He" is used) and sometimes describes the Holy Spirit
in neuter terms (see Rom. 8:16, KJV, "The Spirit itself...").
That
which is restraining evil today is the Blessed Person of the Holy Spirit who is
now dwelling in a unique and special way in the Church which is Christ's Body
(Eph. 2:22; 1 Cor. 3:16; John 14:17). When the Church is removed by means of the Rapture, the Spirit of
God will be taken out of the way. That
is, He will no longer be on the earth in the sense of indwelling a body of
believers. Just as He came on the day
of Pentecost in a special way, so He will "leave" at the time of the
Rapture (though obviously He will still be working in the hearts of men during
the Tribulation just as He was working in the hearts of men prior to
Pentecost). The Church must be removed
before the man of sin is revealed. The
man of sin will be revealed when he makes a treaty with Israel (Dan. 9:27), and this will mark the beginning of
Daniel's 70th week. Thus the Church
must be removed prior to the beginning of Daniel's 70th week (prior to the 7
year Tribulation).
The
God-given outline of the book of Revelation harmonizes perfectly with the
Pre-Tribulation position. The outline
of the book is given in Revelation 1:19 —
"the things
which thou hast seen" (Chapter 1) "the things which are"
(Chapters 2-3) "the things which shall be hereafter" (Chapter
4-22).
Thus
the book of Revelation could be outlined as follows:
"THE
THINGS WHICH THOU HAST SEEN" Chapter 1 — John's Vision of Christ "THE THINGS WHICH ARE" Chapters 2-3 — The Church "THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE HEREAFTER" Chapters 4-19 — The Tribulation Chapter 20 — The Millennial Reign of Christ Chapters 21-22 — |
It
is significant that although the Church is mentioned repeatedly in chapters
1-3, it is never mentioned as being on the earth in chapters 4-19, the chapters
that deal with the Tribulation period.
The reason is obvious: the Church is removed from earth to heaven by way
of the Rapture (John 14:3). The Church
will thus be kept from the hour of testing which will come upon all the world,
to test them that dwell upon the earth, according to Revelation 3:10.
Another
key chapter which focuses upon the Tribulation is Matthew chapter 24. The Church is not mentioned in this chapter
either.
The
most important single passage dealing with the timing of the Rapture is
Revelation 3:10, "Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I
also will keep thee from [out of] the hour of temptation [testing,
trial], which shall come upon all the world, to try [test] them that
dwell upon the earth."
The
promise is made specifically to the first century church of Philadelphia in
Asia, but students of prophecy recognize that this verse was given for Church
Age believers of any age as an encouragement to remain loyal to the Lord in the
midst of difficult times. Indeed, the
first century believers that made up the assembly in Philadelphia never lived
to see the time of trouble that this verse describes. "The hour of testing" spoken of by the Lord
would not be fulfilled for some two thousand years, and yet the Lord was true
to His promise to the Philadelphian believers even as He is true to this same
promise with respect to Church Age believers living today.
There
is coming a day when the entire world will be on trial. God will be the awesome Judge and all those
who dwell on the earth will endure this time of terrible testing. Isaiah describes it as "a
consumption [decisive destruction], even determined upon the whole earth"
(Isaiah 28:22). It will be a time of
great testing for Israel, described by Jeremiah as "the time of Jacob's
trouble" (Jer. 30:6-7). The Lord Jesus described this time as a
unique time of trouble which would be worldwide in scope: "For then
shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to
this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matt. 24:21). It will be a time
that will involve the terrible plagues and judgments described graphically in
Revelation chapters 6-16.
The
Lord's promise is conditional: If you keep My Word, I will keep you from the
hour of testing. Who are those who keep
His Word? Who are those who keep His command? In Revelation 12:17 and 14:12, we
learn that it is the saints (true believers) who keep God's Word (God's
commandments). The same is true of John
8:51: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he
shall never see death." The true believer, the one who has eternal
life and who never sees death, is here described as the one who keeps His
command/Word.
Thus
in Revelation 3:10, those who have kept His Word are those who are saints, that
is, true believers. It does not refer
to a group of "obedient believers" in contrast to other believers who
are not obedient. If this were the
case, then only the "obedient believers" would be "kept from
the hour" and removed from the earth, resulting in a partial
rapture. But there is no such thing as
a partial rapture. The Rapture includes
all living believers without exception.
Notice
that the Lord promised believers in Revelation 3:10 that they would be kept,
not just from the TESTING which would severely test the earth dwellers, but
that they would be kept from the HOUR of testing. They would not only be kept from the
testing, but they would be kept from the TIME of testing. "I also will keep thee from the hour
[TIME] of temptation [testing], which shall come upon all the world,
to try [test] them that dwell upon the earth." The only way to
be kept from the HOUR of testing is to be removed from the
earth before that "hour" commences.
The
Second World War was a time of trial and trouble for much of the world. Suppose you lived on earth prior to this
great war, and you were given this promise: "You will be kept from the
trial of World War II." This means
that you would not face any of the bullets or bombs or battles of the war. Perhaps you would be located in a part of
the world not directly involved in the conflict. You could still be in the world, but protected from the war. But suppose you were given this promise:
"You will be kept from the TIME of World War II." For this to be
fulfilled you could not be on earth during the entire period of years from 1941
to 1945. To be exempt from the time
is to be absent at the time when the event takes place.
The
expression "kept from" is very important. It does not mean "preservation
through" or "preservation in" but it means "exemption
from." The Post-Tribulation view and the Pre-Wrath view both see the
believer staying on the earth during the Tribulation period. "Preservation through" would fit their
view because they understand that God will preserve the Church through the
Tribulation or through most of the Tribulation. "Exemption from" best fits the Pre-Tribulation view
because the Church is not on the earth at all during the Tribulation and thus
the Church is exempt from the trials and troubles associated with that time. The term "kept from" best
fits the idea of "exemption from."
Literally
this phrase means "to be kept out of" [Greek, ek]. Its meaning is similar to how we use these
terms in English. To be kept out of
jail means that the person will not be behind bars. To be kept out of the swimming pool means that the
person is exempt from getting wet. To
be kept out of the army means that the person was not allowed in the
army, and thus he was exempt from serving in the army. If a basketball player was kept out of
the entire ball game, it means that he did not get to play at all. He did not see any action. If a sign on a person's property said,
"KEEP OUT!" then this means that the person did not want you on his
property at all. He did not want your
presence there at all. Moses was kept
out of the promised land, which means that he did not enter Palestine at
all. To be KEPT OUT OF "the hour
of trial" that will come upon all the world means that the person will not
enter that time at all. He will be
exempt from that time. He will not be
present on earth during that time.
The
phrase "kept out of" is used by the Apostle John in one other
place. It is found in John 17:15,
"I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that
Thou shouldest keep them from [out of] the evil [one]." The Lord's will for His believers of this
present Age is not to be removed from this world, but to be His witnesses in
the world. We are in the world but not
of the world. The key issue in this
verse involves the believer's relationship to the realm of Satan, the evil
one. As saved people, are we still IN
the realm of Satan, or have we been delivered out of that realm? Does God keep
us out of the realm and power of the evil one or are we still in it?
The
answer is found in Colossians 1:13 —
"Who hath delivered us from [out of] the power of darkness, and
hath translated us into
the kingdom of His dear Son."
We once were in the realm of the power of darkness, but we have been
delivered out of that realm when we were saved.
The
Apostle John sets forth this truth in 1 John 5:18, "We know that
whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth
himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not." In harmony with our Lord's prayer in John
17:15, believers are kept from or out of the wicked one so that he (Satan) does
not touch them at all! He no longer has
any kind of a hold on us. We have been
removed totally from his kingdom and from his realm. We now belong to the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for
us! Yes, we are in the world, but we are kept OUT OF the evil one! As far as
having Satan for our ruler, we are totally exempt!
Another
passage written by the Apostle John is significant in understanding Revelation
3:10. It is found in John 12:27, "Now
is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from [out of] this
hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour." Although the verb
"to keep" is not used in this verse, it is similar to Revelation 3:10
in that the preposition "out of" [Greek, ek] is used as well
as the word "hour." It
is clear that our Lord prayed for exemption from the hour when He would bear
the sins of the world and be separated from God His Father: "Father, if
Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me…" (Luke 22:42). But the Lord Jesus must follow the path of
obedience to His Father's will: "But for this cause came I unto this
hour.… nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done." (John 12:27; Luke 22:42). The Lord Jesus did not want to drink the cup
of the wrath of God. He prayed that He
might be exempt from that hour; but most of all He wanted to obey His heavenly
Father regardless of the cost.
CONCLUSION:
In Revelation 3:10 the Lord promised His Church Age believers that they would
be exempt from the hour of trial or trouble that would come upon all the
world. He did not promise to keep us
through this time or to keep us in this time, but He promised to keep us out of
this time. He will keep us out of this
time by removing us from the earth prior to Daniel's 70th week. This great event is described in John 14:1-3
and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and in several other passages. g
The Lord says: "Surely
I come quickly." The
Church responds: "Even
so, come, Lord Jesus!" — Rev. 22:20 |
To
be continued in our next GFJ.
George Zeller is serving
the Lord as the Assistant Pastor of Middletown (CT.) Bible Church, and has
written numerous articles, pamphlets, and books.