Looking for "evidence" re. pre-tribulation rapture

A dear poster PM'd me after reading my rapture dream thread to ask the following:

"I have always been on the fence on this subject. Could you possibly give me some scriptures that confirm pre trib rapture? I have been told that it will happen before tribulation and I have been told that there will be no rapture until after tribulation and before the Day of the Lord."

I kindly informed her that I would need to do some research to be able to give an answer but with her permission I would post in the hope that some of you may be able to give an answer....

Thanks in advance for responding.

Hope this helps:

Got this from one of the christian websites...

The word "rapture" does not occur in the Bible. The concept of the Rapture, though, is clearly taught in Scripture. The Rapture of the church is the event in which God removes all believers from the earth in order to make way for His righteous judgment to be poured out on the earth during the Tribulation period. The Rapture is described primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 describes the Rapture as God resurrecting all believers who have died, giving them glorified bodies, and then departing the earth with those believers who were still alive, who have also been given glorified bodies. "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

1 Corinthians 15:50-54 focuses on the instantaneous nature of the Rapture and on the glorified bodies we will receive. "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). The Rapture is the glorious event we should all be longing for. We will finally be free from sin. We will be in God's presence forever. There is far too much debate over the meaning and scope of the Rapture. This is not God’s intent. Rather, in regards to the Rapture, God wants us to “encourage each other with these words.”

The Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are often confused. Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a Scripture is referring to the Rapture or the Second Coming. However, in studying end times Bible prophesy, it is very important to differentiate between the two.

The Rapture is when Jesus Christ returns to remove the church (all believers in Christ) from the earth. The Rapture is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54. Believers who have died will have their bodies resurrected, and along with believers who are still living will meet the Lord in the air. This will all occur in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. The Second Coming is when Jesus returns to defeat the antichrist, destroy evil, and establish His Millennial Kingdom. The Second Coming is described in Revelation 19:11-16.

The important differences between the Rapture and Second Coming are as follows:

(1) At the Rapture, believers meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17). At the Second Coming, believers return with the Lord to the earth (Revelation 19:14).

(2) The Second Coming occurs after the great and terrible Tribulation (Revelation chapters 6-19). The Rapture occurs before the Tribulation (1 Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 3:10).

(3) The Rapture is the removal of believers from the earth as an act of deliverance (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 5:9). The Second Coming includes the removal of unbelievers as an act of judgment (Matthew 24:40-41).

(4) The Rapture will be “secret” and instant (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). The Second Coming will be visible to all (Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:29-30).

(5) The Second Coming of Christ will not occur until after certain other end times events take place (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Matthew 24:15-30; Revelation chapters 6-18). The Rapture is imminent, it could take place at any moment (Titus 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-54).

Why is it important to keep the Rapture and the Second Coming distinct?

(1) If the Rapture and the Second Coming are the same event, believers will have to go through the Tribulation (1 Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 3:10).

(2) If the Rapture and the Second Coming are the same event, the return of Christ is not imminent…there are many things which must occur before He can return (Matthew 24:4-30).

(3) In describing the Tribulation period, Revelation chapters 6-19 nowhere mentions the church. During the Tribulation—also called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7)—God will again turn His primary attention on Israel (Romans 11:17-31).

The Rapture and Second Coming are similar but separate events. Both involve Jesus returning. Both are end times events. However, it is crucially important to recognize the differences. In summary, the Rapture is the return of Christ to the clouds to remove all believers from the earth before the time of God’s wrath. The Second Coming is the return of Christ to the earth to bring the Tribulation to an end and to defeat the antichrist and his evil world empire.

The timing of the Rapture in relation to the Tribulation is one of the most controversial issues in the church today. The three primary views are Pretribulational (the Rapture occurs before the Tribulation), Midtribulational (the Rapture occurs at the mid-point of the Tribulation), and Posttribulational (the Rapture occurs at the end of the Tribulation). A 4th view, commonly known as Pre-wrath, is a slight modification of the Midtribulational position.

First, it is important to recognize the purpose of the Tribulation. According to Daniel 9:27, there is a seventieth “week” (7 years) that is still yet to come. Daniel’s entire prophecy of the seventy weeks (Daniel 9:20-27) is speaking of the nation of Israel. It is a time period in which God focuses His attention especially on Israel. The seventieth week, the Tribulation, must also be a time when God deals specifically with Israel. While this does not necessarily indicate that the church could not also be present, it does bring into question why the church would need to be on the earth during that time.

The primary Scripture passage on the Rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. It states that all living believers, along with all believers who have died, will meet the Lord Jesus in the air and will be with Him forever. The Rapture is God removing His people from the earth. A few verses later in 5:9 Paul says, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Book of Revelation, which deals primarily with the time period of the Tribulation, is a prophetic message of how God will pour out His wrath upon the earth during the Tribulation. It would seem inconsistent for God to promise believers that they will not suffer wrath and then leave them on the earth during the Tribulation. The fact that God promises to deliver Christians from wrath shortly after promising to remove His people from the earth seems to link those two events together.

Another crucial passage on the timing of the Rapture is Revelation 3:10. There, Christ promises to deliver believers from the “hour of trial” that is going to come upon the earth. This could mean two things: (1) Christ will protect believers in the midst of the trials, or (2) Christ will deliver believers out of the trials. Both are valid meanings of the Greek word translated “from.” However, it is important to recognize what believers are promised to be kept “from.” It is not just the trial, but the “hour” of trial. Christ is promising to keep believers from the very time period that contains the trials, namely the Tribulation. The purpose of the Tribulation, the purpose of the Rapture, the meaning of 1 Thessalonians 5:9, and the interpretation of Revelation 3:10 all give clear support to the Pretribulational position. If the Bible is interpreted literally and consistently, the Pretribulational position is the most Biblically consistent interpretation.

Some Bible interpreters believe that there will be no second chance for salvation after the Rapture. However, there is no place in the Bible which says this or even hints to it. There will be many people who come to Christ during the Tribulation. The 144,000 Jewish witnesses (Revelation 7:4) are Jewish believers. If no one can come to Christ during the tribulation, then why are people being beheaded for their faith (Revelation 20:4)? No passage of Scripture argues against people having a second chance after the Rapture. Many passages which indicate the opposite.

A variation of this argument is that those who have heard the Gospel and rejected it before the rapture cannot be saved, but those who had not heard the Gospel before the rapture can be saved. There is also no biblical justification for this view. Granted, most who were hard-hearted toward the Gospel before the rapture are likely to remain so. The Antichrist will deceive many (Matthew 24:5). Many will believe the lies (2 Thessalonians 2:11). At the same time, there is no scriptural evidence that those who rejected the Gospel before the rapture have no opportunity for salvation after the rapture.

In fact, there is ample evidence of the opposite. The fifth seal judgment of Revelation 6:9-11 describes the souls of those martyred during the tribulation “because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained.” They will correctly interpret what they see going on around them during the tribulation, calling on people to repent and believe the Gospel. The Antichrist and his followers will not tolerate this and will kill them. These are people who must have been alive before the rapture, but who were not believers until afterward. Therefore, there will be opportunity to come to Christ after the rapture.

You'll of course need to pray about the answer and cross-reference with your b-i-b-l-e for accuracy and to make sure you glean the same interpretation. I'm not really saying this for you RR but anyone else that reads the thread. I'm sure you know this already.

I put in all that work and you didn't even come back.

I read it Adequate
I agree, I hold the same views about the Rapture and the Second coming of Jesus.

I read this too. thanks Adequate.

please don't... I think a lot of people are taking the word out of context to fit their comfort zone... please do not manipulate the text... we can not cherry pick the Scripture and expect to get the whole truth... I beg all of my sisters to read the Word line on line and verse on verse... Unfortunately, I believe Christians will be going through the Great tribulation-- this is NOT the wrath of God that will be poured out on the Day of the Lord.

The great tribulation is the wrath of the antichrist poured out on those who oppose him...

The Gospels are clear about the chronological order and they give the most straight forward eschatological unfolding of events. Please read the whole chapters of: Mathew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. They parallel each other...

We must know the parable of the fig tree if we plan to stay strong during the end time.

Hmm this whole thread was right on time. God was dealing with me as I read your posts adequate and kelouis, I will be reading the text that you suggested as well. This is a topic that I've been avoiding in my studies and God is not having it anymore

adequate said:

I put in all that work and you didn't even come back.

Click to expand...

I appreciate the thoughtful in-depth responses you give (not just in this thread). Keep letting the Lord use you .

ETA:
But I must admit that many (myself included) are tempted to only skim long responses. We live in a world of 30 second news bites.