There is one other passage in scripture that I think supports a pre-tribulation rapture. It is clear to me that there is an obvious parallel between 1Thessalonians 4:16-18, the words in 1Corinthians 15, and the words of John. They speak of a time when the Lord will come to “receive” believers into His presence. This is very different from the description of the Lord Jesus returning to earth in all His glory to defeat the armies of Satan and assume His earthly throne.
John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
In these verses Jesus is giving comfort and encouragement to His disciples. He tells them not to worry or be sad; hold on to your trust in God—and in Me as One and the same in power and authority. Jesus declares that in His Father’s house there are lots of dwelling places (mansions). He emphasizes that He would never tell them a lie or withhold truth from them. He tells them that He is going to prepare a place for each one of them in His Father’s house. (I like the thought that there is a special place or spot in eternity just for me.) He promises to come again and take them to be with Him, in His presence.
In my study of prophecy, focus is keen on the phrase “I will come again and receive you unto myself.” This doesn’t sound like He is referencing physical death—“absent from the body, present with the Lord.” (2Cor 5:8) Nor does it match the description of His second coming in which all eyes will see Him as He returns to reign on planet earth. He is speaking of coming to take His followers to be with Him in the presence of His Father.
Note the following quote from Thomas Ice: "This passage, taken literally, indicates that the believer is going to go to heaven at the time of Christ's coming for Him." This will not occur at the Second Advent because that will be a time in which Christ comes with His saints, who are already in heaven, not for His saints as John 14:1-3 requires. The prophet Zechariah and the Apostle Paul both affirm this truth.
Zechariah 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
1Thessalonians 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
Though I consider the passages presented in this series of blogs to be the main passages specifically referencing the rapture, there are a couple of other sections in scripture that I think provide strong support for this teaching. Consider the following scriptures regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 18:23-26 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
Genesis 19:15-16 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
2Peter 2:7-9 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
There are several important observations to be made from these passages.
• Abraham expected God not to punish the righteous with the unrighteous. God did not reprimand him for or refute the truth of that expectation.
• God physically removed the righteous from the place of judgment.
• Punishment is reserved for the unjust.
• If Lot is a type (a picture) of the church, then Luke 17:29 would indicate that the 70th week starts immediately after the rapture.
Luke 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
If 7 weeks = 7 years, then a day would equal a part of that year. We might conclude, then, that the rapture and covenant with antichrist would happen in the same year. With the church gone, it would be the time for God to again deal with the Jews. God won’t leave the world without a witness, i.e., the two prophets and the 144,000 Jews.
There is one other verse I would like you to consider.
Genesis 19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
I think you could say that Abraham is a type of Christ in this situation. Just as God remembered Abraham and delivered his brethren, so too will He remember Christ and deliver His brethren (we believers) from coming judgment.
Romans 8:14-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God….The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
I hope that you are part of the family and praying with me… Revelation 22:20 ….Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
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