Posttribulation rapture

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The Posttribulation rapture theory is an eschatological position within Christian theology which holds the idea that a simultaneous rapture and resurrection will occur after the tribulation and during the second coming of Christ. Therefore the rapture of the living and the resurrection of the dead happens after the tribulation and right before Christ sets up his political kingdom for 1000 years.

Posttribulationists argue that Christians are only exempt from the day of God's wrath during armageddon by supernatural deliverance. According to them, the day of God's wrath, or the day of the Lord, occurs after the second coming. Posttribulationists put a clear distinction between the wrath of God and the Tribulation. They argue that Christians are only spared during the wrath of God, and are not exempt from Satan's wrath during the tribulation in which many Christians will be martyred for their faith by the government of the Antichrist.

Premillennial Christians who believe in the pretribulation rapture view take the stance that the day of God's wrath is synonymous with the tribulation and therefore Christians are supernaturally "raptured" out of the tribulation, or the hour of trial, before it begins as noted in Revelation 3:10. Revelation 3:10 reads as follows:

"Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth."

However, posttribulationists argue that the greek translation of Revelation 3:10 only signifies Christians being preserved through the tribulation or out of the tribulation after the tribulation ends. In other words, Posttribulationists argue for this idea of the perseverance and preservation of Christians faithfully going through the tribulation. They believe that Christians must be purified in conduct and faith during the tribulation before the second coming occurs as mentioned in Daniel 12:10. And then after the Tribulation, the believers of Jesus Christ will be resurrected and raptured and they shall be saved after the Tribulation in which they will be supernaturally protected by Jesus during the Day of the Lord when Jesus and his angelic armies will go out to fight the rebellious nations of the world. Posttribulationists also argue that God's judgements during the tribulation (such as the bowls and trumpets) will not fully inflict Christians because God will be supernaturally protecting His people during that time.

Support for theory

Posttribulationists hold the viewpoint that many verses directly correspond with other passages that mention the gathering of the saints (the rapture of the elect), such as Matthew 24:29-31, which names the same events and characters found in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. The same characters and events are the angels, the gathering of the saints, and the blowing of the trumpet. Therefore, according to the proponents of the theory, the rapture must occur after "the tribulation of those days" since it was clarified in Matthew 24:29-31 that the rapture occurs after the Great Tribulation. Matthew 24:29-31 reads as follows:

"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."

Compare that verse with 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:

"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."

Therefore, due to the similarities between the verses, the rapture must happen after the Tribulation. 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 mentions the rapture happening during the last trumpet. A question should then be asked, "When is the last trumpet?" The last trumpet, according to posttribulationists, is actually the seventh trumpet found in Revelation 11:15-18. Therefore posttribulationists believe the rapture can not possibly happen before the tribulation.

See Also

External Links

  • [1]- Take a look at the Posttribulation rapture theory.