The 4 Rapture Positions

The Four Major Rapture Positions

Hello. In this video, we're going to be looking at the four major positions concerning the rapture of the church. They are known as pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, and then this position that few have heard of, post-trib, pre-wrath.

Now, if you're not familiar with these terms, pre-, mid-, and post-, basically, they refer to the timing of the rapture in relation to the seven-year tribulation period. So, for example, the pre-tribulational position simply means that Jesus returns pre or before the tribulation.

A mid-tribulational position says Jesus returns in the middle of the seven years. And then a post-trib position, Jesus returns post or after the tribulation, and then you just shorten the word tribulation to trib, so you get pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib.

Okay. Two quick points before we go through these positions. Number one, the timing of the rapture is really only a relevant question for those who are premillennial in their theology. So, if someone is either amillennial or postmillennial, they probably don't even use the term rapture.

But if you are premillennial, believing that Jesus returns before the millennium and that there will be a literal thousand-year kingdom upon the earth, if you are premillennial, then you believe in some sort of rapture.

And again, amillennialists, postmillennialists typically don't talk about the rapture. So that's number one. Number two, just to defend this idea of the rapture, the word rapture simply means to be caught up.

So we are referring to the event described in 1 Thessalonians 4 .17, where the apostle Paul says, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

So there is no doubt the Bible teaches the rapture or the catching up of the saints. The only question is the timing and some of the details surrounding it. So with that said, let's go through the four major rapture positions.

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

First up, the pre-trib position. The pre-tribulation rapture is the most commonly held view. The pre-trib position teaches the rapture could happen at any moment, and when it does, it marks the beginning of the seven-year tribulation, also known as Daniel's 70th week.

That's found in Daniel chapter nine. Pre-tribulationists often describe the rapture as Jesus coming in the clouds for his church as distinguished from the second coming, which they say is Jesus coming back to the earth with his church.

This position pre-trib is held by pastors such as John MacArthur and David Jeremiah, to name a few. Scriptural arguments for the pre-trib position would be Revelation three, 10 and 11, where Jesus says, because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.

Jesus says, behold, I'm coming quickly, hold fast what you have that no one may take your crown. Also, the rapture passage in first Thessalonians four, 13 through 18, it seems to trigger the day of the Lord mentioned in first Thessalonians five.

The apostle Paul says that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. So the argument is that the rapture happened suddenly with no warning, and that immediately leads to a time of chaos and destruction, which only gets worse over the course of the seven years.

The Mid-Tribulational View

So that is the pre-tribulation viewpoint. The next position is the mid-tribulational view. The mid-trib position says that the rapture will occur at the middle of the seven year tribulation. So the tribulation is typically divided into two periods, three and a half years each.

So the mid-trib view says Christians will go through the first half, will then be raptured to heaven before the severe outpouring of God's wrath in the second half, which is usually called the great tribulation.

This position is held by men such as Harold Ockengay, James Buswell, and Norman Harrison. Verses and scriptural arguments that would be used for the mid-trib view would be first Corinthians 1552, as compared with Revelation 11.

The idea is that Paul tells the Corinthians that the rapture occurs at the last trumpet. So then you have to find, okay, when does the last trumpet happen? That's in the middle of the book of Revelation, Revelation 11, sort of seen as the middle of the tribulation, and there is a rapture-like event with the two witnesses being told, come up here, and they're taken to heaven.

So that's the scriptural argument. Also mid-trib teachers would say that when the New Testament describes the return of Jesus in relation to other end-time events, Jesus is always coming back after the abomination of desolation, or shortly after, which is around the midpoint.

So they would point to Matthew 24 and 2 Thessalonians 2. Now let's move on to the post-trib, pre-wrath position. This really is a variation of mid-trib, and this may be confusing since it's called post-trib.

So then how is it a variation of mid-trib if it's called post-trib? So it's like, which is it? Well, here's the thing, advocates of the post-trib, pre-wrath position, they say that the tribulation is not seven years.

They say that only the first three and a half years is the tribulation. The second three and a half years, they refer to that as God's outpouring of wrath, which, you know, you could argue there is some truth to that.

So in this system, like the mid-trib position, the rapture still happens in the middle of the seven years, but it differs from mid-trib in the sense that, again, remember, they say the tribulation is only the first half.

So if the rapture happens in the middle, it's post-trib, post the first three and a half years after that, but it's before the three and a half years of God's wrath. So a little confusing, but that's post-trib, pre-wrath.

The Post-Trib, Pre-Wrath Position

The most well-known teachers who hold to this view are Robert Van Kampen, Roland Rasmussen, and Stephen Anderson. They would use references from Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 as evidence that this position or the tribulation will be cut short by the coming of Christ to deliver the righteous by means of the rapture, which will occur after the sixth seal is open and the sun is darkened and the moon is turned to blood.

So they just really kind of hammer away at Matthew 24, 29 through 31, where Jesus says he returns after the tribulation of those days. So after the first three and a half years. And speaking of those verses in Matthew 24, they are also used to defend the final position that we're going to look at.

This is the traditional post-trib view. Post-tribulationists say that the entire seven years is the tribulation and Jesus returns at the end of it. So basically that would mean for them, the rapture and the second advent are one in the same event.

Jesus catches us up just to bring us right back down with him. Those who hold to the post-trib view typically take, and they kind of have to take a more reformed view of the nation of Israel, teaching that the church is the new spiritual Israel, as opposed to those who are pre-trib who tend to be more dispensational in their theology.

So if you're pre-trib, you see a distinction between the church and Israel. If you're post-trib, the only way for that to work is Israel and the church have to be the same thing. So when you read about Israel or the 12 tribes in the book of Revelation, that's just referring to Christians because the church is the new Israel.

So there's that difference. Well-known post-trib teachers include John Piper and Pat Robertson. They would appeal to Revelation 24, 29 through 31, which says this, and this is Jesus speaking. He says, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the son of man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. So they say, this is the rapture. This is describing the same event as first Thessalonians four.

It says Jesus comes back after the tribulation. Pre-tribbers, however, would say that Matthew 24 is not describing the rapture, rather it's describing the second advent. So differences with all four of these positions.

And I think I do have to say, even though we're only covering these four, if you can conceive of a different position, there's somebody out there believing it and teaching it. So there's many other viewpoints that really a small minority would hold to.

There's a partial rapture theory. Some believe there's multiple raptures all the way through the seven years, but these are the four main views. But here's one thing. If you're confused after listening to all of this, here's one thing that all Christians do agree on.

Watchfulness and Readiness for Christ's Return

Jesus is coming back and the scripture says we should be ready. So I'll close with what the apostle Paul says in first Thessalonians five, two through six. Paul says, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night for when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape.

And of course, Paul is referring to unbelievers there. And then he turns to address believers and he says, but you brethren are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day.

We are not of the dark or of the night, therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. So that is the admonition to all Christians. Let's watch and be sober. Thanks for watching.

Until next time, may the Lord be with you and have a great day.