Believe the Pre Trib Rapture / The Pre-Tribulation Rapture is the Best Scriptural Conclusion

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture is the Best Scriptural Conclusion

"Has God indeed said...For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…" and, "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming." (1 Thess. 5:9; Matt. 25:13)

Summary

There are many views regarding how and when Jesus Christ is coming back to earth and how and when His saints will go to be with Him. This subject could be broadly characterized as end time eschatology. The subject could also be described as doctrine relating to the return of Jesus Christ.

Most Bible believers agree that when Jesus Christ comes back, His return will be associated with what the Bible refers to as time of great tribulation on the earth (Matt. 24:21, 29; Mark 13:19, 24; Rev. 7:14). A closely related doctrine is that of Millennialism, or how, when, and for how long Jesus Christ will reign on the earth. This article will focus on a very narrow aspect of tribulation doctrine. Millennialism will not be the focus of this article.

This article will demonstrate, from the Scripture, that a non-contradictory, literal (reasonable and thus rational) interpretation of the Word of God, will bring one to the place of believing the doctrine of the Pre-Tribulation rapture. In particular, it will be shown that the only people group who is promised God's protection during the great tribulation, is the 144,000 Jewish believers. In addition, it is impossible to interpret all the verses referring to Jesus' second coming, as referring to one single, unbroken event of Jesus descending from heaven to earth.

To briefly summarize end time doctrine for those not aquainted with the overall picture of beliefs, there are three major Millennial views: Amillennialism, Premillennialism and Postmillennialism. They can be defined as follows:

* Amillennialism is the belief that there is no literal millennial reign of Jesus Christ on the earth after His return. Those passages that appear to support a literal one-thousand year reign should be interpreted to mean those events have happened, are happening, and will happen, during the entire church age (however long that is) before Jesus returns. The basic view of the world, for those who hold this view, is that both good and evil are growing concurrently.

(This view requires ignoring or badly misinterpreting Rev. 20:1-8, as well as creating an interpretive schema for Revelation that is both complex, and which creates many more interpretation problems than it attempts to solve*. It is relatively non-literal in its approach to interpreting Scripture passages which deal with end time eschatology - which non-literal approach might be due to unbelief, as is the case in most other non-literal approaches.)

* Postmillennialism is the belief that Jesus Christ will return once His kingdom is spiritually established on the earth by the people who make up His church. The "millennium" to the postmillennialist, is not to be taken literally, but rather is an undetermined yet long length of time during the church age, at the end of which Jesus will return to a "Christianized" world to reign over it. The basic view of the world, for those who hold this view, is that evil is decreasing and the establishing of the church and the concurrent good it brings, is growing and in fact prevailing.

(This view can simply be summed up as the 'ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand' view. Not much more can be said, except that it is frightening that people labeling themselves as "Bible Believing Christians" can believe this, for it runs counter to many hundreds of verses in "the Bible" [link to Are God Fearers Believers and Christian Politics, Rights, Abortion])

* Premillennialism is the belief that Jesus Christ will come back to inaugurate His personal rule over the earth for a literal one-thousand years (Rev. 20:1-8). The basic view of the world, for those who hold this view, is that evil is prevailing and growing worse (2 Tim. 3:1-5; Matt. 24:9-14).

(* In brief, the best, simplest, literal reading of the book of Revelation, should divide the book in to the following basic four divisions, which divisions are based on a natural successive chronology. Rev. chapters 1 through 3, which cover the church age, from the time of Jesus' earthly ministry through the rapture. Rev. 4:1 plainly says, "After these things ["these things" just covered in the first three chapters, i.e. the church age] I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, 'Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.' ["after this", again, what was just revealed in chapters one through three, repeating the same truth just spoken in the beginning of the verse]. John is then brought up into the heavenly, eternal scene where the future is revealed to him. Revelation chapters 4 through 19 cover the great tribulation. Rev. 20 covers the inauguration of the Millennial kingdom through the close of the Millennial kingdom, culminating with the great white throne judgment. Revelation chapters 21 through 22 cover the eternal state, which is to follow the Millennial kingdom. Thus, we can summarize as follows:

* Revelation 1 - 3: Church Age [Israel is put aside, and the Lord works through His church.]
* Revelation 4 - 19: Great Tribulation [God again deals directly with Israel for seven years.]
* Revelation 20: Millennial Kingdom [Jesus Christ reigning over the earth for 1,000 years.]
* Revelation 21 - 22: Eternal State [Jesus Christ reigning over the New Jerusalem forever.])

The above definitions of the three basic views regarding the millennium, are quite broad and generic. No doubt there are those who would add more distinctions and perhaps add a view or two, but in general, the above bulleted descriptions are fair characterizations of the majority positions held by those claiming to be Bible believing people. This author is obviously a premillennialist.

Most agree that when Jesus Christ comes back to the earth, He will somehow bring His people to Himself. Some believe that His second coming is one event, where all people will see Him, and He will come back to the land of Israel to judge the nations and gather His people. Others, like this author, hold a view of two staged return of Jesus Christ's second coming, including an event called the rapture of the church. This view has Jesus coming in the first stage invisibly, not to earth, but "in the clouds" (1 Thess. 4:17) to gather His bride, the church to Himself.

A further distinction can be made among those who hold the doctrine of the rapture. Just as there are three basic millennial views, so there are three basic tribulational views regarding the rapture of the church. Among these folks (this author included), the tribulation is a literal seven year period of time when the Lord will finish the prophesy in Daniel 9:25-27 and following, by working directly with the nation of Israel one final time.

The three basic rapture views regarding the tribulation would be restricted to those who hold the premillennial view. The three rapture beliefs are pre-tribulation (pretrib), mid-tribulation (midtrib), or post-tribulation (posttrib) rapture. As can be seen in the labels, each view has the rapture of the church happening either before the tribulation begins, in the middle of the tribulation, or after the tribulation has occurred.

At last we have gotten to the place of the topic of this article! This article will defend the Pretribulational rapture of the church. More specifically, this article will defend the pretrib rapture against the posttrib rapture, which for some, is similar to some amillennialists. The midtrib rapture will not be discussed simply because it does not have the Scriptural support of the pretrib rapture (the reason this author rejects it), nor does it have the popular support of the posttrib view.

There has been so much written on this topic and this author does not wish to rehash it. A site that does a rather good job of defending the pretrib rapture is www.raptureready.com, and I highly recommend it. A wonderful little book that does a great job at introducing and developing the premillenial, pretrib position is called, The Bible & Future Events: An Introductory Survey of Last-Day Events by Leon J. Wood. It an be ordered at www.amazon.com

What this article will seek to do is to perhaps add some additional insight in presenting two compelling reasons supporting the pretrib rapture. The first reason that will be discussed is the scope and degree of the wrath of God poured out, as prophesied in Revelation. In particular, we will examine the associated fact that the only people the Scripture teaches the Lord promising protecting during the tribulation, are the chosen Israeli believers - the Jewish elect in Messiah.

The second compelling Scriptural reason supporting a pretrib rapture is the impossibility of harmonizing the two sets of teachings regarding Jesus' second coming. There is an entire set of Scriputure that teach, 'all eyes will see Jesus return at the end of earth shaking events' in regard to Jesus' return. There is another entire set of Scripture teaching, 'watch and pray for no one knows the day and hour' in regard to Jesus' return. These two sets of teachings cannot be reconciled in one event.

End time views are NOT simplistic, yet for the diligent student of the Bible and prophesy, a best view can be found. And in this author's opinion, the premillennial, pretribulational view has the most Scriptural support, creates the fewest interpretive conflicts, and does the best job at harmonizing all the teachings in the Bible on the subject of Jesus Messiah's second coming.

God's Chastisement Versus God's Wrath

Before we go forward, a very important distinction must be made. Some who hold the posttrib view also seem to think that the church needs to experience persecution in order to be refined. This argument confuses God's wrath with Satan's works against the saints. The first thing that needs to be said is that God's wrath is not the same as God's chastisement.

God's chastisement always has as its goal, the correction of His son's and daughters (Heb. 12:5-11). Gods retribution or punishment is reserved for the unbelieving (Rom. 1:18), and not for His children. God's chastisement is NOT God's punitive condemnation - the Scripture could not be any clearer on this very important distinction (Rom. 8:1; 1 Thess. 5:9).

Second, it should not be denied that persecution often does refine the church, however, what is in view in general in Revelation chapters 6-16 is NOT Satan's persecution of the church, but rather God's wrath against the unbelieving (Rev. 6:16). Yes, Satan will persecute tribulation saints, and the elect of Israel, but what is primarily in view in Rev. 6-16 is God's judgment on the unbelieving world. The fact is that the true church has been, is, and will continue to be persecuted by Satan and his world system, until the rapture (John 15:18-20; 2 Tim. 3:12).

A further distinction that is necessary to define is between the testing or trying of the saints to prove their faith versus the wrath of God upon the unregenerate. The account in Job is quite clear in that God allows Satan to do his works in order to test the faith of His saints. Again, in the case of the testing of the saint's faith, the key question is who is the agent directly bringing the testing/harm upon the saint?

Is it not Satan (Job 2:6-7)? And whose wrath is bringing the harm in Rev. 6-16? Is it not the Lord, the Lamb of God, Jesus (Rev. 6:16-17)? Thus, " the hour of trial" that the Lord will bring upon the earth is explicitly for "those who dwell on the earth", not His church, which has been raptured to be with the Lord in heaven (Rev. 3:10).

The Magnitude of the Tribulational Wrath of God

Now, to deal with the main issues of this article. In an effort to counter the strong argument that the church will not be subject to God's wrath (1 Thess. 1:10 & 5:9; Rev. 3:10), many who hold to the posttrib view argue that the church will be protected through the tribulation. This statement must be taken to mean that the saints of God will not experience God's wrath upon their person. Let us first take a look at some Scripture that tell us the magnitude of the wrath of God's judgment upon the earth.

Rev. 6:8c, "And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth."

Here, one sees a quarter of the earth's population killed by warfare, hunger, probably disease and the animals.

Rev. 6:12-17, "I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs, when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the right men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains, and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

Here, "every mountain and island was moved out of its place", and due to this catastrophic event, "every slave and every free man", in addition to all the earth's leaders (kings, great men, right men, commanders, mighty), "hid themselves" wishing to be dead rather than face the continued wrath of the Lamb, who is Jesus the Christ. It appears that no one was exempt from experiencing the wrath of the Lamb in this account, for the Scripture says, "every".

Rev. 8:7-13, "The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died form the water, because it was made bitter.

Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, an third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying throughout the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, 'Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!'"

Here, a third of all "trees and green grass" are burned up. In addition, a third of all the rivers and fresh water sources will be contaminated, probably by some type of radiation from an asteroid, comet, meteor shower or thermonuclear detonation(s). This is going to be an immense catastrophe, such that "the inhabitants of the earth" will all be dreading the judgments yet to come.

Rev. 9:15 & 18, "So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind…By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed - by fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths."

Jumping ahead a bit, we see a third of the remaining population of the earth, "killed - by fire and the smoke and the brimstone" which came out of the mouths of four angels. Thus far then, a quarter of the earth's population was killed, and then a third of what was left. That means that approximately HALF OF THE WORLD'S POPULATON WILL HAVE BEEN DESTROYED AT THAT POINT. At today's numbers, that will mean about three billion people will be killed by these judgments of God - truly a great tribulation.

Rev. 7:3-4 & 9:3-6, " …saying, 'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads'. And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed…

Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months…In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them."

Now here, we have the key text to make the point. Some who hold the post trib position say that the church will be protected through the great tribulation. However, the Scripture teaches that the only group of people who are sealed (protected against, "do not harm") against experiencing the judgment of God are the, "One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed…"

Thus, the Scripture plainly teaches that only the one hundred forty-four thousand of all the tribes of Israel will not be harmed. This passage clearly teaches two types of people on the face of the earth at the time of the described events - the sealed and the non-sealed. Now we know that there will be non-Jews saved during the great tribulation, but they will be killed by the Antichrist (Rev. 7:9-14, 13:7), thus we can conclude that that the timing of the torment referenced in Rev. 9:3-6 is after the non-Jewish tribulation saints are martyred.

As for the rest of mankind - the non-sealed and non-martyred - the Scripture is equally clear that they will be "tormented for five months", and the torment will be so great that they will seek death, but will be unable to find it. Does the post trib person believe the church will experience this torment brought by the judgment of God?

If so, how can that be true as well as the plain truth stated in verses like Luke 21:35-36; 1 Thess. 1:10 & 5:9; Rev. 3:10, which plainly say the church will not experience the wrath of God, which would include the horrible torment? Remember the distinction between the correction of God for His children versus the wrath of God against the rebellious.

If a post trib person says that the church will be on the earth during the great tribulation, yet will not experience the torment, how can that be since the verse plainly says, "those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads" will experience the torment? Remember there are only two types of people mentioned in this verse, the sealed Jews and the non-sealed everybody else. The other tribulation saints have already been martyred for their faith in Jesus.

It is very difficult, to say the least, to defend the conclusion that the church saints will be subject to the horrible torment which is clearly part of God's wrath, against verses like Luke 21:35-36; 1 Thess. 1:10 & 5:9; Rev. 3:10, which state the church will NOT be subject to God's wrath.

All the Earth Will Know and See, Yet the Church Does Not Know the Day?

The second compelling argument for the pretrib rapture, and thus against many who describe themselves as holding the post trib position, is the two sets of teaching that would contradict each other if they spoke of the same event. The fact that earth shattering events happen upon the earth, yet the Scripture tells us that Jesus' disciples will have no clue that the Lord is coming back, even when He has clearly prophesied these earth shattering events as preceding His return.

There are two prongs to this argument. The first is the fact that prophesy tells us exactly how many days will expire to Jesus' return after a certain event, thus some tribulation saints and the chosen Jewish believers will know when He is coming. The second is the many passages that would contradict if Jesus' second coming is to be one event.

Prong One: Countdown to Jesus' Appearance?

The most critical section for understanding Jesus' second coming could be what is known as the Olivet discourse found in Matt. 24-25. In this passage, Jesus goes into detail regarding His second coming. We will be looking at this portion of Scripture in more detail as we examine the second prong regarding contradictory passages. In view now is the fact that the Scripture tells us exactly how long it will be to Jesus' visible return to the Mount of Olives AFTER the Beast sets up his image in the Jewish temple.

The passage says, "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place [Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11]" (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains…For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be [Dan. 12:1-2]. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened." (Matt. 24:15-16, 21-22).

In Daniel 9:24-27, we are given the precise number of days that will elapse between when "He ["the king", or the New Testament Antichrist] shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering [in the newly established Jewish temple]"; and "Even until the consummation", referring to Jesus Christ's return.

We are told in Dan. 9:24 that the whole period of time this prophesy is referring to is seventy weeks. We understand from the context in Daniel, and from Exod. 23:10, 11 and Lev. 25, that the "week" referred to here, is a period of seven years.

The word "week" used here in Daniel is the Hebrew word transliterated as "shabuwa", which simply means "sevens", and can refer to days or weeks or years. Verse 27 tells us that "in the middle of the week" - that is in the middle of the seven year period of the last of the 70 weeks of Daniel's prophesy - is when the Antichrist shall "bring an end to sacrifice and offering".

Thus, three and one half years will elapse from the beginning of the last week of Daniel (the final seven year period) until the Antichrist defiles the temple of the Jews on Mt. Zion. We can deductively conclude, therefore, that three and one half years remain until Jesus Christ's second coming. And three and one half years equals forty two months or one-thousand, two-hundred, sixty days.

These same time periods which are given in Daniel 9-12 are also referred to in Revelation 11:2-3 and Rev. 13:5-8, and the same events are mentioned, particularly in Rev. 13.

Thus, any saint alive at the time when the Antichrist sets up the abomination in the temple (perhaps a clone of himself?) will be able to start counting down the days until Jesus Christ returns to the earth to defeat the Antichrist and initiate His reign over all the earth.

The problem arises because of the statement Jesus plainly makes regarding some aspect of His second coming, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only." (Matt. 24:36). There are no further qualifications to this statement of Jesus in the Scripture, and thus it says that "no one knows" the "day and hour" of His coming.

And since the beast setting up the abomination in the temple would start the clock counting down from one-thousand, two-hundred and sixty days until Messiah comes in glory, then it is certain that at least one person will be able to "know" the day of His return to earth. Therefore, if even one person can "know the day" of Jesus' return to earth, then Jesus Christ was wrong, and for the true believer, this is an unacceptable conclusion.

Prong Two: Unknown Yet Known?

The second major problem with holding a position that Jesus' second coming is all one event lies in the two sets of teachings in the Scripture that would contradict each other if this was true. There are those verses which teach that everyone on earth will see His coming, which coming will follow a time of severe tribulation on the earth.

There will be nothing surprising or hidden about Jesus' second coming to the earth. Rev. 6-18 provides great detail into the destruction that will happen upon the earth due to God's wrath being poured out (see above). Jesus plainly prophesies that His second visible coming will follow right after these earth shattering events.

For example, Matt. 24:21-22, 27, 29-30 says,

"For then three will be great tribulation, such a has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's [Jewish believers; Rom. 11:5, 28] sake those days will be shortened…

For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be [no hidden event in view here]…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 heaves will be shaken [serious stuff for the inhabitants of the earth - not easily missed!]…

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven [the lightning like appearance spoken of above], 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."

Much the same picture is given in Mark 13 and Luke 21. What should be very clear is that the tribulation on the earth preceding Jesus' return to the earth will be - how shall we say - difficult to miss or be unaware of. In addition, the texts plainly say that, "…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." (Matt. 24:30)

The picture Jesus' Words in the gospels, as well as the rest of the Scripture, paint of this time in history, is one where most everyone will be aware of some special events happening. After all, nearly half of the earth's population will be destroyed, and there will be fantastic supernatural and natural events accomplishing the awesome destruction of human lives (Rev. 6-18).

Then, right at the end of this unique and very noticeable time in history, Jesus Christ will personally appear in some fantastic form, returning in person to the earth. His appearance will be awesome, "as lightning", and with "all of the people of the earth" watching His descent to the earth (Matt. 24:27, 29-30).

Contrast this earthly scene with these verses:

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood [before the great tribulation], they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage [normal activities, difficult to understand if half the world's population is wiped out], until the day that Noah entered the ark [Jesus rapture's His church], and did not know until the flood came and took them all away [Did not believe God's gospel and thus the wrath of God will be poured out], so also will the coming of the Son of Man be [to take His children home before the wrath of God is poured out].

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. [These two word pictures convey normal life-as-usual - not half the world's population destroyed, with most of the earth's natural resources contaminated.] Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming…Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Matt. 24:37-44)

The author's comments are in brackets. In these verses, also in Matt. Chapter 24, Jesus paints a picture of life as normal until suddenly God's wrath is poured out, just as in Noah's day. If Jesus is in these verses talking about His return to earth after the great tribulation, it is a bit difficult to understand how life on earth could be 'life-as-usual' given the magnitude of the destruction of God's wrath upon the earth (outlined above).

Approximately fifty percent of all human life destroyed, with massive destruction and contamination of natural resources, hardly paints a picture of life-as-usual. In these last days, if a relatively small war breaks out in the middle east, the whole world is anxious and life-as-usual takes a pause for many, even if there is a relatively small loss of human life.

Or if one major city's water source is contaminated, the whole world knows about it. Look at the state of world wide fear, and the interruption of 'life-as-usual' associated with the terrorist bombing of the world trade center buildings in New York. Can you imagine what the world will be like after half the earth's population is destroyed from every nation, and most of the natural resources of the earth are destroyed touching every country? I do not think that life-as-usual would be a phrase that could describe this.

Also, the imagery of two people going about normal activities ("two men in the field" and "two women at the mill") with one snatched, or caught away, with the other left, must have some explanation as to where the one goes who is caught away. The best Biblical explanation is that the one is caught away, or raptured, to go be with the Lord in the clouds (1 Thess. 4:15-18).

The other is left to experience the wrath of God upon the earth. This is the best explanation given the context of "Watch and pray, for you don't know the day or hour" applies to these verses of people being caught away. After the wrath of God being poured out, would be an unlikely time for people to be unaware of the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus.

Those who say the church will go through the tribulation try to dig into the illustration with Noah and say, 'see, Noah went through the flood - he was not taken off the earth'. Well, Jesus used Noah as an illustration, and it could just as easily be argued that Noah and his family were a beautiful type of the rapture in that they were saved by rising above the destruction, just as Jesus' church will be saved by rising above the destruction!

It is unwise to try and build doctrine on an illustration. Sound doctrine must be built by many or several references to passages that are more literal and direct, than on illustrations [link to Post-Trib Rapture? for more details of the weakness of Old Testament illustrations to support a post-trib rapture].

Other verses that support that Jesus' disciples are to watch and pray, since they don't know when the Lord is coming back to get them, are as follows:

Matt. 25:13, "Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming".

Watch for what? Well, the prophetic signs the Bible foretells will precede the rapture and the great tribulation. This exhortation follows the parable of the ten virgins. Notice in verses 5-6, "But while the bridegroom was delayed (the church age), they all slumbered and slept (Even the true church, represented by the five wise virgins, 'slumbered and slept'. Would it not be difficult to sleep through the destruction wrought in Rev. 6-18?

It seems that a time like today, of widespread apostasy and lukewarmness, would be the likely time of sleeping and slumbering). And at midnight (an unexpected time) a cry was heard (not a destructive explosion, but the call of the bridegroom [1 Thess. 4:16, "with a shout"]); 'Behold, the bridegroom (Jesus!) is coming; go out (not "stay where you are on the earth, but "go out") to meet him!'" ("Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.")

Mark 13:32-37, esp., "Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time [the Greek word used here is transliterated "kairos", which denotes a season or period of time, and is a much broader term than "day" or "hour". This is significant given the 'season' of the tribulation to precede His return to earth will be difficult to miss, even for those not watching.] is…And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!"

Luke 12:35-40, esp., "Let your waist be girded [ready to go] and your lamps burning [seeking the Lord and watching for His return. Why, if the events described in Rev. 6-18 have not happened yet?]…Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Would not catastrophic events, including the destruction of almost half the world's population, clue the saints into "expecting" His coming?

Luke 21:26, "…men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken."

This does not paint a picture of life-as-usual. The people pictured above are in the field doing their normal thing, as are the women at the mill. Those word pictures do not convey "men's hearts failing them from fear" of all the horrible destruction wrought by God's wrath upon the unbelieving world.

Luke 21:36, "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy [by faith of course] to escape [via the rapture] all these things that will come to pass [the great tribulation], and to stand [by His grace] before the Son of Man."

1 Cor. 7:29-31, "But this I say, brethren, the time is short…For the form of this world is passing away."

Paul was waiting and watching, and urging others to do the same. The context of this verse is to be found in the latter part of verse 31, not in verse 26. How about you? Do you believe the time is short, and if so, in what or whom do you place your hope? Is your hope in surviving the wrath of God upon the earth, or is it upon Jesus Christ, your bridegroom, Who in His love, will come to take you away to be married to Him?

1 Thess. 5:1-11, "But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night [Not as a salvage/pillage crew after the heavy guns level the house]. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' [The signing of the peace accord with the Antichrist at the beginning of the seven year great tribulation] then sudden destruction comes upon then, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman [or as the rain upon the earth during Noah's time]. And they [the unbelievers] shall not escape [but the saints will…keep reading!]. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day [of God's wrath] should overtake you as a thief [in contrast to those who shall not escape]. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober [lest the day of God's wrath overtake us as swift justice overtakes the thief]. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath [Extremely clear statement on how the church saints will not have to go through the great tribulation of God's wrath - for God's wrath is reserved for the unregenerate, while His correction is for His children], but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other [It would be difficult to comfort each other knowing we were going to experience the wrath of God almighty and witness the death of half the earth's population!] and edify one another, just as you also are doing."

James 5:7-9, "Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!"

James was patiently waiting for the coming of the Lord, and he believed that the coming of the Lord "is at hand" - imminent. He believed that the Righteous Judge, Jesus, was already "standing at the door" ready to come through the veil and take His children Home. Are you watching and praying for His imminent return?

1 Pet. 4:7, "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers."

Peter was watching and waiting for the "end of all things" - how about you?

Rev. 3:3, "Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you."

For those not watching FOR THE LORD'S RETURN, He will come not as a bridegroom, but as a thief to bring harm (God's wrath in the tribulation - Rev. 6:16). And because you were sleeping without oil in your lamp - not caring about the things of the Lord, nor the things of the Spirit, nor the prophetic signs of the times - you will be wondering why all those horrible things are happening to you as you experience the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:16) instead of having experienced the rapture of the Lamb (1 Thess. 4:17).

2 Tim. 4:7, "Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing".

. . . . Please notice two extremely important things about that condition. First, it says, "loved His appearing", NOT, 'having first experienced God's wrath…'.

Our hope is not a 'hope of omission'. We love His appearing because first, we want to be with Him, our glorious, gracious, loving, perfect Lord and Master; second, we should be tired of struggling with our sinful flesh; and third, we should be tired of fighting Satan and his world system, which does persecute us.

We do NOT love His appearing as some kind of relief AFTER having experienced His wrath! We love His appearing for Who He is, NOT because He will stop pouring His wrath out on/around us!

Second, that IF you are not watching, with your Hope in Him and His appearing to take you home, THEN you have NO promise to receive a crown of righteousness, which represents salvation itself. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Rev. 22:20, "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly'. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"