Prophecy Alert: A Green Light For WWIII and the Reign of the Antichrist

What About Revelation 3:10?
Some pre-trib adherents make further claims, citing Revelation 3:10 as evidence that God will not only keep the Christian from His wrath, but will also keep them from the hour of temptation—that is, the entire 70th Week: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” However, a careful examination of the Greek used in this passage actually shows that the passage supports the view that believes that the rapture will occur at the sixth seal.

Robert Van Kampen, in The Rapture Question Answered Plain & Simple, has made a thorough analysis of this verse. Let us examine a few excerpts from that section.

When the underlying Greek text is studied carefully, comparing Scripture with Scripture, we will discover that the “hour of testing” refers specifically to that time associated with antichrist’s persecution. . . . More importantly we will see that the Greek words underlying our English translations argue that this terrible time of testing cannot be the wrath of God, but must be the wrath of satan. . . . If the Greek word peirasmos, as used in the Revelation 3:10 passage, is compared to its use in other New Testament passages, we will see that the “hour of testing” cannot refer to the wrath of God but, quite the opposite, to the wrath of satan. . . . They all say the same thing: satan is the source of all peirazo, not God. Like the logical argument, the biblical argument from scripture demonstrates that the “hour of testing” in Rev. 3:10 cannot refer to the wrath of God but, by definition, must be the wrath of satan.[1]

Another phrase in Revelation 3:10 that we need to consider is “will keep thee from.” The Greek phrase used here is tereo ek. Van Kampen has this to say about that phrase:

Tereo ek, is used in conjunction, can only refer to guarding or protecting those who persevere while they are within the sphere of danger, and then bringing them safely out from the midst of that danger. Thus the meaning of the text is clear. Tereo ek should be translated, “a watchful protection within the sphere of danger, with a safe deliverance out from the midst of it.[2]

Combining the analysis of the Greek into a translation of Revelation 3:10 yields a rendering that shows that the Christian will not be spared from the great tribulation, but will be rescued out of it:

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will rescue you out of the midst of the hour of satan’s temptation, the great tribulation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

So the analysis of the Greek in Revelation 3:10 does not support a pre-trib view, but supports a pre-wrath view of the rapture.

The Coming Epiphany, Chapter 4