Perfect Timing! PreTrib Rapture Naysayer Proves His Own Alarming Myopia!

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

I was cruising around the ‘Net this morning and found one guy who thoroughly believes he is right about anything that has to do with castigating those who believe in the PreTrib Rapture. Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing within his blog that would define him as a loving individual who deeply cares for others. I’ve run into this type of person (posttribber) on many occasions. It is very difficult to see PreTribbers as human beings. To them, we are lost and we are so because we are “deceived” and because we are “deceived” we go around deceiving others for a living. That’s what we do, so how can there be even a modicum of empathy or love from such people to someone such as I? I’m in league with Satan himself, doncha know?

As I looked through his blog with his many articles – one after another and ALL of them related to condemning (he would say “proving”) the lies of the PreTrib Rapture viewpoint. I’ve long ago understood that people like this – whether they are atheists or in his case, posttribbers – are so full of themselves that they allow and excuse anything they say because of their own sense of “righteous indignation.” They believe they are the true watchman on the wall, whose job it is to vilify and call out those who deign to hold to a PreTrib Rapture theory.

As I continued to read through some of this articles, I was astounded to learn of some of his reasons for rejecting the PreTrib Rapture theory. Let me just deal with three of them and that should be sufficient.

1) Word “Rapture” is not mentioned in the Bible
The word “rapture” is not mentioned in the Bible, therefore it is man-made. This is such an asinine argument that I thought it no longer held any merit at all because of its obvious inadequacy. I was wrong.

Of course, the problem with this argument is manifold. First, the word “rapture” does appear in the Bible. In the Latin, the word used in that translation of Scripture is rapturo (which is also the Greek verb) and the English equivalent of it is “caught up” as in Paul’s use of the word in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Even though this “issue” has been addressed, people continue to use this as a supposed support for negating the PreTrib Rapture. I’m not sure why this continues to be used as a valid argument, when these same people have no problem believing in the Trinity, though that word is not used at all in the Bible either.

What is also interesting of course, is that these people believe in a PostTrib RAPTURE, but that is okay apparently, because it’s POSTTRIB.

Interestingly enough, the people who don’t believe in the Triune nature of God reject that doctrine for the same reason PostTribbers reject a PreTrib Rapture. It’s all based on the fact that a particular word is not found in Scripture, supposedly. It is seriously problematic to rely on such a man-made excuse for not adopting a particular doctrine, yet people do this continuously.

2) The Sacrifices Stopped in the middle of the “week” in AD 70
This is another interesting argument for its absolutely lack of consistency. I spent three articles talking about how long a “week” is in Gabriel’s message to Daniel. Most agree that a “week” there is a period of seven years. In other words, each separate “week” is seven years in length. If we multiply seven times 70 “weeks,” we arrive at the 490 year total. Again, most commentators and scholars have absolutely no problem understanding that.

So what is the problem here then? If the AD 70 mark is considered by some to be the “middle” of the “week,” then clearly, either they’ve changed the definition of what constitutes a “week” in Daniel or their math is simply terrible.

We can agree that Jesus died around AD 32. For the sake of argument, let’s say that His death STARTED the final “week” of Daniel 9:27. Okay, that means the entire final “week” would last for the same length of time that every other week in the 70 “weeks” lasts – a period of seven years. Would you agree with this?

If so, then if our starting date is AD 32 and we add seven years to that, we arrive to AD 39. Anyone who knows history knows that the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem including the Temple in AD 70. We have a problem, Houston. We are off by about 30 years.

But the larger problem is that some PostTribbers like our friend, use the AD 70 event as the reference for stopping the sacrifice, which, according to Daniel 9:27 happens in the middle of the week! Given that information then, the destruction of Jerusalem is to happen three and a half years into the final “week” of Daniel 9:27, creating an even greater problem for anyone who sees the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem as happening during the final “week” of Daniel 9.

It’s absurd and either way you look at it, the math is way off, which is why some groups say that the sacrifices were stopped in the “middle” of the week, which included the actual crucifixion of Jesus. For them, that is the middle of the “week” and why the stoning of Stephen, which occurred several years later is the end of that final “week.” Even there though, the timing is off by a few years.

PostTribbers and others have little problem seeing the first 69 “weeks” as each being seven years in length. However, when it comes to the final or 70th “week,” all of a sudden the timing, the math, and the counting changes to suit their narrative. They do this even while they claim that PreTribbers like myself are doing it wrong.

3) Your Eschatology Matters as far as Salvation is Concerned
Nowhere in Scripture is our salvation tied to what we believe about eschatology (the study of the last days, or end times). It simply is not there at all. Yet, PostTribbers and others, in order to bolster their specious attempts to negate the PreTrib Rapture view, go so far as to argue that if you hold to a different point of view than PostTribbers, you are in serious danger of losing salvation (if you actually had it).

In one swell swoop, they combine two errors into one and believe they are correct. Is it any wonder they are so judgmental toward people who don’t believe as they do? They believe they and they alone have the truth. People who don’t see eye to eye with them on the return of Jesus, the Rapture, etc., can and do lose any salvation they may have had. They do not believe in eternal security and while this is not common for all PostTribbers, it seems to be an ever-present issue for many.

Because they believe they and they alone are correct, they have established this arrogance in that they believe they are obligated to castigate, denigrate, and condemn anyone who doesn’t agree with them. The PreTribber (like myself) is considered to be the most egregious individual of all because they believe I am fully deceived, unsaved, and deceiving those who are either saved (but in danger of losing their salvation) or on their way to possibly being saved and I’m (according to PostTribbers) are driving them off the path.

This then places them in the position of standing guard over God’s Word and viciously attacking (if necessary) people like me. To them, I’m a Pharisee, not having salvation of my own and keeping others from obtaining it.

The entire matter of salvation rests in faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ – His life, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. Once God opens my eyes to the truth of salvation, I have two choices – either receive or reject it. But I believe God is merciful and He does not simply offer a person ONE chance for salvation and that’s it. As long as we are alive, we have the opportunity to receive salvation.

Too many though believe that though we receive salvation by faith, we must spend the remainder of our lives working to maintain that salvation. If we do not, we are in danger of losing it. The debate that has been raging between these two groups (salvation is forever vs. salvation can be lost) since the first century and each person has to settle it for themselves.

The tragedy is that those who believe salvation can be lost have added being a PreTribber to the category. The average Christian is rarely concerned with Eschatology. I’ve talked to too many who say that it’ll all “pan” out in the end. These people – to at least some PostTribbers – are in danger of losing their salvation because they’re not PostTribbers.

The problem is that there are too many so-called Christians who believe above all things they are right in all areas and because of that, the lack of humility, love, and concern for other Christians (and the lost) is only seen in the form of vitriolic castigation. This, they would say, is the act of loving others.

No, it’s the act of condemning and hating people and God will deal with it.

Folks, don’t fall for the lies of those who argue that PreTribbers are deceived and deceiving or that you can lose your salvation. If you are an authentic Christian, you are sealed unto the day of redemption. You’re not sealed until you decide you don’t want to be sealed any longer.

These type of debates never end. Let’s all pray for our friend that the Lord will open his eyes and he will come to understand that he is living the exact opposite of love.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective