Mountain Man Trails: 6 Pre-Tribulational Arguments Refuted

Found here.

In light of our diminishing certainty about pre-trib dispensationalism, we find this to be an interesting article. We don't necessarily agree, we simply present it as an alternative view.

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I have heard a few somewhat reasonable and concise arguments in favor of a pre-tribulation rapture position. One of those was written by Dr Tony Garland. Dr Garland has a distinguished theological education and I’m sure that in many other areas we would agree. He did what I think was a very good job at laying out the primary points in favor of a pre-tribulation rapture, so I decided to use his article as a springboard to refute the pre-tribulational position. I strongly recommend reading his article for reference. Dr Garland begins by answering an anonymous question,

“Is there someplace on your site where you’ve laid out your perception of the end times, including who is involved (the Church, the Jews, etc.) in each piece? And/or biblical support for a pre-tribulation rapture? I have been attempting to study the end times, as I’ve always been taught that there is a pre-tribulation rapture, but I’ve never been taught WHY I should believe that is so. My studies, so far, have not turned up any compelling reasons for believing this particular eschatological view, and have turned up some things which would seem to oppose such a view. However, I do not wish to automatically discard this view; I just can’t find anyone who is teaching it with solid scriptural backing! If you are able to provide me with the scriptural basis for this view, it would be a great help.”

This is an excellent question. Before I came to embrace a pre-millennial post-tribulational view, I was taught like the person asking this question that pre-tribulationism is simply true and that it was obviously so. But over time and after considerable study, I too found it difficult to find pre-tribulationism in scripture, and to the contrary found numerous passages that seemed to refute the idea. Dr Garland goes on to state that many Christians are raised in pre-tribulational Churches but lack the proper teaching and Biblical foundation to form their views from, and are subsequently drawn away from it. I would submit that is the lack of Biblical support for pre-tribulationism that causes most people raised in pretrib Churches to eventually reject the idea, and rightly so.

In his article, Dr. Garland lays out his case for the pretrib rapture by making six points:

Imminent Return

As defined by most pre-tribulationists: The idea that no prophecies are required to be fulfilled before Christ returns specifically for the Church; the idea that Christ can or will return at any moment to receive the Church to Himself but will not make His stand on the Earth for another seven years.

The problem with this teaching is that it isolates certain passages related to Christ’s second coming ignoring the context and plain meaning of the texts. The warnings to be on the alert center around the Christian’s walk in the context of the last days. In his defense of imminency Dr. Garland does not cite any passages in support of the position, but does offer a link to a definition of imminency that contains what are purported to be affirming texts.

I would challenge the reader to look up the references without starting from a pre-tribulational bias and read the scriptures in their full contexts and then see whether or not those passages fit the definition stated above; that nothing remains to happen first and that the event spoken of is the rapture distinct from the second coming. (References: definition, Matthew 24:42-48; Mark 13:33-37; Luke 12:35-40; Romans 13:12; 1Corinthians 7:29; Philippians 3:20-21; 4:5; 1Thessalonians 1:10; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:28; James 5:8; 1Peter 4:7; 1John 2:18; Jude 1:21; Revelation 3:11; Revelation 22:7, 10, 20).

Further, in the linked definition a qualifier is added. The words and phases quickly, near, and at hand are all code words for imminence. However those words do not in and of themselves convey such an idea. Your death is imminent because it could happen at any moment without warning, but soon, near, and at hand do not infer “at any moment” without preconditions. The reason pretrib teachers do this is because a natural reading of the text does not teach an imminent rapture so they have to redefine words to support their positions.

It is ironic that while pre-tribulationists on the one hand teach that nothing needs to be fulfilled before the rapture occurs, at the same time they are often pointing to current events as an evidence of fulfilled prophecy. One of the biggest events was the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Many predicted the rapture would occur sometime around 1988, 40 years later. Of course we now know that that prediction was wrong. Then there was the establishment of the EU, the increase of Russian political and military power, the rise of the Dragon China, the instability of the Middle East in general and the radicalization of Muslims around the World. These events are frequently pointed to by pre-tribulationists as evidence of fulfilled prophecy.

Numerous pre-tribulationist teachers have been guilty of date setting. My personal favorite is from Edgar C. Whisenant who wrote a book entitled, “88 reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988“. When that date did not transpire he quickly published another pamphlet called, “The final shout: Rapture report 1989“. Others have devolved into forms of divination like numerology(Bible Code), astrology and pyramidology in an attempt to shore up their positions. One such person was Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the modern day Jehovah’s Witnesses. Russell also held to a form of dispensationalism that included imminency. When Jesus did not return to gather the Church as Russell predicted, he instead said that Jesus returned invisibly and now guides His Kingdom through the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society headquartered in Brooklyn New York. So am I inferring guilt by association? I’m not saying that pre-tribulationist teachers are closet Jehovah’s Witnesses, but I am saying that the doctrine introduced by John Darby has been producing bad fruit from his time until the present.

Dispensational Chart Created by Charles Taze Russell

Populating the Millennial Kingdom
Here Dr. Garland offers a solution looking for a problem. It starts with the false assumption that when Jesus returns, all flesh will be destroyed. The scripture does not state this explicitly. To the contrary we have a very specific and explicit passage of scripture regarding those who are left alive when Christ returns. Zechariah 14 gives us a very descriptive narrative of that time.

Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.

Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him! In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light. And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter. And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one. All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.

Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. It will come about in that day that a great panic from the Lord will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps.

Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.

So here we have a clear picture of Christ at His coming to destroy those that have come to fight against Him. Clearly there are survivors. Not only that, but there is still a remnant of physical Israel that will be saved at His coming. Both of these groups will enter the millennium in their natural bodies and will repopulate the earth.

Escaping God’s Wrath
When discussing God’s wrath, it is extremely important to consider context when quoting scripture. There are numerous examples in the Bible that God has displayed his wrath, and will display it in the future. There is also the penalty of death which rests upon all mankind apart from Christ also defined as wrath, and there is a wrath to be revealed at His coming. In defense of the idea that God is planning to rapture the Church before the second coming, Tony Garland offers upwards of 9 scripture references to support his position. I’ll leave it to the reader to do their own Bible study to determine if all the references do in fact teach that Christians will not go through the tribulation. However we will look at four, keeping in mind that we will be looking at context and not approaching the scripture starting with a pre-tribulational bias.

Proof text #1 Luke 21:36

But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.

The context is what is commonly known as the Olivet Discourse. It begins with Jesus making a prediction of the destruction of of the Temple and of Jerusalem, which provokes the disciples to ask for more information. Luke 21:7

They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”

There is a parallel passage in Matthew 24:3

As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

In both versions of the discourse, Jesus begins by giving a warning: “See to it that no one misleads you.” This warning cannot be emphasized enough. I often hear pre-tribulationists argue when their ideas are challenged say, “It’s a minor issue that doesn’t really matter.” If Jesus says be careful to not be misled regarding His second coming then it is extremely important that we understand the times and what the scripture has to say about it. Besides, if pre-tribulational teachers didn’t think it was important, they would not teach it.

Jesus then proceeds give the disciples numerous signs to look for. Jesus would not give us things to look for without reason. Again, consider the context of Luke 21:36 by looking at Luke 21:34-36

“Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Clearly Jesus is saying that we should be careful not become apathetic and fall away from Him, not following His teaching. Because when the end comes, if you’re distracted by the things Jesus warned of, you won’t see it coming and will be taken by surprise. That is why He says we need to have strength to stand. The escape He is speaking of is not a pre-trib rapture, it is escaping the temptation to fall away in difficult times. This is what the context supports. You do not get a pre-trib rapture from this passage, unless you approach the passage already believing it. If you already believe in a pre-trib rapture and you do not take the context into account one could be persuaded that this is a good “proof text” for pre-tribulationism.

But there is one more reason to reject that interpretation, and it lies within the Greek language. A. T. Robertson, one of the most highly respected Greek scholars of the last century in his book, “Robertson’s Word Pictures of the New Testament,” regarding Luke 21:36 states:

But watch ye (agrupneite de). Agrupnew is a late verb to be sleepless (a privative and upno, sleep). Keep awake and be ready is the pith of Christ’s warning. That ye may prevail to escape (ina katiscushte ekpugein). First aorist active subjunctive with ina of purpose. The verb katiscuw means to have strength against (cf. Matthew 16:18 ). Common in later writers. Ekpugein is second aorist active infinitive, to escape out. To stand before the Son of man (staqhnai emprosqen tou uiou tou anqrwpou). That is the goal. There will be no dread of the Son then if one is ready. Staqhnai is first aorist passive infinitive of isthmi.

There is a big difference between escaping out vs. escaping from. Escaping out implies you are already in it (tribulation), escaping from (which the Greek does not support) would more properly imply not entering the tribulation. The text is saying that if we are walking with the Lord we need not fear His coming as the rest of the world will.

Proof text #2 Romans 5:9

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

It seems that the more I look at the scriptures that pre-tribulationists use to try to prove their doctrine, the more I see them being put forward completely out of context. I hate to say it, but it reminds me of the way Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses twist the scriptures. This passage in Romans has absolutely nothing to do with the second coming, or the rapture. Romans 5 is dealing with the subject of justification before God through Christ in the present tense. The wrath of God being spoken of in verse 9 is the wrath that falls on all unbelievers who die in their sins.

Proof Text #3 1 Thessalonians 1:10

…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

In this case the preceding context does not shed additional light on this verse. However Paul addresses the issue again in chapters 4 and 5. From here we are told the the rapture will occur right after the resurrection of the righteous. This in and of itself destroys the doctrine of imminency because it is clear that something must happen before the rapture. Therefore it is the wrath that He brings with him when He returns that we will be spared from, not escaping the tribulation itself.

Proof text #4 Revelation 3:10

Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Once again we are witnessing the method of interpretation called eisegesis as opposed to exegesis, and an example of ignoring context. First lets look at the context of Revelation 2-3. It is a message directly from Jesus to the churches. Some would argue that these messages were only for the the actual geographical churches that existed at the time of the writing and others say that it represents the churches that will exist at the end of the age. More likely it is both, but regardless, if the church of Philadelphia escapes the tribulation by being raptured, then what happens to Church in Smyrna? They are told to just tough it out through tribulation. To say that Revelation 3:10 is teaching a pre-tribulation rapture ignores the context of the message to the rest of the churches.

Secondly a closer examination of the original language makes the passage more clear. The phrase “keep you from” in the Greek language consists of two words, tereo and ek. The word tereo means “watch over protectively, guard”, and ek is a preposition that infers, “out of something that it is already in.” If the the meaning was intended to convey that the church would be removed before entering the tribulation the preposition apo would have been used instead of ek.

Does this mean you need to read Greek to know what the Bible teaches about the rapture? Far from it. As stated before the pre-tribulation rapture is a recent invention from the 19th century and does not result from a simple reading of the scripture. The big problem here is that these pre-tribulation teachers should know better. Because a lot of them do know Greek and do understand the difference between exegesis and eisegesis.

Waiting for Christ vs. Anti-Christ
There are many types of logical fallacies. An “Either/Or” is defined as: A conclusion that oversimplifies the argument by reducing it to only two sides or choices. Often pre-tribulational teachers like Dr. Garland resort to this line of reasoning when putting forward their un-biblical ideas. No one is arguing that Christians should not be looking forward to the return of Christ, but we are also to be alert to the signs of His coming. Antichrist is just one of many things we are told would precede Christ’s return. But having said that, the scripture makes it crystal clear that antichrist will be revealed before Jesus Christ.

1 John 2:18 reads:

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.

And in case there is any doubt look at 2 Thessalonians 2:3 which reads:

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction…

Most often these pre-tribulational teachers will say that the warnings and signs are just for the Jews, and not Christians because Christians will have already left the Earth in the rapture by then. Below is a series of warnings and signs related to Christ’s coming. Please, as you consider the following passages keep in mind Paul’s admonition to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 which reads “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

Hopefully if you’re reading this, you have already taken the time to carefully and prayerfully read the preceding passages. If you have, you probably noticed warnings attached. Those warnings are for Christians.

2 Different Second Comings
Historically speaking, the Church has always been looking forward to the second coming. Now we’re told there is a second coming called the rapture and a third coming of Christ in judgement. It is ironic however that pre-tribulationists won’t call Christ coming in judgement, the “third” coming. Dr Garland attempts to make two major points in support of this position. In the first instance he provides a long list of second coming scripture passages that relate different aspects of the same event and then points out the differences as problems that can only be solved by a pre-tribulation rapture. It reminds me of the story of the three blind men describing an elephant when they are each touching different parts. The difference is that we understand that there is only the second coming, and at the same time there different aspects of it.

The second argument that is put forward is that just as the Jews in their day could not reconcile the idea of Jesus being the Suffering Servant and the King of Glory executing judgement on the nations. In a similar way, pre-tribulationists assert that the second coming is actually 2 distinct events, or in effect 2 comings, and those of us that don’t agree are probably not as spiritually minded as our pre-tribulational brethren. The problem with this analogy is that pre-tribulationism is the majority position among most Bible believing Christians, so it can hardly be argued that it is not known.

The Restrainer
I find this teaching to be the most disturbing of the pre-tribulational doctrines. This doctrine is based on a misinterpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 which reads:

And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

The pre-tribulational doctrine that is built from this verse is as follows:
The restrainer is the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit indwells believers
The Spirit being taken away means the Church is no longer on the Earth
The Holy Spirit is absent from the Earth during the tribulation

First Paul said the believers know what restrains the appearance of the antichrist, meaning among Christians of the time, this was common knowledge. We really no longer have the kind of common knowledge that the early Christians had in the first century. However we do have the opinions of other Bible scholars regarding this passage, and here are just a few their interpretations:

Jamieson Fausset and Brown Commentary – “what withholdeth — that which holds him back; “keeps him in check”: the power that has restrained the man of sin from his full and final development, is the moral and conservative influence of political states [Olshausen]: the fabric of human polity as a coercive power; as “he who now letteth” refers to those who rule that polity by which the great upbursting of godlessness is kept down [Alford]. The “what withholdeth” refers to the general hindrance; “he who now letteth,” to the person in whom that hindrance is summed up.”

Matthew Henry Commentary – “There was something that hindered or withheld, or let, until it was taken away. This is supposed to be the power of the Roman empire, which the apostle did not think fit to mention more plainly at that time; and it is notorious that, while this power continued, it prevented the advances of the bishops of Rome to that height of tyranny to which soon afterwards they arrived.”

Cambridge Bible Commentary – “This paragraph is the most obscure to us in St Paul’s Epistles. It is written in a reserved and elliptical fashion, and bears reference throughout to the Apostle’s oral communications, without which, in fact, he did not expect what he wrote to be fully understood. In their recollection of the writer’s words the Thessalonian Church had a key to his meaning not transmitted to our hands. We must grope for it as best we can. We find, however, considerable light thrown on this dark passage by its relation to other prophetical teachings of Scripture, and to the history of the Apostle’s own time. Yet this added light casts its shadows over the field.”

The Biblical Illustrator – While space does not permit me to quote directly, Joseph Exell’s theory can be summed up as follows: The Church of the first three centuries believed the restrainer to be the Roman empire, but now he now believes it to be the secularization of society at large and the waning influence of Christian influence and principals on society. This makes the most sense to me.

Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible – “The word here is in the neuter gender, “What withholdeth.” In the following verse it is in the masculine gender, ὁ κατέχων ho katechōn – “he that letteth,” or withholdeth; and the reference would seem to be to some agency or state of things under the control of an individual, or of some civil power, that then operated as a restraint on the natural tendency of things. Of this, the apostle says, they had had full information; but we can only conjecture what it was. The restraining power of anything controlled by an individual, or of any government, or the restraining power of God, would meet all that the phrase implies.”

Robertson’s Word Pictures – And now you know (kai nun oidate), says Paul in this cryptic apocalyptic passage. Unfortunately we do not know what Paul means by that which restrains (holds back, katechon), neuter here and masculine in 2Th 2:7 ho katechōn.

Suffice to say there are many notable scholars that do not agree with the pre-tribulational interpretation so I’m standing on pretty solid ground in refuting it.

But here is why I think this idea is so dangerous. Being empowered by the Spirit of God through faith in Christ is how we overcome sin and persecution. If as the pre-tribulationists teach it is true that the Holy Spirit will be absent from the Earth during the tribulation, then the gospel ceases to be the gospel. How could a convert to Christ during the tribulation be saved apart from the Spirit? How could they in faith rely upon God to overcome sin and persecution without the Spirit. That is why if for no other reason I believe this teaching is from the pit, because it effectively nullifies the gospel being efficacious during the tribulation. So while Dr Garland and other pretrib teachers are trying to distract you by asking how babies are made during the millennium, maybe we should be asking the pretrib teachers how people can be saved during the tribulation without the Holy Spirit!

Jesus said in Luke 12:11-13

“When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

To teach that the Spirit of God is absent during the tribulation is to rob believers of hope at a time when they need it most. It literally is another gospel. A gospel that promises escape from suffering for the Church and then robs them of hope during the most intense trial of all time. It is in short, demonic. I’ll leave the reader with 2 scriptures to ponder.

Revelation 14:6-7

And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”

Galations 1:6-9

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

Mountain Man Trails

Friday, June 5, 2020

6 Pre-Tribulational Arguments Refuted - by No pretrib

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