Will there be a Pre-Trib rapture?

We have been pursuing our Doctrinal Rethink for some time now. In the process of engaging it we have begun to question certain beliefs, church structures, and practices of the western church. Too often we have discovered unbiblical doctrines and activities. This causes us concern.

Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched? How did we arrive at our doctrines?

Introduction

It seems that end-times prognosticating is once again on the rise as chaos and lawlessness in society seem also to be on the rise. It is good that people are turning to the Bible for answers in these trying times, but our hope is that people would ask the right questions in order to receive the right answers.

In our youth we were quite engaged with speculating on end-times scenarios (eschatology). This was particularly in vogue in the wake of Hal Lindsey's book, Late Great Planet Earth. In the late 80s, a pamphlet called 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 was all the rage. Then came the Left Behind series of books and movies.

We have come to a crucial understanding that while studying eschatology has some value, it does not change any aspect of our faith. We are to live holy lives, give to the poor, share our faith, as well as worship, fellowship, and grow in faith, regardless of what eschatology we hold.

This means when we are confronted with those who would explain the end times we go into the transaction with some skepticism. And rightly so, because the prognosticators at times seem confused. Failed predictions abound. Questionable methodology is too common. Every newspaper headline is shoehorned into their end times scenarios, sometimes yielding preposterous interpretations.

Pre-tribbers believe that a collection of scattered Bible references all collate into an intricate, complicated picture of a future period of time where there is a pre-tribulation rapture of the Church, followed by a seven year period known as the Great Tribulation where those who are "left behind" after the rapture and a subsequent group of people who become Christians after the rapture will experience the wrath of God, followed by the millennium and culminating in the Last Day.

We shall present an alternative view of the end times, based on the premise that the Last Day is the Last Day, which is the day of the rapture, after the final great tribulation, when Jesus comes on the clouds, gathers His elect, and executes final judgment on the wicked. We also will suggest that the Great Tribulation is the culmination of centuries of tribulation commencing in the first century and lasting until the last day (Acts 2:19-20)

It is a departure, we admit. But with the speculative nature of pre-trib dispensationalism, we are comfortable with advancing our own perspective.

Preliminary Observations

Arrogance in the Doctrine

We first note a bit of arrogance regarding some pre-trib teachers.

Don Koenig: Scholars such as these really need to review why it is that they use human rationalization to distort the plain teaching of God's word. 

Mr. Koenig is fully persuaded that his views are not only correct, but that other perspectives are ignorant. As an aside, he predicts the rapture in 2025. We would think that given the highly speculative nature of end times scenarios and a dubious track record of prognosticators, that a bit of circumspection would be in order. In addition, the "plain teaching of God's word" is a presumptuous claim.

Fear in the Doctrine

It seems to us that at least some of the attractiveness of the pre-trib rapture is related to escaping trouble. It is a shame that Christians are so fearful of trouble.

Jn. 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

There is a tendency for some Christians to be escapist. They don't want trouble, they're afraid pf persecution, they hide out in their churches and with their Christian friends. They take a "don't engage with the world" perspective to the nth degree.

Inconsistency in the Doctrine

Pre-trib advocates insist on an odd literalism when determining parts of their eschatology, yet they pick and choose other parts to allegorize. For example the 49 weeks, or the seven letters to the churches being a description of seven stages of the historical Church; these are either literal or allegorical according to what theory one adheres to.

In addition, the relentless speculating about the date of the end times, who the anti-christ is, and what role the US might or might not have, does little to add to the veracity of the teaching.

Recent Advent of the Doctrine

The pre-trib doctrine is relatively new. One will not find pre-trib writings until about the year 1830. John Darby is credited with first teaching the pre-tribulation rapture. We as an aside note a single historical exception: Ephraem.

Don Koenig again:

In Grant Jeffrey's book "Triumphant Return", he writes that about 373 AD Ephraem taught in a sermon that there was a pre-tribulation rapture. This writing can be found in Ephraem's sermon "On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World.", Ephraem said in this sermon, "For the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins".

Again, this is the sole example, and an extremely questionable one. We therefore are confident in asserting that a pre-trib rapture was unknown prior to the 19th century.

Charismatic Origins of the Doctrine

Both John Darby and Edward Irving were heavily influenced by the ecstatic utterances of a sickly teenager by the name of Margaret McDonald.

The Pre-Trib Viewpoint

Let's lay out the pre-trib rapture scenario:

• The world will get darker and darker
• Current events speak to prophetic fulfillment.
• The Church will dwindle to a remnant
• There will be no revival
• All signs and wonders are counterfeit
• Most of Revelation happens after the rapture, so Christians will be taken up before the tribulation
• After Jesus raptures the Church the seven year tribulation begins
• The Church (or the Holy Spirit) is the restrainer (2Th. 2:6), when removed, clears the way for the antichrist
• There will be people saved during the tribulation, but saved people will not have the Holy Spirit
• Jesus will come a second time on the Last Day.

Our initial responses:

• The world will not get darker, for it is dark as it's always been. It will be the church that gets darker and darker. We discuss this here.
• There is no rapture mentioned in Revelation, except for the Two Witnesses (Re. 11:12).
• There has been and will be apostasy, tribulation, and revival all through out the Church age
• The saved will be a great multitude
• When Jesus returns (once), He will receive His own, He comes on the clouds, every eye will see Him, and the nations will mourn

Why Would Any Christians Experience God's Wrath?

The pre-trib position is that there will be new Christians after the rapture happens during the tribulation. We wonder why present day Christians are so focused on being raptured before the tribulation, but seem unconcerned that other, post-rapture Christians will experience God's wrath? If indeed we are not appointed to wrath (1Th. 5:9), why would tribulation Christians be an exception?

Further, there is a difference between God's wrath, which is His righteous judgment poured out on the evil, and the persecutions and troubles of life. A Christian does emphatically escape the wrath while experiencing trouble. The two are different things.

The Restrainer

The Restrainer, who is the Holy Spirit according to many eschatologists, is removed with the Church when it it raptured. Shari Abbott provides the typical explanation:

“He who now restrains” and He who “will do so until He is taken out of the way” is a reference to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit now restrains evil on the earth, by teaching, guiding and strengthening believers to be a light in a dark world and to love and serve others. By the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s goodness dwells on this earth and is manifested through His people. When the Church is raptured (1 Thessalonians 4:17), the indwelling restraining power of the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth.

It should be understood that those who come to faith in Christ during the Tribulation will not have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Although God is omnipresent (His Spirit is everywhere), it will not be the same as this time now, when the power of the Spirit indwells believers.

We should consider 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.”

The Gospel is eternal, even during the tribulation. The way of salvation never changes, and the message goes forth until the Last Day, the hour of His judgment. This must mean that the Holy Spirit is present during the tribulation, for one cannot be saved except via regeneration by the Spirit: 

Ro. 8:9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

The Rapture

We do not believe in the rapture in the conventional sense. That is, we do not think the church will be snatched up into heaven to wait out the tribulation and millennium. The fact is, there is no verse that tells us a rapture will occur prior to the Tribulation.

The pri-trib argument relies on a handful of verses.

Rapture verses:

A) 1Th. 4:15-17: 

According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever.

Notice here the unadorned nature of the description. There will be a rapture, but this passage does not speak to the timing of the rapture.

The common belief seems to be that Jesus comes but does not touch down during the rapture. But the verse does not say this. It seems this Argument From Silence is the thin thread of proof that the rapture and the second coming are different events, based solely on the notion that Jesus does not come to earth at the rapture. 

There is no verse that suggests this, however. There is no verse that describes two events where He comes once to receive his Church, then comes again to execute judgment on the nations. There is no verse that tells us that Church escapes the Great Tribulation. We shall discuss this last point later.

We believe that Jesus comes and takes His Church, meeting them in the air, then continues on to step onto the earth in Glory. Mt. 24:30 tells us:

At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

So the rapture happens when we are caught in the air to meet Him, which is exactly where Jesus tells us we find Him when He appears in glory as He comes to earth. This must be the Last Day, because the trumpet sounds and every eye sees Him. 

Jesus receives His Church in the air, then comes down to execute final judgment.

B) Ro. 5:9

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

This also is not a rapture verse. Paul is making the point that we were once enemies of God (vs. 10), but now we are reconciled through Jesus. Thus we avoid His wrath. This verse is not talking about the end times, it is talking about the result of the saving work of  Jesus' sacrificial death. 

C) 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. 

Paul is making the very same point, that because the Thessalonian church turned from idols to serve the living God, they will be spared from the fate of the lost. Therefore, this also is not a pre-trib rapture verse.

The church will be on the earth during the tribulation: 

Lk. 21:34-36 Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.

Notice the use of the word "escape." The word means to flee, to find safety. This does not suggest that these people will not be present, but rather that they can get away or be safe during this time. In fact, this is what the Bible promises:

1Co. 1:7-8 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jude 24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy...

Jesus Himself tells us that the tribulation will happen, after which the saints will be received:

Mt. 24:29-31 Immediately after the distress of those days “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." [Isaiah 13:10; 34:4] 30 At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

The order of events is specific.

1. there will be distress in those days
2. there will be signs in the heavens
3. the Son will appear
4. the nations will mourn
5. the elect will be gathered. 

Notice the elect are gathered after the tribulation. This dovetails with Joel's prophecy:

Ac. 2:17-21 “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." [Joel 2:28-32]

Again the order of events is specific and marvelously consistent:

1. The last days begin
2. there is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all people
3. there are prophecies, dreams, and visions.
4. then there will be signs in the heavens
5. then comes the Day of the Lord
6. the elect will be saved.

On the last day the wicked will be taken away:

Lk. 17:34-37 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

Mt. 24:24 says:

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect — if that were possible.

How is it possible the elect might be deceived if the rapture has already occurred?

D) 1Th. 5:1-9

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety”, destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here Paul was explaining what he had just told them in the verse we discussed above, 1Th. 4:16:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

So because Jesus is coming for His people, Paul tells his readers they should be prepared and in the light so they will be not surprised when that day comes. Ruin will come suddenly as Jesus arrives with a loud shout, surprising those who are not sons of the day. Re. 1:7:

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.

Those who are not of the Day will mourn at the sight of the King of kings. Then the church will be taken up to meet Him in the air (1Th. 4:17). There is nothing in this passage about a pre-trib rapture.

Carefully notice what Paul tells the Thessalonian church:

9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are two things, wrath or salvation. If you are not saved, you are appointed for wrath, eternal punishment. If you are saved you are appointed to salvation. This passage has nothing at all to do with the rapture.

E) Re. 3:10 

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

This is found in one of seven letters Jesus wrote to seven churches. The church in Philadelphia was one of only two churches who were not subject to correction (the other was the church in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8). Jesus promises the church in Philadelphia that they need to endure patiently. Endure what? Well, the trouble they are experiencing. Jesus promises that if they endure, they will be kept from the hour of trial. Jesus is clear that this is trouble coming to the whole world. 

"Keep" is τηρέω (téreó), I keep, guard, observe, watch over... (from tēros, "a guard") – properly, maintain (preserve); (figuratively) spiritually guard (watch), keep intact. We should not assume that this means this church will be raptured, or that Jesus is referring to present-day Christians. Jesus is speaking to the patient endurance of this particular church, and promises them they will be guarded, preserved, kept intact through that trouble.

"World" is οἰκουμένη, ης, ἡ (oikoumené), properly: the land that is being inhabited, the land in a state of habitation), the inhabited world, that is, the Roman world, for all outside it was regarded as of no account. The "whole world" was the known world at that time. This would suggest that this tribulation is not the day of the Lord, but rather a widespread trial at that time.

"Earth" is γῆ, γῆς, ἡ (gé) the earth, soil, land, region, country, inhabitants of a region. Again this suggests that this a judgment regarding those who lived during that time.

But if we accept for a moment that the church of Philadelphia does escape the tribulation by being raptured, then what happens to Church in Smyrna? They are told to endure through the trouble: 

Re. 2:10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

We would therefore suggest that Rev. 3:10 is not a rapture verse, because one church seems to get raptured (Actually, protected) while another is told to persevere through trials. Nor does it bolster the pre-trib scenario. In fact, it clearly suggests that churches have endured and will endure tribulation, some of it very substantial.

In addition, we would be reluctant to infer blank prescriptions from a letter written by Jesus to a specific 1st century church.

F) 2Pe. 2:9

 ...if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

Peter started by telling his readers that there will be false teachers among them. His purpose in this entire passage is to tell them that false teachers face judgment. He chronicles several past judgments of God:

• The angels who rebelled (vs. 4)
• The people in the days of Noah (vs. 5)
• Sodom and Gomorrah (vs.6)

Peter then mentioned those who were saved out of these judgments (Noah, Lot), then tells his readers that God knows how to protect the righteous in the midst of punishing the unrighteous. That is, false teachers will be punished. He promised his readers that they will be protected during this punishment. They are not absent or taken away.

The word "rescue" is ῥύομαι (rhuomai), I rescue, deliver (from danger or destruction). This is not the same as being taken away from or avoiding trials. No, to be rescued from trouble one must be in trouble.

G) Mt. 24: 21-22:

For then there will be great tribulation, such as 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 sake those days will be shortened.

"The elect" are the saved, the people of God. We plainly see that they will be in this great tribulation, according to Jesus. But that time will be shortened. These believers will experience those times of the great tribulation wrath but be saved from it.

The lost will have a different experience in the Great Tribulation. Re. 6:16:

They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!"

But as we have noted, God will protect and preserve His people through this time.

H) I Corinthians 15:51-58 

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” [Isaiah 25:8] 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” [Hosea 13:14] 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

We see the sequence of events here.

1. At the last trump, which is the Day of the Lord (Rev.11:15. 1 Cor.15:52)
2. The dead shall be raised 1 Cor.15:52. John 6:44
3. And we shall be changed (raptured). 1 Cor.15:52

We know when the resurrection will be, the Last Day. Jn. 6:40, 44:

For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 44 ...No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

None of this is possible if there is an intervening rapture.

I) Re. 11:15-18:

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17 saying: “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great — and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

This is the last of seven trumpets, and no other trumpets are sounded in heaven after this one.

Importantly, we know that Revelation is not chronological. How do we know? Well, Revelation 12, for example, which is found after the blowing of the seventh trumpet, describes a woman giving birth 

to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. [vs. 5]

Some have postulated this male child to be Israel, others that it is Jesus. Either way, both Israel and Jesus had already appeared in history well before the blowing of the seventh Trumpet. This means Revelation is not always chronological.

We say all that to say that this seventh trumpet could indeed be the Last Day. We do see the judging of the nations in Rev. 11:18, "the time has come."

Therefore, this has to be the Last Day, the Day of the Lord:

Zep. 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’s wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth.

j) Jn. 11:24

Martha's reply to Jesus is indicative of what was believed 2000 years ago, contrary to current pre-trib thought:

 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

The resurrection of the dead will be on the last day.

k) Colossians 3:4 

Paul also hints at the timing of events at the Last Day:

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Christ's appearing (Re. 1:7) on the Last Day means we also appear with Him. 

Multiple Tribulations

Is it possible for there to be multiple tribulations over the course of history? This seems clear, because the Bible often presents a limited scenario which is a type for a greater thing. For example:

• Salvation pictured in the sacrifice prescribed to Israel as a type fulfilled in Jesus
• Physical healing in Jesus' earthly ministry as a type fulfilled in His stripes for healing of the sick soul
• Prophets speaking prophecies that apply to local circumstance as a type for later fulfillment as well
• David's kingship as a type for Jesus

Therefore, we believe there was a first century tribulation of the known world at the time, which presents a type for the last days tribulation. Indeed, there has been much trouble for the Church over the last 2,000 years. We have always been called to endure and be a light shining in the darkness. There is nothing in Scripture that indicates the church will not be present for the last tribulation. The Bible does not teach that the Church will not experience the time of the great tribulation, only that the Church will be preserved safely through it.

Evidence of the Church Throughout the Book of Revelation

Let's do a quick overview of the book of Revelation. It has been the subject of much study and speculation. There are many appearances of various Christians sprinkled all over; before, during, and after the tribulation.

Re. 7:4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

Re. 7:13-14 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes — who are they, and where did they come from?” 14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Re. 9:4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

Re. 11:3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Re. 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Re. 13:7 He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them.

Re. 14:3-5 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No-one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Re. 14:12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

Re. 14:13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Re. 15:2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name.

Re. 16:15 “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

Re. 18:4-5 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; 5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.

Re. 18:20: Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.

This last verse is referring to Babylon the Great, the great prostitute (Rev. 17:1), who has committed great sins with the nations. Because the charge against her is that she persecuted the apostles and prophets, we would think she must be Jerusalem or Israel. Israel is frequently described as adulterous (Je. 3:6, Ez. 6:9, Ez. 43:7, Ho. 1:2, Mt. 12:39). So this means that we should at least consider that some of the events of Revelation speak to events of the first century.

There is a last tribulation, right before the Day of the Lord mentioned in 1Th. 4:15-17. It is recapped in Rev. 19:11-16:

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no-one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron sceptre.” [Psalm 2:9] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

He reigns for 1000 years, there is a final battle and final defeat of the enemy and a final judgment of the unrighteous. Then the holy city appears, new and brilliant. Rev. 21 is the day after, when all things are new.

A Curiosity: The Epistle of Barnabas

This is one of the apocryphal writings of the early church. While not part of the canon, we quote it here to note that early evidence of the church's eschatology was not pre-trib:

Barnabas 15:3-5:

Of the Sabbath He speaketh in the beginning of the creation; And God made the works of His hands in six days, and He ended on the seventh day, and rested on it, and He hallowed it.

4 Give heed, children, what this meaneth; He ended in six days. He meaneth this, that in six thousand years the Lord shall bring all things to an end; for the day with Him signifyeth a thousand years; and this He himself beareth me witness, saying; Behold, the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything shall come to an end.

5 And He rested on the seventh day. this He meaneth; when His Son shall come, and shall abolish the time of the Lawless One, and shall judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun and the moon and the stars, then shall he truly rest on the seventh day.

Conclusion

We think that a plain reading of the Scriptures reveals a relatively simple procession of events of the end times.

• We have been living in the Last Days since Pentecost
• There are always times of tribulation, but there will be a final great tribulation
• The Church is called to faith, including faith that God will preserve it through all trouble and tribulation
• In face of increasing apostasy in the Church and the darkness of the world, there will still be a great multitude saved in the last portion of the end times
• On the Day of the Lord, the last day, Jesus will come on the clouds, receive His Bride, and there will be a new heavens and a new earth.