3 Things You Didn’t Know About the Rapture - by Abby Trivett

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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The author is the content development editor for Charisma Media, and previously was The Daily Runner’s former senior editor. At that time in 2021 she was 22 years old, which would make her 26 now. She is surprisingly present all over the internet, much more so than we would expect for someone so young.

We were unable to locate her credentials, so we don't know what theological expertise she possesses. Judging by the below article, it must be pretty superficial.

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The question everyone has been asking for years: When will the rapture take place?

While none of us can know the exact time and hour, there are certainly many questions revolving around this event that is still to come.

In an interview with Jennifer Bagnaschi from Deep Believer, Prophecy Watchers host Mondo Gonzales answered some key questions regarding the coming rapture.

1. There are false narratives behind where the pre-Tribulation rapture theory came from.


Perhaps the most contentious part about the rapture relates back to pre-Tribulation vs. post-Tribulation theories. As Bagnaschi points out, many believe that the concept of God’s people being taken out of this world before the rapture occurs is heavily connected to a young woman’s prophesy from the 1800s, and that it is believed prior to that many Christians did not have this view.

“The woman’s name is Margaret McDonald, but in fact, if people go back and look at her material, she actually was not a pre-trib person she was a pre-wrath person,” Gonzales says. “Then people will falsely claim that Darby picked up on that and ran with it… there’s no doubt Darby popularized an idea but the idea that it began with Margaret McDonald, that’s false.” (So where did the pre-trib doctrine come from? Please explain. Darby was fiercely opposed for teaching heresy. If it was heresy then, why is it accepted now?)

2. There are a few key verses that make a pre-Tribulation rapture theory plausible.

Key biblical passages supporting the pre-Tribulation rapture include 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9, which declare that believers are not destined for wrath. (Let's quote them: 

1Th. 1:8-10 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

We first note that this church will be rescued from the coming wrath, which is being spared from it or avoiding it. The Greek word is rhuomai. It conveys the idea of drawing someone to safety, often implying a divine intervention or a powerful act of salvation. So, in order to be rescued one must be in the middle of the problem. 

The same word is found in the second letter to this church:

2Th. 3:2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.

Paul experience much abuse at the hands of evil men, he was not spared from it and was not raptured out of it.

Now for the next passage: 

1Th. 5:4-10 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. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

Paul's entire thrust was to counsel the Thessalonian church to lead righteous lives and not participate in the deeds of darkness. He was reminding them of who they are. They should therefore lead the kind of lives that they would not be surprised at the Day of the Lord.

Here the wrath they are not going to experience is the wrath of God against the unrighteous, due to them receiving salvation. That wrath, the wrath of God, is is not in their future. 

Rapture enthusiasts want to use this passage to attempt to document the pre-trib rapture doctrine, which is, Christians are not appointed to suffer wrath because they will be raptured out before the wrath of God is poured out during the Great Tribulation.

It is an interesting that Paul goes into great detail about the persecutions, troubles, and difficulties he was experiencing [1Th. 2:21, Th. 3:4, 1Th. 3:7], and also mentions their sufferings [1Th. 2:14]. But for some reason pre-tribbers think that Paul was telling them they would escape the Great Tribulation when they already were experiencing trouble. 

The simple fact of the matter is that 1 Thessalonians 5:9 is not about the tribulation. Paul's point was that there are two possibilities, wrath or salvation. Those who are saved escape God's wrath. That's it.)

Revelation 3:10 also promises that Christ will keep His church from the hour of trial coming upon the whole world. (No, He promises to deliver the Philadelphian church [Re. 3:7]. This is one of seven letters to seven churches existing in the first century. We simply cannot insert ourselves into Bible verses willy-nilly. 

Let's quote the verse: 

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.

The obvious question is, what has the Philadelphian church patiently endured? Well, tribulation. They're tribulation already. Because they have endured tribulation they will be kept from the hour of trial that will overtake the whole earth. Was this trial the Great Tribulation? No, because 2000 years have passed since Jesus gave them this promise. It was referring to some sort of widespread trouble of that time, probably the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

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.

None of us will escape tribulation: 

Ja. 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds...

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.”

So why would we be exempted from the Great Tribulation? We frankly don't understand this fear of tribulation.)

There are also plenty of biblical patterns which show God’s mercy and rescue of those who obey and follow Him wholeheartedly.

Jesus Himself referenced the days of Noah and Lot in Luke 17:22-37 as examples of divine rescue before judgment. (**Sigh** Let's quote the last few of these verses: 

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.”

Where will those taken be taken to? Death. This is not a rapture proof text.)

Jesus described the time of His coming as one of normalcy—people buying, selling, planting and marrying. This does not match the catastrophic conditions of the Tribulation, where widespread death, famine and war will make normal life impossible. Perhaps, then, the rapture will occur before this time of great destruction.

3. There are people who will be saved following the rapture.

The Tribulation will be a time of intense persecution, where believers who come to faith after the rapture will likely face martyrdom. (But, but... We were told above that Christians will not experience wrath!)

As this will be the very worst of times, Gonzales warns people not to wait to get saved until after this occurs.

“Jesus said it; don’t wait. Get rescued prior because there is no promise of being kept through,” Gonzales says.

In these challenging times, believers must stay anchored in God’s Word and remain strong in faith. As the signs of the end times unfold, we are called to stand firm, endure to the end and declare the hope of the gospel. By walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and shining His light, we can stay faithful and advance God’s kingdom until Christ’s return.