Amir Tsarfati: The Rapture According to the Early Church

The doctrine of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture has faced heavy criticism in recent centuries. But is it truly a modern idea? In The Rapture According to the Early Church, Pastor Mike Golay examines Scripture alongside the writings of the early church fathers, showing their clear expectation of being taken before God’s wrath is poured out. Discover biblical evidence and historic testimony that affirm the blessed hope of the Church.

The Rapture According to the Early Church

Pastor Mike Golay argues that a Pre-Tribulation Rapture isn’t a 19th-century invention—it’s a view rooted in clear New Testament teaching and reflected by early church writers. He walks through key Scriptures (Revelation 3; 1–2 Thessalonians; 1 Corinthians 15; Matthew 24) and cites sources like Irenaeus, the Didache, The Shepherd of Hermas, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, and Victorinus to show that the earliest believers expected Christ to catch up His Church before God’s wrath falls on the world.

I’m Mike Golay, the Director of Operations at Behold Israel. We have a team of about 15, along with some contractors who help us. Our team is mostly scattered across the United States. We also have two Canadians, a Filipino, and of course, Amir—our founder and president—who lives in Israel but regularly speaks in the United States. On this tour, he’s been here almost three full months, which makes it our longest tour ever.

I also serve in the United States Air Force as a reservist in the Chaplain Corps. Hooah! And I love it. I can’t believe the freedom I still have to talk about faith in ways I never thought possible in these days. But those freedoms are under attack at the Pentagon—make no mistake. I won’t mention names, bless their hearts, but there’s still something called the First Amendment. You can’t just erase that from the Constitution.

I’m a bit emotional because our team is marvelous. We have contacts all over the world, including Afghanistan. Amir’s and my father-in-law—an Israeli—mentors four Afghani men who came out of Muslim backgrounds into the Christian faith. Imagine that: an Israeli mentoring Afghani ex-Muslims! Now, because of the botched pullout of Afghanistan, we don’t know who is even alive over there right now or who has targets on their backs. I’ve been told these men are still with us, and I pray they will be tomorrow. If you’re watching—God bless you. You know who you are. You’re taking a risk by even tuning in.

This may be the most challenging sermon or teaching I’ve ever given. As a pastor of 17 years before joining Behold Israel, I spent weeks working on this message. The title is The Rapture According to the Early Church.

I’m going to put my professor hat on—even though I don’t have a degree in professorship—and walk you through why I believe the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is the most Scriptural view. It’s also the view espoused by the early church, at least through 300 AD.

Here’s my disclaimer: I’ll be quoting church fathers directly. That does not mean I believe the Epistle of Barnabas or Polycarp’s letters are canonical. I’m not saying that! We read good books all the time—books that clarify, support, or supplement our understanding of Scripture. But we don’t elevate them to the level of God’s Word. Please don’t walk away thinking Behold Israel embraces the Apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, or the Gnostic texts you might see on the Discovery Channel.

Let me set the context. In the 1990s, when I lived in Israel, there was an annual festival in Arad. It was a Woodstock-like environment—rock bands, drugs, the works. Our team would go there to evangelize and hand out Hebrew Bibles. One guy named Tom approached me. He said, “You Christians believe in Jesus. We Jews believe in the Prophets. You’re wrong, we’re right. Isaiah 53 isn’t about Jesus, it’s about Israel. And by the way, I don’t even believe in God.”

This guy was brilliant—a walking library. He tied me in knots. I was young, inexperienced, and humiliated. Honestly, for the first time in my life, I was tempted to convert to Judaism. As a gentile, I even started looking into the Noahide Laws.

But Tom stayed with our group. He was fascinated that people from all over the world shared the same faith. One evening, I told him, “We’re going out into the desert to pray. Since you’re an atheist, you probably don’t want to come.” He replied, “No! I want to see it.” So we took him. Out there in the desert, something amazing happened—but I’ll save that story for later.

The point is, I didn’t know how to handle Tom. I didn’t know how to handle the rabbis. I felt insecure, like I could be wrong. That’s exactly how many first-century believers felt—Jewish and Gentile alike—when confronted with competing religions and philosophies.

One heretic in particular, Marcion, taught that souls went to a mystical realm and that resurrection wasn’t real. His Gnostic ideas infected the church, causing confusion and doubt. Many believers even abandoned Christianity for these false philosophies.

But God raised up defenders like Irenaeus of Lyons, a disciple of Polycarp (who was himself a disciple of John). Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies and directly refuted Gnostic claims, teaching instead that believers would be resurrected bodily before the Tribulation.

The Rapture According to the Early Church

What Scripture says, what the earliest Christians believed, and why it matters now.

Why Pre-Trib makes biblical sense

1) Kept from the hour of trial (Rev. 3:10–13)
Jesus promises to keep the faithful “out of” (Gk. ek) the hour of trial coming on the whole world. That’s protection from the time period itself, not preservation through it.

2) Not appointed to wrath (1 Thess. 5:1–11; 1:10)
Paul contrasts “they” (sudden destruction) with “you” (sons of light) and says plainly: “God did not appoint us to wrath.” That’s why these words are a comfort—not a countdown to beheading.

3) The Church’s silence in Revelation 6–18
“Church” (ekklesia) appears repeatedly in Revelation 1–3, then disappears during the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl judgments (Rev. 6–18), reappearing in 22:16—consistent with the Church absent from earth during wrath.

4) The Restrainer removed (2 Thess. 2:5–8)
Lawlessness is held back until “He who restrains” is taken out of the way—then the lawless one is revealed. Many early voices saw this restraint as the Spirit’s influence through the Church. Remove that, and the floodgates open.

5) No one knows the day or hour (Matt. 24:36–44)
Jesus likens His coming to normal life suddenly interrupted (as in the days of Noah). The imminence of the event fits a pre-70th-week catching away far better than a dateable, mid- or post-Trib timeline.

What the earliest Christians said

Important disclaimer: Early church writings aren’t Scripture. They’re valuable historical witnesses that show how the first generations read the Bible.

Irenaeus (A.D. 120–202), Against Heresies V
A disciple of Polycarp (who was a disciple of John), Irenaeus defends bodily resurrection and anticipates believers being “caught up” before the unparalleled Tribulation (cf. Matt. 24:21). He even uses the harpazō idea to describe the Church’s sudden removal and the Tribulation that follows.

The Shepherd of Hermas (late 2nd century)
A widely circulated pastoral work that portrays a coming great tribulation and speaks of believers escaping it through faith and readiness. Its metaphors encouraged believers under Roman pressure to look up and stay pure.

The Didache (mid-2nd century)
An early “handbook” of Christian teaching that lays out an end-times sequence using Scripture language—trumpet, resurrection, and the Lord’s appearing—with a clear distinction between the Lord coming with His saints and the world witnessing His return.

Clement of Rome (A.D. 30–100)
Writing within the first generation after the apostles, Clement references Enoch, Lot, Rahab, resurrection hope, and God’s pattern of delivering the righteous before judgment—an early echo of the rescue-before-wrath theme.

Polycarp (A.D. 69–155)
John’s disciple urges believers to live worthy lives, expect resurrection, and reign with Christ—presenting resurrection hope and kingdom reign as distinct steps in a prophetic sequence.

Victorinus of Pettau (late 3rd century)
In one of the earliest Revelation commentaries, Victorinus assumes the Church is taken before the worst judgments and reads Revelation’s chaos with the Bride already removed.

Patterns that prefigure the Rapture

The early church often answered Gnostic denials of resurrection by pointing to biblical patterns:

• Enoch (Gen. 5; Heb. 11:5): taken so he “did not see death.”
• Elijah (2 Kgs. 2): caught up in a whirlwind.
• Noah and Lot: the righteous removed/secured before judgment fell.

Scripture consistently portrays God as the One who rescues before wrath—a motif the early church applied to the Church’s hope.

“Isn’t Pre-Trib just a Darby thing?”

No. John Nelson Darby (19th century) helped recover and systematize truths that many had neglected, but the core ideas—imminent hope, rescue from wrath, and a literal kingdom—are evident in Scripture and early Christian sources long before him. The Reformers recovered salvation by grace; later evangelicals recovered Israel’s role and prophecy. Recovery isn’t invention.

Readiness like the first century

Early believers expected:

1. Worthy living — glorify Jesus daily; don’t toy with sin.
2. Courage under pressure — be faithful even unto death.
3. Urgent witness — share the Gospel while it’s day.

They weren’t casual. They gathered often, stayed awake spiritually, and comforted one another with the hope of Christ’s return.

A personal note on hope

Mike tells of “Tom,” a brilliant Israeli atheist who shadowed their team in the desert. After watching believers pray and confess, Tom prayed:

“Lord God, thank You for letting me find these people. I’ve confused You with religion. I’m sorry. Jesus, show me the truth—and how to walk with You.”

That night Tom devoured the Gospels, joined outreach, and plugged into a Jerusalem fellowship. This is what the Rapture hope fuels—bold witness, clear love, and lives changed by Jesus now, not fear of tomorrow.

Bottom line

• Biblical: The Church is promised rescue from wrath, not appointment to it.
• Historical: Early Christian voices expected a sudden catching away and read Revelation with the Church absent from earth’s judgments.
• Practical: Live awake, holy, and on mission. Comfort one another with these words—and invite someone into the hope that’s in you.

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)