J.D. Farag: Why the Rapture of the Church Has To Happen Before the Seven Year Tribulation Part 2

In Part 2 of this Prophecy Update series, Pastor J.D. Farag continues explaining why the rapture of the church must occur before the seven-year Tribulation, focusing on the effect upon us—how this blessed hope shapes our daily lives with comfort, urgency, holiness, and readiness. Through Scripture, he shows how a pre-trib view encourages believers to endure trials, share the gospel, and live expectantly for Jesus’ imminent return.

Why the Rapture of the Church Has To Happen Before the Seven Year Tribulation Part 2

We here at Calvary Chapel Kaneohe believe that we are living in the last days, that the return of the Lord is nigh—even at the door. That’s why, two weeks ago, we began a mini-series on why the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ must happen before the seven-year Tribulation.

Today is Part 2 in our study of the pre-tribulation rapture and, perhaps more importantly, why it’s vital to know not only what we believe, but why we believe it. It’s not enough to know the what; we need to know the why behind the what.

Two weeks ago I gave you an acronym using the first letters of the word RAPTURE, with seven reasons why the rapture must happen before the seven-year Tribulation. I’ll give them again. (For those interested, you can go online to our website and download the notes—Scripture references and all.)

Beginning with R in our acronym, the reasons the rapture must happen before the seven-year Tribulation are:

• R — the Revelation to us

• A — the Effect upon us

• P — the Purity of us

• T — the Trumpets for us

• U — the Uniformity with us

• R — the Responsibility on us

• E — the Encouragement from us

Last week (Part 1) we looked at the first reason—the Revelation to us. You got a crash course in the book of Revelation—and learned that it’s actually an easy book to understand (contrary to popular belief).

Today we’ll look at A: the Effect upon us.

The Olivet Discourse

Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 24, beginning in verse 36; we’ll read through verse 44. This is known as the Olivet Discourse. Jesus is teaching and preaching in the context of the last days, answering the disciples’ question about the signs of the end of the age—what the world will look like prior to His return.

He begins with wars and rumors of wars, nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines, and earthquakes in various places, likening them to birth pains.

Matthew 24:36–44 (NIV)
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Let’s continue through verse 51:

Matthew 24:45–51 (NIV)
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Wow.

Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Jesus, describing what the world will look like at the time of the rapture, is clearly talking about a pre-tribulation rapture. Here’s why:

A pre-tribulation rapture affects me by causing me to watch for the day and hour; whereas with a mid- or post-tribulation rapture, I can calculate the day and hour. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do the math: if the rapture is in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation, then from the confirming of the seven-year covenant (Daniel 9:27), you can mark the calendar. Instead of watching, you’re calculating.

If you place the rapture anywhere but at the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation, it won’t be unexpected, like a thief in the night. Jesus likens His taking (one taken, one left) to a thief—unexpected.

No thief calls ahead to schedule the robbery. That’s the point.

This was the effect in Noah’s day. I encourage you to study the comparisons between our day and Noah’s day. (One morsel: some believe, based on archaeological findings, that same-sex marriage was legal in Noah’s day. Another: estimates suggest the population may have been in the billions, because people lived much longer.) There are myriad parallels, but the key for our purpose today is the effect: they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away—right up to the day Noah and his family entered the ark. Jesus says that’s what it will be like at the rapture.

When Jesus says two will be working and one taken while the other is left, He describes a world that seems to be business as usual: buying, selling, building, planting, working. It’s just another day at work. They had no idea their coworker in the next cubicle would be taken and they would be left behind.

If the rapture is not before the seven-year Tribulation, what Jesus says here doesn’t fit. Right before the Second Coming, the world is not business as usual; Scripture describes unspeakable cataclysm and carnage. So this passage aligns with a pre-tribulation rapture.

“No Worry”

This also explains why many will be left behind—they’re not expecting it; they’re not watching. They’re eating, drinking, planning, partying—no hurry, no worry. One of Satan’s most successful campaigns is not to convince people there’s no heaven or hell, but to persuade them there’s no hurry and no worry. Like the wicked servant: “My master delays his coming.”

A pre-trib view affects me by causing me to be faithful. With a mid or post view, there’s “no hurry, no worry”—there are still things that need to happen. If you place the rapture anywhere but at the beginning, you effectively delay Jesus’ coming. Don’t do that. Jesus is coming, and He’s coming soon, at an hour we do not expect—and that profoundly affects how we live.

How many times, sharing the gospel, have you heard someone say, “I’ll party until the last minute. When things start happening, then I’ll get right with God”? As if being a Christian is no fun. Sadly, sometimes our joy is lacking, and unbelievers don’t see much to desire. But that attitude rests on the effect of a mid/post view: if “there’s time,” then wasting time seems acceptable.

The Effects

A mid/post-trib view affects how people spend their time, because they think they still have time. That was the wicked servant’s error. Similarly, it affects the lukewarm, Laodicean church of the last days: carnality and brutality gut the urgency of eternity. “The temple needs to be rebuilt; the covenant needs to be confirmed…”—so, “I’ve got time.” In so doing, you delay the Master’s return (in your mind).

Conversely, the faithful servant mirrors the faithful church—Philadelphia—one of the two churches in Revelation 2–3 that received no rebuke (the other is Smyrna, the persecuted church). Their common denominator: they lived with expectancy and urgency. “My Master could come at any time; I want to be found faithful.”

Because nothing has to happen before the rapture, that has a profound effect on how I live, spend my time, and view what’s happening around me.

Longing for His Appearing

A pre-trib view causes me to long for His appearing. Do you long for His appearing? There’s almost an ache in that longing. Many are saying, “Thank you for teaching on the rapture—it’s encouraged me so much. I want to get out of this wicked place.” This world is not our home; we are pilgrims and sojourners. Soon and very soon, we’ll be taken to our eternal home.

If you put the rapture in the middle or at the end, you’re not longing—you’re waiting longer. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But if you know the rapture is before the Tribulation, it encourages your heart: any minute the trumpet could sound—and we’re out of here. See you—wouldn’t want to be you—bye-bye! (Arabic pidgin!)

This also affects how I view Bible prophecy. I’m looking for the appearing of Jesus Christ, not the appearing of the Antichrist. If the rapture isn’t before, I’m focused on the Antichrist and fearful of what must first come.

“What If the Rapture Isn’t for Years?”

What if it isn’t as soon as we think? What if it’s several years? Even ten? I want to live as ready today as I would if it were ten years away. I have nothing to lose living ready. I’ve never heard a believer at life’s end say, “I wish I’d partied more, worked more, or laid up more treasure on earth.” Rather: “I wish I’d spent more time with the Lord, with family, and serving.”

The Crown of Righteousness

There’s a crown for those who long for His appearing:

2 Timothy 4:8 — “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.”

If There’s No Pre-Trib Rapture…

If there’s no pre-tribulation rapture, my longing will be prolonged, and it will affect how I view what’s beginning to happen in the world, because I’m looking through a different lens. Luke 21:28 says, “When you see these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

If you’re mid/post-trib, that wouldn’t make sense; you’d be battening down instead of looking up. But with a pre-trib view, when I see the beginnings of Tribulation-stage things, I look up—my redemption is drawing near.

Think of it this way: if the signs are already going up for Christmas, I know Christmas is near—which means Thanksgiving is nearer. If the world is already being decorated with the signs of the seven-year Tribulation, and the rapture comes before the Tribulation, then how much closer is the rapture?

“Computer Chip” (Tech Signs)

Consider recent headlines about embedded tech: translucent, flexible electronic skin applied like a temporary tattoo, monitoring heartbeat, muscle flex, brain waves, even speech—wirelessly transmitting data. The imagination of what could be done seems limitless. (In Noah’s day, the imagination of man was continually evil.) Combine such tech with existing systems, and Revelation 13 is no stretch: a mark in the forehead or right hand required to buy or sell.

If I don’t believe the rapture is before the Tribulation, I’ll be ordering computers without cameras, refusing new medical monitors, and fearing these developments. But if I believe the rapture is before, when I see these things I look up and say, “Lord, enough—come quickly.” I won’t be around for this; Jesus is coming for me. He went to prepare a place for me, that where He is, there I may be also.

Lord willing, next week we’ll get to P: the Purity of us—one of my favorites. When Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you,” He’s speaking as a Jewish Bridegroom to His bride: “Now that we’re betrothed, I’m going to build the bridal chamber at My Father’s house, and I will come and snatch you away as a thief in the night. I’ll take you to that place I prepared, and we’ll celebrate and consummate our marriage”—for seven (days/years). While we’re celebrating, the world will be in tribulation. That’s the effect this truth has on me.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank You so much. How can we possibly thank You enough for telling us in Your Word why and how we believe what we believe? Thank You for giving us a hope to hang on to and a reason for that hope. I pray that all of us here today will take the next step—and give to every person an answer for the hope that lies within us. We love You. In Jesus’ name, amen.