Lee Brainard: Evidences for a Pre-Trib Rapture

Does the Bible really teach a pre-tribulation rapture? In this episode of the Sound Words Podcast, pastors Aaron Nicholson and Jesse Randolph (Indian Hills Community Church, Lincoln, NE) sit down with Bible teacher and linguist Lee Brainard to let Scripture—and early church history—speak for itself.

What we cover

• Clear definitions: Rapture, Tribulation, 70th Week of Daniel, Day of the Lord
• The big views: Pre-trib, Mid-trib, Post-trib, Pre-wrath—and why pre-trib makes the best biblical sense
• Key texts that require a pre-trib rapture: John 14:1–3, Revelation 3:10, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18
• Trials now vs. The Tribulation: why ordinary Christian suffering ≠ the global, final judgment
• Early Church witness: Didache & Irenaeus on a catching up before the unparalleled tribulation
• Common objections answered: the Darby myth, “no verse says it,” and the “escapism” charge
• How this doctrine fuels sanctification and hope (1 John 3:3; 2 Cor 4:17)

Scriptures referenced

John 14:1–3; 1 Thess 4:13–18; Rev 3:10; Dan 9:24–27; Jer 30:7; Matt 24; 1 John 3:3; 1 Pet 1:13; Rom 8:18; 2 Cor 4:17; 2 Tim 1:13.

About our guest

Lee Brainard is a Bible teacher with specialization in Koine Greek, Biblical Hebrew, and early Christian sources. He is the author of Recent Pre-Trib Findings in the Early Church Fathers.

Evidences for a Pre-Trib Rapture

“‘No verse in the Bible teaches a pre-tribulation rapture.’”
This is simply not true. There are plenty of verses and passages that teach a pre-trib rapture—we just have to let the Bible speak for itself.

Aaron Nicholson: Welcome to the Sound Words podcast, where it’s our goal to help Christians love and live out God’s Word. I’m Aaron Nicholson, and with Jesse Randolph we’re pastors here at Indian Hills Community Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. Today we’re talking about the rapture of the church—a subject in eschatology. To help us, we’ve invited Lee Brainard. Lee, thanks for joining us on the Sound Words podcast.

Lee Brainard: Thank you, brothers—it’s a pleasure to be with you today.

Aaron: It’s a pleasure to have you. By way of introduction, Lee is a Bible teacher in North Dakota. Lee, I found quite a few roles you’ve had over the years—just to mention a few: Airborne Ranger, cook, meat cutter, carpenter, janitor, truck driver, farm hand, factory worker, sawmill hand, security guard, car salesman, insurance salesman, day trader, and Jiffy Lube tech—among others!

Lee: Most of my life has been as a regular worker who did the work of the Lord full-time on the side—a tentmaker.

Aaron: And beyond those things—and importantly—you’ve given your life to the study of the Bible and doctrine, specializing in the original languages, prophecy, apologetics, and the free-grace (easy-believe) gospel. On languages—what do you read?

Lee: I have expertise in Biblical and Koine Greek. I also read some Classical Greek. I have competence in Biblical Hebrew. With a little struggle I can work through the Syriac text, and I also read some Latin and German.

Jesse Randolph: That’s incredible. And that’s actually how I first heard you—at the Pre-Trib Conference in Dallas—where you took us back to original sources on doctrines like the rapture. That’s our segue: evidences for a pre-trib rapture. For our audience, Lee, would you define the terms? When we say rapture and tribulation, what are we talking about on the eschatological timeline?

Lee: The rapture—more particularly the pre-tribulation rapture—is the Lord gathering His church out of the world prior to the seven years of tribulation at the end of the age. We also call that tribulation the 70th week, the Day of the Lord, and the wrath of God. The tribulation will be the time when the world is under the judgments God sends, as well as the persecutions wrought by the Antichrist against all who won’t submit to his new world order.

Aaron: There are other views about timing besides pre-trib. Can you summarize them?

Lee:

• Post-tribulation rapture: the church goes through the entire tribulation and is raptured at the end. That’s like Noah going through the flood, landing on dry ground, and then being yanked up to the clouds for a couple of hours—nonsensical.

• Mid-tribulation rapture: the church goes through the first half of the 70th week and is raptured in the middle. It’s no longer very popular.

• Pre-wrath rapture: the church goes through most of the tribulation under the Antichrist and is raptured late—maybe ¾ to ⅘ through—before a short window (six to eighteen months) of the most intense wrath.

Jesse: How does that differ from pre-trib?

Lee: Pre-trib holds that the entire 70th week is the wrath of God—His judgment. Distinguishing “Antichrist’s tribulation” from “God’s tribulation” doesn’t work. God used Babylon to judge Israel; He’ll use the Antichrist to separate the world. By God’s allowance, the Antichrist becomes the great separator: by the end every person will either be aligned with him (mark of the beast) or with God (indwelling seal of the Holy Spirit).

Jesse: Some listeners will think, “I go through trials all the time.” Help distinguish ordinary Christian trials from the Tribulation.

Lee: Those who believe in the pre-trib rapture are often slandered as escapists. Not true. The Bible is clear: it is through many tribulations that we enter the kingdom of God. Believers will suffer in this age. But the church is guaranteed deliverance from the final, global trial—the last seven years. That tribulation will be worse than anything the world has ever seen. In history, pockets of persecution have been severe (Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, the Inquisition), but in the Tribulation it’s global. There will be no place to flee. Praise the Lord—the church will be raptured before it.

Aaron: What does the Bible say about the rapture?

Lee: The Greek word behind rapture appears in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4: 13-18—harpazo—“to snatch up” or “catch up.”

“I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so also those who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For we say this unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who are asleep. For the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall ever be with the Lord.”

That’s the rapture: from earth, to the clouds, to the New Jerusalem—to be with the Lord during the tribulation.

Jesse: Develop the pre-trib idea through church history. Your book Recent Pre-Trib Findings in the Early Church Fathers surfaced a lot. Give us a taste.

Lee: The earliest indications outside the NT are very early. The Didache (written either in the last decade of the Apostle John’s life or one or two decades after) has three pre-trib arguments. One:

“Then shall appear the signs of the truth: first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and third, the resurrection of the dead—yet not of all, indeed, as it is said, ‘The Lord shall come and all of His saints with Him’; then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.”

It speaks of the Second Coming and the resurrection—but “not of all,” because some come with Him—already raised.

I also love Irenaeus (Against Heresies, mid-2nd century):

“Therefore, in the end, when the church is suddenly caught up from this, there shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be; for this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome, they are crowned with incorruption.”

Earliest eschatological writings in the fathers are pre-trib and premillennial.

Aaron: Common arguments against pre-trib—and your replies?

Lee:

1. “Darby invented it in the 1800s (maybe from Margaret MacDonald).” False. See Dispensationalism Before Darby—many anticipated a pre-trib rapture from the Reformation forward. And the early fathers precede Darby by 16–17 centuries.

2. “No verse teaches a pre-trib rapture.” This is bludgeoning by sound bite. John 14 1-3 absolutely necessitates a pre-trib rapture. Revelation 3:10 demands it. There are plenty of passages—we must let Scripture speak.

3. “Pre-trib is escapism.” I’m not ashamed to prefer escaping the final wrath. I’m willing to suffer—and have—but the Bible teaches the church will be delivered from the hour that comes upon the whole world.

Jesse: We’re all escapists in one sense—we’ve escaped the wrath of hell through Christ!

How should the doctrine of the rapture—specifically pre-trib—impact believers today?

Lee: Two words: sanctification and hope. 1 John 33 says, “They that have this hope in themselves purify themselves, even as He is pure.” Belief in biblical prophecy is one of the strongest sanctifying influences in NT Christianity. If your eyes are on Jesus’ coming, your heart isn’t anchored here—it’s in the world to come.

And hope. Many walk around with bruised, battered hope. One of my greatest blessings as a preacher is to fix people’s eyes on the hope of the Lord’s coming to gather His church and bestow an eternal, infinite inheritance. As the Bible says—and I’ll mingle 1 Peter 1113 and Romans 8:18—set all your hope on the glory that shall be revealed to you. My favorite verse is 2 Corinthians 4:17: “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” Try to be fulfilled in this life and it slips through your fingers like sand. But you cannot lose the eternal riches once given to you. Keep your eyes on Jesus and His eternal reward.

Jesse: Lee just went from teaching to preaching—and I loved every minute. Thank you, brother.

Lee: Amen. Thank you for the opportunity.

Aaron: As always, the final word goes to God and His Word—2 Timothy 1:13: “Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”

Thanks for listening.