Imminence Part 2

Q. I find it illogical reasoning. Pre-tribulation believers say that the word Church is not mentioned after Revelations chapter 3, which means the Church won’t be on earth (raptured out). Jesus was giving messages to the churches, so naturally, the word church was no longer mentioned subsequently. But what about the words “the saints” and “God’s people”?

Pre-tribulation supporters say the rapture is secret. How could it be secret when suddenly millions or billions of people disappear and accidents everywhere (driverless cars), missing family members, and children orphaned?

They say Rev. 3:10 means to take out of (raptured), but the original text means to protect. If Rev. 3:10 means raptured out, then no need for verses 11 and 12 as they won’t be on earth!

The problem may arise from a mindset that prioritizes ease and comfort. When someone with that mentality reads a verse such as:

1 Thes 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,

the interpretation would focus on being delivered from trouble altogether.

However, historically, that had not been God’s way. For example, He kept Noah’s family safe through the Flood. He did not whisk them away before the Flood came. When God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, He delivered them through the Red Sea. God did not “rapture” them to safety. Throughout Israel’s history, He kept the nation as He promised the patriarchs but allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sins so that they would learn to follow Him. The same is true throughout church history. Why would He change His method to favor the last generation of Christians when most people’s love has grown cold (Mt 24:12)? So they won’t face trouble and learn? Hardly!

To justify their assertion, pre-tribulation proponents use circumstantial “evidence.” For instance,

• Rev 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

They claimed that “keep you from the hour of testing” means “keep you from the time of trouble,” i.e., take or rapture you away to avoid that period altogether. You pointed out that the New Living Translation is:

• NLT Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.

But what is God’s method of protection? Remember the Ten Plagues?

• Ex 9:6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died.
• Ex 9:26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail.
• Ex 10:23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.
• Ex 12:23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.

God’s way has always been to protect through the time of testing, not avoiding it. So, the argument based on the wording “hour” or “time” is not supported by actual examples.

What about the absence of the word “church” after Rev 3? Does that mean the Church has been raptured and is no longer on earth? Some even suggest that Rev 4:1’s “come up here” refers to the rapture:

• Rev 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

This misinterprets Scripture as the phrase applies strictly to John, not the Church.

The above is an example of an “argument from silence,” a weak form of evidence. Borrowing from forensic investigations, direct physical, written, or verbal evidence is needed to “prove” a case. Circumstantial evidence can support an argument but is insufficient to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Your observations of “the saints” and “God’s people” are direct evidence in referencing the Church. But of course, pre-tribulation supporters claim that these apply only to the Jews or Christians saved after the rapture. If the mind is closed, you can find all kinds of excuses to justify yourself, which is sad!

Don’t be Too Sure

The other day my younger brother posed a math question taken from Harvard’s entrance exam. Just for fun, why don’t you try it before reading further? You cannot use a calculator. You have 20 seconds to answer.

Question:
If
1 = 5
2 = 25
3 = 125
4 = 625
What does 5 equal to?

I scanned the numbers and quickly noted that each number on the right side of the equation is simply the previous number multiplied by 5. So 5 must equal 625 X 5 or 3,125!
Alternatively,
5 to the power of 1 = 5
5 to the power of 2 = 25
5 to the power of 3 = 125
5 to the power of 4 = 625
5 to the power of 5 = 3125. So 5 must equal 3125!

There, I solved the puzzle using 2 different approaches and arrived at the same answer, so I must be right! I glanced at the watch; 18 sec. had elapsed, so I smugly thought, “I passed!” But I was wrong, dead wrong! The answer is 5 = 1. The reason? I was fooled by circumstantial evidence. I forgot the basic rule of symmetry in algebra: if a = b, then b = a. The answer was in the question. If 1 = 5, then of course 5 = 1! How stupid can I get!

The reason I write this post is that in life too often we get ahead of ourselves. We think we are so smart and pat ourselves on the back. We are so sure of ourselves, but we could be wrong because we are blind to the basics.

Sometimes this happens in our relationships. We see someone doing something we do not approve of, and immediately jump to a conclusion as to their motive and character, often the worst we can think of. Other times it’s with respect to things. I know a few people who are very zealous in upholding their own rules. They have decided that certain things are proper, while other things are unacceptable, not realizing that their perspective may be too narrow as they have ignored the bigger picture. We might be right, but often we are wrong because many times things are like icebergs – what we see is only the 10% above the sea-level. What we don’t see is the other 90% – what happened prior, the background, the motivation, the bigger issue etc. But we are sure we are right because we saw it with our own eyes, and we trust only our own judgment, as everyone else is a fool!

Don’t think too highly of yourself. By all means use your experience and judgment, but remember the basics, and leave room for what you don’t know. After all, the sum total of your knowledge is not even an infinitesimal fraction of a percent of all available knowledge. That’s very humbling to know, isn’t it?