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!

Redeeming the Firstborn

Q. In Num 3:12 the LORD took the Levites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The total number of Levites including every male a month old or more was 22,000 (Num 3:39). The total number of firstborn male Israelites a month old or more was 22,273 (Num 3:43). The 273 firstborn male Israelites who exceeded the number of Levites had to be redeemed by 5 shekels each, for a total of 1365 shekels. God’s requirements appear to be very exact. How did the Israelites ensure that number of male Levites and firstborn male Israelites always balance?

A. To deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, God sent the Egyptians 10 plagues, the last of which was the striking down of all the first-born in Egypt:

• Ex 12:29 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.

However, God spared the firstborn of the Israelites, requiring the Israelites to give over their first offspring to the LORD, and redeeming them instead:

• Ex 13:12-13 you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.

Now, God is making a substitution, taking the Levites in place of the first male offspring, so that they can serve Him in the tabernacle:

• Num 3:12-13 “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the LORD.”
• Num 3:45 Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine. I am the LORD.
• Num 8:16, 18 They are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to me. I have taken them as my own in place of the firstborn, the first male offspring from every Israelite woman. And I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn sons in Israel.
• Num 18:6 I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to do the work at the tent of meeting.
• Num 18:15-16 The first offspring of every womb, both human and animal, that is offered to the LORD is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.

Now the Exodus, the sparing of the first male offspring of the Israelites, and the subsequent substitution by the Levites for the Israelite firstborn were one-time events. Since the number of Levites fell short of the number of Israelite firstborn by 273, the 273 had to be redeemed by paying 5 shekels of silver each. What about firstborn Israelites after this? Since the numbers are highly unlikely to match and doing a census is a massive undertaking, the procedure was simplified by requiring all firstborn sons to pay the redemption price (Num 18:15-16). There were other census in the Bible e.g. Num 26, 2 Sam 24, but you don’t see the Israelites trying to balance the books there because of this additional requirement.

This rite, called pidyon haben in Hebrew, is continued to this day by Orthodox and Conservative Jews. The ceremony involves paying 5 silver coins to a kohen (priestly descendants of Aaron) to redeem his son when the baby is 30 days old. For Christians, who are redeemed by the death of Christ once for all and for all time, there is no need to continue this ritual or any other animal sacrifices.

I want to add a word on caution on basic bible application. Some are not very careful in their observation of what the Bible said, and as a result drew wrong conclusions on what it meant and how it should apply. Some claimed conditional promises as if they were unconditional, even though they have not fulfilled the conditions themselves. Others made a sharp distinction between Israel and the Church as if the Church were a temporary phase, while still others assumed that the Church had replaced Israel and all promises to Israel are to be fulfilled in the Church. Yet sometimes Scripture is not as black and white as we would like them. Study each passage in its context, taking grammatical, historical and cultural factors into consideration before you draw hasty conclusions.