Thirteen Scholars Answer Tough Questions about the Rapture, Tribulation and the Second Coming – Program 3

By: Dr. John Walvoord, Hal Lindsey, Dr. Zola Levitt, Peter LaLonde, Dr. David Breese, Dr. Renald Showers, Dr. John Feinberg, Dr. Paul Feinberg, Dr. Earl Radmacher, Dr. Randall Price, Dave Hunt, Dr. Elwood McQuaid, Dr. Jimmy DeYoung; ©1996

The idea of the rapture comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, where we read that we will be “caught up,” or in Latin, “raptus,” to be with Christ. Where will Christians go after the rapture? What will happen to those who remain on earth?

Contents

What is the Rapture?

Introduction

Dr. John Ankerberg: As we reach the end of this century, people want to know more about biblical prophecy, especially the sequence of the many important events that the Bible says will occur during the end times. Today and in the weeks to come, you will meet and hear thirteen of the most respected and knowledgeable professors and teachers of biblical prophecy in the United States. They will explain in depth some of the key passages concerning end-time events. My guests will be: Professor Dr. John Walvoord, Dr. Zola Levitt, Dr. David Breese, Dr. Earl Radmacher, Dr. Randall Price, Dr. Elwood McQuaid, Peter Lalonde, Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, Dr. Renald Showers, Dr. Paul Feinberg, Dr. John Feinberg, and best-selling author Dave Hunt. We invite you to join us.

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Ankerberg: Welcome. In this series we are answering your questions on biblical prophecy concerning the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Christ. In program 1 we answered the question, “Where does the Bible teach the doctrine of the Rapture?” We examined 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 which promises, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and 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 shall we ever be with the Lord.”

The English words “we shall be caught up” in this verse come from the Greek word harpazo. The Latin Bible translated harpazo as raptus from which we get the popular English word Rapture. Rapture is that event when Christ shall return to earth in the clouds and catch up all living Christians on planet earth. We shall be caught up together, or snatched.

Then we answered the question, “Where will Christ take Christians after He raptures us?” The answer is, He will take us to Heaven. We concluded this as a result of examining Jesus’ own promise in John 14 where He said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.” The Father’s house is in Heaven. Jesus is there preparing a place for us, and when He comes again, He says He will receive us unto Himself. That’s Heaven.

Then we saw that Scripture teaches that the moment Christ comes for us at the Rapture, we who are alive here on planet earth will be instantly changed and transformed. Our present bodies, our old bodies will be instantly changed into new spiritual bodies like the one Jesus had after His Resurrection that will live forever. 1 Corinthians 15:51 promises, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.”

Then in our second program we answered the questions, “What does it mean when preachers and teachers talk about the imminent return of Jesus Christ and why is imminency important for us today.” Where does the Bible teach it? We learned that an imminent event is an event that could happen at any moment. Nothing is preventing it from taking place in the next moment. Further, we saw that if the Rapture is an imminent event, then it rules out anyone setting a date for the Rapture to happen. If they did so, it wouldn’t be an imminent event, as they would be saying a certain amount of time must pass by before that date arrives and before Christ can come back. But that destroys the biblical concept of imminency that no time needs to pass by before Christ can come back. He could come at any moment.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 is just one of the many places where the imminent return of Christ is taught. There the Apostle Paul states that the Thessalonian people had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus Christ which delivered us from the wrath to come.” We saw that the word “wait” which the apostle uses in this verse means a continuous waiting, actually like waiting up for company to come. These Thessalonian Christians were waiting up for, expecting the Son of God to arrive at any moment.

Today we’re going to answer the questions, “Where in the Book of Revelation do you find any teaching about the Rapture?” And secondly, “Does the Book of Revelation teach that Christians will have to go through any part of the Tribulation time period?” To answer these questions, we’re going to examine Revelation Chapter 3, verses 10 and 11. Here, Jesus promises the church: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast.”

Now, I’m sure there are four questions that you’re asking about these verses.

First, is this a promise that applies to all the churches yesterday and today, or just to the church of Philadelphia in New Testament times? Second, what is the hour of temptation that will come upon the whole world? Third, who are the people that this hour of trial will come upon? And fourth, how will God protect believers from the hour of trial? So let’s begin. First, is this promise from Jesus Christ in Revelation 3:10 a promise that is only to the church of Philadelphia which existed in Asia Minor around the time of the Apostle John? Or is this to all the churches including churches worldwide today? Well, to help us answer this question, I’d like you to listen to Dr. Earl Radmacher, Chancellor of Western Theological Seminary. As you will hear, Dr. Radmacher believes this promise from the Lord was made to all of the churches, even to us today; and this promise and other promises made to the seven churches in Revelation 1 through 3 include gifts and rewards that pertain to the end of time. Listen:

Radmacher: I think that there is no text that is clearer in Scripture than Revelation Chapter 3 and verse 10. Listen to these words: “Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you out of the hour of the trial, the coming one.”

The text has three specific, definite articles, so it’s not talking about just keeping them out of trial or out of tribulation, it’s talking about keeping them out of a period of trial. “I will keep you out of the hour of the tribulation, the coming one.” The writer couldn’t have said it more specifically than he said it in those verses.

Now, someone could say, “Well, didn’t he say that simply to the church at Philadelphia?” Well, I want you to notice something about these seven little epistles in Revelation 2 and 3. Every one of them concludes with an eschatological statement. By eschatology we mean “the last things,” and so every one of these little epistles goes down to the end time and every one of them is different. If you will look at the end of the epistle to the Ephesians, to Ephesus, in 2:17, you will see that it talks about the end times, “To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Now, each one of those epistles will take you down to a prophetic event of the very end. So, you can conclude that the seven exhortations at the end of those epistles are for the totality of the Church. How do I know that? Well, if you’ll look at the beginning of that verse, it says, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” not just to the church at Ephesus, but to the churches. So he takes the prophetic statement that he has given and makes that applicable to the totality of the churches, something that all of us will participate in.

Therefore, I believe that it is legitimate in Revelation Chapter 3 when he’s speaking to the church at Philadelphia and he gives this end-time statement about the Tribulation, we may all see our place in the fulfillment ultimately of that passage. So it’s a specific time period; it’s a specific nature; and it is a specific promise with regard to exemption from that period of time.

Ankerberg: Next we need to ask, “What did the Lord mean when He complimented these people and said, “Thou hast kept the word of my patience”? The Greek text literally reads, “Because thou hast kept the word of the patience of me.” First, “the word” in this phrase probably refers to a message, a word that was preached to them. What kind of message? It was a message or word about the patience of Christ. So when Jesus said, “Because thou hast kept the word of the patience of me,” it’s possible that He was complimenting them on following His example while suffering and being persecuted.

Is there proof that this kind of message to follow Christ’s example while suffering was preached to Christians by the apostles? Sure there is. For example, in Hebrews 12:1-3 Christians were taught this very thing. The text says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” So it’s possible that this phrase, “the word of the patience of me,” meant that the Philadelphia Church had obeyed the specific message to follow Jesus’ example while suffering.

The second possible meaning for the phrase, “Because you kept the word of the patience of me,” could be that these folks were being complimented because of the fact that they were faithfully and continuing holding to the message that Jesus was coming back, that He would soon return. Why this view? It’s because the Greek word for patience, hupomone, when it is directed toward God, has the meaning of “to expect to wait.” So, these Christians were steadfastly expecting and waiting for Jesus to come back.

Arndt and Gingrich, the authors of the standard Greek Lexicon, agree that the word for patience, hupomone, sometimes meant “patient expectation,” and in fact, they state that this is its exact meaning when the Apostle John used it in Revelation 1:9 and is its probable meaning here in Revelation 3:10.

Let’s throw a little bit more light on this. Dr. Renald Showers in his book Maranatha: Our Lord Come! talks about this patient expectation. He writes, “If this is the intended meaning, the word translated patience refers, not to Christ’s own endurance of testing but to the church saints enduring expectation of Christ’s return. It also would mean that the basis of Christ’s promise in Revelation 3:10 is the fact that the Philadelphia church saints steadfastly held the belief that Christ would return from heaven and could return at any moment. As a result, they persistently waited for His coming. The implication may be that they held tenaciously to this belief and expectancy in spite of all the ridicule, opposition and persecution heaped on them by the unsaved world because of that belief.”

“One thing in favor of this view is Christ’s exclamation in the very next verse, Revelation 3:11, ‘Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast.'”

Now, both views concerning this phrase “because thou hast kept the word of my patience,” involve the church saints passing a test. The first view involves their successfully having passed the test of obedience in following Christ’s example while suffering. The second view involves their having passed the test of faith in continuing to believe a divine message, namely that Christ would return. And when you think of it, both of these views blend together. If someone believes the Gospel, they will believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ. And as a result, they will live like Christ wants them to. If they don’t believe the Gospel and they won’t believe that Christ is coming back, and they certainly won’t live like Christ.

By the way, do you believe that Christ could come back at any moment? Are you living as if He will? But let’s move on.

What is the specific promise that Christ makes to these people as a result of their having kept “the word of my patience”? He says, “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,” or the hour of trial, “which shall come upon all the world.” What is this hour of temptation that Christ will keep them from which shall come upon the whole world? Dr. Renald Showers, a professor who has taught at Moody Bible Institute and Philadelphia College of the Bible, explains:

Showers: Now, a third passage which is very significant in regard to this is Revelation 3:10 where Jesus is making a promise to Christians and He says, verse 10, “Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation.” Literally, the hour of testing “which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Literally, “to try the earthdwellers.” Notice, He’s saying here that He will keep His saints, His true believers, out of the hour of testing.

Now, many scholars agree that the testing here is referring to a future period of wrath upon the face of the earth. It’s obviously referring to a time period because He talks about the “hour” of testing. So many agree that He’s promising here to believers to keep them out of that hour of testing, but some say, “Well, it’s just the testing that He’s preserving them from. That they’ll be here during the time of the testing but God somehow will shelter them or protect them from the testing.” But notice John doesn’t say here, quoting the Lord’s promise, that He will deliver them or keep them out of the testing, He says He will keep them out of “the hour of testing.” In other words, He will keep them out of the very time period when the testing is taking place.

And then He says here the purpose of that time period of testing, the purpose is not to do something with regard to Church saints, but the purpose of that hour of testing is to test or to try the earthdwellers. And we stated in one of our earlier telecasts that when you go through the book of Revelation, the earthdwellers consistently is referring to rebellious unsaved people who refuse to repent and who are so hardened against God that they will never repent. They will never get saved.

Ankerberg: Let me give you a little bit more information about Christ’s promise, “I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation.” What does the phrase, “the hour of temptation” mean? The Greek word for temptation, peirasmos, and its related verb peirazo have two basic meanings. First, they refer to testing or trying people to determine, demonstrate or expose the kind of people they are. For example, Jesus asked Philip a question to peirazo him, to test him, to try him—John 6:6.

Arndt and Gingrich in their Greek Lexicon assert that the noun peirasmos means “test, trial” and its related verb peirazo means “to try, make trial of, put to the test to discover what kind of person someone is.” This definition fits the exact context of Revelation 3:10 where the purpose of the trial, temptation, or testing is said to be “to try them that dwell upon the earth.” As we will hear, the “earth-dwellers” are not Christians; they have turned against God and hate God. God will test or try these people during the Tribulation time period to expose the kind of people they are.

Dr. Randall Price described the people mentioned in this verse upon which the hour of trial will fall in our conference at Dallas:

Price: We have a similar passage in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 3 and verse 10, for there it says that believers are going to be removed before an hour of trial or testing is to come upon all the earth. And there we see a very distinctive term, the term “those who dwell on the earth.” The Greek term tous katoikountas epi, “those who are on the earth,” really is “earth-dwellers,” those who are characterized as belonging to this world system and not to those who trust the Lord. And so we have a situation in which wrath is poured out specifically to judge unbelievers, not believers, and it is before that hour which is going to come upon the entire inhabited earth, believers will be assured that they are removed from that time.

Ankerberg: Along this same line I’d like you to listen to the Chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary, Professor Dr. John Walvoord, disclose more about the meaning of this promise of Christ in Revelation 3.

Walvoord: But there are mentions of the rapture, particularly in connection with the revelation to the seven churches in Chapters 2 and 3. And one of these is very significant because it’s found in Ch. 3 vs. 10 where he is addressing the Philadelphia Church. This is the church that he commends and in verse 10 he says, “It’s because you have kept my commandment to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which should come upon the whole earth to test them who dwell on the earth.” In other words, what has He promised? He has promised to keep them from the time of trial that’s going to come, referring to the Great Tribulation.

Now, how could he have made that promise if he was a post-tribulationist? See, by the nature of the case he had to be a pre-tribulationist. Now, notice also the expression here “to keep you from.” Now, this is both a verb which means “to keep” but it also has the Greek preposition “ek” which means “from.” How, the post-tribulationists don’t have any strength here at all but they try to refute it by saying, “keeps them through” the Great Tribulation. Well, if he was going to say “through” he should have used the Greek dia with the accusative which means to keep through. He had an alternative if that’s what he wanted to say, but he said instead, “keep from this.”

Ankerberg: So far we’ve seen that Revelation 3:10 is a promise to all the churches, yesterday and today. We’ve seen that the hour of trial, the hour of temptation is actually the Tribulation that will come upon the entire world someday. And number three: We have just touched briefly on the people upon whom the Bible says this trial will fall. It is clear these people are not Christians. They’re unsaved; they’ve rejected God; they hate God.

Now, our next question is, How does Christ promise to protect believers from this hour of trial? Will He rapture Christians worldwide before the Tribulation or preserve them through the Tribulation? This is where the big fight is at. Let me give you a little sample of what this text means. Listen to Dr. Renald Showers:

Showers: And by the way, it’s interesting to note the very next expression after verse 10 of Revelation 3, Jesus says, “Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which you have that no man take your crown.” Very interesting the Lord Jesus throws that in. “Behold, I come quickly,” after His promise, “I will keep you from the hour of testing.” The implication seems to be the way He will keep the believers out of that hour of testing is by His coming quickly to remove them from the face of the earth by Rapture before that hour of testing begins. So, I personally am convinced in light of 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 3:10, that the Church saints will have no relationship at all to this future period of God’s wrath upon the face of the earth and the reason we shall not is because Jesus will come to the air above the earth before that future period of divine wrath begins and He will remove His Bride the Church, all of His Church saints, from the earth by Rapture and take them back to the Father’s house in Heaven and then after we’re there, sometime after, then this future period of God’s wrath will be poured out upon the unbelievers here on planet earth.

Read Part 4