The pre-tribulation view holds that Christ will take His Church to Himself before the seven years of tribulation begin. This site holds that view, with respect for believers who see it differently.
In this view, the rapture comes first and can happen at any moment. After it, a seven-year period begins, the “seventieth week” of Daniel 9:27, in which God pours out judgment on the earth, a world ruler rises, and Israel is brought back to its Messiah. At the end of those seven years, Christ returns visibly with His saints to reign.
“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering;”
Daniel 9:27Believers are promised rescue from wrath. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9 speak of Jesus rescuing us from the wrath to come and say God has not destined us for wrath.
The Church is promised to be kept from the hour of testing. Revelation 3:10 promises to keep the faithful “from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world.”
“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.”
Revelation 3:10The coming is imminent. The New Testament tells believers to watch and wait for Christ Himself, not for a list of signs first (Titus 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:10).
Two different descriptions. In 1 Thessalonians 4, believers rise to meet the Lord in the air. In Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19, Christ comes down to the earth with His armies. Many read these as two stages of His coming. See rapture vs. Second Coming.
The Church is absent from Revelation 4–18. The word “church” appears often in Revelation 1–3 and not again on earth until the end of the book, which many read as a sign the Church is already with the Lord.
Mid-tribulation and pre-wrath views place the rapture partway through the seven years, before the most severe judgments. Post-tribulation views place it at the end, as part of Christ’s one visible return. Faithful Christians hold each of these, and they read the same passages with care.
Whatever the timing, every view agrees on the main thing: Jesus is coming back, and we are to be ready.
Scripture quotations from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), © The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. lockman.org
It is the view that Christ will take His Church to Himself before the seven-year tribulation begins, so believers living at that time will not go through it. Christ then returns visibly with His saints at the end of the seven years.
Supporters often point to 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9 (rescued from the wrath to come), Revelation 3:10 (kept from the hour of testing), Titus 2:13 (the blessed hope), and the contrast between 1 Thessalonians 4 and Revelation 19.
No. Mid-tribulation, pre-wrath and post-tribulation views are also held by Bible-believing Christians. All agree that Jesus will return.
Most who hold the view see it as seven years, based on the one week of Daniel 9:27, divided in the middle into two halves of 1,260 days or 42 months, as in Revelation 11 and 13.
No one knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36). The question is not when. It is whether you know Him. If you are not sure where you stand with God, start at salvation101.com.
What if it happened tonight? The Bride Is Taken, a Christian end-times thriller by Paul T. Barham, imagines the first days after the rapture. Read about the novel.