By Isaac Goodwin
“The words of Christ are reliable and true. He spoke of the Great Tribulation so that we will be ensured that we will not experience it.” Okay, I need to comment and share about this comment I saw on a popular Christian website. When I first saw the title, I was hopeful for a truth-filled teaching but should have known that wasn’t the case. While, duh, God’s Word is reliable and true—this statement about the Great Tribulation is completely false. Jesus did NOT tell us we would miss out on the Great Tribulation. That is absolutely nowhere in scripture. Instead, Jesus told us something even better. He told us exactly what would happen and the order it would happen in Matthew 24 and Mark 13, so that we would know the truth and wouldn’t be deceived. Although many WILL BE deceived (Matt. 24:4-5; Matt. 24:11; Mk. 13:5-6;) — “even possibly the elect” as scripture warns us (Matt. 24:24; Mk. 13:22) — we can avoid this deception by knowing His Word and the truth. So what does Jesus actually say? Matthew 24 begins with Jesus’ disciples asking Him what will happen at the end of the age (v. 3). That’s a pretty straightforward question, so we should assume Jesus is going to give them a straightforward answer. Jesus then explains—in chronological order—what will happen. He tells them everything! Mark 13:23: “But look to yourselves and be on your guard; I have told you everything beforehand.” Before we get deeper into this teaching, we must understand God’s Word and heart toward His people in times of trial. Throughout history and scripture, God did NOT REMOVE His people from trials and tribulations, but allowed them to go through them and gave them VICTORY OVER them. Some examples are Daniel and the lion’s den, the fiery furnace, the Israelites enslaved for over 400 years in Egypt and surviving Passover and the plagues, etc. During these events, God did NOT REMOVE His people—but gave them VICTORY THROUGH them. In like manner, we must prepare for the Great Tribulation and not expect to skip out on it, but expect to go victoriously through it—even in death. Remember, death is gain in Christ (Phil 1:21). The western church has twisted and manipulated scripture so much in its teaching of the false pre-tribulation rapture doctrine. It is simply not in scripture. Anywhere. Most Christians have only ever heard about a pre-tribulation rapture and the large majority believe it because they have not been presented with an intelligently taught alternative. This would be a novel-like post if I went into detail to explain everything, so I will keep it short and skip that for now. I might just end up writing a book about it, but we will see lol so what does scripture tell us? It tells us about clearly defined events that must happen before the Second Coming of Christ. Here is a shortlist of events:
That is the order of events scripture provides. There is no “secret rapture” or coming of Jesus before the last day. The last day is the day of the Lord and the day when the dead saints rise--meaning the dead saints cannot rise before the last day and the living saints cannot be raptured before the dead saints rise, which happens on the last day. Read that again slowly and I guarantee your eyes will be opened to the truth about the timing of these events. The word “rapture” isn’t even in scripture! So, (1) The dead saints must rise first and (2) the remaining living saints rise after that--this shows us that the rapture CANNOT happen before the last day aka before the tribulation. It must happen at the last day AFTER the tribulation. This also means there is no resurrection of the saints until after the tribulation…. There are not two raptures. The resurrection of the dead saints, the rapture of the living saints, and the Second Coming of Christ are a SINGLE EVENT on the LAST DAY. Jesus explains the raising of the dead saints on the last day FOUR TIMES in John 6 (v. 39, 40, 44, 54). The concept of the saints being raptured to meet Jesus in the air and then reversing direction back to earth with Christ might be new to you. The western church has always taught that Christ would come like a thief, we would be raptured to meet Christ in the air, we would go to Heaven with Christ, and then we would return to earth with Christ later on. The latter sounds ridiculous and makes zero sense now that we know all saints will be raised on the last day. How can the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine make sense if we are raised before the last day? That completely contradicts what scripture says! So what does it mean that we will “meet” the Lord in the air at His coming, then? You’re going to love this! The word “meet” is used by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 to explain how the saints are raised into the air with Christ at His coming. This word “meet” is “apantesis” in Greek and is used two other times in the New Testament. The word “apantesis” is not used to change direction but to continue along the path being traveled. So when we “meet” the Lord in the air, we are accompanying Him on his path down to earth. We do not reverse His direction and go to Heaven! The first instance of “apantesis” is used in the parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13). Scripture tells us that the bridegroom comes, meets the virgins, and then continues on to the feast. He does not change direction; his destination is forward and so he proceeds. The second instance of “apantesis” is in Acts 28, when Paul is traveling toward Rome. During his travels, some fellow Christians were alerted of his arrival and went out to meet him. They then accompanied Paul to Rome. He did not change direction; he continued forward to his destination. If we are to assume the third mention of “apantesis” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 has the same meaning as the first two, then we must believe that Christ is coming to earth, we accompany Him in the air, and then follow Him to his destination. Jesus does not change direction; He continues toward His destination. I know this was a long post and I really appreciate anybody who took the time to read to this point. I plan to do a video teaching or write an even longer post with more detail one day soon, but this post will have to do for now. This topic is something I am extremely passionate about and believe the Lord has mandated me to teach the truth about. All our lives, we are taught the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine, and I believed it for many years until the Lord revealed the truth in scripture to me last year. But the theological and exegetical grounds for the pre-tribulation rapture rests on contradictory evidence and faulty exegesis. Nowhere in scripture does it say that a rapture will occur before the tribulation. The ample evidence in scripture does tell us that we will victoriously go through it and Christ will return for us who have died and remain in Him at the end of it. I pray and hope this teaching opens your eyes to the truth of what scripture says about the tribulation and Jesus’ wonderful Second Coming. Feel free to discuss or ask questions in the comments. There is so much more about this topic that I would love to share! Have a great day! I love you all!
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WRITTEN BY
ISAAC GOODWIN Archives
April 2023
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