Why I Believe In A Pre-Trib Rapture

This article was written by Kaye VanKoevering of God's News Behind the News. I had the privileged of working at God's News in the early 2000's. 

Many people wonder how they can be sure they will be ready when the trumpet sounds. 

The answer is simple, just like Salvation, by Fatih you are saved, by Faith you will hear the trumpet and Blast Off! 

This article gives a clear understanding of walking in Faith and the Rapture, and escaping the tribulation.

WHY I BELIEVE IN A PRE-TRIB RAPTURE

I am concerned about the apparent nonchalance of the church today and the rising popularity of the disbelief in a pre-tribulation rapture of the church. 

The popular line of thought is that the rapture either doesn’t happen at all or it happens at any given time after the tribulation has started or even at the end of the Tribulation.

I doubt that these conclusions have come about because the time has been taken to think through or study the scripture in such matters. I think they have listened to the party line on the subject and have decided to believe the latest trend.

I must hasten to admit that there is no exact science involved in end time events - we all can only go by what the Bible says - and there are as many opinions on the subject and interpretations of the scriptures as there are men giving them.

I do know however that God is not the author of confusion so when it comes to something as important as this subject I don’t think He wants us to remain divided. Yet Satan has done a great job of doing just that. The devil knows that a house divided cannot stand. When we all come up with our own dogma and perception of Biblical doctrine - that is exactly what happens. We no longer agree so there is no longer any power that comes with agreement and unity. I realize that if it is not an “essential” of the faith then it seems like it’s ok to disagree. But the very act of our disagreement no matter what the subject is harmful to the body.

I do believe that there are enough clues to lead us to one conclusion concerning the timing of the rapture.

I will start with using the law of precedence.

I begin with the question - has a “catching away” occurred elsewhere or at any other time in the Bible? 

The answer is yes - several times. 

One case in point of course is Enoch.

Now we know from Genesis that Enoch “walked with God and he was not for God took him.” Gen 5:24. Or we could say he was raptured or caught up. Enoch was Noah’s Great Grandfather.

Now we know that Jesus Himself likened the end of days to the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37). I believe that this is very significant. Enoch lived during “the days of Noah”. Enoch had a son that he named Methuselah. In the Hebrew language this means - “when he is dead it shall be sent” (according to abarim-publications.com). I ask, “why would he do that?” I believe it was because he knew something disastrous was coming. He named his son, Methuselah because he walked with God and God must have shown Enoch that a terrible thing was coming and it would happen at the death of his son.

As a result of his knowledge that destruction was coming at the death of his son (which could have been at any time) he used his faith and believed God to escape the “end of the world” - which was the flood. Hebrews 11:5 says, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” So it means that Enoch - knowing or believing that the end was near, purified himself and dedicated his life to pleasing God, and he used his faith to escape the coming destruction. Or HE WAS RAPTURED AND ESCAPED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD BY WATER.

It could not be more clear.

This, to me, also shows the long-suffering mercy of God because he kept Methuselah alive almost 1000 years!!! Is it coincidence that he was the oldest man who ever lived? No! Because God was waiting and putting off the inevitable destruction as long as possible to give man a chance to repent! God’s grace is so evident in this story!

We know how the story ends - man did not repent and they perished with the flood. Now, I also believe that as they were being drowned in that flood - don’t you think there was plenty of time for them to repent? I believe that there was a huge harvest that was a result of that flood.

I also believe there will be a huge harvest of those who find themselves in the Tribulation period because they did not believe it was going to happen or were not ready! Matthew 24:44 admonishes us to “BE READY” or PREPARED. If you can be prepared then you can also be UNPREPARED. Some will not be ready - they are not walking with the Lord, they are in a back-slidden state, they don’t care, whatever that means to NOT be ready. It is between them and God.

You know if you are ready and you know if you are not ready. So that is the reason for this article - to plead with you and those you love to “be ready and STAY ready”... for it is in an hour that you think not that we will be caught up!

My friends, something worse than a flood is coming to destroy the earth for the final time. We have many prophecies to that fact in the scripture. 

If we are smart like Enoch we will “walk with God” every day in order to escape the coming awful, great and terrible “day of the Lord”. But we will need to do it “by faith”. We will need to walk with God and please God just like he did.

Those who are not looking for or who are unprepared for the rapture may not escape and will go have to go through the tribulation. However, they will have one more chance of redemption by refusing the mark of the beast. Then they must be martyred and be-headed for their faith. So in essence those who refuse to live for Jesus now will have to die for Him during the Tribulation period.

Living for Jesus every day is hard. It requires daily sacrifice and a crucifying of our flesh. It means living a pure and holy life by the power of the Holy Spirit within us (1 John 3:3) But the reward for our being ready and looking for His return will be escape from horrible destruction. 

Source: https://pixabay.com/en/rainbow-rain-lake-sunshine-summer-697084/