Probably the most important key phrase in understanding accurately end time prophecy, and the most controversial questions such as the timing of the rapture of the church, and the destruction of the present heavens and earth and the creation of the new heaven and earth, is “the day of the Lord”. This expression occurs 24 times in the NIV, 25 times in the King James version and 23 times in 21 passages in the NASB2000. All but 2 of those passages in the NASB are referring to the end times 2nd coming of Christ. For the student of scripture who will follow one of the most important Hermeneutics (rules of interpretation) – letting scripture interpret scripture – this gives us plenty of scripture to define what God intends by that key phrase. However, as is so often the case, especially with respect to end times prophecy, men often prefer to derive definitions to fit their presuppositions and preferences, paying little attention to how the words and phrases are used throughout scripture. The following definitions are given by Pretribulation Rapture advocates:
“The day of the Lord in prophetic times will cover the time of the coming tribulation (Rev. 6-19) and the reign of Christ on David’s throne (Rev. 20). It will be brought to an end by the judgment of the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15). (C.I. Scofield, The New Scofield Reference Bible, 1967).
“…the term Day of the Lord, or that day, is not a term which applies to a twenty-four hour period, but rather a whole program of events, including the Tribulation period, the second advent program, and the entire millenial age. … Chafer says:
‘This period extends from Christ’s coming “as a thief in the night” (Matt.24:43; Luke 12:39-40; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 16:15) to the passing of the heavens and earth that now are and the melting of the elements with fervent heat… It may then be seen that this day includes the judgment of God upon the nations and upon Israel and that these judgments occur at Christ’s return. It includes both Christ’s return and the kingdom of a thousand years which follows. It extends indeed to the final dissolution with which the kingdom ends…’” (D.W. Pentecost, Things to Come, p. 174)
“’The day of the Lord’ (2 Peter 3:10) includes the Tribulation, the Millennium, the great white throne judgment, and the destruction of the present heavens and earth. At the great white throne after the Millennium, ungodly men (i.e., the wicked dead) will be judged and then thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15).” (“2 PETER”, Kenneth O. Gangel, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Epistles and Prophecy).
“The antichrist’s signing of the covenant with Israel constitutes not only the beginning of the tribulation period but also the beginning of the day of the Lord.” (Ron Rhodes, The End Times in Chronological Order: A Complete Overview to Understanding Bible Prophecy, p. 1490 Kindle)
As with much if not most of what is included in the Pretribulation Rapture view, this definition of “the day of the Lord” was popularized by C.I. Scofield in his interpretive notes in his Scofield Reference Bible. However, this interpretation cannot be accurately said to be coming from any kind of intellectually honest exegesis of scripture anywhere this expression is used. If we are paying any attention at all to the actual texts of these passage there is one very prominent feature which stands out in several of them – the cosmic disturbances:
“9 Behold, the day of the Lord is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger,
To make the land a desolation;
And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not flash their light;
The sun will be dark when it rises
And the moon will not shed its light. (Isaiah 13:9-10)
“30 I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” (Joel 2:30-31)
“The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.” (Acts 2:20)
One might want to consider these very definitive statements about this very unique event before coming up with their own definition of the words, such as we see coming from the rather well-known theologians and Bible scholars cited above. Furthermore, it may be wise to actually look at what is revealed in Revelation, the book that tells us in considerable detail when all these end times prophecies will be fulfilled:
“12 And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the eminent people, and the commanders and the wealthy and the strong, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the sight of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Revelation 6:12-17)
Unless one naively believes that this catastrophic, cataclysmic cosmic event can and will happen repeatedly, this is a description of the end of this world as we know it. It corresponds with the descriptions of the seventh Trumpet (Revelation 11:15-19) and the seventh Bowl (Revelation 16:17-20), and that final battle of HarMagedon (Revelation 16:16 and 19:11-21). It also corresponds with another “day of the Lord“ passage, as follows:
“10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be discovered. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you.” (2 Peter 3:10-15)
According to what Jesus said, this very unique end of the world as we know it event will happen when He returns at what we call “the second coming of Christ”:
“ 29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31)
While the expression “the day of the Lord” does not appear there it is clearly referring to that salient event when “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” This passage is recognized by the PTR advocates as the second coming of Christ, but not as the “day of the Lord” – despite the fact that the other parallel passages refer to it as such. However, they also deny that it is the time of the rapture of the church because it is clearly not pretribulational, despite the fact that it is the clearest description of such a rapture anywhere in scripture. Solely based on their Dispensational presuppositions (which are themselves not based on actual literal scripture) they insist that “the church is not in Matthew 24”, and thus the “elect” who are raptured there in the 31st verse is not the church (which is what the Greek word “ἐκλεκτός” refers to everywhere else in scripture), but is only those who get saved after the rapture of the church, during the Tribulation Period (which some say will only be Jews). Such is a clear-cut case of not letting scripture interpret scripture, but forcing scripture to fit their a priori interpretations, presuppositions and theories.
The interpretation that this “day of the Lord” is to include the whole 1000 years of the Millenium, that perfect kingdom of God on this earth, aside from being entirely unsupported by actual scripture, is clearly refuted by the following:
“18 Woe to you who are longing for the day of the Lord,
For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be darkness and not light;
19 As when a man flees from a lion
And a bear confronts him,
Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
20 Will the day of the Lord not be darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:18-20)
This is a strange way to describe a prolonged, 1000-year period of a perfect reign of Christ and righteousness on a perfect earth, like Eden. In fact, from the text itself it appears that Israel may have had the same mistaken interpretation of that “day of the Lord” as the modern PTR advocates, confusing it with the Millenium. God is making it clear that it is a day of judgment, in which apostate Israel will also be judged, not the perfect Millenium which would follow that day of judgment. Modern Bible scholars would do well to listen to what God was telling Israel, and by extension telling us – but it seems that like Israel then, they do not have ears to hear even now.
We also have another prophecy about this “day of the Lord” which precludes the interpretations of those cited above:
“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction.” (Malachi 4:5)
Again, we have one of those necessary precursors to that “day of the Lord” event (which according to the PTR doctrine of “Imminence” doesn’t exist). The interpretation of this becomes somewhat involved as there are some passage which seem to say that it was John the Baptist who was the fulfillment of this prophecy (Matthew 11:14) while John himself denied that he was Elijah (John 1:21). Then Luke said that Zechariah was told that his son, John the Baptist, would be the forerunner of Christ, coming “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17), and that prophecy quotes from Malachi 4:5. However, if that is meant to be the complete fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy that would mean “the day of the Lord” was referring to Christ’s first advent, which would not match any of the other day of the Lord prophecies – though it would seem to be a partial fulfillment. Some have related this prophecy to Elijah’s appearance on the mount of transfiguration (Luke 9:28-31), but that again seems to bear little resemblance to the actual prophecy, and even less to the other prophecies about this day of the Lord.
However, we do see in Revelation 11:3-10 that there will be two witnesses who will be prophesying and doing miracles, including some of the same miracles Elijah performed. This will be happening in the last half of the Tribulation Period, which takes ups to the day of the Lord second coming of Christ, at the seventh Trumpet, verses 15-19 of that 11th chapter. It is somewhat speculative, but seems to be very logical, and fit in some respects what we are told there, to see one of those witnesses as being a resurrected Elijah. What seems to be missing in the Revelation passage is the part about the hearts of the Fathers being turned back to their children – suggesting some kind of repentance and revival among the Israelites living at that time, which PTR advocates insist will happen on a large scale. If such is the case John doesn’t even mention it in Revelation. Ezekiel does prophesy such a time of repentance in Ezekiel 20:39-44 and 36:22-32 and Zechariah 12:10, which from their context would seem to be about what will happen when Christ sets up His eternal kingdom on the earth, during the Millennial kingdom age, but not before Christ’s day of the Lord second coming. All we are told in this key passage in Revelation is that after the resurrection of the two witnesses, and a great earthquake in Jerusalem in which 7000 are killed, “the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.” (Revelation 11:13). It may be possible to interpret this as an indirect reference to a day of repentance of Israelites, at least those living in Jerusalem at that time, which could conceivably be taken as ultimate complete fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy.
However, what can be gleaned with some certainty is that the “day of the Lord” to which Malachi was referring was not the whole Tribulation Period and/or the whole Millenial reign of Christ on earth, unless we are to believe Elijah will show up and start doing miracles again, before the Tribulation Period begins – which not even the PTR advocates believe.
There are those modern-day theologians who do not subscribe to this mainstream PTR view, for some of the same reasons discussed above, and more. Dr. Robert H. Gundry, professor of New Testament and Greek, gives us the following commentary on this subject:
“The prophecy of Malachi, the reiteration of that prophecy by Jesus, the appearance of Elijah with Christ at the Transfiguration, and the likeness of Elijah’s miracles in the OT to the miracles in Revelation 11:1-13 all unite to identify Elijah as one of the two witnesses. The early Church almost universally accepted the identification. John writes that the two witnesses will prophesy 1,260 days, apparently the latter half of Daniel’s seventieth week, for ‘the nations’ will surely not ‘tread under foot the holy city’ until the Antichrist breaks his covenant with the Jews (Rev. 11:2, 3). The day of the Lord, then, cannot begin until the expiration of Elijah’s ministry, which occupies the final half of the tribulation…
Certain celestial portents [sun darkened, moon blood red, stars falling from the sky] will both precede the day of the Lord (Joel 2:30, 31) and follow immediately upon the tribulation (Matt. 24:29). Clearly, the day of the Lord will not begin with the tribulation or any part of it, for otherwise the heavenly portents after the tribulation could not be said to precede that day. It cannot successfully be maintained to the contrary that the portents in Joel will find fulfillment toward the beginning of the tribulation under the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-17) because, as we have seen, the sixth seal brings us to the end of the tribulation. And in 3:15 Joel mentions in connection with Armageddon at the close of the tribulation the same celestial portents which precede the day of the Lord according to 2:30, 31. Even if the sixth seal came shortly after the beginning of the tribulation and remained identical with Joel’s portents, a considerable gap would still separate the rapture from the day of the Lord…
Since the day of the Lord will begin after the tribulation, there would be a gap of seven years between a pretribulational rapture and the day of the Lord. Such an interval would destroy any relevance of the day of the Lord to members of the Church living on earth, for they would have been translated long before the day of the Lord set in. Yet Paul writes, ‘But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day [of the Lord—see v. 2] should overtake you like a thief;…so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober – (1 Thess. 5:4, 6). Paul’s meaning is clear: upon the unsuspecting wicked the day of the Lord will come like a thief; upon the saints the day will not come like a thief, because they will be watching and therefore will not be surprised. But if the Church is to be removed years before the day begins, Paul’s exhortation to be alert for the day becomes meaningless. And what point is there in saying that the day will not come like a thief upon Christians, who are watching, if it will not come upon them at all? Since the day of the Lord will begin after the tribulation and since Christians will not be taken by surprise at the arrival of that day, the Church will have come through the tribulation.” (R. H. Gundry, Church and The Tribulation: A Biblical Examination of Posttribulation-ism, Kindle location 1532, highlighting and brackets added).
For whatever fault some will find with some of Dr. Gundry’s views and writings, the points he makes here are irrefutable. It is nothing less than contradictory to maintain that all those descriptors defining the “day of the Lord” can be about both before the beginning of the Tribulation Period and the end of that period at the second coming of Christ. Scripture itself makes it quite clear what and when this pivotal event will be, as Dr. Gundry points out.
An example of the blatant foolishness which the PTR adherents interpretations lead to becomes very apparent in their treatment of several passages, especially the following:
“Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
For the intellectually honest objective truth seeker, willing to put aside presuppositions (including previous indoctrination) and let the Word of God speak for itself (the Holy Spirit of Truth being the enlightener), this passage is really all anyone needs to answer the most controversial questions about what this “day of the Lord” is, and when the rapture will occur. First, there can be no doubt from the first verse that the subject of the passage is the rapture of the church: “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering unto Him.” Second, there should be no question that the second verse is still about the same subject as the first verse, and there is identifying it as “the day of the Lord”. While that in itself should be enough, if we let scripture interpret what this day of the Lord is (as discussed above), the passage goes on to make it unequivocally clear: “For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”
“It” obviously refers to that rapture of the church, of the first verse, which is the day of the Lord of the 2nd verse, which is what won’t come until three precursor events all named in the following have happened: 1) the apostasy; 2) the Antichrist is revealed; 3) the Antichrist commits the “abomination of desolation”, as prophesied by Daniel (9:27 and 11:32) and Jesus (Matthew 24:15). Even the PTR adherents, such as those cited above, recognize this pivotal “abomination of desolation” event as occurring at the midpoint of the Tribulation Period, concurring with Revelation 11. Thus, it couldn’t be made much clearer that this rapture of the church and beginning of the day of the Lord can’t happen until after this midpoint of the Tribulation Period.
However, apparently trying to get around this most obvious and explicit revelation on this key issue, the PTR advocates try to make it appear as though the subject changes from the first verse, the rapture of the church, to the second verse, the “day of the Lord” becoming the subject. Then, invoking their own derived definition of this “day of the Lord” they say that we are being told here what will happen during that Tribulation Period, all of which is included in that “day of the Lord” – so its no longer about the rapture of the church, they try to make us believe. Now we begin to see why they would come up with such a convoluted definition of this key phrase, as it is necessary here in this passage to make it agree with their pretribulation rapture theory.
It is very interesting that most of the writers of all the books about the pretribulation rapture do not really address this passage, the first 5 verses of 2 Thessalonians 2, but they go directly to the 7th verse. Taking it completely out of context they make it say that the church will be raptured before the Tribulation Period begins – which is almost the exact opposite of what the first 4 verses are so clearly saying, not to mention the fact that neither the church, nor the rapture is even mentioned in that key proof text, verse 7. If we go to the Bible Knowledge Commentary we have the following from Dr. Thomas Constable:
“From other New Testament revelation concerning this period of time it is believed that this will begin after the rapture of the church and will include the Tribulation and the Millennium.”
It is worth noting that he doesn’t cite any of those other passages to which he rather glibly makes reference – probably because they do not in fact exist, without heavy doses of misinterpretation. As demonstrated above, all the other references to this “day of the Lord” define and describe it as that day of judgment on the whole earth, which is to be fulfilled at the second coming of Christ, and not before then. However, he goes on with similar false statements and unsupportable claims, such as:
“It is clear that Paul had taught them a pretribulation Rapture.”
The reality is that not only is there not any evidence that Paul had taught them that, but in fact there isn’t any evidence that any of the early church leaders believed or taught that, though they did teach a rapture, and many believed it was eminent. The pretribulational part is unknown in biblical literature until the mid 19th century, when it became formalized as part of a new and revolutionary system of theology known as Dispensationalism (correcting Covenant and Reformed Theology). This was mostly associated with John Darby and the Plymouth Brethren, and was popularized by C. I. Scofield in his Scofield Reference Bible, which was very popular in the early to mid 20th century. Again, Constable’s comments are at best mistaken, and misleading.
However, he then goes on to essentially ignore what the text actually says, that this is about the rapture of the church (which he has admitted regarding the 1st verse), which is also associated with the “day of the Lord” of the 2nd verse. Instead he tries to tell it is just about “the judgment of the day of the Lord” – which happens at the end of the Tribulation Period at the second coming of Christ. Thus, according to his explanation, the three precursors named there, the apostasy or “rebellion”, and the Antichrist appearing and setting himself up as God in God’s temple, are just said to happen before “the judgments of the day of the Lord”. This is deceptive, because we know that the statement itself is true, but it is not what Paul is telling us in this passage, as he is representing it. This rewording fits with his presupposed pretribulation Rapture, but it is what is known as eisegesis – adding something to the text which isn’t actually there. Paul did not write that the judgements of the day of the Lord will be preceded by those three developments, leaving out completely the rapture of the church part – which he could have written if that was what God intended and inspired him to write. The difference between what Paul did write there under divine inspiration, and what Constable is saying he wrote, is stark, and very consequential. What we are told there, if we will let it speak for itself, is completely incompatible with, and in fact refutes the pretribulation Rapture theory. It is, however, consistent with a posttribulational Prewrath Rapture interpretation.
The reality is that we can take their most cherished proof text, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, which when taken out of context as they do, tells us nothing about the timing of the rapture there (unless we cross reference such passages such as 1 Corinthian 15:51-51 and the last trumpet of Revelation 11:15-19 telling us when the resurrection will occur – which connections they also deny). But if we don’t take it out of context as they do, we find that the next few verses indicate that the timing is Prewrath, not pretribulational. Kept in its immediate context it reads as follows:
“ 15 For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words. 5 Now as to the periods and times, brothers and sisters, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord is coming just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, so that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then, let’s not sleep as others do, but let’s be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let’s be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.” (1Thessalonians 4:15-5:10)
Recognizing that the chapter break is not in the inspired scripture (as all Bible scholars do), we find that those favorite PTR proof texts in chapter 4 are just part of a whole discussion of the subject, which continues through most of the 5th chapter. In fact, as explicitly stated there, it is chapter 5 that begins to deal with the timing question, not directly addressed in chapter 4: “5:1Now as to the periods and times …” And the period and time is called, again, “the day of the Lord” which is referred to metaphorically as “coming just like a thief in the night”. Then again, similar to the passage discussed above in 2 Thessalonians 2, this day of the Lord event is described as the time when, “While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction will come upon them like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” It is that day of judgment on the unsaved world (just as it is in almost every instance where this same “day of the Lord” phrase is used), which even the PTR advocates identify as the second coming of Christ which will occur at the end of the Tribulation Period, not before it begins. It is also referred to throughout scripture as “the day of wrath”, or “the day of the Lord’s wrath”, never as the whole Tribulation Period, and certainly not the whole Millennial kingdom age.
However, the fact that they can attempt to make both of these very revealing passages somehow support their pretribulation rapture view, while arguing against the Posttribulation Prewrath view, is very telling indeed. Their arguments at best seem very disingenuous, certainly only driven by their a priori presuppositions, associated with some of their tenets of Dispensational Theology, and a strong preference for the belief that the church will not have to go through the Tribulation Period (the latter being very understandable).
One might just want to consider for a moment what they have 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 saying if we accept their definition of the “day of the Lord”, that it is the whole 7-year Tribulation Period and the 1000-year Millennium. It would then read as follows:
“Don’t let anyone deceive you, for the [whole 7-year Tribulation Period and the 1000-year Millennium] will not come until after the apostasy and the Antichrist is revealed and sets himself up in the temple of God, committing the abomination of desolation at the midpoint of that 7-year Tribulation Period.” (PTR interpretation)
So, being a little facetious, they have nailed it – the whole Tribulation Period, and the 1000-year Millennium, all happen after the mid-point of the Tribulation Period – seriously? But, that is what they are actually saying.
So here again, we have just looked at two more passages, which when taken in context and allowed to speak for themselves, identify what is intended by the same expression, “the day of the Lord”, occurring in both. If they had started with letting scripture interpret scripture in the first place, as demonstrated above, those very key references would have clearly identified for them when this rapture of the church will occur, which would have saved us all this incredible confusion and controversy.
It would also save so many Christians from what will someday catch them very much by surprise, possibly even leading to their own apostasy, as they will not be able to recognize the Antichrist, and thus his mark of the beast, because they are so sure they won’t even be here when he does arrive. Furthermore, it would prevent some from being caught as if by the “thief in the night”, who as unbelievers will be waiting to accept Christ, believing that they will have another chance after the pretribulational rapture of the church to accept Christ then, if it all really all happens.
This is not to mention that it is unrealistic to expect people to be vigilant, watching and waiting expectantly, preparing themselves for something they don’t even believe will happen to them – Christ’s “day of the Lord” return. As Dr. Gundry points out in the citation above, “Since the day of the Lord will begin after the tribulation, there would be a gap of seven years between a pretribulational rapture and the day of the Lord. Such an interval would destroy any relevance of the day of the Lord to members of the Church living on earth, for they would have been translated long before the day of the Lord sets in.”
The escapist teaching of the Pretribulation Rapture view, “don’t worry we will be out of here before all this bad stuff happens”, is not a great motivator to be living differently in light of that event. Instead, it greatly lessens the impact of such messages, and raises the serious and legitimate question, why do we need to know about all this end time prophecy stuff, and what difference does it make to us since we won’t even be here? How will those who hold to such beliefs so strongly, not be very surprised, and caught off guard, when the dreadful events and the persecution described in Revelation, as well as the demands of the Antichrist, become a very present reality? How will they not be unprepared like the 5 foolish virgins of Matthew 25, when Christ, the bride groom actually does arrive? It matters whether or not we get this right. Playing the games men are playing with scripture will have serious consequences, and is having serious consequences, both for the individuals involved, and for the church as a whole.
end times revisited 