John Nelson Darby (1800–1882) was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. The pre-tribulation rapture theology is his alone and was popularized extensively in the 1830s by him and the Plymouth Brethren, and further popularized in the United States in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible.(1)
So says Wikipedia.
1. In 1,800 years of Christian history, no one had ever dreamed of such a strange theory
Darby's doctrine of the Rapture, and we can call it his because nobody before him in 1,800 years of Christian history had ever dreamed of such an idea, which fact should put a large red question mark against it right from the beginning. Any Christian doctrine that pops up in history without a scintilla of previous history is bound to be suspect, and I can think here of another doctrine that merits similar condemnation. It involved a man hallucinating in a corn field. But that’s for another day.
I want to offer a word of advice to any of you who might be tempted to concoct a doctrine that no one has ever heard of before in the history of Christianity, and the advice is this. Make it as complicated as possible. Make it so complicated that the average church member falls at the first hurdle and is left staring up at you, the world's most astute theologian, in awe and wonder at your immense knowledge and intelligence. They will be loath to question your doctrine for fear of appearing stupid. You will be left gloating in glory.
That's what happens in both of these cases mentioned above, doctrines that no one had ever heard of before. All accepted Christian teachings, like the Second Coming of Christ, Justification by Faith, the Ten Commandments, and so on, have at least one clear passage devoted to their teaching. But this is not so with the Rapture, there is nothing anywhere in scripture to describe or teach it.
But let’s outline the Rapture doctrine before we get into its scriptural basis, because I am sure there will be many of us who only have a foggy idea of what it entails.
The Pretribulation Rapture teaching says that Jesus will resurrect believers and rapture them and living believers from earth to heaven before the great future tribulation, which is said to start seven years before the second advent of Christ. It says this is an unexpected event (because Jesus failed to convince the Jews) to allow Jews a second chance to accept salvation and to fulfil the prophecies to the Jewish nation. The Jews will live through the great tribulation and some will accept the Messiah and be saved. Then Jesus will come a third time to resurrect believers who passed through the tribulation (which adds a third resurrection), and they will rule with him on earth for the Millennium. Then the righteous will go to heaven for eternity with him.
There appear to be many variations on this teaching. Some say only Christian believers are resurrected and raptured at this time, and Old Testament believers and those among the Jews who are given a second chance and accept Jesus during the tribulation, are resurrected when Jesus and the saints return from heaven after the seven-years of tribulation. Some say the Holy Spirit will not be present during the tribulation, so those who pass through it will have to take their chances without the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Which is a little like those amongst us who say that after probation closes there will be a group who will have to stand in perfection of Christian character before God, without the help of the Holy Spirit.
This means that not only would believers be resurrected twice, but as I understand it, the Jews would be resurrected to live through the tribulation and/or the Millennium, and have a second chance at salvation. But let’s leave the definition of the rapture at that for now.
The reason that drove Darby and others to devise a secret rapture, and a period to fulfil the OT prophecies about Israel, and to give Israel a second chance of salvation, is because they misunderstood what scripture is teaching about Israel. We will look at this issue another time.
2. Will Jews Get a Second Chance to Accept Salvation?
Do Jews have a special resurrection before the righteous are raised? If they did, it would amount to something like Mr. Putin's Special Military Operation, which is masquerading as some sort of a limited skirmish, when in fact it is a full-blown war.
In fact, nobody is resurrected before the righteous, according to scripture. "The dead in Christ will rise first," Paul says, and it will be a full-blown event.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NRSV) — 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Let's look first at one of the three main passages used to teach the Rapture.
Matthew 24:14 (NRSV) — 14 And this good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations; and then the end will come.
This text is said by Rapture proponents to be the time when the Jews will be resurrected and be preached to during the Millennium. The problem is that Jesus doesn't anywhere intimate that it is the Jews particularly that are being preached to here. Jesus himself preached to nobody but the Jews during his ministry, before he commissioned the disciples to preach to the Gentiles.
When a Canaanite woman pestered him about her demon-possessed daughter, Jesus said, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matt. 15:24) So the gospel was preached to Israel and will be till the end of this age, by the church.
In fact, in Matthew 24:14 Jesus says that the gospel will be preached to all nations, not to Jews alone at any time, and then the end will come. Then if we turn to Matthew 28 we have a passage that to all intents looks almost identical to this text.
Matthew 28:18–20 (NRSV) — 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
According to Jesus, his disciples (the church), are to make disciples of all nations, till the end of the age. How else would you make disciples without preaching the gospel to them? This is the same basic teaching as Matthew 24:14, with no intimation at all that the Jews are neglected or especially singled out in any way. And it is clearly the gospel of the kingdom because Jesus says that 'all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me,' so it is the same gospel of the kingdom.
As for the Jews of all history being offered a second chance to accept salvation, we only need to quote Hebrews 9.
Hebrews 9:26–28 (NRSV) — 26 …But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
It is appointed for mortals to die once. We only get one crack at this, just as all Jewish people get one crack at it, and after that the judgement, when Christ comes.
God called and chose Israel as his special people. He laboured with them over hundreds of years. Why would they, as opposed to all heathen nations, be offered a second chance? Many, many in Israel accepted God's grace, as testified to in the OT and as the book of Acts testifies. Any in Israel who did not accept God's calling have had chance enough.
3. Who are the Taken and who are Left Behind?
Matthew 24:36–41 (NRSV) — 36 "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.
Jesus compares his return to Noah's flood. He says they were going about their normal business until the flood 'swept them all away.' So they were taken in judgement by the flood. Then Jesus says it will be the same at his second coming, 'one will be taken and one will be left.'
The problem is, this is the opposite of what Rapture proponents say. They say the one who is taken is raptured away. Jesus says the ones taken in the flood were destroyed. Those left behind were saved in the Arc. We want to be among the ones who are left for Jesus to resurrect, not among those who will be swept away to destruction.
4. Tribulation is what Jesus’ life was Preparing Us for
The Rapture teaching says the church is raptured so that they don't have to go through the tribulation. The thing is, everything that Jesus teaches in this passage and elsewhere in the gospels, is about helping us prepare to make it through the tribulation, because we will go through it.
If we read the passage from 24:15-30, there is no indication that the church is missing out on the tribulation. Let's read it,
Matthew 24:15–30 (NRSV) — 15 "So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; 17 the one on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; 18 the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. 19 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, 'Look! Here is the Messiah!' or 'There he is!'—do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Take note, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, 'Look! He is in the wilderness,' do not go out. If they say, 'Look! He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. 29 "Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see 'the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven' with power and great glory.
The church is caught right in the middle of the tribulation and the only escape is when we see 'the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.' So the church is definitely in the thick of the great tribulation here.
Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John (in Revelation), all teach that we go through great tribulation, and they are preparing us for that experience. Jesus went through the greatest tribulation of all, and Paul, Peter and John all followed him into great tribulation.
The single fact of Jesus coming from heaven to earth to live as a human is tribulation enough. But of course, that was only the beginning of his suffering, because, as he repeatedly told his disciples,
Luke 9:21–22 (NRSV) — 21 He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, 22 saying, "The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised."
Jesus told them this till he was blue in the face but they seemed unable to hear him. The body of Christ, the church, has to prepare to go through tribulation, just as its master did. That is what Scripture repeatedly teaches.
Paul suffered greatly in his ministry. He told the Corinthians,
2 Corinthians 11:23–28 (NRSV) — 23 Are they ministers of Christ? I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. 24 Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. 28 And, besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.
And what about Peter and John? Peter ended his life upside-down on a Cross, and John was exiled to Patmos for his testimony about Jesus and likely died in a pot of boiling oil. Suffering and tribulation are the lot of Christians until Jesus comes.
According to Rapture proponents, God won’t let his church go through the tribulation. This may be linked to an American Prosperity slant on the doctrine. This is often a claim made by Rapture proponents, that Christians don’t go through the tribulation, but try telling Christians in places like Afghanistan, China, or Iran today, and in Rome during NT times, that Christians don’t go through tribulation. Why did God allow Paul to suffer huge tribulation and finally be beheaded? Why did he allow Peter to be crucified upside-down? Christians have always gone through tribulation, so why would they not go through the last tribulation?
Suffering and tribulation are the lot of Christians until Jesus comes.
5. There is no Pre-tribulation Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (NRSV) — 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 5:1–5 (NRSV) — 1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! 4 But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; 5 for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.
According to the Rapture theory, there would be no Christians there at that time. They would have been Raptured 7 years prior to this. Why would Paul say that they would be surprised, as with a thief arriving in the night? They would not be present on earth and if they only needed to calculate the 7 years till the Second Coming, it would not be a surprise of any kind.
There is nothing in these passages about a secret Rapture before the Second coming of Christ. The event here is loud and spectacular.
6. 13 Parallels between Matthew 24 & 1 Thessalonians 4 & 5
Everyone agrees that Jesus’ return in Matthew 24 is after the tribulation. We believe that 1 Thessalonians is talking about the same event as Matthew 24, and we should notice the many parallels here.
G.K. Beal's commentary on 1 Thessalonians gives 13 parallels between Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4 & 5, which are pivotal.
1) Christ returns, in both passages.
2) From heaven, in both.
3) Accompanied by angels, in both.
4) With the Trumpet of God. It's the only time Jesus ever mentions the trumpet of God. It's the only time Paul ever mentions the trumpet of God. The trumpet is always associated with the last judgment. It's the time of the 2nd Coming, resurrection and the last judgment.
5) Believers are gathered to Christ.
6) It happens in the clouds, in both texts.
7) The time is unknown. Not even Jesus knows the day or the hour.
8) Both texts say that day will be like a thief arriving.
9) Unbelievers are unaware of the impending judgment.
10) Judgement comes as labour pains upon an expectant mother.
11) Believers are not deceived.
12) Believers are called to be watchful in both texts.
13) There is a warning against spiritual drunkenness, in both texts.
It is quite clear Paul is referencing Jesus' description of his second coming here. They are the same event, no doubt about it. Paul is not introducing a different event; he is commenting on Jesus Olivet discourse. Notice the incredible unity between them. Beale’s highlighting of these parallels clinches the argument that the Rapture is untenable.
This is a rapture, no doubt, but not the one John Darby dreamed up. It's the event of being caught up to meet Jesus in the clouds at his second coming, and there is only one second coming. This event is anything but secret, featuring ‘a shout of command, the archangel calling out in a loud voice and with God's last trumpet sounding.’ And that doesn’t count the majestic picture of Christ with the millions of angels of heaven descending to earth like a mighty cloud. No one will mistake that event. It will be highly audible and visible.
There is also a technical term Paul uses in 1 Thess. 4:17 that tells its own story. It is ἀπάντησις (to meet the Lord), a specific term used in Paul's day of a town committee going out of the city to meet an incoming dignitary and accompany him back to town. It only occurs 3 other times in the NT and on two of those occasions it is referring to the bridal party coming out to meet the groom to welcome him back to the home for the wedding party (Matt. 25:1, 6). And the other time it is referring to a party coming out to meet and greet Paul as he nears Rome after his long journey (Acts 28:15). So when we rise 'to meet the Lord in the air', we then accompany him back to earth where he will live with us forever.
7) 3 Key Greek Terms of Jesus’ 2nd Coming all appear in 2 Thessalonians
There are three Greek terms used of Jesus coming, παρουσία ('appearing', 'coming', used 15x of Jesus coming), ἀποκάλυψις ('revealed' used 5x), ἐπιφάνεια ('epiphany', 'appearing' used 5x), and they are collectively used 25 times about Jesus Second Coming.
All three of these terms are explicitly used in 2 Thessalonians 1:7 & 2:8 of a post-tribulation coming of Jesus, and the word παρουσία ('appearing') is the same word Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians 4:15.
They are describing the same event at the end of the tribulation. It's the same event Paul calls the 'day of the Lord' in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, it's the Second Coming, plain and simple.
2 Thessalonians 2:1–2 (NRSV) — 1 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.
The 'day of the Lord' is the same day of judgement mentioned in the OT as here. It's the day Jesus comes.
In 2 Thessalonians 1:5-8 Paul says that the church is suffering affliction.
2 Thessalonians 1:5–8 (NRSV) — 5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering. 6 For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
This passage says the church is already suffering tribulation in Paul's day. This passage allows no 7-year gap where the church is spared from the tribulation. Because it says that the time of the relief of the church is the time of the coming of Christ and the judgement on the wicked. It's a singular event with no 7-year gap in the middle.
8) The Last Trumpet of 1 Cor.15, Matt. 24, & I Thess. 4 & 5
1 Corinthians 15:50–58 (NRSV) — 50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Paul says that all this will happen at the last trumpet.' Our mortal bodies will be changed into bodies that will not die and will not perish. The wicked will perish at the 'last trumpet' because that heralds the judgement. It's the same trumpet from Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4, it's the second coming and judgment on the wicked. You can't read it any other way. Well only with great difficulty.
9) How Many Times Does Jesus Return? How many Resurrections?
The Bible only talks about Jesus’ first coming and one single return following this. Anyone who adds to that should suffer the curse of the book of Revelation, I feel.
Revelation 22:18 "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book."
However, many still try to do that by adding a third coming of Christ. They say Jesus comes to resurrect and rapture the saints (they obviously have to be resurrected before they are Raptured), and he then returns again after 7 years to resurrect the tribulation saints a second time!
Scripture only sees one resurrection for the righteous, at his second coming. The wicked, on the other hand, die at his Coming, and remain that way until the Millennium is complete, at which time they will be raised to face the executive judgement when they will die the second death and perish forever (Rev. 20:11-15).
Jesus' Coming is 'the day of the Lord' and there is only one, and only one resurrection of the righteous.
10) Two things must happen before the Lord returns
2 Thessalonians 2:1–3 (NRSV) — 1 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction.
The Thessalonians are obviously confused about the events surrounding the 'coming of the Lord,' and Paul sets them straight on this. He says there will be a major falling away among Christians, and that the antichrist will be revealed, before the day of judgement when the Lord comes. Surely, if Paul was a pre-tribulation Rapture proponent, he would have reminded the Thessalonians that they needn't worry, that the Rapture would save them from all this.
At the very least we would expect to find an outline of the events around the Rapture somewhere in the NT, but it is ubiquitously absent.
In actuality, Paul talks like a post-tribulationist. If the Rapture comes first – then the rebellion – then the man of lawlessness appears – then the day of judgement comes, why not say that the reason we will know the day of judgement has not arrived is that the Rapture has not yet happened? But he does not say that, he only mentions the rebellion and the lawless one coming first, and not the Rapture.
Conclusion
Belief in a secret Rapture necessitates a belief in many untenable positions, such as Tribulation saints who must become Christians without the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and that this group are not part of the Church or the body of Christ, according to Rapture proponents. They must of necessity then, become second-class saved believers in the age to come, another untenable position. Then, according to this theory, the coming of the Lord refers to two separate comings. No such thing is taught in Scripture.
Another logical consequence of a secret Rapture is that there will be separate resurrections for the Church saints and the Tribulation saints, when the Bible never says any such thing. And this necessitates Church saints going to heaven for seven years, then returning to be raised again at Jesus’ Coming!
Perhaps strangest of all is that those who go through the tribulation (Jews or others), have a second chance to accept salvation, which happens to no other people in history.
These untenable positions are necessitated because someone posited something no one in 1,800 years of Christian teaching had ever dreamed of, a secret Rapture.
A clear reading of scripture shows Christ coming the first time to die on Calvary for our sins, and returning a second time to resurrect the righteous for eternity. It teaches nothing about a secret Rapture before his Second Coming. To get such a teaching scripture must be subjected to all manner of strange interpretations and hermeneutics which work against plain biblical principles at every turn.
I have listed 10 points in refutation of this strange doctrine, some more cogent than others. Here in summary are four arguments that are absolute killers for the Pretribulation Rapture doctrine.
The 13 parallels between Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4 & 5 show they are both talking about the same event, the Second Coming of Christ and judgment of the wicked.
The fact that the 3 key terms used for Jesus Second Coming and that the Last Trumpet always prefigures the Second Coming and judgement, and that they all appear in 1 Thessalonians, show unmistakably that Paul’s focus is on the Second Coming/judgment.
And finally, Hebrews tells us plainly that no mortal gets a second chance to accept Jesus’ sacrifice, and his life and teaching was preparing his disciples for tribulation, not making a way for them to side-step it. The Rapture is clearly untenable.
I would like us to return to an earlier passage which is crystal clear, both about the fact that Christ appears only twice and that our salvation is predicated on our decision regarding his first appearance to offer sacrifice for our sins.
Hebrews 9:26–28 (NRSV) — 26 …But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Christ appeared once to remove sin and will appear a second time to save those waiting for him. That’s the totality of scriptural teaching on the subject. The secret Rapture is untenable.
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