{"id":19109,"date":"2026-06-20T05:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T09:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christskingdom.org\/staging\/8402\/?p=19109"},"modified":"2026-06-20T05:23:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T09:23:41","slug":"the-rapture-why-its-pre-wrath-but-not-pre-trib-pt-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christskingdom.org\/staging\/8402\/the-rapture-why-its-pre-wrath-but-not-pre-trib-pt-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rapture: Why It\u2019s Pre-Wrath But Not Pre-Trib \u2013 Pt. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Rapture: Why It\u2019s Pre-Wrath But Not Pre-Trib \u2013 Pt. 1<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"By Steven J. Hogan<\/p>

~ A Saturday Morning Post #369 ~\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0

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There\u2019s a lot of confusion about the timing of the rapture, whether it\u2019s at the beginning (pre-trib), the midpoint (mid-trib), or the end (post-trib) of Dan. 70th<\/sup>\u00a0week – or whether it\u2019s sometime during the last half (pre-wrath) of this prophecy-packed 7-year period. Some even joke about it saying that it\u2019s pan-trib, that it will all pan out in the end. But it\u2019s no laughing matter. We must know the truth – and we must be sober and alert. 1 Thess. 5:4-10

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Can you imagine what it will be like for Christians who are mistaken about the timing of Christ\u2019s return, especially those who believe in the pre-trib position, who assume He is returning at the start of Dan. 70th<\/sup>\u00a0week? They think they should be in heaven but are still on earth, and then: they are hearing about or experiencing birth pains – wars, famines, etc.; the world is increasingly lawless; that devilish man, the Antichrist, is revealed, and he is persecuting Jews and Christians; they are forced to worship the image of the beast, the Antichrist, or else be killed; they must take the mark of the beast to openly buy and sell; family and fellow church members turn them in to the authorities. Unsuspecting believers will be shocked, terribly upset, and in great fear, wondering what\u2019s happening. Without question, it will be the most Satanic, traumatic, hellacious time in history.\u00a0\u201cWoe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Rev. 12:12

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I promise you, extremely difficult days are coming! But those who ascribe to the pre-trib theory do not understand this – they think they will be out of here before these things happen. In these last years before Christ\u2019s return, we need discernment and clarity with regard to the truths of His coming. God does not want any of His children to be surprised, to be caught off guard, but to have convictions, to clearly know what He says about the timing of His Son\u2019s return to rapture the church. 2 Thess. 2:1-5

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The primary view among Christians as to the timing of the rapture is that it\u2019s pre-trib, that it\u2019s at the beginning of Dan. 70th<\/sup>\u00a0week, before this so-called 7-year tribulation period. But I am 100% convinced that it\u2019s pre-wrath, that we go through a time of great-tribulation, but are then delivered from the wrath of God that\u2019s poured out on earth. So why is the pre-trib theory incorrect? Why is it error? Why is the rapture pre-wrath and not pre-trib, or for that matter, any other position? In His Word, God tells us why? In these next three posts, I will be looking at several reasons, showing and proving that the rapture occurs after we go through great tribulation but before God pours out His wrath. Let\u2019s begin. \u00a0

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  1. There is only one coming of Christ.\u00a0<\/strong>The first error of those believing in a pre-trib rapture is that there are two comings, or a 2-phase coming, a secret coming of Christ at the beginning of Dan. 70th<\/sup>week to rapture the Christians, and one at the end when He redeems a remnant of Jews and is said to rescue a large group of newly saved Christians. But the Bible says there is only coming, not two (Matt. 24:3, 27; 1 Cor. 15:23; 1 Th. 4:15, 5:23; 2 Th. 2:1, Jms. 5:7, etc.). This word coming is singular, and is defined as arrival and consequent presence. Christ comes back and is in charge, is orchestrating all that happens on earth, from the rapture to the wrath to the salvation of the Jews to the defeat of the Antichrist to the chaining of Satan to the setting up of His 1000-year kingdom.

    The rapture<\/em><\/a> occurs at the coming of Christ,<\/strong>\u00a0and it\u2019s the first event to occur at His coming. Believers on earth will see Christ appearing in the clouds and immediately be raptured and gathered to Him (Matt. 24:30-31). Paul tells us,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord<\/u>, will not precede those who have fallen sleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout\u2026\u00a0we who are alive and remain will be caught up<\/u>\u00a0together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air\u201d<\/em> (1 Th. 4:15-17). Equating vs. 15 with vs. 17 makes it unmistakably, unquestionably clear that Christians are raptured, are caught up at the coming of the Lord, and not at any other time.

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    Alan Kurshener explains it this way:\u00a0\u201cPaul teaches that those who survive (\u2018who are left until the coming of the Lord\u2019) live right up to the Parousia. This shows that there is no gap of time between the rapture and His coming; the rapture is the initial event of the Parousia of Christ\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(<\/span>Antichrist Before the Day of the Lord<\/u>, p. 76). 2 Thess. 2:1 also tells us that we are gathered to Christ at His coming. So the rapture is not separate from Christ\u2019s coming, but is the first event to occur at His coming.

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    The rapture takes place sometime during the last half of Dan. 70th<\/sup> week. <\/strong>You see, the Antichrist is revealed at the midpoint of this week (Dan. 9:27), and 2 Th. 2:8-9 states that Christ\u2019s coming is after the Antichrist\u2019s coming. Since the rapture occurs at Christ\u2019s coming, we can conclude that it occurs after the midpoint, sometime during the 2<\/span>nd<\/sup>\u00a0half of this\u00a0week. This Scriptural order of events is also seen in Matt. 24:15-31. The abomination of desolation, caused by the Antichrist, happens at the midpoint of Dan. 70<\/span>th<\/sup>\u00a0week (vs. 15). After the midpoint, there\u2019s great tribulation but it\u2019s cut short (vss. 21-22, 29), and then there\u2019s Christ\u2019s coming, and the rapture and gathering of believers to Himself (vss. 30-31).\u00a0<\/span>So there\u2019s Christ\u2019s coming, and the rapture occurs at His coming, and His coming takes place at an unknown time during the last half, the last 3\u00bd years of this week.
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    1. A series of observable events<\/em><\/a> must occur before Christ\u2019s coming and the rapture.\u00a0<\/strong>The second error of those who believe in a pre-trib rapture is that it is imminent, is that it can happen at any moment, that no signs or prophesied events need to occur before the rapture of the church. This is incorrect for Christ tells us that many things must happen before the rapture, and that there is a particular generation of Christians who see all these things take place.

      These verses generally state that the rapture is not imminent:<\/strong>\u00a0Heb. 10:25 –\u00a0<\/span>\u201c\u2026 encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0A generation of Christians know these events must occur before Christ\u2019s coming and then see them happen. And they are encouraged for it means their Savior\u2019s return is soon, and they are to encourage others with this good news.

      \u201cWhile they are saying, \u2018Peace and safety!\u2019, then destruction will come upon them suddenly\u2026 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief, for you are all sons of light\u2026 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(1 Th. 5:4-6). The story is about a person who is asleep and caught off guard when the thief comes. The lesson is that non-Christians will be surprised when Christ returns. But as Christians, we are not to be surprised, we are to be awake.<\/span>\u00a0<\/em>We have been told that Christ is coming, and we know the signs showing us that His coming is drawing near. And as believers we are to be watchmen, we are to be sober and alert, and observe all these prophesied events occurring in the world around us.<\/span><\/span><\/li><\/ol>

      These verses specifically state that the rapture is not imminent: <\/strong>\u201cWhen you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(Matt. 24:33-34). This is referring to that last generation of Christians who see all these prophesied events take place, and know that Christ\u00a0\u201cis near, right at the door\u201d<\/em>, that their \u201credemption<\/em>\u00a0(physical)\u00a0is drawing near\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Lk. 21:28). Jesus, in Matt. 24:4-30, lists\u00a0\u201call these things\u201d<\/em>, 22 different things that must happen before He comes back. And Jesus is detailed and chronological. We read about false teaching, increasing wars and earthquakes, apostasy, betrayal, abomination of desolation, preaching, great persecution, martyrdom, heavenly signs, etc. Rev. 6:1-8

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      What strikes me is the exclamatory, emphatic verse that follows vss. 33-34 –\u00a0\u201cHeaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away\u201d <\/em>(Matt. 24:35). Yes, heaven and earth will pass away, impossible as that may seem.\u00a0But the words<\/u>\u00a0that tell us that Christ is coming back, and that all these things will happen before His coming, and that there is a generation of believers who see all these things (vss. 4-30),\u00a0will never pass away.<\/u>\u00a0Jesus wants you to be assured, to be absolutely convinced that He is telling the truth about His 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0coming – and He wants this sequence of events to be firmly set in your mind, and know that they will occur during Dan. 70th<\/sup>\u00a0week. Luke 21:28-33

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      Pre-trib believers want us to think we won\u2019t see any of these things happen before the rapture, but just the opposite is true, for all these things must occur before this glorious event, and a generation of believers will see them come to pass. And God wants all Christians, especially that last generation to know these events, and to be 100% convinced they will happen, and to be excited about Christ\u2019s coming, and to be expecting Him and looking forward to seeing Him. 1 Thess. 1:9-10, 4:18

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      Pre-trib thinkers wrongly believe they will be raptured at the beginning of Dan. 70th<\/sup>\u00a0week, and that Matt. 24:32-34 (this last generation of believers who\u00a0\u201csee all these things\u201d<\/em>) is referring to a large, distinct group of Christians who will be saved during that 70th<\/sup>\u00a0week, but that is just not true. God never says that. And it\u2019s their way of putting the pieces of the prophetic puzzle together, but they are wrong. They are trying to force square pegs into round holes, but they don\u2019t fit.

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      I have talked about how the rapture is not pre-trib, not before this so-called 7-year tribulation period, but that it\u2019s pre-wrath, that it happens sometime during the last half of Dan. 70th<\/sup>\u00a0week. I have also talked about how Christ\u2019s coming is not imminent, that it can\u2019t happen at any moment, and that there\u2019s one last generation of Christians who will see all these prophesied events occur, and who will know with certainty that Christ\u2019s coming is right at the door, will happen very, very soon.

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      In the next two posts, I will continue sharing with you why the pre-trib position is wrong, is error.
      * I will explain that the 70th<\/sup>\u00a0week is not a 7-year period of tribulation.
      * I will talk about how the rapture does not take place before Matt. 24:4.
      * I will look at how Matt. 24 is specifically speaking to a last generation of Christians, the final\u00a0\u201cyou\u201d<\/em>.
      * I will explain to you that the church is talked about after Rev. 3.
      * I I will show you that Rev. 6-7 and Matt. 24 go hand in hand, and need to be looked at together.
      * I will talk about how pre-trib believers focus on certain \u201crapture\u201d<\/em> verses, but they must connect these verses with many others on Christ\u2019s coming that relate to the rapture.

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      \u201cI, Jesus, have sent the angel to testify to you these things for the churches.<\/u>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Revelation 22:16

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      P.S. A relevant post on this subject that I encourage you to read is: \u201cThe Pre-Trib Rapture Teaching is False.\u201d<\/em> <\/a>This is one about your heavenly Father: \u201cThe Father\u2019s Love for His Children\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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