This is Part Three of my series: Pre-Trib Rapture Defense Offense. See Part One and Part Two.
Pretribulationism is a lie!
Last time I talked about bad old John Darby who caused havoc by inventing the pretrib rapture. The goes that Darby influenced Scofield, who wrote a contagious Study Bible. Thus pretrib spread like a plague causing hand-wringing among concerned non-pretribbers.
We’re often warned about dividing over non-essentials. Yet, given grave statements made by non-pretrib leaders (noted in Part Two), pretribulationism is presumably something non-pretribbers should actively and rightly divide over. And they do.
Recently I conducted a tongue-in-cheek Facebook experiment where I griped about being tired of people labeling my eschatology a lie. Though I didn’t mention pretrib, everyone knew what I meant. I have non-pretrib Facebook friends who commented. None said that, though they disagreed with my view, calling it a lie is wrong. They never do. This is partly because they think that…
Pretribulationism leaves believers unprepared for the Megas Thlipsis
You know someone is on a mission when they jump on a forum to talk about the difference between tribulation (thlipsis) and God’s wrath (orge). I was both impressed and intimidated when I got my first thlipsis-orge lecture years ago. You’ll be informed that they’re not synonymous; Christians aren’t promised exemption from thlipsis – only God’s wrath.
There’s nothing mysterious about thlipsis. It means affliction, anguish and persecution etc. We know from John 16:33 to expect it in this world. Revelation 1:9; 2:9 indicate that the church was experiencing it during John’s day. Romans 2:8-9 clearly shows a connection between orge and thlipsis. They’re not mutually exclusive as some think. One will be a product of the other. A person suffering God’s wrath will experience thlipsis.
The church has historically experienced tribulations, and martyrdom. Christians are being killed right now in various parts of the world. If the Lord tarries much longer, martyrdom may come to Western nations. In this world we must expect thlipsis. One could even say that it is imminent.
Non-pretribbers generally focus on the Megas Thlipsis – sometimes (IMO erroneously) referred to as “Antichrist’s Great Tribulation.” They assume God’s wrath isn’t present at this point; therefore believers aren’t exempt from it. Given what the church has always experienced, there’s no reason to think that there’s no persecution of believers before the Great Tribulation. Moreover Paul tells us that the Lawless One is God’s judgment on the world (2 Thess 2:8-12).
From typical responses to questions I’ve asked, I have the impression that “preparation” is focused on acknowledging future “signs” of Christ’s coming; and expectation of being in the Megas Thlipsis if the Lord returns in our lifetime. Often they imagine pretribbers will become confused and capitulate-apostatize when the Antichrist arrives before Christ comes for the church.
Yet even secular people have some (albeit faulty) understanding about the Mark of the Beast 666 etc. It’s a big stretch to claim pretribbers will be biblically confused. It’s not as if we avoid reading the icky parts of prophecy because we think we won’t be here. That would be plain silly.
But just in case someone isn’t clued in yet:
Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Rev 14:9-10
As for capitulation – let me be blunt – this is plain old virtue signaling, elevating the non-pretribber to some form of super-saint status over the pretribber.
I’ve noted inconsistencies in criticisms of pretribulationism. Some years ago I had a discussion with an individual who contended that pretribbers were unprepared to face the Antichrist. When I pushed him on how he personally prepared, he divulged that he lived in Canada. The response was anti-climactic.
As it turns out, he was an avid follower of one of the presenters of the Left Behind or Led Astray? film. This presenter chided pastors who failed to prepare the sheep for the coming of the Antichrist and Great Tribulation. Ironically this same person limits the Islamic Antichrist’s realm to the Middle East and surrounding regions. Is his Canadian reader adequately prepared if the theory ends up being wrong?
Bias against pretribulationism was manifest in one article (from a prominent website) asserting that belief in imminence actually bred complacency because of human nature! This goes against the advice of people like Charles Spurgeon, Alfred Edersheim and Robert Murray M’Cheyne, who encouraged saints to live their lives as if Christ could return any moment and possibly catch them sleeping (Mark 13:34-37; Luke 12:35-48).
John MacArthur agrees with Spurgeon and co. He writes in Slave:
Whether by death or rapture, every believer will one day report to the heavenly Master for evaluation and reward…The fear of His [God’s] displeasure, counterbalanced by the promise of His reward, is a powerful motivation for enduring faithfulness. ~ Page 184
If the pretribulationist is under constraints of “human nature” then what of posttribulationists expecting signs, yet not willing to provide details of their preparation for impending tribulation? Are they miraculously exempt from human nature because of their posttrib view?
Can you trust the preparation-through-expectation view? I know I can’t! I spent years in the New Age; years reading self-help stuff. It didn’t get me far. Maybe I was a hard case. Show me how to place trust and faith in someone infinitely more powerful than myself. That’s what I want. See John 10:28; Rom 8:38-39; Phil 1:6.
Voddie Baucham addressed the issues of faith in context of persecution in a talk delivered to the 2019 Shepherd’s Conference: Faithful in the Midst of Persecution. Sadly, not too many people will listen to this important 50 minute presentation. If nothing else, listen to the first 10 minutes and then pick it up at the 40 minute mark.
Baucham’s texts are found in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy. He warns about pride in thinking we can be self-prepared beforehand for persecution. Faithfulness cannot be self-manufactured. Most importantly, Paul was faithful through all he faced, not because his own effort, but by the power of God.
Again, if the Lord tarries, persecution will come to the West. Don’t rely on your own preparedness. Put your daily trust in God. May all the glory be to the Lord Jesus Christ!
Further reading:
What does it mean to Watch and Pray?
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