Is the Pre-Trib Rapture Belief an Escapist Mentality

PREFACE

Is the Rapture in the Bible? That is the preceding blog which supplies the background for this article. It provides a working definition of the doctrine, what people really mean when they are using the term “rapture”, and how it is seen throughout Scripture. If you have not read that article yet, I would encourage you to do so at this time and then return to this one.

THE RAPTURE & THE TRIBULATION

“The Rapture” is the term that is used to describe the event of God’s people being raised up in the air, removed from this world, and resurrected to receive glorified bodies at the time of our Lord’s second coming (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
“The Tribulation” is the term that is used to describe the time of Jacob’s [Israel’s] trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) which will comprise a seven-year period (Daniel 9:27) and will encapsulate the entire world (Revelation 3:10).

WHAT DOES A PRE-TRIB RAPTURE BELIEF MEAN?

Having a Pre-Trib Rapture view means that you believe the Church will be taken out of the world prior to the Great Tribulation that is coming upon the whole world (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Revelation 3:10). Thus, the basic order of end-times events will be as follows: the Rapture of the Church, followed by the Great Tribulation, and then the Second Coming of Christ.

IS A PRE-TRIB RAPTURE BELIEF AN ESCAPIST MENTALITY?

Many who have opposed the doctrine of the rapture in the past have argued that proponents of this view simply want to get out before everything hits the fan. They have labeled those with a pre-trib belief to be “Escapists!” But is that the case? Let us begin by asking two questions.

First, does anyone want to be here for the deadliest time in human history when planet earth becomes the preshow to Hell? The answer is obviously no! Not even those opposed to this view would answer yes because that would mean they would want to undergo God’s wrath which is clearly not the case.

Second, is the Rapture a clear Biblical doctrine? The answer is yes…overwhelmingly! As per the preceding blog, the Rapture itself is not up for debate. What some Christians might disagree on is where on the end-times chronological calendar to place it and whether or not other events described to surround it occur as literal or figurative. Our view, at Watermark Church, is that these events are predominantly literal and will occur physically. Thus, to say that having a Pre-Trib Rapture view is merely an “escapist mentality” is not at all warranted.

CONSIDER THESE POINTS:

The Rapture of the Church is a clear Biblical doctrine (1 Corinthians 15:51-57 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17).

It is not wrong to desire to avoid God’s wrath – in fact, that is God’s will (Deuteronomy 30:19 and Ezekiel 18:32).

Even those who claim not to believe in the Rapture believe that Jesus is coming back one day soon to rescue them from the wrath of God. Wouldn’t that classify them as escapists too?

CONCLUDING NAIL IN THE COFFIN

In one sense, the Rapture really is the first judgment upon the world in the timeline of Revelation. It is the moment when God will remove the righteous from the land and leave all the wicked to experience the consequences of their sin. There are three big moments in the Old Testament when God did this very thing: Noah’s flood, Lot’s rescue, and Israel’s captivity.

In Genesis 6-9, God placed Noah and his family into a boat and rescued them from the coming global catastrophe. And the crazy thing is that Noah began building this boat 120 years in advance (Genesis 6:3). Did Noah simply have an escapist mentality? No, he was just believing and acting upon what God told him to do.

In Genesis 19, Lot [Abraham’s nephew] was living in the ungodly land of Sodom. However, right before God poured out His wrath upon that place, He had two of His angels go in and rescue him and his family. Therefore, Lot escaped with his life.

In the book of Jeremiah, during the time of the Babylonian captivity, King Nebuchadnezzar came against the city of Jerusalem three times because Israel continued to disobey the Word of God. Jeremiah was one of the faithful prophets telling the people to humble themselves and submit to this Babylonian king (Jeremiah 21), but there were many false prophets telling the people who remained in the land that everything was going to be alright, and God was going to bless them (Jeremiah 23). What this passage reveals is that those who were led away into captivity and taken out of the land were actually the ones who were blessed because they would experience life in another location, but those who remained in the land were cursed and would only experience further destruction and death.

CONCLUSION

The LORD God removing His people from experiencing His wrath is seen all throughout the Bible and human history. The Apostle Paul even encouraged the believers at Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 “to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” As such, being saved from experiencing the coming Great Tribulation is not an escapist mentality, it is a Biblical truth in which we should all take great hope and encouragement.

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