In pre-tribulational rapture teaching, is Jesus supposed to come as a 'thief in the night' at the rapture, the second coming, or both?
I don't see multiple returns of Christ in scripture, so I can't make the distinction since I don't see it in scripture. But what does pre-trib eschatology say about this?
I appreciate the question (pre-tribber here
), and I must say that I also appreciate the manner in which the question is posed. = )
I gather you would like to understand the pretrib teaching on this particular point, whether or not you ultimately end up agreeing with the viewpoint and explanation.
Here's the pretrib understanding and teaching regarding the phrase, "____ so cometh as a thief
in the night":
The phrase is speaking neither of the rapture event / point in time, nor of His Second Coming to the earth point in time.
When Jesus says (Rev16:15-16), "Behold, I come as a thief
." it is speaking of His Personal Bodily return to this earth at the Armageddon time-slot at the end of the 7-year period commonly called "the tribulation period," commonly referred to as His Second Coming. Note that no "in the night" phrase is added to the sentence when referring to Jesus Himself, here in this passage.
The distinct phrase "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night," it is speaking neither of Jesus' Own Personal Bodily return to the earth at the Armageddon time-slot NOR of our Rapture in the air event / point in time.
Rather, "
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night" refers to the precise moment that the earthly-located TIME PERIOD known as "the day of the Lord" arrives and commences to unfold upon the earth (with the first seal Rev6, aka the initial "birth pang" of the "beginning of birth pangs" Jesus spoke of in Matt24:4-8, esp. v.4 "
tis-G5100 "a certain one" / Mk13:5-8, esp. v.4 (ditto) / "BPs" described also in Lk21:8-11).
All of the above, including both distinct phrases regarding "thief," take place
following "our Rapture" event, which itself involves and pertains to the "in the twinkling of an eye" moment at which point we, the Church which is His body, are "changed / glorified" (PRE-trib, or you could say, PRE-"DOTL-arrival") and then are snatched / caught-up / raptured together to the meeting of the Lord "in the air" aka "our
episynagoges unto Him".
The phrase "in the twinkling of an eye" refers to "the precise moment when one day turns into the next, when the sun is eight-degrees below the horizon,
at sundown." In prophetic terms, "days" (a day) would start at sundown (rather than at midnight, like we speak of in our own clock-reference). Following that point in time is when earthly-located "day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" arrives to unfold upon the earth with its judgments
over the course of some time (that is, "in the night," that is, the tribulation-period aspect of the overall time period), before then Jesus Himself then returns to the earth "as a thief[
.]" at the Armageddon time-slot (Rev16:15-16, Rev19, Matt24:29-31 / Isa27:12-13,9).
So from the above explanation, the phrase "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night" speaks neither of Jesus at our Rapture point in time nor of His Second Coming to the earth at the Armageddon point in the chronology. Rather, it speaks of the arrival of an
earthly-located time-period, which by the way extends all the way from the beginning of the 7-yr tribulation period with its "judgments" unfolding, clear through to the end of the promised and prophesied earthly Millennial Kingdom age, the "blessing" aspect of it. Our Rapture event
precedes both of these (that's the "pre-trib" perspective you are asking about), meaning both of the phrases "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night" and "Behold, I come as a thief
." (with no
"in the night" phrase added when speaking of Jesus Himself, returning to the earth at the Armageddon time-slot), both of these phrases refer to things which
follow our Rapture event.
Hope that helps you see "the pre-trib teaching" on this particular point. = )
Thank you for the opportunity of laying it out, and I'm happy to try to address any questions that might arise in anyone's minds based on the above explanation, though it may take me some time to get back to it, as I am swamped with work, of late. Will do my best. = )