Still on the subject of the
resurrection (as opposed to some theoretical rapture), there are two key passages in The New Testament, both written by the Apostle Paul, that are commonly used by "rapturists" to describe their fictional event.
To the Christians at
Corinth, Paul writes "...we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, an we shall be changed." (
I Cor. 15:51,
52).
At this point he has already written to the believers at
Thessalonica with a very similar doctrinal statement: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God; and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds..." (
I Thes. 4:16,
17).
Because both verses describe people being
raised from the dead it should be obvious that this is a significant description of the
resurrection of the believers. Both passages are consistent, for they say that "the dead in Christ shall
rise first...then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up..." He couldn't make it any clearer: At the
resurrection of believers in Christ,
all the dead believers will be resurrected;
then those that are alive will be "changed" to the same "incorruptible" state as the resurrected believers.
The pre-tribulation rapture doctrine teaches that believers that live in the last generation will be "changed" into a resurrected or eternal state at the beginning of the tribulation period -- which is generally believed to be 7 years in length. The doctrine then goes on to say that there will be many "tribulation saints" that come to know Christ
after the so-called rapture. While the "raptured" believers are in heaven during the tribulation, all or most of these "tribulation saints" will all be killed for their faith during the tribulation.
Revelation does describe believers that are martyred during the great tribulation. John writes that "I saw the souls of them that were
beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God...and they lived and reigned with him a thousand years." (
Rev. 20:4). The problem should already be apparent. If the dead believers are resurrected at the same time as the 'rapture'
before the tribulation, how then can these so-called "tribulation saints" be
resurrected at the
end of the tribulation?
Remember the previously cited verses (see post #15 ) that clearly show
there are only 2 resurrections: ONE for the believers and ONE for the lost. If you have the "dead in Christ" rising at the time of the fictional "rapture"
before the tribulation and the falsely name "tribulation saints"
later raised after the tribulation is over,
you then have two resurrections of the believers. That contradicts the plain teaching of the scriptures.
Rapturists usually attempt to answer this problem by redefining the raptured believers as "firstfruits" rather than resurrected believers -- that way they can still have the "real" resurrection at the end of the tribulation. The Apostle Paul, however, precludes this as he writes that the resurrection will occur for "every man in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's
at his coming." (
1 Cor. 15:23).
A further refinement of this concept of a singular resurrection of believers needs to be addressed. When the text says "the dead in Christ" are to be raised at
a particular point in time, e.g. "at the last trump," we can draw certain conclusions. When scripture uses the term "the," in a collective sense (as opposed to 'some of the dead in Christ'), we see the word as all inclusive. In short, the phrasing of the text obviously means
all the dead in Christ that have ever lived will be raised at that time. There is simply no other way to turn this into a partial resurrection, or a progressive resurrection, or anything else other than an all inclusive resurrection of all believers in Jesus Christ.
Now let's say that this theoretical pre-tribulation "rapture" occurs next week. That means that
every believer since the time of Christ that has died will "rise first," according to
II Thes. 4:16. That would be about 99% of all Christians in history! How then can one say that this event would be the firstfruits -- especially when the text says that Jesus himself is the firstfruits? That sounds like the main 'harvest' to me!
It's really very simple: If you take away the pre-conceived notion of a "rapture" the problems also go away. Jesus returns at the second coming at the
end of the tribulation. There will be Christians that are alive at that time.
All dead believers will be resurrected from the dead at his return, and "then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds." (
I Cor. 15:51).
.
.
), I think life will still be a bit sticky while God's wrath is being poured out. Like, no it won't apply to Christians directly but being around all that still won't be pleasant.