Will the Church enter the Tribulation years?
“The Church cannot enter the Tribulation!” The Church is not destined for the last seven years. That’s God’s wrath. It’s for the Jews. Those are some of the arguments presented to support a popular view of biblical prophecy.
This is an important question and the differences between a yes and no answer are nothing short of horrific. I do not exaggerate the consequences.
There was a recent terror incident in Egypt that typified the type of consequences the church will face if she is to go into the tribulation.
Coptic Christians killed
A busload of Egyptian Coptic Christians were on their way to visit a Christian historical site. Their pleasure trip was interrupted by a band of Islamic terrorists. Initial reports indicated the terrorists sprayed the bus with gunfire killing all or most within the bus. Later reports revealed a more chilling reality. The gunmen forced the bus to stop and ordered the passengers to disembark one at a time. When each passenger reached the bottom of the short set of stairs they were asked one question.
Are you a Christian?
The answer to the question determined whether they would live or die. Those who answered yes were met with the business end of a gun. Their life was ended the moment they affirmed their faith in Christ. Young and old, elderly or child, was shown no mercy. This group of Churchgoers was met with a harsh reality. Life as a Christian is hazardous and potentially short-lived.
This is one of the numerous examples of the perilous life of a Christian in today’s more ‘inclusive’ culture.
Back to the point
So, will the church enter the tribulation years when this type of persecution will reach never-before-seen levels?
Let’s define two terms before we go further.
The Church:
The church is referred to as the bride of Christ. All members of the true church are those who have admitted to their own sins and accepted the offering of Christ on the cross as their redemption or payment of sins. As sinners, entrance to heaven is forbidden unless one admits sinning and accepts God’s terms for entrance. God’s grace allows us sinners to enter His glory.
The Church in the Tribulation:
The tribulation is a seven-year period of time that finishes the plan of God to make amends for the mess humanity has inflicted upon His once-perfect world. God made the earth then gave it to humanity, and we dropped it—broke it into a few million pieces. God will come to the rescue at the end of approximately, if not exactly, 6,000 years. (That number is a flash point of contention which I will address later.)
In this seven-year period, God will unleash the seven seals, trumpets, and bowls of wrath upon the unrepentant sinners who refuse His grace. It will be “times up”. No more time on the clock to delay judgment. There is much more than I can go into regarding defining and detailing these final seven years, but let’s leave it at this for now. It’s seven years before Jesus cleans this mess up and starts over. Yes, there is some good news in the story.
What about that rapture thing?
The rapture, which many have heard about, is the time in which Jesus will appear in the clouds and will call the church to join Him in the clouds to then be with Him forever.
1 Corinthians 15:52-53
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will (the Christian Church alive at that moment) be changed, for this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”
In the last, nearly two thousand years, many in the Church have passed away. Many as martyrs, but most by way of natural causes. Those Christians won’t miss the ride into the clouds to meet Christ. Those Christians who have passed away will rise from the grave. Those still alive will get new bodies, instantaneously changed into something (eager to see what) that will be able to inhabit heaven and live forever.
The current debate among many within the church is as follows
Will the rapture happen before the seven years of tribulation begins?
As a young Christian, I faithfully accepted the teaching from the pulpit. I respected most of the pastors I sat under. There was no reason for me to question their teaching. On the subject of the rapture, they taught me that the Church would vanish into the clouds before the tribulation. Were they correct?
Another author’s take on this subject.
Let’s look at a Bible passage that challenges that belief.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the rebellion (falling away) comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. (This is the Antichrist) who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
This passage begins with a reference to the gathering of the church. The believers, both the living and the dead, will rise to meet Christ in the clouds.
That’s a big butt!
But there is an alarming truth taught here by Paul. He says this ‘day of the Lord’ won’t happen until the rebellion or falling away, and the revealing of the Antichrist happens.
This is a problem verse for many Christians who are expecting the rapture before the tribulation begins. Paul refers to the gathering of believers, which is the rapture. He said the gathering happens after the Abomination of Desolation.
Abomination of Desolation
What Paul describes is the event the bible names ‘The Abomination of desolation’.
According to Daniel 9:27 “in the middle of the week” (the seven years of tribulation) and Revelation 12:14 “time, times, and half a time.” (One year, two years, and a half years.)
The Bible uses hard-to-understand phrases and terms at times. These are two of many such instances. There will be a final seven-year period to finalize God’s initial plan. The Abomination takes place in the middle of the last 3 ½ years. That leads one to understand a full seven years makes the whole. I will address this in a later post.
The troubling butt 🙂
But I want to finish with the big butt of this argument. If, as Paul says, the gathering of the church can’t occur until a great rebellion or falling away and the revealing of the Antichrist then the church will at minimum reach the mid-point of the tribulation.
Chew on that for a while and let’s talk again.
Other articles on The Church you might like:
Did the early Church Fathers know who?
The Antichrist will destroy God’s people
To the Church: Don’t sleep when you should be awake and watching
Irenaeus, a Church Father, gave early Christians a warning
https://thewritelife.tech/2018/04/20/when-did-the-great-tribulation-begin-does-it-span-the-entire-church-age/
An interesting take on the Antichrist
Let me know what you think.