Does it matter whether you believe
Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib or Post-Trib?
Is the Rapture before, in the middle of, or after the Tribulation?

What we believe about the timing of the rapture of the church
has everything to do with how we prepare.

By Ken Raggio

The vast majority of Christians believe that it is unethical and divisive to preach any endtime prophecy as if one position (pre-trib, mid-trib,  post-trib, etc.) was better than the other.

We are pressured NOT to make any truly definitive statements about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In some places it is taboo for a preacher to state unequivocally that Jesus will come BEFORE the tribulation or AFTER it. In most cases, however, a pre-trib position dominates, even though no scriptural case is presented with it.

The assertion is that nobody knows for sure, nor CAN anybody know for sure. We are forced to take a noncommittal stance in the presence of brethren.

Behind this trap is the false assumption that IT DOESN’T MATTER what you believe about endtime prophecy. All that most folks seem to care is that we keep the peace, and let nobody rock the boat.

Ask yourself an honest question. Does it truly matter what we believe about the Rapture and the Tribulation?

If it DOESN’T MATTER, why on earth are we so fascinated with the book of Revelation? Are we merely looking for apocalyptic jargon to fill in crossword puzzles with?

If we are going to be raptured BEFORE any of these events, why do we need this information?

Why did God Almighty give prophets and preachers down through the centuries these vividly explicit visions and dreams and revelations, if they, in the final analysis are MOOT and IMPERTINENT to endtime saints?

Most preachers and Christians treat prophecy as if it is completely unknowable or that it simply doesn't matter what you believe. That position is entirely inconsistent with all the many other issues we are faced with in scripture.

How can we justify our lackadaisical treatment of prophecy, when Jesus said, "…the scripture cannot be broken," John 10:35. The scripture is concrete on everything it teaches.

Judas Iscariot dipped the sop with Jesus, and was lost, "that the scripture might be fulfilled." John 13:18 and 17:12. The Roman soldiers cast lots for Jesus’ garment, "that the scriptures might be fulfilled," John 19:24. His piercing, His wounds, nearly everything He suffered was a fulfillment of scripture.

If the scholars had not IGNORED the original prophecies, they might not have murdered the Lord. If only they had made the CONNECTION between ancient prophecy and contemporary fulfillment!

Again and again, the old scriptures revealed things to come that would have had a profound effect if ONLY SOMEONE HAD NOTICED THEM!

ALL SCRIPTURE is profoundly important to us.

2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

How can we get by, as long as we keep insisting that endtime prophecy MUST NOT BE CAREFULLY DEFINED?

Would you have me to believe that it makes NO DIFFERENCE whether I am PRE-TRIB or POST-TRIB?

Then WHY is it in the Bible?

2 Peter 1:20 says, "no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." Why do we think we can get by interpreting prophecy erroneously? Why do we believe it doesn’t matter.

We must realize that ALL SCRIPTURE is profitable, but...

All MIS-INTERPRETED scripture is UNPROFITABLE!

Did it ever occur to you that ONE or the OTHER HAS TO BE RIGHT, and ONE or the OTHER HAS TO BE WRONG?

Do you realize that WRONG DOCTRINE CORRUPTS UNDERSTANDING?

Suppose your auto mechanic insisted that it makes NO DIFFERENCE whether you put the lug nuts on the inside or the outside of the wheel!

Suppose your airline pilot insisted that it makes NO DIFFERENCE whether the gyroscope is level or slanted!

Suppose your homebuilder insists it makes NO DIFFERENCE whether your building is plumb or "near’bout"!

Why can we not SEE that every single prophetic event has a ripple effect on our understanding?

If we place prophetic events in the WRONG ORDER, we deprive ourselves of UNDERSTANDING.

But, you say, it is NOT CRITICAL to understand these things!!

That is EXACTLY what many argue against water baptism, and EXACTLY what the ecumenical crowd says about the one true God.

Not critical?

How can you say for sure that IT IS NOT CRITICAL to know whether the church will be raptured BEFORE or AFTER the TRIBULATION?

One may argue that if we have to go through the tribulation, we will just have to trust God like we ALWAYS HAVE!

NO - MY FRIEND – if you go through the Great Tribulation, and are faced with the Mark of the Beast, and the threat of death simply because you were NOT PRUDENT enough to take precautions and stay out of view, then you will certainly realize in that hour that you were FOOLISH for not taking note of endtime prophecy.

You may not think that statement is persuasive. Let me pose it to you another way.

The wise man said, "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished." Proverbs 27:12.

If the Bible WARNS us of an evil tribulation, and we DO NOT HIDE OURSELVES, we "pass on, and are punished."

Consider the real possibilities. Can it be that GOD is giving us FAIR WARNING of the most difficult time that any saints of any age ever faced, and He wants us to PREPARE for it? We have at least three and a half years to make preparation for the last three and a half years. In Joseph's day, God gave them seven years to prepare for seven bad years. Even the pagan Egyptian Pharaoh had enough sense to listen to Joseph's warning, and empowered him to act accordingly!

Is that a sound Biblical principle? Indeed it is!

God warned Abraham that He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah; therefore Abraham interceded for Lot and his family. What if Abraham had IGNORED the prophecy?

God warned Joseph that there would be seven years of famine in Egypt. Joseph stored up, and SAVED both Egypt and his FAMILY. What if Joseph had IGNORED the prophetic warning?

In II Kings 6, the prophet Elisha warned the king of Israel of a Syrian attack, and "the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice." What if the king had IGNORED the prophetic warning?

When Jesus was born, the angel WARNED Joseph to flee with them to Egypt. What if Joseph had IGNORED the warning?

Jesus personally fled the scene of potential trouble numerous times.

One of the ancient principles from the book of Proverbs directed the "sluggard" to "go to the ant," and learn the principle of preparing for hard times.

Yet many insist that preaching a warning of hard times is unscriptural and shows a lack of faith in God. Nothing could be further from the truth.

How many examples do I have to give to prove to you that the ENTIRE BIBLE is filled with prophets and preachers and watchmen on walls and on towers, blowing trumpets and sounding alarms to SAVE THE PEOPLE from impending dangers?

The Bible WARNS the Church that the Saints will go through the tribulation.

Please refer to my article "When is the Rapture?",

You will plainly see that there will be NO RAPTURE before the Mark of the Beast. Revelation 20:4,5 clearly shows that the FIRST resurrection INCLUDES endtime saints who RESISTED or OVERCAME the Mark of the Beast. That is certainly not a pre-trib scenario. If it is the FIRST resurrection, then there was no rapture before the Mark of the Beast.

Does that not strike dread in your soul to consider that you might have to endure a fight against the Mark of the Beast? If it doesn’t, you must be oblivious to the realities of it.

Friend, Jesus Christ so dreaded going to Calvary that he sweat as it were great drops of blood. Where is your so-called courage?

I submit to you that it is NOT courage, but rather IGNORANCE of the facts, that causes you to treat the subject of SAINTS IN THE TRIBULATION with so much complacency.

The French philosopher, deTocqueville, in Democracy in America, said, "The prospect really does frighten me that men may finally become so engrossed in a cowardly love of immediate pleasure that their interest in their own future and in that of their descendants may vanish, and that they may prefer tamely to follow the course of their destiny rather than make a sudden energetic effort to set things right."

Warnings are a call to action.

I believe the biggest reasons that these warnings are in the Bible is so that believers can take protective actions!

Israel needed water, so Elisha said, "Dig ditches - God will fill them."

When the collapse of civilization comes, when Babylon falls, when the lights go out, and martial law is enacted, YOU ARE GOING TO NEED WATER, FOOD, and SURVIVAL SUPPLIES.

I am telling you that the Bible gives us AMPLE WARNING, so that we can "DIG DITCHES!"

Have you never asked yourself, "What will I do for food and water if I refuse to take the Mark of the Beast?" If God warns you ALL YOUR LIFE, and then you run out of water, who is to blame - you or God?

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