Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Why Pre-Trib Rapture: The Church in Revelation
The Pre-Tribulation Rapture has a whole lot of real evidence in the Bible. To the point that when you put it all together, it becomes the clear truth. I have put much of it in articles but they become long articles that many do not want to read. I felt it time to break it all down. This short article is one in a series that when put together, they prove the Pre-Trib rapture is true.
Using the NASB Bible version, the word "church" is used 19 times in the first three chapters of Revelation. Then it is not used again until chapter 22. However, this is not clear enough. It could mention the church without using the word "church" right? Well, after the first three chapters, the very first thing that happens in chapter 4 is John is taken to heaven.
Revelation 4:1-2 (NASB)
1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and someone was sitting on the throne.
Now consider how the rapture is supposed to happen...
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NASB)
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
In both cases there is a trumpet and a voice that calls them up. IF you study more on the rapture, you learn it happens in the twinkling of an eye. Here, John finds himself "immediately" in heaven. Whether you wish to believe this is a reference to the rapture or not, that is up to you, but you cannot deny it is possible.
The next time there is anyone who could be the church is in Revelation 7:9-10. Some argue this is the church in heaven, but they are wrong. This is the Tribulation Saints. These are the people who turn to Christ after the rapture. We know this because it clearly tells us in verse 14 that they are the ones who came out of the Great Tribulation.
The next time the church could be mentioned is in Chapter 19.
Revelation 19:1 (NASB)
1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,
If you read my article on the Chronological Proof, you will learn that chapter 19 happens to be the first of three chapters where the entire End Times is laid out in Chronological order.
So there are seven letters to seven churches in the first three chapters of Revelation. Then the church is not mentioned again through the rest of the prophecies until chapter 19 when it runs through the order of events for three more chapters.
If the church was going to suffer through the tribulation and be persecuted by the antichrist, you would think they would be mentioned throughout it. But after a verse where John seems to be raptured to heaven, the church is not mentioned again.
Return to Pre-Trib Rapture Articles
Using the NASB Bible version, the word "church" is used 19 times in the first three chapters of Revelation. Then it is not used again until chapter 22. However, this is not clear enough. It could mention the church without using the word "church" right? Well, after the first three chapters, the very first thing that happens in chapter 4 is John is taken to heaven.
Revelation 4:1-2 (NASB)
1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and someone was sitting on the throne.
Now consider how the rapture is supposed to happen...
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NASB)
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
In both cases there is a trumpet and a voice that calls them up. IF you study more on the rapture, you learn it happens in the twinkling of an eye. Here, John finds himself "immediately" in heaven. Whether you wish to believe this is a reference to the rapture or not, that is up to you, but you cannot deny it is possible.
The next time there is anyone who could be the church is in Revelation 7:9-10. Some argue this is the church in heaven, but they are wrong. This is the Tribulation Saints. These are the people who turn to Christ after the rapture. We know this because it clearly tells us in verse 14 that they are the ones who came out of the Great Tribulation.
The next time the church could be mentioned is in Chapter 19.
Revelation 19:1 (NASB)
1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,
If you read my article on the Chronological Proof, you will learn that chapter 19 happens to be the first of three chapters where the entire End Times is laid out in Chronological order.
So there are seven letters to seven churches in the first three chapters of Revelation. Then the church is not mentioned again through the rest of the prophecies until chapter 19 when it runs through the order of events for three more chapters.
If the church was going to suffer through the tribulation and be persecuted by the antichrist, you would think they would be mentioned throughout it. But after a verse where John seems to be raptured to heaven, the church is not mentioned again.
Return to Pre-Trib Rapture Articles
