Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Why Pre-Trib Rapture: The Days of Noah
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.
Many believe the rapture happens during the second coming. That as Jesus descends from heaven, He will give a great shout and the dead and the living believers will be caught up to Him in the sky. Have you ever considered what the world will be like in the days leading up to the Second Coming?
I warn you, the images I paint will be grim, but trust me, it is all for a good reason. There is a point I will be making when I am done.
According to the 2nd Seal, which happens around 7 years prior to the second coming, we will have a World War. I personally am a full believer that the 6th Seal describes that World War escalating into a full blown nuclear war.
The 6th Seal speaks of stars falling from the sky, which is John's first century description of nuclear warheads descending in the night sky to the earth. It speaks of a great wind which would be a nuclear blast. The sky rolling up into a scroll is a good comparison for a mushroom cloud, the way the smoke of the explosion rolls over itself. The Sun growing dark and the moon turning to blood? There would be enough soil and chemicals from all the nukes, as well as the volcanic eruptions the nukes would cause, to do those things.
Now try and imagine the devastation a full blown nuclear event would cause. Most people think of the millions that would die from nukes destroying cities, but it is much worse than that. The hundreds and possibly thousands of nukes impacting the earth in a short amount of time would cause the tectonic plates to snap back to position. Some of the worst earthquakes ever recorded would happen. Those earth quakes would cause massive tsunamis that would wipe out a major portion of the coasts, where the most dense populations thrive. They would set off countless volcanic eruptions. The smoke, soil and chemicals thrown into the atmosphere would darken the sun. Those farms untouched by the nukes would die off. Many of the rivers and lakes would become toxic from the nuclear fallout. Some scientists believe that there are several volcanoes that hang off the edge of islands and an earthquake strong enough could cause them to collapse into the seas. These could also cause major tsunamis.
Ask yourself, do you think 7 years would be enough for the world to recover from such an event? The 4th Seal says a quarter of the people will die. The 6th Trumpet says another 3rd of mankind will be killed. There are around 8 billion people in the world today. One quarter of those would be 2 billion people, leaving only 6 billion left. Kill a third of them off and that's another 2 billion. Leaving us with only half the population still alive. Those kinds of losses will take longer than 7 years to recover from.
That is just the Seals and Trumpets. Now lets look at the devastation from the Bowls of Wrath.
Everyone who takes the mark of the beast, which will be the vast majority of the population, will receive painful sores. Not some of them, but all of them will. People will be miserable.
Everything in the seas will die. Consider the level of famine if there was suddenly no sea food. The main source of food for many islands and even larger nations like China. Millions would be going hungry.
The rivers and springs will all become like blood. The sun will become extremely hot and scorch the people. Many will become sick from drinking it and possibly many will die.
When you study the end times, there is one thing that nearly every eschatologist agrees on. The second half of the tribulation, the last three and a half years before the second coming, will be the worst this world has ever witnessed. They will quite literally be the very worst of times! This world will be in complete chaos when the Lord returns in the Second Coming.
Now lets look at a very important verse. Let us look at what Jesus says it will be like in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:36-41 NASB
36 “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 At that time there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
Now some try to claim there will be the merging of man and beast. They say that the Nephilim which existed in the days of Noah were the offspring of angels sleeping with women. The problem with that understanding is that the Nephilim are not mentioned here at all. Nor are they even eluded to. In fact, this scripture clearly explains it self what it means by the 'days of Noah'.
They will be eating and drinking and marrying. In other words, they will continue to live their lives like normal and not caring. In the days of Noah, the people were warned that a great flood was coming. They laughed at the warning. They ridiculed Noah for his faith in God. They didn't believe his warnings and carried on with their lives without a care. Until the floods came and killed them all. And it was too late!
Today they are being warned by many Christians that the Lord will be coming soon. The people roll their eyes and laugh it off. Nobody cares. They continue on with their lives without a worry. Then the Son of Man will come in the clouds. His Bride will be caught up and the people who are left behind will be facing utter destruction. The scripture never mentions the Nephilim or anything like that. It makes a comparison to people going on with their lives like everything is normal.
Now we have gone over what will be happening in the world before the Second Coming. It is utter chaos and devastation. In what imagination can you call what I described as being normal? In what way can you possibly believe that after half the population is killed, the world being put through the worst years in history, that people will be going on with their lives like everything is normal? We just saw what a small pandemic did to the world. Only a very small fraction of the population actually died from it and the world was practically in panic. It was everything but normal. Do you really think that the people will carry on as everything is normal after half the population is dead?
You see? Jesus says that life will be carrying on as normal for the people of the world when He comes. But we know for certain that before the Second Coming, life will be everything but normal. However, if the rapture does truly happen pre-tribulation, then the people would be living life like everything is normal when He comes for the rapture.
To believe that the rapture happens as He is descending from heaven in the Second Coming, is to ignore clear scripture and logic. This is just one more case, of many, where the only eschatological stance that actually logically fits scripture, is the Pre-Trib Rapture stance.
***A special thanks to Randy Stephens for bringing this argument for a Pre-Trib rapture to my attention.
Return to Pre-Trib Rapture Articles
Many believe the rapture happens during the second coming. That as Jesus descends from heaven, He will give a great shout and the dead and the living believers will be caught up to Him in the sky. Have you ever considered what the world will be like in the days leading up to the Second Coming?
I warn you, the images I paint will be grim, but trust me, it is all for a good reason. There is a point I will be making when I am done.
According to the 2nd Seal, which happens around 7 years prior to the second coming, we will have a World War. I personally am a full believer that the 6th Seal describes that World War escalating into a full blown nuclear war.
The 6th Seal speaks of stars falling from the sky, which is John's first century description of nuclear warheads descending in the night sky to the earth. It speaks of a great wind which would be a nuclear blast. The sky rolling up into a scroll is a good comparison for a mushroom cloud, the way the smoke of the explosion rolls over itself. The Sun growing dark and the moon turning to blood? There would be enough soil and chemicals from all the nukes, as well as the volcanic eruptions the nukes would cause, to do those things.
Now try and imagine the devastation a full blown nuclear event would cause. Most people think of the millions that would die from nukes destroying cities, but it is much worse than that. The hundreds and possibly thousands of nukes impacting the earth in a short amount of time would cause the tectonic plates to snap back to position. Some of the worst earthquakes ever recorded would happen. Those earth quakes would cause massive tsunamis that would wipe out a major portion of the coasts, where the most dense populations thrive. They would set off countless volcanic eruptions. The smoke, soil and chemicals thrown into the atmosphere would darken the sun. Those farms untouched by the nukes would die off. Many of the rivers and lakes would become toxic from the nuclear fallout. Some scientists believe that there are several volcanoes that hang off the edge of islands and an earthquake strong enough could cause them to collapse into the seas. These could also cause major tsunamis.
Ask yourself, do you think 7 years would be enough for the world to recover from such an event? The 4th Seal says a quarter of the people will die. The 6th Trumpet says another 3rd of mankind will be killed. There are around 8 billion people in the world today. One quarter of those would be 2 billion people, leaving only 6 billion left. Kill a third of them off and that's another 2 billion. Leaving us with only half the population still alive. Those kinds of losses will take longer than 7 years to recover from.
That is just the Seals and Trumpets. Now lets look at the devastation from the Bowls of Wrath.
Everyone who takes the mark of the beast, which will be the vast majority of the population, will receive painful sores. Not some of them, but all of them will. People will be miserable.
Everything in the seas will die. Consider the level of famine if there was suddenly no sea food. The main source of food for many islands and even larger nations like China. Millions would be going hungry.
The rivers and springs will all become like blood. The sun will become extremely hot and scorch the people. Many will become sick from drinking it and possibly many will die.
When you study the end times, there is one thing that nearly every eschatologist agrees on. The second half of the tribulation, the last three and a half years before the second coming, will be the worst this world has ever witnessed. They will quite literally be the very worst of times! This world will be in complete chaos when the Lord returns in the Second Coming.
Now lets look at a very important verse. Let us look at what Jesus says it will be like in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:36-41 NASB
36 “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 At that time there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
Now some try to claim there will be the merging of man and beast. They say that the Nephilim which existed in the days of Noah were the offspring of angels sleeping with women. The problem with that understanding is that the Nephilim are not mentioned here at all. Nor are they even eluded to. In fact, this scripture clearly explains it self what it means by the 'days of Noah'.
They will be eating and drinking and marrying. In other words, they will continue to live their lives like normal and not caring. In the days of Noah, the people were warned that a great flood was coming. They laughed at the warning. They ridiculed Noah for his faith in God. They didn't believe his warnings and carried on with their lives without a care. Until the floods came and killed them all. And it was too late!
Today they are being warned by many Christians that the Lord will be coming soon. The people roll their eyes and laugh it off. Nobody cares. They continue on with their lives without a worry. Then the Son of Man will come in the clouds. His Bride will be caught up and the people who are left behind will be facing utter destruction. The scripture never mentions the Nephilim or anything like that. It makes a comparison to people going on with their lives like everything is normal.
Now we have gone over what will be happening in the world before the Second Coming. It is utter chaos and devastation. In what imagination can you call what I described as being normal? In what way can you possibly believe that after half the population is killed, the world being put through the worst years in history, that people will be going on with their lives like everything is normal? We just saw what a small pandemic did to the world. Only a very small fraction of the population actually died from it and the world was practically in panic. It was everything but normal. Do you really think that the people will carry on as everything is normal after half the population is dead?
You see? Jesus says that life will be carrying on as normal for the people of the world when He comes. But we know for certain that before the Second Coming, life will be everything but normal. However, if the rapture does truly happen pre-tribulation, then the people would be living life like everything is normal when He comes for the rapture.
To believe that the rapture happens as He is descending from heaven in the Second Coming, is to ignore clear scripture and logic. This is just one more case, of many, where the only eschatological stance that actually logically fits scripture, is the Pre-Trib Rapture stance.
***A special thanks to Randy Stephens for bringing this argument for a Pre-Trib rapture to my attention.
Return to Pre-Trib Rapture Articles
