Why We Are Pre-Trib

The Tribulation Period is a seven-year span of great judgment on the earth. The Bible calls it the time of Jacob’s trouble (cf. Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1). God will deal with Israel to redeem them so that they might believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Mal. 3:3; Zech. 12:10). At the same time, the Lord will judge the nations with severe judgment, such as was not ever known to man (Mt. 24:21). It will be a time of great wrath (Rev. 6:17).

However, NT saints will not be here. We will be raptured: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump” (I Cor. 15:52). Believers will be caught up in the clouds “to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thess. 4:17). This could happen at any moment!

II Thessalonians 2:7-8 clearly state that the Rapture will take place before the Antichrist is revealed: “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”

The One who “letteth” is the Holy Spirit. He is the restrainer. When He is removed from the earth (at the Rapture), then the Antichrist will be revealed (cf. Rev. 6:2). We believe in the Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the saints. Praise the Lord that NT believers will not experience God’s wrath in the Tribulation. We are looking for Jesus! What a comfort this is.