Mark, you're a real nice guy and a genuine Christian. Don't you think it's even possible that I was a Pretribber and then converted to Postrib out of genuine conviction? Of course you do, even if you think I was misled.
But I wasn't misled. I was converted not by anybody, but only because I memorized 2 Thessalonians, and could not escape the realization that Paul was teaching Postrib!
Some people argue things on a shallow level, but you and I probably can argue these things on a deeper level. I've been discussing these things since the late 70s, when I reconsidered whether my Postrib was correct or not.
Let me just say this. I think I've heard most all of the arguments. I can sit back and objectively select what sounds more biblical to me. Most all of the confusing passages have finally become clear to me for the most part. I do think that misunderstanding of various passages can throw everything off, and make it hard to decide one way or another.
I'm not really sure what makes you overwhelmingly convinced to be a Pretribber? Is it that so many teachers are Pretrib, or that you personally find it to be the stronger argument?
And yet I believe I can show you that Paul said the second coming and rapture occurs after the mid trib event of the son of perdition being revealed, which doesn’t preclude a post trib rapture, but other evidence points to the second coming and rapture being shortly after the son of perdition is revealed, to whit:
Rapture at the second coming, and the day of the lord together:
The key timelines events in establishing the mid trib rapture are: 1. the son of perdition event, aka the abomination of desolation and 2. the Day of the Lord event.
The evidence will show that the day of the Lord occurs with the second coming of Jesus, not separately.
The son of perdition is revealed in the middle of the 70th week, per Daniel, (mid trib) - and the scriptures show that the second coming of Christ and the day of the Lord occur together, such as
Zechariah 14:1. The day of the Lord comes, and then Jesus with all the saints, in 14:5.
(The Day of the Lord, verse 14:1 - then the second coming of Jesus with the saints in 14:5)
In Luke 21 we have a:the abomination of desolation in verse 20, b: the Day of the Lord in verse 25, and c: the rapture in verse 27. (Mid trib rapture)
In
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, Paul states:
2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means:
for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Note that opinions vary on what the falling away may be, but we know for a fact when the son of perdition is revealed - in the middle of Daniels 70th week - at the mid trib point.
Paul states that the second coming of Christ /day of the Lord, and our being gathered to be with Him, can’t happen until the son of perdition is revealed, in the middle of the tribulation.
Note it will be shown that the Day of the Lord is part of His second coming, not a separate event - so Paul isn’t talking about two separate events, as many think.
This puts the rapture AT His second coming, AFTER the son of perdition is revealed - which happens in the middle of Daniels 70th week, per Daniel - right smack in the middle of the tribulation.
Now, for all those those who don’t accept that the Day of the Lord is simultaneous with the second coming of Christ, when we back up one chapter to 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 under the heading THE JUDGMENT AT CHRIST’S COMING - it shows unequivocally that at His coming, He comes with flaming fire, taking vengeance, and with destruction - which is what happens at the Day of the Lord:
The Judgment at Christ's Coming
2Th 1:5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—
2Th 1:6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
2Th 1:7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us,
when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels
2Th 1:8
in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
2Th 1:9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
2Th 1:10
when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
Paul thus explained BEFORE the 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 verse
about the coming of the Lord, that
His coming is with vengeance, flaming fire, and destruction of the wicked, as He comes for the saints.
Then there’s corroborating fact that Jesus warns us that BOTH the Day of the Lord, and His return, will come suddenly, as a thief in the night.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 ; Revelation 16:15
Therefore scripture is clear that the rapture is at His second coming, after the son of perdition is revealed, and that the Day of the Lord is simultaneous with His return.