Some brief information on the Rapture and the Tribulation from a dispensational perspective
The Nature of the Tribulation. Depending on the context, the word tribulation (thlipsis) can have a variety of meanings. First, it can refer to “tribulation” or “trouble” generally (John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3; 12:12). Second, it can refer to the seven years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Jeremiah 30:7-9; Daniel 9:24-27; 12:1). Lastly, it can refer to the second half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21) as opposed to the first half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, the beginning of sorrows (24:8).
The period of the tribulation does not relate to God’s purpose for the church. The tribulation will come upon a world that is rebellious toward God (Revelation 15:1; 16:1-21; 19:15). It will reveal the nature of Satan (12:7-12). During the tribulation, the nation of Israel will be brought to repentance and faith in the Messiah in preparation for the millennium (Jeremiah 30:7-9; Zechariah 12:9-14:5; Revelation 19:1-6). The tribulation will also be a time of mass evangelism (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 6:9-11; 7:1-17; 11:2-14; 12:13-17; 13:7; 14:1-5, 12-13).
The Prophetic Timeclock. The next prophetic event on God’s timeclock is the rapture of the church. The doctrine of the rapture is taught most clearly in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. At the rapture, living Christians will be harpazo (“caught up” or “to raptured”) in the air to meet Jesus Christ. The raptured saints will be reunited with those who previously died in Christ
(1 Corinthians 15:51-54). Both will receive their glorified bodies and will be taken to the Father’s house (John 14:1-3). At the rapture, Jesus will come in the clouds for His saints; at the second coming, Jesus will come to the earth with His saints to establish the millennial kingdom.
[Just a note, no English word appears in the Greek Bible. That is a childish statement since the Greek Bible is written in Greek and the English is in another language. To most people’s surprise, ‘rapture’ appears multiple times in the Greek NT.]
It is logical that the rapture was not revealed in the Old Testament since the rapture involves the church. The church was a mystery in the Old Testament which began on the Day of Pentecost.
Christ first gave the promise of the rapture in the New Testament. However, the Old Testament promised the coming of Messiah to earth as the King. Remember, I noted that this is from a dispensational, literal interpretation method. If we are to take them NT in a literal way, then we can say with certainty that the above observation is correct.
We could use a chart to show us the outline of the various time periods as:
Prophetic Emphasis in the Bible
Old Testament Millennial Reign
Gospels Second Coming
Epistles Rapture
Revelation Tribulation
The reason for the emphasis upon the second coming in the Gospels is due to the fact that
Christ is speaking to His disciples as representatives of the Jewish nation. Their expectation would have been upon the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of Messiah reigning upon David’s throne in Jerusalem. Therefore, it is logical to expect that the emphasis in the Gospels would be upon the coming of Christ to the nation of Israel in order to fulfill the covenantal promises and establish His kingdom on earth. Furthermore, since the Olivet Discourse is found in the Gospels then it would be logical that passages such as Matthew 24:37-44, Mark 13:32-37, and Luke 17:26-37 are not referring to the rapture; rather, they are dealing with the second coming of Christ.
Matthew’s primary purpose for writing is to prove that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. However, this point alone is not the only purpose of the book. Matthew also writes to inform his readers of God’s kingdom program. Matthew will answer the question as to why Jesus the Messiah did not bring in the prophesied kingdom of God at His first coming. It will be clear that Israel’s rejection of their Messiah postponed the kingdom, but this does not mean the promises to national Israel are canceled.
Certainly, Matthew 23:36 does indicate the imminence of judgment upon the nations as well as the religious leaders for all their violence against the prophets. As a result, the generation will be rejected in regards to the King establishing His kingdom among them (23:37-39). However, this rejection is not permanent as the “until” in Matthew 23:39. Christ will establish the prophesied kingdom when the nation repents. In fact, one of the purposes of the tribulation is to bring Israel into a state of repentance whereby they recognize that Jesus is Messiah. It is at the end of the tribulation period, that all living Jews will acknowledge Jesus as Messiah and Romans 11:25-27 will be fulfilled when “all Israel shall be saved.”
Regarding the famous “this generation” statement:
Our Lord was not mistaken though. This generation is not a reference to the first century, but is referring to that generation living when all the signs of Matthew 24 will take place.
The destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple did not signify the end (Matthew 24:6). Jesus warns the disciples about being deceived concerning false messiahs, wars, and other events. In the verses following, Jesus provides a description of what the period will be like before His coming.
