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A Brief History of the Rapture

Original Article from Midnight Call

One of the most often cited objections to pretribulationism is that it is a new teaching in church history, having only come on the scene in the 1830s. It is often argued that if the pre-trib Rapture were biblical, then it would have been taught earlier, and throughout church history. In the last decade, individuals have found a number of pre-1830 references to a pre-trib Rapture. Here is a summary of that evidence.

THE EARLY CHURCH

Since imminency is considered to be a crucial feature of pretribulationism by scholars such as John Walvoord,1 it is significant that the Apostolic Fathers, though posttribulational, at the same time just as clearly taught the pretribulational feature of imminence. Since it was common in the early Church to hold contradictory positions without even an awareness of inconsistency, it would not be surprising to learn that their era supports both views. Larry Crutchfield notes, “This belief in the imminent return of Christ within the context of ongoing persecution has prompted us to broadly label the views of the earliest fathers, ‘imminent intratribulationism.’” 2

Expressions of imminency abound in the Apostolic Fathers. Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, The Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, and The Shepherd of Hermas all speak of imminency.3 Furthermore, The Shepherd of Hermas speaks of the pretribulational concept of escaping the Tribulation.

You have escaped from great tribulation on account of your faith, and because you did not doubt in the presence of such a beast. Go, therefore, and tell the elect of the Lord His mighty deeds, and say to them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming. If then ye prepare yourselves, and repent with all your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible for you to escape it, if your heart be pure and spotless, and ye spend the rest of the days of your life in serving the Lord blamelessly. 4

Evidence of pretribulationism surfaces during the early medieval period in a sermon some attribute to Ephraem the Syrian, but is more likely the product of one scholar called Pseudo-Ephraem, entitled Sermon on The Last Times, The Antichrist, and The End of the World.5 The sermon was written some time between the fourth and sixth century. The Rapture statement reads as follows:

Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from the confusion, which overwhelms all the world? …For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.

This statement makes evident a clear belief that all Christians will escape the Tribulation through a gathering to the Lord, and it is stated early in the sermon. How else can this be understood other than as pretribulational? The later Second Coming of Christ to the earth with the saints is mentioned at the end of the sermon.

THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH

By the fifth century A.D., the amillennialism of Origen and Augustine had won the day in the established Church–East and West. It is probable that some form of premillennialism persisted throughout the Middle Ages, but it existed primarily underground.

It is believed that sects like the Albigenses, Lombards, and the Waldenses were attracted to premillennialism, but little is known of the details of their beliefs since the Catholics destroyed their works when they were found. But there was at least one who held to some form of pretribulationism, namely one named Brother Dolcino in 1304.

Francis Gumerlock is the individual who advocates the Brother Dolcino Rapture find and said in his book: “The Dolcinites held to a pre-tribulation Rapture theory similar to that in modern dispensationalism.” 6 The reason Gumerlock believes that Brother Dolcino and the Apostolic Brethren taught pretribulationism is found in the following statement:

Again, [Dolcino believed and preached and taught] that within those three years Dolcino himself and his followers will preach the coming of the Antichrist. And that the Antichrist was coming into this world within the bounds of the said three and a half years; and after he had come, then he [Dolcino] and his followers would be transferred into Paradise, in which are Enoch and Elijah. And in this way they will be preserved unharmed from the persecution of Antichrist. And that then Enoch and Elijah themselves would descend on the earth for the purpose of preaching [against] Antichrist. Then they would be killed by him or by his servants,and thus Antichrist would reign for a long time. But when the Antichrist is dead, Dolcino himself, who then would be the holy pope, and his preserved followers, will descend on the earth, and will preach the right faith of Christ to all, and will convert those who will be living then to the true faith of Jesus Christ. 7

THE REFORMATION CHURCH

After more than 1,000 years of suppression, premillennialism began to be revived as a result of at least four factors. By the late 1500’s and the early 1600’s, premillennialism began to return as a factor within mainstream Protestantism. With the flowering of biblical interpretation during the late Reformation Period, premillennial interpreters began to abound throughout Protestantism, and so did the development of sub-issues like the Rapture.

Some began to speak of the Rapture. Paul Benware notes:

Peter Jurieu in his book Approaching Deliverance of the Church (1687) taught that Christ would come in the air to rapture the saints and return to heaven before the battle of Armageddon. He spoke of a secret Rapture prior to His coming in glory and judgment at Armageddon. Philip Doddridge’s commentary on the New Testament (1738) and John Gill’s commentary on the New Testament (1748) both use the term rapture and speak of it as imminent. It is clear that these men believed that this coming will precede Christ’s descent to the earth and the time of judgment. The purpose was to preserve believers from the time of judgment. James Macknight (1763) and Thomas Scott (1792) taught that the righteous will be carried to heaven, where they will be secure until the time of judgment is over. 8

Frank Marotta, a brethren researcher, believes that Thomas Collier in 1674 makes reference to a pretribulational Rapture, but rejects the view,9 thus showing his awareness that such a view was being taught in the late 17th century. There is the interesting case of John Asgill, who wrote a book in 1700 about the possibility of translation (i.e. Rapture) without seeing death.10

Perhaps the clearest reference to a pretrib Rapture, if not the most developed system, before Darby comes from Baptist Morgan Edwards (founder of the Ivy League school, Brown University) who saw a distinct Rapture threeand a-half years before the start of the Millennium.11 The discovery of Edwards, who wrote about his pretrib beliefs in 1744 and later published them in 1788, is hard to dismiss.12 He taught the following:

II. The distance between the first and second resurrection will be somewhat more than a thousand years. I say, somewhat more—, because the dead saints will be raised, and the living changed at Christ’s “appearing in the air” (I Thes. iv. 17); and this will be about three years and a half before the millennium, as we shall see hereafter: but will he and they abide in the air all that time? No: they will ascend to paradise, or to some one of those many “mansions in the father’s house” (John xiv. 2), and disappear during the foresaid period of time. The design of this retreat and disappearing will be to judge the risen and changed saints; for “now the time is come that judgment must begin,” and that will be “at the house of God” (I Pet. iv. 17)…(p. 7; The spelling of all Edwards quotes have been modernized.)

CONCLUSION

I have heard from another scholar who is reading through many Latin manuscripts of previously unpublished documents that he has found a number of previously unknown pre-trib Rapture statements from pre-19th century Christendom. He is planning to publish his material in a few years. What these pre-Darby Rapture statements prove, if nothing else, is that indeed others did see the Rapture taught in Scripture similar to the way that pretribulationists in our own day teach. Thus, the argument that no one ever taught pretribulationism until J. N. Darby in 1830 is just not historically true and it is becoming increasingly clear with each passing year. Maranatha!

ENDNOTES

1 John F.Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), pp. 24-25.
2 Larry V. Crutchfield,“The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation in the Apostolic Fathers” in Thomas Ice & Timothy Demy, editors, When The Trumpet Sounds (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1995), p. 103.
3 Crutchfield,“The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation in the Apostolic Fathers,”pp. 88-101.
4 The Shepherd of Hermas, 1.4.2.
5 For more information on this matter see Timothy J. Demy and Thomas D. Ice,“The Rapture and an Early Medieval Citation,” Bibliotheca Sacra (Vol. 152,No. 607; July-Sept. 1995), pp. 306-17.
6 Francis X. Gumerlock, The Day and the Hour: A Chronicle of Christianity’s Perennial Fascination with Predicting the End of the World (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 2000), p. 80.
7 Gumerlock’s translation of the Latin text in Gumerlock, “A Rapture Citation,”pp. 354-55.
8 Paul N. Benware, Understanding End Times Prophecy: A Comprehensive Approach (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), pp. 197-98.
9 Frank Marotta, Morgan Edwards: An Eighteenth Century Pretribulationist (Morganville, N.J.: Present Truth Publishers, 1995), pp. 10-12.
10 The entire title of Asgill’s work is as follows: An argument proving, that according to the covenant of Eternal Life revealed in the Scriptures,Man may be translated from hence into that Eternal Life, without passing through Death, although the Human Nature of Christ himself could not be thus translated till he had passed through Death.
11 Marotta, Morgan Edwards.
12 Morgan Edwards, Two Academical Exercised on Subjects Bearing the following Titles;Millennium, Last-Novelties (Philadelphia: self-published, 1788).

Major Prophetic Events of the Last Days

Major Prophetic Events of the Last Days

Throughout Biblical scripture are descriptions of events that will happen during the last days of the world as we know it now. Following is a list of 21 major events and their Biblical references. This list was taken from the book “Countdown To The Apocalypse” Grant R. Jeffrey, 2008, pps 163-164.

1. The rebirth of Israel (the fig tree buds)

"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened."
Matthew 24:32-34 (New International Version)

2. Hebrew language is recovered

"Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder."
Zephaniah 3:9 (New International Version)

3. The Jewish exiles return to Israel

"… and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land."
Ezekiel 37:21 (New International Version)

4. The desolate land becomes fertile

"In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit."
Isaiah 27:6 (New International Version)

5. Plans to rebuild the Temple

"In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem."
Isaiah 2:2-3 (New International Version)

"In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem."
Micah 4:1-2

6. The global rise of anti-Semitism

"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,…"
Matthew 24:9-10 (New International Version)

7. Israel surrounded by enemy Arab nations

"Come," they say, "let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more."
With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot. Selah"
Psalm 83:4-8 (New International Version)

8. The revival of the Roman Empire

"The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time."
Daniel 7:24-25 (New International Version)

9. Development of worldwide communications

"For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth."
Revelation 11:9-10 (New International Version)

10. Return of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel

"From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings."
Zephaniah 3:10 (New International Version)

11. Russia rises again as a military power

"The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.

" ‘Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.

" ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, "I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land."
Ezekiel 38:1-12 (New International Version)

12. Babylon is rebuilt

“An oracle concerning Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz saw: …”
Isaiah 13:1 (New International Version)

“Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. “
Isaiah 13:6 (New International Version)

“Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the Babylonians’ pride, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Isaiah 13:19 (New International Version)

13. Preparations for a one-world government

“He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:14 (New International Version)

“He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.”
Revelation 13:7 (New International Version)

14. Financial systems will require the mark

“so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.”
Revelation 13:17-18 (New International Version)

15. All must receive the mark

“He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.
Revelation 13:16-18 (New International Version)

16. Asia forms a 200-million-man army

“It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.”
Revelation 9:14-16 (New International Version)

17. The Euphrates River will be dried up

“The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.”
Revelation 16:12-14 (New International Version)

18. A military highway appears across Asia

“It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.”
Revelation 9:14-15 (New International Version)

“The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.”
Revelation 16:12-14 (New International Version)

19. Ecological devastation of the planet

“The nations were angry; and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your saints and those who reverence your name,
both small and great—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth."
Revelation 11:18 (New International Version)

20. Massive climate change

“The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
Revelation 8:7-13 (New International Version)

21. Humanity’s survival threatened

“For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”
Matthew 24:21-22 (New International Version)

“ Before them fire devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
behind them, a desert waste—
nothing escapes them.”
Joel 2:3 (New International Version)