Many within the Pre-Trib Rapture belief camp understand that the Rapture is dealt with in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. My dear friend, the late Dave Hunt, gave an excellent session on the subject, which he was assigned to address at a conference.
However, in his uncompromising, straight-ahead way of exposition, Dave changed the title of that session early on the morning of December, 1998, at the Pre-Trib Study Group gathering in Dallas from “Is the Rapture in the Olivet Discourse?” to “The Rapture Is in the Olivet Discourse.” He told us who were in attendance that he just couldn’t see how the Rapture of the Church was not in that tremendous prophetic teaching the Lord Himself gave as an answer to His disciples’ question: “What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world [age]?”
I have both the transcript and the audio of that session; they are treasures I pull out every once in a while to bolster my understanding of God’s Holy Word on the profound matters involved in the pre-Trib Rapture of believers.
Jesus, in the discourse, gave a number of signals that would be prevalent at the time of His return to earth in the Second Coming. Mixed within His description of coming back in the Second Advent was the first phase of that return to the earth.
The first things He said to look for were deception and deceivers. He went on to say there would be great upheaval among the populations of earth. There would be, He said, great ethnic strife.
He further said there would be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. There would be pestilences and an increase of earthquakes in many places, He said; eventually, these terrible things going on would get so frightening that people’s hearts would fail them when they look at what is coming their way.
He stated that the entire world of rebels against God and His order would increasingly come to hate both the disciples—who, of course, were Christians by this time—and the Jewish people.
The people with reprobate minds (Romans 1:28) would think to kill both classes of those who are associated with God. For unbelieving Israel, the Jews of the seven-year Tribulation era, persecution by the one who will become Antichrist, the world’s final great dictator, would eventuate in the most terrible time in human history.
It would be the same for those, both Jews and Gentiles, who will have accepted Christ for salvation during that horrendous time. Most of these would be martyred—many beheaded—for their belief. For those accepting Antichrist’s satanic mark (Revelation 13:16–18), the wrath and judgment of God would be even worse than for the martyred saints.
So we come to Luke 21:28. Jesus commanded all who are alive when these signals become obvious to do the following:
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
With this great commandment by the Lord Himself to look for these signals of His return in the first phase of His Second Advent–that is, when they begin to come to pass—we must consider whether we’re now witnessing the pre-Trib trigger points to the Rapture of the Church.
The things we’ve seen “coming to pass” for quite some time include the following:
- Deception in every direction we look. Just the political deception alone is in our faces daily. But the lies coming even from governmental institutions, attempting to change America into anti-God mindset, cannot be missed.
- The seas of humanity are roaring; there is great ethnic upheaval. Protests are no longer peaceful, but are turning into physical battles, especially among the young on the campuses of higher education. Much of this turmoil is being fomented by the very professors who are supposed to be teaching the young.
- The hatred of the Jews is on the rise as it was in the late 1930s of Nazi Germany, bringing to mind our Lord telling about the hatred that would eventuate. Zechariah’s words (Zechariah chapter 12) are being borne out. Israel and Jerusalem are becoming a “cup of trembling” and a “burdensome stone” for the entire world.
- Additionally, we see the stage being set for Antichrist controls once the Rapture takes the Church to Glory. Artificial intelligence, fused with demonically inspired acumen, will give Satan’s man of sin godlike powers in the eyes of those left behind on earth to suffer under Antichrist’s rule.
- And, of course, there is the unmistakable pre-Trib trigger point of looming globalism storming upon the world scene in preparation for that son of perdition. Antichrist will take over when the Restrainer resident within the Christians who are with the Lord in the Rapture no longer holds back evil. Antichrist’s dictatorship is even now in its late stage of development, as the following analysis indicates.
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