: Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Secific Distinctives:
Jesus returns in the clouds and raptures living saints off the earth before the 7-year Tribulation period
The Church will not go through the 7-year Tribulation period
God will again focus on Israel as the Church has been Raptured
144,000 Jews will evangelize the world after the Rapture
The Two Witnesses will testify of Jesus, be killed, rise up and then ascend to heaven
The battle of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38:1-23; Ezekiel 39:1-29) will occur around the time of the Rapture
The Antichrist and the False Prophet will be revealed shortly after the Rapture
Many of those turning to Jesus will die a martyr's death
Jesus returns at the battle of Armageddon and defeats the armies of the Antichrist
Jesus reigns for 1000 years upon the throne of David from Jerusalem
Israel will receive all of its land promises
Believers will reign with Jesus upon the earth
The curse will be lifted and the earth will be repopulated by believers surviving the Tribulation
Satan is bound for 1000 but is let loose at the end of the Millennium
God destroys a Satan-led rebellion of people who do not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior
The Great White Throne Judgment occurs and eternity future begins

Background:
Pseudo-Ephraem, allegedly written by Ephraem of Nisibis (306-73), may allude to a Pre-Trib rapture
Morgan Edwards, a Calvinistic Baptist pastor, may have been teaching a Pre-Trib Rapture in the 1740's
John Darby's reading of scripture led him to believe in the Pre-Trib Rapture in 1827 at 27 years old
Most popular (TV, books, radio) 'end times' format today (i.e., the 'Left Behind' series)

Works:
Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth (1970) - best selling book (secular or sacred) in the 1970s
John Walvoord, The Rapture Question (1979)
J. Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come (1987)
Renald Showers, Maranatha Our Lord, Come! (1995)
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, The ―Left Behind‖ series (1996-2004) Theological Persuasion:
Some are Calvinists and some are Arminians

Churches:
Baptist, Pentecostal, Assembly of God, Messianic, Bible churches, Calvary Chapel and Nondenominational churches

Past Notables:
John Nelson Darby, Lewis Sperry Chafer, John Walvoord, Harry Ironside, Miles Stanford, C. I. Scofield, Zola Levitt, Paul Feinberg

Current Notables:
Hal Lindsey, Chuck Missler, Tim LaHaye, Jack VanImpe, Chuck Smith, Renald Showers, John MacArthur, John Hagee, Grant Jeffrey, Jimmy DeYoung, Randall Price, Mark Hitchcock, David Reagan, Ron Rhodes, Mal Couch, Thomas Ice, J. Dwight Pentecost, Robert P. Lightner, Mark Hitchcock, J.B. Hixson

Seminaries:
Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary (Ankeny, Iowa ) Tyndale Theological Seminary (Fort Worth, Texas)

Web Sites:
Todd Strandberg (www.raptureready.com)
Prophecy Central (www.bible-prophecy.com)
Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry (www.foigm.org)
Tommy Ice (www.pre-trib.org)
Jack VanImpe (www.jvim.org)

Quote:
"The Tribulation does not deal with the Church at all, but with the purification of Israel. It is not the 'time of the Church's trouble,' but the 'time of Jacob's trouble'." (Thomas Ice, Executive Director of the Pre-Trib Research Center in Wash. D.C.)