THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF RAPTURE
By A. J. ATTWOOD
I
do not suppose there has ever been a time in my life-time when men have asked
so many questions about this very thing - the period or time when the
translation is likely to take place. The
question of the issue is: Will the saints be caught up before the Tribulation
or after the Tribulation? Will they go
up at the beginning or the end of the Tribulation period? There are three views. There may be more than three, but I only know
three held by Bible Students on this question. We respect each other’s views, and each person
who holds a view intelligently on this subject has Scripture to support that
view, but I am not going to take time to expound, much less to criticize them,
but just to let you see how people’s minds work about it.
The
first view is held by those who say: "Yes, the whole Church will be caught up into the
presence of the Lord in the air before the Great
Tribulation"; and the Scripture chiefly relied on to support that
view is this passage given by Paul, 1 Thess. 4: 13-18, although the Great Tribulation is
not even hinted at there.
The
second view says: "No; the Church will not be
taken before the Tribulation. The whole Church must pass through this
experience, and as Jesus said in Matt. 24:
29-31: "Immediately after the
Tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven ... with power and great glory. And He
shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
These, emphasizing this passage, say:
"The translation of the Church will take place at
the end of the Tribulation period and the whole Church must pass through this
tribulation." Those are the two extreme views, and both are held by
a great number of Bible students all over the world.
There
is a third view which steers through the middle of the two extremes, and
assumes that the truth lies between the two. This third view says: "Yes, some of the
Church will pass through the Tribulation and part will escape it."
Now, for thirty-three years past I have held that third view myself, and I do
not see any need to relax it, but I hold it still, and will give you two or
three salient reasons why I have held that view for thirty-three years.
First
of all, resurrection cannot take place until after the Tribulation has run its
course according to Rev. 20: 4. Secondly, The translation of the living saints cannot precede the
resurrection of the dead saints according to our text: "The dead in Christ shall rise first," and after
the resurrection of those dead in Christ, the living are caught up. Now it
follows that if the living cannot precede the dead in Christ, the translation
of the living saints cannot take place until after the Tribulation has run its
course.
But
there are several Scriptures which indicate that there are exceptions to that. The message to Sardis in Rev. 3: 1-6 includes the warning: "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee
as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee";
and the message to Philadelphia states: "Because
thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of
temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell on the
earth" (verse 10). That "hour of
trial", everybody deems, refers to the Great Tribulation and its
period, but there is a promise by the Master that if certain conditions are
fulfilled, He “will keep thee from that hour".
There
are also His warnings to His disciples one of which I read in the Scripture
given by our Lord Himself Luke 21: 34-37. "Take heed to
yourselves, lest at any time your heart’s be
overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so
that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that
dwell on the face of the whole earth. WATCH YE,
THEREFORE, AND PRAY ALWAYS, that ye may be counted worthy to escape all
these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
There is a promise enshrined in the
warning, that there will be some "accounted worthy to escape" the things suffered
in the Great Tribulation, a promise of escape. And that is not all. There are chapters in the Revelation which
throw light on this. The great 14th chapter of
Revelation, begins with the gathering of the "Firstfruits", and
concludes with the reaping of the harvest, that is the gathering of the saints.
That again is preceded by the 1,260 days
of the Tribulation. So you have
first, the gathering of the Firstfruits of the harvest
yet to be gathered; then you have the period of the Antichrist’s rule, and
after that the reaping of the whole harvest, the gathering of the people of
God.
So
I conclude that the truth lies between the two extremes. On certain conditions being fulfilled,
stressed by our Lord again and again, where the soul is watchful, ready, faithful - it turns
entirely on an attitude of mind and heart - should the Lord appear during
the lifetime of those saints,
they will be translated, the rest will be left, and get ready through the trial
through which they must pass; and at last the whole company of believing people
will be gathered, when the seventh angel "begins
to sound, and the mystery of God is finished", and the kingdoms of this world become the
kingdom of our God and of His Christ, when Jesus comes in visible power and
glory, and His appearance is made manifest.
So,
generally speaking, the destiny of the
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The Prophetic News.
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