Did New Testament
Writers
Believe In An Imminent Rapture?
One of the objections that is raised by adherents of the pre-tribulation Rapture teaching about the possibility of a post-tribulation Rapture is Imminency. Imminency is the idea that Jesus can return "at any moment," that there are no events that need to happen before Christ returns. Pre-Tribbers proclaim that the Rapture can happen at any moment, despite the fact that the Bible never says this. (In fact, the only time that the word "moment" is used in relation to the events of the Rapture/Second Coming, it says "In a moment," not "at any moment." 1 Cor. 15:52)
But did the New
Testament writers believe and teach that Christ could have come at any moment?
Or is the idea of imminence, as presented today, different from what the New Testament
teaches, is it a product of men's imaginations? I believe the latter to be the
case.
Matt. 24 - When will Jesus Come?
First off, Matthew places the Rapture, which is at Jesus' coming, (parousia), at the end of the Tribulation. After all, the disciples asked Jesus, "Tell us what will be the sign of your coming, (parousia), and of the end of the age?" (Matt. 24:3) Please note the Greek word, parousia. It is the word that Paul uses when talking about the Rapture of the Church in the famous Rapture passage: For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 1 Thess. 4:15
In replying the the question of the disciples, Jesus said that there would be false christs (v.5), global upheaval (v.6-8), tribulation (v. 9-10) and the anti-Christ (v.15). Jesus says that He will come back AFTER the Tribulation (v.29-31). Remember, the disciples had asked, "What shall be the sign of your Coming/Parousia? And it is this Coming/Parousia that Jesus is talking about, and places after the Tribulation. And it is at the Coming/Parousia of Christ that Paul says the dead shall be raised and the living raptured. Since Paul placed this rapture at the Coming/Parousia of Christ, which Jesus placed at the end of the Tribulation,
Matt 24 & 25 - What are we to watch for?
In Matt 24:42 and 25:13, we have the command to watch, to stay alert, because we do not know the day or hour of His return. So this is a call to stay alert for an any-moment Rapture, isn't it? Not necessarily, no. We know that Christ instructed the disciples to watch, to wait, but what did He mean by this? Did He tell the disciples, by commandments and by teaching, that they should be waiting for an imminent, any-moment return?
The same Greek word, gregoreuo, used in Matt 24 and 25 to indicate watching, waiting and staying alert is also used in the story of Christ praying in Gethsemane. In Matt 26: 38, 40-41 and Mark 13:34-35, 37, Jesus asked His disciples to stay awake, to watch with Him while He prayed (they were not able to do so.) When Christ told them to watch with Him in prayer, he wasn't telling them to look for some special event to signal the end of prayer time, but instead, was telling them that they needed to stay alert for an unspecified duration of time. The Greek word used here, both in Christ's Olivet sermon, and in the Garden of Gethsemane, does not convey an idea of looking for a special event, but instead, of being alert for a duration, however long it takes.
I Thess. - Watching and the Rapture
This same Greek word, gregoreuo, is used by Paul, when he commands the Thessalonians to be alert in these times. Paul wrote: "Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober." (1 Thess. 5:6). (Notice, by the way, that this is all in the same section dealing with the Rapture.) Paul tells the Thessalonians that the Coming of Christ will be like a thief to those who are spiritually dull, but that they aren't to be spiritually dull, like the world around them. Instead, he commands them to be alert, walking as children of the day; then as they do so, Christ's return will not find them asleep. This is the same Greek word used in Matt 26, meaning that they are to stay alert, for however long it takes.
This section of
scripture, with the command to wait (1 Thess 5:6), demonstrates that Paul was
not teaching Christians to look for a Rapture before the tribulation.
The Day of the Lord or The Day of Christ?
Still reading in I Thess 5, note, in v. 2, that Paul speaks of the Day of the Lord: "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." If you are a good pre-tribber, then you know that, supposedly, the Day of Christ and the Day of the Lord are two separate events. The Day of Christ is supposed to be the pre-tribulational return of Christ FOR His saints, while the Day of the Lord is supposedly the post-tribulational return of Christ to earth in judgment WITH His saints.
Which of these two events does Paul tell the Thessalonian believers to watch and wait for? Which event is it for which they are to walk alertly as children of the day? In 1 Thess 5:2-3, Paul tells them that the Day of the Lord (the post-tribulational event) will not catch them asleep because they are children of the day.
But wait! Why would Paul be writing to these Christian believers about the Day of the Lord, when they would be removed from the earth at the day of Christ? Apparently, Paul believed that, if the Lord should tarry, Christians would be on the earth until the day of the Lord, and needed to be reminded to stay alert. Paul apparently didn't believe in an imminent, any-moment return, as defined by today's pre-tribulational teachers.
In fact, I don't
believe any New Testament writer shared that view, because all knew, as they were
writing, that there was at least one prophesied event to come, that hadn't taken
place.
John 21 - An Intervening Event
In John 21, Jesus made a rare, personal prophecy to Peter. He said, "I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." (v.18) The writer, John, tells us, in the very next verse, (19), that Jesus was talking about Peter's death.
What is the significance of this, you ask? Well, as long as Peter was alive, which was while all the gospels, the book of Acts, and the epistles of Paul were being written, Jesus could not return. Peter must die first, according to Christ's own prophecy. All the writers of the New Testament knew about this prophecy to Peter, that Peter would grow old, and in his old age, he would be executed for his faith; therefore, when they spoke of Christ's return, it could not have been in an "at any moment" context.
So, Peter, when he writes about the day of the Lord coming as a thief in the night (like Paul) to Christian believers, is not writing about an any-moment return. He is writing about an event that means the end of the ages (2 Pet. 3:10-13). Peter, writing to Christian believers, tells us we are waiting for that day, the day when the elements melt, the earth burnt up, and the new heaven and earth revealed. This message to Christians, tells us that we are not looking for a pre-tribulation rapture, but for the glorious return of Christ at the end of the ages.
As Peter is writing this, he knows that this will not take place in his lifetime. Christ prophesied the death he would die, and it was before him. Peter was not writing of an any-moment catching away. He knew, for those to whom he was writing, that this day of the Lord was an event still in the future, but at a time that they did not, could not know.
Conclusion:
I have demonstrated the following facts:
1) that in Matthew 24, Jesus places his Parousia (at which the Rapture occurs) at the end of the Tribulation.
2) that the Greek word used as a command to watch and wait for Christ's coming does not refer to a specific event, but to maintaining spiritual alertness.
3) that Paul told the Thessalonians to stay alert for the Day of the Lord (and not a pre-tribulation rapture.
4) Peter and all the New Testament writers knew that there was at least one intervening event to come.
Given these facts, we cannot possibly say that the New Testament teaches us that we are to look for an imminent return of Christ to rapture His saints out of the world before the Tribulation.