Do you believe that the Rapture is near? When do you think the tribulation will begin?

Ted's Response:

I absolutely agree that we need to be "looking and preparing." Most Christians may say they believe this, but I am convinced that most of them do not understand that Christians will be on the earth for a great deal of the affliction and suffering of the so-called "tribulation" to take place. This is what they should be "looking and preparing" for, not anticipating the meeting of Jesus, face-to-face, imminently and at any moment.

The majority of Christendom has adopted the erroneous notion of the "Pre-tribulation" Rapture. They mistakenly believe that they will be whisked away, with no prior alert, and will be able to avoid the most distressing time of human history. I feel that this is a very precarious, if not dangerous, viewpoint to embrace.

I have read and listened to Hal Lindsey, Chuck Missler, Chuck Smith, and others over the decades. Indeed, they have been, and continue to be, great Bible scholars and teachers. However, long ago, they embraced the idea of the "Pre-trib" Rapture (with its many inconsistencies and flaws) and, for some reason, never have re-examined and re-evaluated that position. Unfortunately, they use that particular Rapture view as a basic "building block" pertaining to other things that they believe about the end of the age. However, it is a block of sand, not of rock; so almost all of the prophetic issues built on top of it will crumble and collapse.

The prophetic end-time scenario, including the timing of the Rapture, is very logical and chronological. Here is a basic, foundational building block, from which we can deduce other details: Jesus referred to the "abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel" (Matthew 24:15). This is a direct reference to the following prophecy in the Book of Daniel:

He will confirm a covenant with many for one "seven." In the middle of the "seven" he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him (Daniel 9:27).

Daniel 9:27 is a prophecy about the final "week" of (seven) years of the age (also known as the 70th Week), which will begin with the confirmation of a covenant involving many nations, including Daniel's people, Israel (9:24). The prophecy indicates that in the middle of that seven-year period (that is, 3½ years after the covenant has been confirmed), an end will be put to sacrificing and offering in the temple (that is, the Third Temple in Jerusalem), and also the "abomination that causes desolation" will be set up. Thus, we know that Matthew 24:15-20 will take place in the middle of the final seven years, and then great distress or tribulation will begin (24:21).

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), funded and established in October 2006, specifically is a seven-year agreement (2007-13) involving Israel and several other nations. Never before has Israel engaged in a seven-year accord with anyone. The ENP is a confirmation of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EuroMed), established in 1995. There are many other details that I am skipping which are included in my commentary. Basically, I have seen nothing yet which contradicts the possibility that the ENP is the prophesied end-time covenant. If it is, then I have to consider the likelihood that the midpoint of the seven years will be during Passover Week 2010—when, if the temple is standing in Jerusalem, a large number of sacrifices and offerings will be taking place, according to the ancient Mosaic laws (Leviticus 23:4-14; Deuteronomy 16:1-8).

Adherents to the "Pre-trib" Rapture view are not able to consider that the final seven years have commenced, with the implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy, because they are compelled to believe that the Rapture must occur before the seven-year period can begin. That is, in their minds, if Christians are still here, then the final seven years of the age cannot have begun. However, I am virtually certain that this mind-set is very flawed.

Even before the Third Temple is standing in Jerusalem, world conditions should deteriorate to the point where most Christians, unless they are in a coma, will realize that something is terribly wrong. It should become clearly obvious to them not only that the 70th Week has begun but also that we just about will have reached the midpoint of that time period. Having been told that Jesus was supposed to "whisk" them away years before that point, I suspect that multitudes may fall away from the faith. This may be the apostasy or rebellion about which Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, just before the revealing of the "man of lawlessness" (Antichrist) at the midpoint.

If the midpoint of the seven years will be during Passover Week in the Spring of 2010, then I believe that the Pre-wrath Rapture most likely will take place about 2½ years after that, in the Fall of 2012. "Pre-tribbers" insist that we cannot know the "day or hour" of Jesus' appearance in the clouds (Matthew 24:36). For more about that, read my email response to someone else: If the "day and the hour" of Jesus' coming are unknown, how can we know when it will happen?.

"Pre-tribbers" also believe that the entire seven-year period (which they have misnamed the unscriptural term, "tribulation period") will be filled with God's wrath. I feel that this is completely unfounded. After the opening of the Sixth Seal (Revelation 6:12), clear signs in the sun, moon, and stars will signal the imminent appearance of Jesus in the clouds of the sky to catch away believers. The world will see "the face of Him who sits on the throne" and know that His wrath is near (6:16,17). John then saw a multitude in white robes (7:9), whom I believe are all the newly-raptured saints in heaven who have come out of the Great Tribulation (7:14). Then the Seventh Seal will be opened (8:1), and this will be followed by the first wave of God's wrath, by way of the Trumpet Judgments.

There is a clear parallel between Jesus' and John's descriptions of the cosmic disturbances to occur after the opening of the Sixth Seal: Matthew 24:29 and Revelation 6:12,13. (This will be well after the midpoint of the final seven years—I believe 2½ years later.) Chronologically, then, Matthew 24:30,31, which is a cogent picture of the Rapture event, will take place soon after the opening of the Sixth Seal (24:29).

If you ask "Pre-tribbers" what is happening in Matthew 24:30,31, they will say that it is the return of Jesus back to earth, at the end of the seven years (because they believe that the Rapture will have occurred seven years prior to that point). However, there are major problems with this view:

1. The Sixth Seal events (Matthew 24:29) will not take place at the very end of the seven years. There still will be the Seventh Seal to be opened (Revelation 8:1), and Jesus will not return to earth until the time of the Seventh Trumpet (11:15-17).

2. After the opening of the Sixth Seal (Matthew 24:29), Jesus only will appear in the clouds (24:30); He will not come down to earth at that time. Then His angels will gather his elect believers (24:31), at the Rapture. "Post-tribbers" believe that this is a picture of the Rapture and Jesus' return to earth, both taking place simultaneously. But they are incorrect, due to #1 above.

3. One would think that when Jesus' disciples asked Him about the end of the age (Matthew 24:3), He would have told them about the most extraordinary event in human history—the Rapture of believers—especially since Jesus Himself will be at the center of it. Since "Pre-tribbers" believe that it is a "silent, secret" event, with no signs preceding it, they are forced to believe that Jesus said nothing about it. But, of course, He did describe it (24:30,31), and He would have been strikingly remiss had He avoided the topic altogether.

Therefore, if the 70th Week began in the Fall of 2006, then 3½ years later, in the Spring of 2010, at the midpoint of the final seven years, the abomination that causes desolation should be set up in the temple in Jerusalem, and we should see the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Jesus described this as a time of "great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again" (Matthew 24:21).

Jesus also said, "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 24:22). I believe that "those days" (of the Great Tribulation, for 2½ years) will be "shortened" by the opening of the Sixth Seal (24:29), at which time, "for the sake of the elect," the Rapture will take place. Then, for 1 year, the wrath of God will be "blown out" via the Trumpet Judgments. Then Jesus will return to earth, as the Rider on a white horse, to rule and reign. Now, let's add each of these time periods together: 3½ years + 2½ years + 1 year = 7 years.