Imminence

1. Imminence Pre-Tribulation Rapture Refuted

2. Imminence • The word is used to mean that Jesus can return at any moment, which is something that I believe every believer who believes in the second coming would agree with. • The problem is not Jesus’ return, but the definition of “any moment” or “imminent”.

3. Imminence • Definition: There are no prophecies that must take place before the rapture of the Church. • In this, it isn’t simply that there are no prophecies before the second coming of Jesus, because that is simply not true, but that there is a “coming” of Jesus before His “second” coming, in which the church is raptured before the tribulation. This is seen as “hidden” return of the Lord.

4. The Rapture • Once again, just as in dispensationalism, we’re not debating the issue of pre-tribulation rapture, but rather a theory behind the theory. If dispensationalism is true, then the pre-tribulation rapture is true. If imminence is true, then the pre-tribulation rapture is true. If both of these are false, then the pre-tribulation rapture must also be false.

5. The Rapture • Circular reasoning • How do we know that there is a pre-tribulation rapture? Because Jesus’ return is imminent. How do we know it is imminent? Because there is a pre-tribulation rapture. • The belief in imminence has little to do with Scripture, and everything to do with this kind of circular reasoning.

6. Scriptural Evidence • The evidence does not rest upon Scriptural witness, but upon circular reasoning. It should be noted that none of these Scriptures would support the view of imminence without the preconceived bias. For this reason, we’ll examine them together for effect, but we’ll examine each one individually and ask the question of what else they might infer later.

7. Scriptural Evidence • Matthew 24:36 • “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” • Christ comes “like a thief”. This is repeated in Matthew 25:13, and some would even take Acts 1:7 to reiterate the same sentiment. If we don’t know when Jesus’ return is, then how can it be after the seven year tribulation?

8. Scriptural Evidence • Maranatha • This is an Aramaic word used throughout the New Testament, which means “Our Lord come”. How can this be the prayer of any saint if there is no immanency? How could Paul pray that people be banned from maranatha (1 Corinthians 16:22) if it isn’t the pre-tribulation rapture?

9. Scriptural Evidence • Mark 13:33-37 • Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch, therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming – in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning – lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch! • Why do we need to keep watch? Because we don’t know the day or the hour that our Lord shall come. How can this be so if we can map out the tribulation period and know the day according to Revelation 12:6?

10. Scriptural Evidence • Romans 13:11-12 • And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to wake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. • When Paul speaks of “night” and “day” in this poetic sense, it is invariably speaking of the final tribulation. Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4. • Romans 16:20 • And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. • You have here the word “shortly” being used.

11. Scriptural Evidence • 1 Corinthians 1:7 • Because the Church shall be raptured before the second coming, this verse must mean the rapture. • Philippians 3:20 • We look for our Savior in heaven, and not to return onto the earth. • Philippians 4:5 • Jesus’ coming is at hand, which implies that there wasn’t anything necessary to be fulfilled before His coming.

12. Scriptural Evidence • 1 Thessalonians 1:10 • Jesus has delivered us from the wrath to come. Therefore, we wait for His coming, not after “wrath”, but before. • 1 Timothy 6:14 • Here Paul speaks of Jesus’ “appearing”, but not His return or coming.

13. Scriptural Evidence • Titus 2:13 • The blessed hope is the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, not the tribulation. • Hebrews 10:37 • Jesus will not tarry. How can that be so if we know that there must be some prophecies fulfilled before His coming? • James 5:7-9 • The Lord draws nigh, and how can this be so if there must be something to take place before His coming?

14. Scriptural Evidence or Scriptural Bias? • There is context to all of these verses. While we can go into all of them individually, and I shall, it is much more appropriate at this time to focus upon the larger picture. It isn’t difficult to find responses to each one of these verses, especially when we examine the verses just before and immediately after (let alone the context of the whole book).

15. Just Say No • I don’t believe in imminence. It is wrongfully defined and improperly used. • We can expect a “soon” coming of the Lord, just as the saints 2,000 years ago expected a “soon” coming of the Lord. Imminence doesn’t demand that there be no prophecies to take place before the rapture.

16. Just Say No • If my wife gets off work at 4 p.m. and I look at the clock to see that it is 2:30, I know that there is an event that must take palce before my wife gets home: she must clock out at work. Yet, I believe that her arrival is imminent, in that it won’t be tomorrow that I should expect her. Her return is at hand – indeed, even at the door! • Similarly, Jesus’ return is not something without any warning signs. This is the whole point of Matthew 24. We can observe the signs of the times, and as the sons of Issachar, we can understand those signs.

17. Just Say No • In regard to the “fact” that the known day can’t be the unknown day, this is easily refuted. First, we can take Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:3-5. We aren’t in darkness that the day should “come like a thief”. If that isn’t satisfactory, then we can go to Daniel 12 and Revelation 12. In Daniel 12 we find the numbers 1,290 days, 1,350 days, and in Revelation we have 1,260 days. So, which is it? Does Jesus return 1,260 days after the abomination of desolation, 1,290 days, or 1,350 days after the abomination of desolation? Just because we’re given specific numbers and ballpark figures doesn’t mean that we know when Christ will return.

18. Just Say No • Also note that there are they who are prepared and the who are not prepared. Take 1 Thessalonians 5:1 for example. Paul quotes Jesus, and yet continues on to tell us that we are not in darkness and that the day should not “come like a thief” and surprise us. Apparently Paul is expecting certain events to take place that we could understand, which we see quite plainly in 2 Thessalonians. He says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 that “that Day will not come” until the great falling away (or deception) and the revealing of the man of sin. Note 2 Thessalonians 2:1 gives the context of the coming of our Lord Jesus, and our gathering together with Him (the rapture).

19. Just Say No • Maranatha could easily be prayed with the understanding that there are certain events that must unfold before Christ’s coming. Just like my wife must clock off and drive home, which means it won’t be 4 that she gets home, but probably 4:30, that doesn’t then necessitate that I can’t text her and say, “Come home quick”. That prayer should be our hearts desire, whether we know how long we have to wait, or whether we have no clue.

20. Just Say No • Even pre-tribulationists say that the tribulation believers will know the time of the end. Certain events will make it manifest. • Since the final seven years begins when the Antichrist makes a false covenant of peace (Daniel 8:25, 9:27, 11:23) with a recently regathered nation (Jeremiah 30:3, Ezekiel 38:8, Zephaniah 2:1-2, Daniel 12:1), who can pretribulationists hold that the rapture was a truly “imminent” possibility during the many centuries of Jewish exile from the land? The conditions necessary for the last seven years were not in place until 19:48, therefore the doctrine of imminence is unsustainable for anyone to the necessary fulfillment of all prophecy.

21. Just Say No • If the rapture must happen before the tribulation, we can demand that the conditions of the tribulation must be met before the rapture, otherwise there is no reason for rapture to bring forth the tribulation. There has to be a Jewish Jerusalem, an unbelieving Israel occupied by Jews, and we could even debate the need for the Middle Eastern conflict against Israel.

22. Just Say No • Note Isaiah 13:6-11, 34:8, 63:4 • Ezekiel 30:3, 39:8 • Joel 1:15, 2:1, 3:13-16 • Obadiah 15 • Zephaniah 1:7, 14, 2:1-2 • Zechariah 14:1

23. Just Say No • These are only a few of the Scriptures that show clear signs to watch for before the Day of the Lord. Daniel 12:1-3 clearly shows the Day of the Lord to be the resurrection of the dead, which has to be the rapture of the Church. What is important to notice is that Jesus quotes Daniel 12:1-2 twice in the midst of His sermon of Matthew 24 and 25. The first time is to explain the time after the abomination of desolation is “the time of unequalled tribulation”. You cannot then separate Daniel 12:1 from Daniel 12:2, which demands that Jesus’ return in Matthew 24:29-31 is the resurrection of the dead. Yet, if that weren’t enough, Jesus makes this exact demand in Matthew 25:46, when He quotes Daniel 12:2, which almost every Christian I’ve ever heard or read says that this separation of the sheep and goats is a separation of they who call upon the name of the Lord (the Church).

24. Just Say No • Who shall not know the day, if it signaled by such manifest events? Daniel 12:10 tells us the wicked will not know. Jesus also says the servant who beats the other servants will not know (Matthew 24:48-51). Why would Jesus give us such a map of the end times if we are to not know? Why would Jesus claim that the wicked won’t know, but the righteous should keep watch? Why would Paul also labor unto that end? Why would Peter attempt to explain the end? Why would Jesus give John the Revelation if not to let His people know? If we do not recognize the times, it is not because we haven’t been warned, nor because there is imminence.

25. Just Say No • Peter’s mention of Joel 2:31 claims it to happen before the Day of the Lord (Acts 2:20), but Jesus quotes this same verse as “immediately after the tribulation” (Matthew 24:29-30). Therefore, the Day of the Lord is not the full seven years, as pre-tribulationists hold, nor is it the three years that post-tribulation pre-wrath hold to. The Day of the Lord is the climax, and not a period of time.

26. Just Say No • The Day of the Lord is the day of the Antichrist’s destruction (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 8), the gathering of Christ’s elect (Matthew 24:31 with 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2), and the restoration of the Kingdom unto Israel (Matthew 23:39, Acts 3:21, Romans 11:25-26, Revelation 1:7).

27. Thessalonians • These verses will be gone into again when we deal with the pre-tribulation rapture more directly. • 1 Thessalonians 4:15-5:11 • These verses are often referenced without the beginning of the thought explained. Back in verse 13, Paul makes mention that the whole point is about they who “fall asleep” in Christ. The whole point is that Jesus died and rose again, and therefore we know that Jesus will return with they who have fallen asleep in Christ. Because Jesus rose, so shall we.

28. Thessalonians • Paul mentions that “we who remain until the coming of the Lord” will not precede they who are asleep. Then, when we examine the next statements, we find Paul directly quoting Jesus from Matthew 24:29-31. In both places we see the shout, Jesus descending from heaven, the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet blast.

29. Thessalonians • When we come to 1 Thessalonians 4:17, we have seen Paul quoting Jesus, which the pretribulationist will say is an utterly different “coming” than here in 1 Thessalonians. The “catching away” is not a leaving the earth, but rather harpazó, which is a seizing, as if by robbery. And, the “meeting in the air” is not a leaving this earth, but rather apantésis, which is the Greek term given when a city will rush out to meet with the victorious army and throw a party welcoming them back into the city. The army was victorious, and now the city celebrates that victory with the army by marching back into the city with them. This isn’t “wand waving” or “special pleading” to avoid what the clear interpretation is, but simple knowledge of the Greek words and their usage.

30. Thessalonians • 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 in no way can be regarded as a “pre-tribulation rapture”.

31. Thessalonians • Continuing into 1 Thessalonians 5, the subject matter does not change. Paul began the statement to explain what happens to they who fall asleep in the Lord Jesus, and works toward the return of Christ and the rapture of the Church at His return (the same return as Matthew 24). The question that then comes next is, “when?” Notice that instead of claiming that the righteous and the unrighteous are left in the dark, indicating “imminence”, Paul asserts that you and I, if we be in Christ and righteous, shall not be overtaken by the Day as a thief. Rather, the Lord comes like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2), but we are not in darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:4). When they say, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction shall come (1 Thessalonians 5:3), but you are not appointed to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Therefore, because you are sons of the light (1 Thessalonians 5:5), and are not of the night or of darkness (ibid), let us therefore keep watch, not sleeping as others do, but be sober (1 Thessalonians 5:6). How can we be told to keep sober and keep watch if we know not of what we are watching for? And how can we not fall to calling out “Peace and safety,” only to be overtaken, if we don’t expect sudden destruction, simply because we expect to be raptured before the destruction?

32. Thessalonians • They who are asleep and aren’t keeping watch shall be overtaken, and that is their judgment, but they who are of the kingdom of light, who keep watch and remain sober, shall not be overtaken, because the Lord has not appointed us to wrath. If we subject ourselves to wrath, simply because we refuse to keep watch and remain sober, then it isn’t God who judges us, but we who condemn ourselves. It isn’t God’s fault when someone believes in rapture only to find themselves in the midst of tribulation, for Jesus has warned us plainly that “ye shall receive tribulation” (John 16:33)

33. Thessalonians • 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 • The first verse tells us the whole point of Paul’s explanation here. It is concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the gathering together unto Him. Can that mean anything other than the rapture? If the “gathering unto Him” is supposed to be imminent, then we must evaluate what Paul is warning of, and ask the question of why he warns us of things to happen before the “imminent” rapture.

34. Thessalonians • That day shall not come until there is a great falling away (or deception), and the man of sin (Antichrist/False Prophet) is revealed. If the Antichrist or False Prophet must be revealed before the rapture of the Church, then how can we claim that the rapture of the Church is before the revelation of the man of sin? It is blatant contradiction to Scripture. Now, this doesn’t answer to mid-tribulation rapture, nor post-tribulation pre-wrath, but it does manifestly demand that the pre-tribulation rapture theory be false.

35. Thessalonians • Paul doesn’t stop there. How do we know that this cannot be “pre-tribulation”? Because this man of sin isn’t revealed at the beginning of the tribulation, as some declare and believe. We must see that he opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, and even sit in the Temple of God declaring himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). That demands a rebuilding of the Temple, a time of peace to offer the sacrifices (as Daniel 9:27 and parallels account), and the establishment of the abomination of desolation (as we find in Daniel 11:31-39). If Jesus is telling us that the abomination of desolation is paralleled with the “time of unequalled persecution” (Matthew 24:15-21, Daniel 12:1), then we cannot claim that the Tribulation comes after the rapture. At best you must settle with a mid-tribulation rapture, which still doesn’t seem to cut it.

36. Thessalonians • I will be going into this passage again with equal specificity, and continuing onward through the “restrainer” and other difficult questions when we get there in the pre-tribulation section (might be other playlist).

37. Scriptural Evidence or Scriptural Bias? • Acts 1:6-7 is so far from lending support to the doctrine of imminence. It was actually the Lord’s personal correction of that very mistake presumption. The irony is that this verse is used to say “it isn’t for us to know” demands an immanency, but the question the apostles asked was one of immanency. Notice the question that Jesus is answering. It isn’t about rapture, but about restoration of the Kingdom to Israel (which the pre-tribulation rapture advocates claim is Jesus second coming, after the rapture).

38. Scriptural Evidence or Scriptural Bias? • Matthew 24:36 is within a larger message on the end times. On the Mount of Olives, in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, Jesus says that “the end” would be preceded by an unequaled tribulation signaled by the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Matthew 24:15-16), and Jerusalem being surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20-22). But first the Gospel of the Kingdom must be “preached to all nations” (Matthew 24:14), and the church must endure tribulation (Luke 21:12-19).

39. Scriptural Evidence or Scriptural Bias? • To claim that this passage is to the Jews, but then the very next statement of Jesus is for the church is to perform criminal exegesis. Either the whole thing is for the Church, or none of it. Either the whole thing is for the Jews, or none of it. To say both is possible, but impossible if it requires dividing up the message of Jesus as if He is somehow speaking to two different people at two different times within the same message. Either the tribulation spoken of is for the Church, or the rapture is for the Jews and not the Church.

40. Scriptural Evidence or Scriptural Bias? • Coming like a thief • Notice that Jesus’ coming like a thief in Revelation 16:15 with 2 Peter 3:10-12. In Revelation 16, the “imminent” thief-like coming is after the sixth bowl. The seventh bowl is Armageddon, which makes clear that Jesus’ return is the Day of the Lord, which is the Day of Judgment and resurrection, which is the day of “thief-like” coming.

41. Scriptural Evidence or Scriptural Bias? • Notably, the next event after this insertion of warning concerning Christ’s “now truly imminent” return (as a thief) is the announcement of the seventh bowl, which is also “the great day of God Almighty”. This, and not a supposed earlier rapture, is the coming that in Revelation 16:15, 2 Peter 2:10-12, and Matthew 24:43 is represented to overtake the “inhabitants of the earth” as a thief. In contrast, Paul makes it clear that this will not be the experience of the true believer. “But you, brethren, are not in darkness so that this Day should overtake you as a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:4).

42. Scriptural Evidence or Scriptural Bias? • The Lord is “at hand” • The Lord is always “at hand” (Philippians 4:5) in the sense that “the Judge is standing at the door” (James 5:9), signifying every person’s proximity to the ever present potential of sudden judgment (Luke 12:20, 45-46), but the doctrine of imminence from the standpoint of actual chronology is a disarming false doctrine that threatens to cost the church dearly.

43. Scriptural Evidence or Scriptural Bias? • Romans 13:11-12 • We can easily parallel this with 1 John 2:8 that claims the dawn is already on the horizon, and the true light is already shining. Does this claim immanency, or does it claim that the apostle’s believed that the Kingdom of God will triumph, that Jesus has already “triumphed over the principalities and powers through the cross”, and therefore with the second advent even death shall be “put under His feet”?

44. Scriptural Evidence or Scriptural Bias? • Romans 16:20 • In the context of Romans 9-11, where Paul explains that the fullness of the Gentiles leads to “all Israel shall be saved”, and that “by your mercy they shall obtain mercy”, only to then progress that thought into Romans 15:16 where Paul “might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” It is by the Church laying down her life that she overcomes by the blood of the Lamb, the word of her testimony, and not loving life unto death. It is by that “offering” or “sacrifice” that “all Israel” is saved, as it is written. Therefore, Paul concludes that God shall crush the serpent’s head under our feet “shortly”, which is actually a belief that there is a soon coming tribulation in which the Church shall be a major part.