The Case for Pre-Trib Rapture in Luke 17
By
Gene Lawley
In Luke 17:26-35
Jesus links the
incidents of Noah
and Lot with the
coming Day of the
Lord, the coming of
the Son of Man.
Those
passages recording
the judgments of
Noah’s day and that
of Lot are at
Genesis 6-8, and
Genesis 18-19,
respectively.
The passage in Luke
reads as follows
(NKJV):
“And as it
was in the days of
Noah, so it will be
also in the days of
the Son of Man; they
ate, they drank,
they married wives,
they were given in
marriage, until the
day that Noah
entered the ark, and
the flood came and
destroyed them all.
“Likewise as it was
also in the days of
Lot, they ate, they
drank, they bought,
they sold, they
planted, they built,
but on the day that
Lot went out of
Sodom, it rained
fire and brimstone
from heaven and
destroyed them all.
Even so will
it be in the day
when the Son of Man
is revealed.
In that day,
he who is on the
housetop, and his
goods are in the
house, let him not
come down to take
them away
And likewise
the one who is in
the field, let him
not turn back.
Remember
Lot’s wife.
“Whoever seeks to
save his life will
lose it, and whoever
loses his life will
preserve it.
I tell you in
that night there
will be two men in
one bed; the one
will be taken and
the other will be
left.
Two women
will be grinding
together; the one
will be taken and
the other left.
Two men will
be in the field; the
one will be taken
and the other left.”
To analyze the
statements of Jesus
under the umbrella
of the time-line of
events in the last
days, I have thought
to take them in
segments of
activities
described, as this:
1.
Activities
of mankind when God
intercedes.
2.
The
day “Noah entered
the ark and Lot went
out
of Sodom”.
3.
What
happens to
individuals “on that
day”.
4.
(On that day)
judgments came upon
those left behind.
A Population Primed for
Surprise
The activities of
people around the
world are the
normal, daily
activities of people
in the normal course
of life.
They are
eating, drinking,
sleeping, buying,
selling, building,
marrying and giving
in marriage.
There is no
evidence seen of the
judgments of
Revelation 6-19,
when, if one thinks
clearly on it,
people will be
concentrating on
only one main
thing—mere survival
of life.
For example,
Revelation 16:4
tells us that the
waters will
be turned to blood,
and elsewhere, so
will the seas.
Things
inhabiting the seas
will die.
It is surely
reasonable to think
that there will be
no fishing industry,
no market for
fishing boats or
gear and tackle.
The
same situation will
occur in all
industries and
activities around
the earth. That
should raise a
bright flag of
warning to those who
hold to the
deception that the
rapture will not
happen until the end
of the seven-year
tribulation period.
Don’t count on being
able to put off a
commitment to Christ
until you can see
the end approaching.
It will not
delay, but will come
upon us “as a thief
at night”.
That
deception of delay
is a tool of the
enemy.
But, then, some say
that it does not get
that bad until
half-way through the
tribulation, or, at
least, until the
wrath of God kicks
in, as we have been
told, between the
fifth and sixth
seals of Revelation
6 (where the word
“wrath” is first
used).
Just take another
look at the
accompanying
devastation and
despair that will be
associated with the
advent of the four
horsemen of
Revelation 6.
Will the ship
of state be sailing
through smooth and
still waters during
those days?
Natural
disasters in our
present experiences,
alone, have shown
that life as
normally experienced
will not be
happening.
Add to that
the economic demise
we are already
enduring, and it
will certainly
challenge any claim
that the coming of
our Lord will delay
until after the
tribulation begins.
Remember?
Jesus did not
include “turmoil and
despair” as any
dominating concern
in the activities of
those days just
before the coming of
the Lord’s
judgments.
Also notice that it
is Jesus who is the
one opening the
seals of judgment,
the only one worthy
to do so. Whose
wrath, then, is it,
which propels these
four horsemen forth
to do their dirty
work?
In God’s eyes
it is wrathful
judgment; in Satan’s
eyes it is the
progress of his
purpose to conquer
the earth. This is
the beginning of
sorrows.
A parallel passage
in I Thessalonians
5:2-3 seems to lay
out the same
pattern, and
describes it as a
time that will come
as a thief in the
night:
“for you
yourselves know
perfectly that the
day of the Lord so
comes as a thief in
the night, for when
they say ‘Peace and
safety!’, then
sudden destruction
comes upon them, as
labor pains upon a
pregnant woman, and
they shall not
escape.”
The element of
sudden surprise is
couched in a
backdrop of apparent
unreadiness and lack
of alertness.
In the Twinkling of An
Eye
The sudden
transformation of
believers from
mortal to immortal,
and “corruption to
incorruption”, as
described in I
Corinthians 15:50-54
will have no prior
notice issued.
There will be
no time to clean up
the mess we are
leaving behind, or
even say “goodbye”
to those around us.
The things of
this world that are
a part of us—our
clothing,
eyeglasses, wedding
rings, wrist watch,
pocket change—these
will be left, right
where we will have
been seated or
standing.
What a
surprise, too, will
it be for those
nearby, when
believers are caught
up to meet the Lord
in the air!
God actually put
Noah and his family
in the ark and
closed the door on
them, then waited
seven days before
the rains came.
Perhaps this
was to bring the
magnitude of
sinfulness of those
outside to a greater
awareness and
conviction.
It is
unclear, yet
judgment came just
as surely as
proclaimed.
The angels had a
struggle with Lot,
however; he was
reluctant to leave,
and the angel said,
“Hurry.
Escape there
[to a nearby city],
for I cannot do
anything until you
arrive there.”
Genesis
19:22.
God would not
bring destruction
until the believers
were out of danger!
Jesus brought this
forward as an
illustration of how
things will fall
into place in that
day of His coming.
It is a clear
validation of the
promise in
Revelation 3:10, “…I
also will keep you
from the hour of
trial to come upon
the whole world, to
test those who dwell
on the earth.”
The somewhat
controversial
passage in II
Thessalonians 2:6-7,
where Paul writes of
the role of the
“restrainer” in the
time frame of the
last days, clearly
parallels the
accounts of the
rapture of believers
in I Corinthians
15:50-54 and
I
Thessalonians
4:16-17, as well as
the illustrations of
that event in the
accounts of Noah and
Lot.
Identitifying the
restrainer is not
difficult when we
realize that
entity’s removal is
the main point of
comment in
connection with
God’s allowance of
the free reign of
lawlessness in the
world, in
preparation for His
final judgment.
The only entity that
has ever stood in
the way of the
progress of evil is
the church whose
head is the Lord
Jesus Christ.
He promised
His Spirit to the
disciples in a
special new way in
John 14:17, “…for He
dwells
with you and will be
in you”.
That
restrainer is the
Holy Spirit indwelt
body of Christ, the
church, and its
removal from the
path of evil opens
up the next step in
the plan of God.
Then Judgments Came
The earlier passage
in I Thessalonians
5:3 describes the
judgments as “a
sudden destruction,
as birth pangs upon
a pregnant woman”,
which actually come
without reservation,
gradually increasing
in intensity until
the event is
culminated.
Just in this
way are the
judgments of
Revelation 6-19 laid
out, increasing in
intensity until that
final great battle
when the Lord takes
out the enemy by the
power of His might.
Those days
will not be days of
normal life as we
have known it.
It will be
terrible, for there
will not be any
tolerance for
righteousness.
The evilness
of man will rise to
great heights,
beyond all
imagination.
Evil will
reign supreme…until
Jesus comes.
However, the whole
of scripture bears
out the time-line of
events that
pinpoints the
rapture’s occurrence
before the
beginning of the
seven years of
tribulation, the
“time of Jacob’s
trouble”,
(Jeremiah 30:7), not
that of the church.
The harvest time of
the Great Commission
is over.
The church is
gone.
God has
another plan for the
70th
week.