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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Sep. 15, 1997
Update	: Jun. 18, 2025
Parts	: 06

Synopsis:



Continuing our discussion from part one, not only does this disagreement of views amongst Christians involve the exact time frame and length of the Great Tribulation, but it also involves the precise timing of the Resurrection of the Dead, as well as the Rapture of the Saints. Please note that the word "rapture" is not actually found in the Holy Scriptures. The actual phrase which is used in the New Testament of the KJV Bible is "caught up", as can be seen by the following verses which are found in the Apostle Paul's first Epistle to the Thessalonian church:

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."


In the previous verses, the phrase "be caught up" is derived from the Koine Greek word "harpazo". Pronounced har-pad'-zo, Thayer's Greek English Lexicon states that this word means to seize, to carry off by force, to seize on, to claim for one's self eagerly, or to snatch out or away. This then is what is meant by the Rapture. In other words, the carrying away of the Saints -- both dead and living Saints -- to the Heavenly Realm at the time of the Lord's return. It is the precise timing of this event which has been a great source of debate within Christian circles for literally centuries.

Concerning the Rapture, today there are three main schools of thought. These are the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theorists, the Mid-Tribulation Rapture theorists, and last of all, the Post-Tribulation Rapture theorists. The first group claims that the Body of Christ is raptured prior to the start of the Great Tribulation. The second group is convinced that the Rapture occurs somewhere in the middle of the Great Tribulation. The last group holds the view that the Saints actually live through the Great Tribulation, and then the Rapture occurs. So which one of these views is the correct one?

Well, my friends, if you would have asked me this question a dozen years ago or longer, I would have told you without any hesitation that I identified as a Post-Tribber, meaning that I believed in the Post-Tribulation Rapture of the Saints. I was quite sure of it and I had been very sure of it for over forty years of my life. I knew all of the verses, and I was quite able to convincingly defend my position. But that was then, and this is now, after the Lord finally set me on the right path in my understanding.

My friends, please remember what I wrote earlier. Once you get on the track of Futurism, it will majorly mess you up in a doctrinal sense, because from that point forward, you will automatically read, interpret and understand every single prophetic verse from that misguided perspective. You will in fact filter everything through that warped lens. Because you begin your quest for the truth based on the false assumption that everything -- or at least many things -- occurs in the future, you will end up way out in left field, just like so many Christians who I see rambling their nonsense on some of the social networks today. How tragic!

I am serious. I have seen certain netizens claim that we are already in the midst of the Great Tribulation. Others claim that the Rapture of the Saints will occur very soon -- any day now according to some of them -- after which the period known as the Great Tribulation will engulf the world. There have been times when I have tried to set some of these folks straight, but after a while, I finally realized that it is a futile endeavor. Why so? Well, because as I point out in my article "Should Christians Engage in Doctrinal Debates?", it is pointless to try to convince a person who doesn't want to be convinced. Until their mind and heart are really open to Scriptural truth, you can talk to them until you are blue in the face and it won't make a bit of difference. So you are just wasting your time.

So as I said, while all of these online Christians continue in their heated debates regarding exactly when the Rapture will occur in relation to the Great Tribulation itself -- some Christians argue that the Rapture is not even real to begin with -- none of them even realize that the timing of the Rapture is NOT even the actual starting point of their error. What they SHOULD be asking themselves is what is the real starting point of the Great Tribulation itself. Sadly, they won't or can't even do that, because in their deceived minds, they have already assumed that it is a future event. Thus, as I already explained in part one, such people are unknowingly building one deception upon another, because they missed the very first deception.

Now, concerning the precise timing of the Great Tribulation, what if I told you that regardless of your personal position, none of it really matters? Regardless of whether you embrace a Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib or Post-Trib position, what if it is all just a totally moot point? Why would I even dare to say this? Some of you reading this might automatically be thinking "Oh, that is because you obviously believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture now. As such, there is no need for you to worry about the Great Tribulation because you won't be here anyway."

Not so fast, my dear friends. That is NOT it at all. If that is your thinking, I suggest that you fasten your seat belt, because the Scriptural answer I'll now be providing may come as a big shock to you. Now, for those of my friends who have already read some of my other BBB articles, you may possibly already understand where I am coming from. But if not, I will just tell you. As I explain in the articles which are listed at the end of this series, I am fully convinced that many of the prophetic events which Futurists erroneously say haven't happened yet, have in fact ALREADY happened. In fact, I am convinced that they occurred almost two millennia ago during the First Century. Are you shocked? Well, you can't say that I didn't warn you.

Please understand that this is NOT a conclusion at which I arrived lightly or frivolously. I am NOT like certain online Christians who will look at current events, and then hastily look at a few Bible verses, and then say "Well, this event seems similar to these particular verses. These verses MUST therefore be talking about this event." And then these same misguided people go online and tell everyone that we're now witnessing fulfilled Bible prophecy through such-and-such current event. The next thing you know, they are shouting that Jesus is coming back at any minute, the Rapture of the Saints will very soon occur, and the Great Tribulation is about to begin.

My friends, as I said earlier, I see this very same scenario playing out over and over again online. Then, when nothing happens, and there is no return of Jesus Christ, no Rapture of the Saints, and no Great Tribulation, these Christians will either suddenly go silent, or else they will find some way to convince their followers that they didn't really say so-and-so. Often, they will simply say "Oh, you just didn't really understand what I said." Sadly, on and on this same game of deception will continue, because the gullible sheep will forgive their misguided leader or wannabe prophet, and pretend that he never made such error. They are like little online cults with their false prophets. How tragic!

As I have said before, we cannot just pick out a few verses of Bible prophecy and lightly assign them to some modern-day event. If we do that, we end up with the doctrinal confusion that is now so prevalent on the social networks. As I had to learn myself, in order to really understand Bible prophecy, we ALSO need to study ancient history; because in many cases, Bible prophecy and secular history fit together like a hand in a glove. Secular history will in fact confirm what the Bible has already stated. Furthermore, until I began doing this myself years ago, there were so many prophecies in the Bible which I simply did not understand. Of course, I still haven't unraveled it all, but I certainly understand a lot more today than I did before.

Sadly, there are those Christians who will no doubt say in response, "Well, I have the Holy Spirit. I don't really need anything else. I don't need to study ancient history. I do not need Hebrew or Greek lexicons. I don't need to conduct online research. If God wants me to know something, I'm sure His Spirit will reveal it to me directly without relying on all of that other stuff." My friends, many years ago before the Lord blessed me with a little more wisdom and spiritual discernment, I had the very same attitude. I felt that the Bible was all that I needed. How wrong I was! So, friends, if you really want to gain a better understanding of Bible prophecy, please study secular history as well. You have a computer, or at least a cell phone, so please get to it!

To continue, the fact of the matter is that it took me years of serious Bible study to reach a point in my understanding -- goaded by what I now believe to have been the prompting of the Holy Spirit -- where I now realize that some of the prophecies which the Futurists insist have not happened yet, in fact ALREADY occurred a long time ago. My dear friends, stop and ask yourselves this question: What could possibly cause a man who was a solid Futurist for four decades of his life -- meaning me -- to make such a drastic change in his personal beliefs? It would have to be something extremely convincing, don't you think? Simply put, the answer is God's Word itself, and allowing it to interpret itself, instead of trying to force it to say what I had chosen to believe for so many years. Instead of accepting it for what it actually said, I was trying to mold it and interpret it my OWN way, instead of God's way.

Sadly, this is precisely what the Futurists continue to do. They twist and pervert God's Word so that it conforms to their beliefs. This is why they don't understand that it is a moot point to be arguing about the time frame of the Great Tribulation, or the time frame of the Rapture, or the time frame of Christ's Return. They have been so blinded by their Futurist theology, that they take certain Bible verses out of their proper context, in order to try to validate their personal beliefs. As I already said, they will take verses which have absolutely nothing to do with us today, and they will interpret those verses as if they are speaking to them personally. However, this is most definitely not the case whatsoever. I fully understand this process, because I used to do the very same thing for many years due to my being under the delusion of Futurist theology. Not anymore.

For example, there are certain things in the Gospels and in the Epistles which were directed to First Century audiences, and NOT to Christians living today. A good case in point are the verses where Jesus and some of the Apostles talk about great tribulation and affliction coming upon Believers. But exactly which Believers and at what time? If you think that they meant those of us who are living today, if you believe that those particular verses are talking to you personally, that is where you have already gotten off-track, my friend. You are taking those Scriptures out of their proper context, and you have been seduced by Futurism, whether you realize it or not.

One very good example where this error is widely committed is in the well-known verses which we find in 1 Thessalonians 4, which I briefly discussed earlier. While some Christians remain convinced that the Rapture is a totally fabricated, false doctrine, others remain absolutely convinced that they represent the near-future Rapture of the Saints. But do they really? Allow me to share those verses with you again, and then we will discuss them:

"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. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."


Please carefully notice Paul's attitude and perspective as he writes those words. He is NOT talking about a far future event that would occur two thousand years later in our own present time as the Futurists erroneously believe. Just look at how many times Paul uses the word "we". He is including himself. He is talking directly to his readers of the First Century. That is who the "we" is, and most certainly not us modern Believers. He is NOT talking to you, and he is NOT talking to me. To believe otherwise is to purposely deceive ourselves. Yet that is exactly what the Futurists are doing. They insert themselves into those verses when they should not do that.

Please also notice how Paul is writing with a great deal of passion, anticipation and expectation. Would he really do it if this amazing event was not going to occur during his own lifetime? I think not. It is also very striking that Paul very specifically writes "by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord". In other words, Paul fully understood that some of his readers would still be alive on the day that Jesus returned to the Earth for His faithful bride. Again, Paul says "we", which means that he is convinced that he is also included in that group. Why does Paul know this to be true? Because it was the word of the Lord. It was the same words that Jesus had shared with His followers in the Gospels -- particularly in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 -- where He talks about His Return, and the gathering together of the Saints.

Are we to believe that the Apostle Paul was simply deceived about all of these things? Did he somehow get it wrong? Was he merely confused, and were his wires just crossed? I don't believe so. Why not? Because he clearly informs his readers that he was directly taught by Christ Himself, as we see by the following two verses. Furthermore, at some point, it is possible, and perhaps even probable, that the other Apostles who had actually lived with Jesus during those three years, confirmed to Paul what he already knew to be true concerning Christ's' Return:

"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."


The New Testament Scriptures make it rather clear that Paul was obviously not alone regarding this issue. The Apostle Peter likewise believed that the day of Christ's Return was very close at hand. This fact is also made plainly evident by verses such as the following one, where Peter declares that "the end of all things is at hand", just as Paul had done:

"But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."


Why did Peter, Paul and all of the other Apostles believe so strongly in this? Quite simply, because aside from the fact that Jesus had plainly told them so, this is the very same public message that John the Baptist and Jesus preached to the masses as well, as we see by the group of Bible verses below. Furthermore, we see the very same powerful message being stated in the Book of Revelation, and in other of the Epistles as well. To reiterate, they were all convinced of Christ's Return, the Great Tribulation and the Rapture of the Saints during THEIR LIFETIMES. Consider the following Scriptural evidence and believe:

"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND."


"And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: FOR THE TIME IS AT HAND."


"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND."


"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND."


"And as ye go, preach, saying, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND."


"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, THE TIME IS FULFILLED, and THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND: repent ye, and believe the gospel."


"And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NIGH AT HAND. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled."


"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass IN THE LAST DAYS, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:"


In Acts 2:16-18 above, the Apostle Peter -- who, by the way, had just been filled with God's Holy Spirit -- is clearly saying two things: Joel's prophecy was being fulfilled at that time during the First Century, and that period was also the Last Days. The phrase last days does NOT mean from 30 AD to the 21st Century, as some modern, Futurist-leaning Bible teachers erroneously teach. That is a false doctrine of men.

"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath IN THESE LAST DAYS spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;"


In Hebrews 1:1-2 above, the phrase "last days" refers to the very end of the Prophet Daniel's well-known seventy weeks -- or 490 years -- prophecy. In my opinion, it has absolutely nothing to do with our modern times, as the misguided and deceived Futurists falsely claim.

"For yet a little while, and he that shall come [meaning Jesus] WILL COME, and WILL NOT TARRY."


In Hebrews 10:37 above, the phrase "a little while" does NOT mean 2,000 years in the future as the Futurists erroneously like to claim. To believe such a thing is nothing short of being ridiculous, in my view. Would you personally ever use the phrase "a little while" to refer to something that is not going to happen for two thousand years?

"Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together FOR THE LAST DAYS . . . Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for THE COMING OF THE LORD DRAWETH NIGH."


In James 5:2-3, 7-8 above, the Apostle James is likewise confirming that it was in fact the Last Days -- two thousand years ago -- and that he too was convinced that Jesus would be returning soon during his own lifetime. Clearly, James is NOT going to say "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" if it would not occur for another two thousand years.

"Little children, IT IS THE LAST TIME: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby WE KNOW THAT IT IS THE LAST TIME."


As you can plainly see, in 1 John 2:18 above, not once, but twice, the Apostle John plainly tells his readers that it is the Last Time. That is to say, the very end of the Prophet Daniel's seventy weeks prophecy. My friends, from reading all of the previous verses, in my opinion, we can only arrive at one logical and indisputable conclusion. That is that Peter, James and John -- who were Jesus' inner circle -- as well as the Apostle Paul, were all fully convinced that Jesus Christ would return during their own lifetimes, exactly as He had promised them He would do in the following set of verses. How so many modern, Futurist-leaning Christians can continue to resist the plain truth of these verses just really boggles my mind:

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, AND RECEIVE YOU unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also . . . I will not leave you comfortless: I WILL COME TO YOU."


In my view, it simply does not make any sense whatsoever to say and write such things regarding the imminence of Jesus Christ's Return, and the coming Kingdom of God, if these two events were not going to happen for almost two thousand years until our current time, as the Futurists believe. After all, if this were the case, it should be obvious to you that such events would have little effect on Christian Believers of the First Century. So why even tell them such things? What good purpose would doing so possibly serve? In fact, it might even discourage them and give them a false hope if the Lord truly was not going to return for another two thousand years. Can you see my point?

Please notice that in the previous verses I shared with you from the Apostle Paul's first Epistle to the Thessalonians, he uses the phrases "the coming of the Lord" and "shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air". This clearly indicates that he is talking about the Rapture of the Saints at the time of Jesus' Return. The phrase "caught up together" is derived from the Koine Greek words "harpazo hama". Expanding upon the definition I shared with you earlier, that word "harpazo" means to seize, carry off by force,‭ to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly,‭ or to snatch out or away‭.

The word "hama" simply means together‭. So to reiterate, the Apostle Paul is clearly describing the Rapture of the Saints at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. As many of my readers will already know, the Lord describes this very same event in the following verses which are also found in three of the Gospels:

"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together . . . And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of 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."


"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven."


"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."


So once again we see a gathering together of the Saints in the clouds of heaven at the time of the Lord's Return. As such, to deny the existence of the Rapture, as some modern Christians seem to do, is to commit a serious error. Yet if some of them are only denying the occurrence of the Rapture at our current time in history, and not the doctrine of the Rapture as a whole, then I would have to agree with them.

Concerning the Lord's mention of the carcase and the eagles, I have an interesting interpretation of what His words may possibly mean, which I would like to share with you now. In a word, I have considered the possibility that the Lord may be referring to Himself as the Carcase which was hung on the tree, and to First Century Believers -- that is to say, the Saints of God -- as the eagles who were to be gathered unto Him. This makes perfect sense to me, because Believers have in fact symbolically fed upon Jesus' flesh, precisely as He told His listeners they had to do. In fact, as I explain in other articles, it was because of this apparently offensive and profound teaching, that many of His disciples abandoned Him during the course of His earthly ministry. They simply did not possess the spiritual discernment to understand what the Lord meant, as the Apostle Paul would later write.

These truths concerning the significance of the Carcase and the eagles seem to be confirmed by the following group of Bible verses. Notice that the verse from the Book of Isaiah is not only a promise, but it also appears to be a prophecy regarding exactly what happened at Jesus' Return. It is a promise to those Saints of God who patiently waited for the Second Coming of the Lord, and who made it through -- or who endured -- such a horrible time as the Great Tribulation no doubt was:

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."


"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."


"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you . . . From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him."


"And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre."


"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."


Please go to part three for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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