In recent weeks, I shared a strong warning online about the times we live in. It struck a nerve — not because I claimed anything new, but because many believers feel the tension between what Jesus tells us to expect and what large parts of the modern church prefer to believe. One person responded with a well-meant but very common view: that Jesus will secretly take the church home before the Great Tribulation, and that Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation point toward a pre-tribulation rapture.
I want to respond here, not to win an argument, but to help the church wake up to what Scripture actually teaches. If we love the truth, we must be willing to examine our assumptions in the light of the Word.
A Sleeping Church in a Shaking World
The world is trembling. Anti-Christian and anti-Jewish movements are rising – in particular Islam(ism). Nations are falling apart. The moral foundations of the West are collapsing. The birth pains Jesus described are no longer theoretical. We seem them on our screens daily.
Yet much of the church remains asleep. Some expect there will be an escape by way of a secret rapture. Many think the world will improve because the church is building the Kingdom of God here on earth, prepared for Jesus’ return. Many assume Jesus’ warnings are for someone else, somewhere else, at some other time.
But Jesus did not give us prophecy to entertain us — he gave it to prepare us.
Does Matthew 24 Teach a Secret Rapture?
One of the most popular arguments for a pre-tribulation rapture is the idea that Jesus’ return will be like “the days of Noah.” But in Matthew 24, Jesus makes the comparison very clear: in Noah’s day, the righteous remained, the wicked were taken — swept away by judgment.
The same pattern appears in Jesus’ own parables. In Matthew 13, the angels first “gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,” and then the righteous shine. And in Luke 17, when the disciples ask Jesus who is “taken,” he replies with the image of vultures gathering — a picture of judgment, not of salvation.
There is simply no “secret rapture” hidden in this text. Jesus is describing a sudden, visible judgment at his appearing.
The Galilean Wedding Image Cannot Overrule Jesus’ Timing
Some suggest that there will be a secret rapture because they see a similarity with the picture of a Galilean wedding ceremony. This is a beautiful picture, but we must be careful not to let a later cultural illustration override Jesus’ explicit words:
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days… he will gather his elect.” (Matt.24:29–31)
There is no gap, no second phase, no hidden return. Jesus places the gathering after the tribulation, not before it. That alone should settle the question.
“Kept From the Hour” Does Not Mean “Removed From the Earth”
Revelation 3:10 is often quoted as proof that Jesus will take the church out of the world before the final trial. But the phrase “keep you from” uses the same Greek expression Jesus uses in John 17:15:
“Father… keep them from the evil one.”
Here, Jesus explicitly says he is not asking the Father to take the disciples out of the world. He prays for their protection within it. That is the same promise made to the faithful church in Philadelphia. They are preserved, not evacuated.
God’s Wrath Is Not the Same as the Great Tribulation
Confusion often enters when believers look at Revelation 12. How can a loving God pour out his wrath on people who are sold out to Jesus? In the minds of those who subscribe to a belief in a rapture before the great tribulation, believers are delivered from God’s wrath. They are right in that. But the Great Tribulation is not God’s wrath — it is the dragon’s wrath (Rev.12:12,17).
Throughout history, faithful disciples have endured persecution, imprisonment, martyrdom, and opposition from satanic systems. They have never endured the poured-out wrath of God. That distinction still holds.
God’s wrath falls after the Great Tribulation and after the saints are gathered in the sky (Rev.16-19). To be clear, Scripture distinguishes between two different realities:
- The Great Tribulation — the intensified persecution of the saints by Satan and the Beast.
- The Day of the Lord — God’s wrath poured out on the unbelieving world.
Believers endure the first, but not the second. So, Jesus gathers the saints after the tribulation (Matt.24:29-31), and then the Day of the LORD judgments begin (Rev.16-19). The church is present during the enemy’s rage, but absent when God’s wrath is poured out. This is the consistent pattern throughout Scripture: preserved through the trial, and protected from divine judgment.
The Early Church Was United on This
For the first three centuries, every early Christian writer:
- expected persecution under antichrist;
- expected the church to face tribulation;
- expected a single glorious appearing of Jesus afterward.
A secret pre-tribulation rapture simply did not exist in Christian thought until the 1830s.
If we claim to hold to “historic Christianity,” we should at least consider how unanimous the early church was on this.
Why This Matters
Again, I am not trying to win a theological argument. Pre-trib or post-trib is not the core of the gospel, and it should never break fellowship. But it does affect how we live.
If believers expect escape, many will be unprepared for pressure.
If believers expect ease, many will be shaken by suffering and even fall away.
If believers expect revival without resistance, many will lose their faith during the hour of testing.
And if the church remains asleep, the enemy advances unhindered.
What Scripture Calls Us To
Jesus tells us these things not to frighten us, but to form us. We need wakefulness, holiness, perseverance, clarity, courage, faithfulness unto death, and a burning hope for his appearing.
The days ahead will be difficult. But they will also be marked by some of the greatest moves of God in history. The same shaking that exposes false foundations will awaken the remnant. The same pressure that tests the nations will refine the Bride. The same darkness that rises will make the light of Christ shine brighter through his people.
“See, I Have Told You Beforehand”
Those words from Jesus (Matt.24:25) are the heartbeat behind this entire conversation. He warns us because he loves us. He prepares us because he intends to use us. And he strengthens us because he is forming a Bride who will overcome.
So let’s be sober. Let’s be awake.
Let’s hold to Scripture, not comforting theories.
Let’s reject fear and embrace readiness.
Let’s proclaim his Kingdom boldly while there is still time.
The Lord is near.
Let us be found faithful.
Resources for Further Study
For those who want to explore the historic, biblical, and Jewish background of these questions, here are some reliable and accessible sources written by respected scholars and teachers who reject the pre-tribulation rapture on scriptural grounds:
Michael L. Brown & Craig Keener — Not Afraid of the Antichrist: Why We Don’t Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture
A clear, scholarly yet readable explanation of the early church view of the end times and why believers will face the antichrist before Jesus returns.
Joel Richardson — When a Jew Rules the World
A powerful case for the Messianic kingdom, Israel’s future, and the end-time conflict, with careful biblical argumentation.
Joel Richardson — The Islamic Antichrist
A serious exploration of the Middle Eastern context of prophecy and the plausibility of an Islamic empire in end-time events.
N. T. Wright — Surprised by Hope
Not an eschatology manual, but an influential work explaining the meaning of resurrection, new creation, and the single, visible coming of Jesus.
George Eldon Ladd — The Blessed Hope
A classic defense of historic premillennialism and the post-tribulation return of Christ.
Kim Riddlebarger — A Case for Amillennialism (for contrast)
Even though I disagree with amillennialism and therefore with this author, this book is useful to understand how different Christian traditions read the same texts without embracing pre-tribulation rapture views.
Early Church Writings (e.g., Didache, Barnabas, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Hippolytus)
These writings show early believers fully expected to face the antichrist and saw the resurrection and gathering as one event at Christ’s appearing.
Together, these resources help anyone wanting to move beyond popular prophecy charts and ground their expectation in Scripture, history, and the Jewish story of redemption.
Featured image by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash.
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