The Promise of The Rapture Guarantees Our Deliverance

By Jonathan Brentner

One of the more compelling arguments for the pre-Tribulation Rapture is the Lord’s promise, through the Apostle Paul, that believers will not experience the wrath of the Day of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). After warning that this future time will begin unexpectedly with “sudden destruction,” Paul assures his readers, and us, of divine deliverance from this coming period of widespread judgment.

The promise of the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) guarantees that we will not experience this awful time on the earth known as the Day of the Lord. But what is it and why are we so confidence that Jesus’ will take us to glory before God judges the wicked of this world?

What is the Day of the Lord?

If I were to sum up the Day of the Lord, I would say it’s Jesus’ direct intervention into human life on planet earth. Of course, He’s active behind the scenes as He has been throughout the Church Age. But there’s a coming time when He will directly engage our world in an unmistakable way, one that will dramatically change the course of human history. At first, many will deny that what they see is the Lord’s direct involvement in human affairs. Later, however, they will recognize it as “the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16).

During his short stay in Athens, Paul spoke of Jesus’ future intrusion into the world:

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30–31)

Speaking to an audience of unbelievers, he described the coming Day of the Lord as a time when the Lord “will judge the world in righteousness.”

The Old Testament prophets described it as an extended period of the Lord’s rage upon the entire earth. Isaiah 13:11–13 provides a summary of this coming time judgment upon the entire planet:

I will punish the world for its evil,

and the wicked for their iniquity;

I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,

and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

I will make people more rare than fine gold,

and mankind than the gold of Ophir.

Therefore I will make the heavens tremble,

and the earth will be shaken out of its place,

at the wrath of the Lord of hosts

in the day of his fierce anger.

The Day of the Lord encompasses more than God’s worldwide judgments; it also includes Jesus’ spectacular Second Coming and His subsequent thousand-year reign. It’s the time during which He makes His presence visibly and unmistakenly known to the nations through His judgment of wickedness, Second Coming, and subsequent reign over all nations.

The Parousia

In Matthew 24:36-46, Jesus describes the start of this time of future judgment as His parousia, a phrase that we commonly translate as “His coming.” The Greek word, however, has a far broader meaning. According to The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, “the noun parousia denotes generally presence and arrival.”[1] It’s when Jesus arrives on the scene and His presence remains active in world affairs.

Pastor and author Ray C. Stedman, in his insightful book What on Earth is Happening?[2], wrote:

Many Christians confuse the presence (or parousia) of Jesus with the sudden, worldwide, visible appearance of Jesus. The parousia begins when the church is taken out of the world. It is commonly call the “rapture” of the church. In that event, which takes place before the end of the age begins, the church is removed from the restrictions of time and Jesus becomes secretly present in the world.[3]

Commenting on Jesus’s reference to His “coming” in Matthew 24:37, Steadman further explains how both the Rapture and Second Coming represent Jesus’ parousia:

In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus goes back and forth between them [the Rapture and Second Coming], and if you do not read carefully, you might think He is describing one event. In one sense, He is describing one event, His parousia, His presence on earth. The parousia begins with His return to remove the church, and it climaxes with His glorious manifestation. So these events are really different aspects of one parousia, on presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.[4]

I agree with Stedman’s understanding of parousia. If Jesus’ intrusion into the course of human history begins with the Rapture, is it correct to say that the Day of the Lord begins with His removal of His Church from the world? I believe it is.

When Does the Day of the Lord Begin?

Just as the opening kickoff starts an American football game, I believe the Rapture kicks off the Day of the Lord. It’s when the world will begin to dramatically experience His unseen presence, or parousia.

J. Dwight Pentecost, in his classic book Things to Come, connects the Rapture with the start of this time of wrath:

If the Day of the Lord did not begin until the second advent, since that event is preceded by signs, the Day of the Lord could not come as a “thief in the night,” unexpected, and unheralded, as it is said it will come in 1 Thessalonians 5:2. The only way this day could break unexpectedly upon the world is to have it begin immediately after the rapture of the church.[5]

Although the Day of the Lord includes all of the seven-year Tribulation, the two are not identical. And since they are not the same, it makes sense that they might have differing starting points. For the following reasons, I believe the Day of Lord will begin prior to the signing of the covenant between antichrist and Israel (Daniel 9:27).

First, Paul tells us that the Day of the Lord will begin with “sudden destruction” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Imagine the immediate worldwide impact of the Rapture; plane crashes and a multitude of traffic accidents only begins to the tell the story of chaos that will ensue after our abrupt disappearance. Panic and financial disaster will mark the hours and days after the Rapture. People will recognize its supernatural nature, but most will fall for the devil’s lies regarding what happened.

The immediate impact of the covenant between Israel and the man of lawlessness will be that of protection from the constant threat of war. Perhaps it will lead to a renewed sense of “peace and security” that had our sudden disappearance had previously shattered.

Second, the Day of the Lord will come upon mankind unexpectedly; it will surprise the people saying, “there is peace and security” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). The unanticipated beginning to this day fits much better with the Rapture than with the signing of the deal between antichrist and Israel.

The inking of the deal between the man of lawlessness and Israel will not have the same element of shock; it will likely follow a period of negotiations between the two parties. Antichrist will first need to gain a degree of power such that he can convince Israel’s governing officials that he can truly guarantee their safety.

Third, Paul uses the same analogy of a “thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) that the Lord used in Matthew 5:37-44 to mark the start of His parousia on the earth. Both references point to the beginning of God’s sudden judgment upon the earth.

Fourth, taking the passage as a whole, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, it’s clear that the deliverance from this time of wrath comes via the Rapture. The way Paul intricately connects the start of the Day of Lord judgments with Jesus’ appearing favors the understanding that it kicks off this future outpouring of God’s wrath.

Fifth, although Daniel’s seventieth week (the seven-year Tribulation) happens during the Day of the Lord, they have differing purposes. Daniel 9:24 tells us that purposes of the seventy weeks concern the Jewish people and Jerusalem. In Isaiah 13:11, the Lord provides us with His reasons for sending His wrath upon the earth during the Day of the Lord:

I will punish the world for its evil,

and the wicked for their iniquity;

I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,

and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.

The differing purposes further demonstrate the Church’s absent from this future tumultuous time on the planet. Daniel’s seventieth week concerns God’s purposes for the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem (Daniel 9:24-27). During the Day of the Lord, God will “punish the world for its evil.” Do either of these purposes pertain to New Testament saints who already stand “holy and blameless” before God (Ephesians 1:3-4)? They do not!

An Added Sense of Urgency

The sudden impact of God’s wrath upon planet earth immediately after the Rapture adds a sense of urgency to our lives as we not only recognize the signs of the rapidly approaching seven-year Tribulation, but also the necessity for the Lord to judge the wickedness, corruption, and violence of our day. The number of worldwide abortions is now well over one billion! How much longer will the Lord wait before He steps into human history and begins to judge the world for this atrocity?

It also adds urgency to my prayers for those in my family who are not yet born again. I pray they come to Christ before the Rapture, but if not, I also ask that they survive the initial deadly and destructive mayhem that will immediately follow it so they have the opportunity to turn to the Savior.

The longer we wait for Jesus’ appearing, the more it becomes apparent that the gap between it and antichrist’s covenant with Israel will not be as long as we thought just a couple years ago. Out of the pandemonium and anarchy caused by our sudden disappearance, the man of lawlessness will rise to power and convince Israel that he’s able to guarantee their peace for a period of time.

As the signs of the rapidly approaching Tribulation period become increasingly evident with each passing day, we know the Rapture, which happens first, must be exceedingly close.

Maranatha!