Bob's Notes 7/14/19 Is There a Time Interval Between the Rapture and the Tribulation Period?

Post date: Jul 15, 2019 1:19:00 PM

4. Is There a Time Interval Between the Rapture and the Tribulation Period? (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8)

Review

For the last couple of weeks have been putting a prophetic puzzle together. We have completed the borders which is the 70 weeks of Daniel. Last week we placed two pieces inside the borders. The first was that the Tribulation period does not begin with the rapture but the signing of the covenant with Israel that the anti-christ brokered. The second piece was the Day of Lord which is the extended time period that began when God’s patience, mercy, grace, and longsuffering ran out with Israel and sinful Gentiles. During this extended time period, the Lord will pour His’ wrath and judgements on the world. The next piece of the prophetic puzzle is to concerns if there is an interval period of time between the rapture and the tribulation period. Our study today will be in 2 Thessalonians 2.

Introduction

In 1 Thessalonians 4 the apostle Paul corrected the church at Thessalonica concerning the rapture. Many in the church were discouraged and upset because they thought the believers who were dead would miss the rapture. Now in 2 Thessalonians 2 the Apostle Paul is having to correct them again because many thought that because they were being persecuted, that they were in the throes of the Day of the Lord i.e. the tribulation period. Let’s look at 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 to see how he corrected the false teaching that they were in the midst of the Day of the Lord i.e. the Tribulation period. The information found in these 8 verses are not found anywhere else in Scripture.

2:1-2 - Paul told them to regain their composure and stop being anxious and shaken up in regarding the coming of our Lord and believers gathering together to Him. He is talking about the pre-tribulational rapture here. The church at Thessalonica thought they were in the Day of the Lord because of false teaching that had happened through messages being preached, men who said that they had a special revelation from God (a spirit), or by a letter or letters that had been written in Paul’s name to them on the subject of the Day of the Lord. Of course, if they were in the throes of the Day of the Lord than that means that they had missed the rapture.

The church at Thessalonica also was being deceived by these false teachers who were also false prophets. They were being misled either by impressive personalities and/or spectacular appeals. Several weeks ago we discussed the relevancy and importance of studying eschatology. The antidote to being led down a path of poisonous prophetic heresy is a good strong dose of the truth. This is exactly what Paul was trying to give them. Paul was clear that the Day of the Lord was not present because he shared with them three dramatic events that had to occur before the Day of the Lord could arrive.

The first dramatic event that must occur before the Day of the Lord is present is the apostasy. (2:3a)

2:3a - Please notice that it does not say apostasy must come first but the apostasy must come first. The word apostasy means “to fall away from, a deserting, or turning from a position once held.” It is a defection from the truth concerning major doctrines of the Christian faith. The word not only means doctrinal departure from the truth but also can include open rebellion. Sometimes those who apostatize will not only depart from the faith but also be in open rebellion against God. In the case of the apostacy both elements will be included. An apostate is not one who was saved and lost his or her salvation, but it is an individual who was never saved in the first place. They may have a form of godliness but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. They do not know Jesus personally and certainly do not experience God’s grace and power. Apostasy is a deliberate choice to reject the truth of Scripture and may include being in open rebellion against God.

First Timothy 4:1-4 gives a small taste about the apostates. From the beginning of the church 2000 years there have always been apostates mixed in with true believers. These apostates really belong to the organized church not the true body of Christ. As we progress to the end of the age, there will be more and more apostates in the organized church, but the apostasy Paul speaks about here will be the greatest falling away from the truth that has ever occurred and the greatest active hostility and rebellion against God the world has ever seen.

Today we see this falling away from the true faith in liberal churches, in heretical churches, and cults such as the JW’s, the Mormons, etc. and organizations such as the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches. Apostacy is growing. They teach and believe that the Bible is not inerrant and infallible and/or that it is a book from man not God, that God does not exist or that the Trinity does not exist, that Jesus is not God etc.

But, after the rapture of the true church, there will be total apostasy from the faith in the organized church that remains on the earth. Their fate is seen in the parable of the wheat and tares.

The second major dramatic event that must occur before the Day of the Lord is present is the revealing of “the man of lawlessness.” (2:3b-5)

2:3b-4 - The apostasy as I described it a few minutes ago will precede or come before the man of lawlessness, the antichrist, is revealed. As we shall see in the middle of the 70^th week, the anti-christ will show his true colors and demonstrate that he is opposed to God. He is called “man of sin” because this will dominate his character as he leads the world to blasphemous sin against a Holy God.

2:5 – Paul remined that them that when he was there before that he taught them about the Day of the Lord and the anti-christ. He wanted them to recall what he had taught them. Paul did not regard these important truths about the future to be too difficult for them as new believers to understand or to be unimportant. He probably conveyed to them that this part of God’s Word is important because all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable. Today we should have the same attitude toward eschatology as he was trying to convey to the church at Thessalonica.

The third major dramatic event that must occur before the before the Day of the Lord is present is the Restrainer of lawlessness must be removed. (2:6-8a)

2:6-8a - Paul by using the word “and” is connecting the previous information he just given them to the information about the Restrainer of lawlessness.

Before we decide what or who the restrainer is, lets first talk about what the mystery of lawlessness is that the restrainer is going to hold back. The term mystery as defined by Paul in three of his other epistles is something that was not known or revealed in the Old Testament. By using the term mystery in Scripture, Clarence Larkin has identified eleven mysteries found in the NT that were not revealed in the OT. In this case the mystery is the revelation of a future climax of lawlessness that the world had never known before as consummated in the anti-christ. It is being restrained now. Even in Paul’s day, this mystery of sin and lawlessness had begun to increase. The anti-christ will be the one who will lead the world into lawlessness and sin at the middle of the Tribulation period. But lawlessness was and is today being restrained somewhat. It is being restrained until a time the Lord chooses to remove the one who is holding back so that the man of sin can be revealed.

Since Paul had reminded them that he had taught them before about the subject of what and who restrains the anti-christ’s lawlessness, he chose not to mention it specifically. So, let’s discuss who and what the Restrainer might be. Some have suggested that the Roman Empire is the restraining force for restraining lawlessness. The old Roman Empire is long gone, so that cannot be the restrainer. Some suggest that human government or the Revived Roman Empire will be the restrainer of lawlessness. The problem with that view is that human government many times is and the Revived Roman Empire will be propagators of lawlessness and sin not restrainers. Take our Federal Government in America for example. We know that in many cases they encourage acts of sin that are contrary to the biblical teaching.

Before we discuss who or what I think the Restrainer is, let me ask you a question. How is the ministry of the Holy Spirit different today in the church age than it was in the Old Testament? In this church age today, the Holy Spirit permanently indwells all believers in Jesus to empower us, lead us, guide us, protect us, convict us of our sin, etc. We are placed in the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit in which we are the body and Jesus is the head. This is a mystical/spiritual union between the believer and Jesus.

Even though in the OT the Holy Spirit was very active in empowering them, leading them, guiding them, protecting them, convicting them of their sins, etc., they were not placed in a special body of believers called the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. They were not permanently indwelt with the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God came upon them to empower, lead, guide, protect, convict, etc. but they were not permanently indwelt. That is why King David asked God in Psalm 51 not to take the Spirt from him. He was not talking about salvation, but power, wisdom, strength, and guidance to lead Israel as king. He knew he could not lead Israel without the Spirit and that God could take the Spirit away as He did in Saul’s case.

From my study I think the one restraining is none other than the Holy Spirit who restrains lawlessness and sin through believers. When the church is raptured, the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the way so that lawlessness can increase and come to a climax through the anti-christ. Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. Even though the Holy Spirit will be taken out to the way of restraining sin and lawlessness, does not mean that He will not be active. He will be very active in convicting people of sin and lawlessness, and leading, guiding, directing, and empowering believes during the Tribulation, However, He will not permanently indwell believes as in the NT, but He will come upon them as in the OT. His relationship with the world will be like it was in the OT. Since the Church of Jesus Christ, who is indwelt with the Holy Spirit, will not be there to be a witness and to be a positive force against evil. The church will not be there to be salt and light to unbelievers.

The total apostacy of the organized church, the revealing of the anti-christ, and the Holy Spirit being taken out of the way concerning restraining sin and lawlessness will not occur before the rapture of the true church but must occur before the signing of the covenant that begins the tribulation period. Therefore, it seems that there must be a time interval between the rapture of the church and the signing of the covenant that begins the tribulation period. How long will it be? We don’t know.

The following are a few reasons why I think there is a period of time between the rapture and the signing of the covenant. By the time the rapture takes place, the anti-christ will have been born and now has grown up to be an adult. During the intervening time of the rapture and brokering the covenant with Israel and the Arab nations, he will have shown his charismatic personality, his exceptional leadership qualities and skills. He will be well respected as a leader. Remember Daniel called him a prince which means a leader. It will take time for him to work his way to the place where he is respected. He will be so well respected by this time that he will be able to bring peace to them middle east. Again, he will not show his true evil nature until he breaks the covenant with Israel and the Arab nations in the middle of the 7 years. Then he will set himself up as god in the Temple and require all the world to worship him. The ten-nation global government has to be assembled and it will take time to assemble this group of nations. We will discuss the ten-nation global government later when we discuss the anti-christ in more detail.

The Rapture itself will be a world changing event. It will be a time of anxiety and hopelessness. The instantaneous disappearances of millions of people worldwide will likely deeply distress the masses left behind. Emotions of loneliness and despair will characterize those who have personally lost loved ones. People who remain on the earth will be looking for a man to bring peace in the middle of chaos. The anti-christ will seem to be just that man. Again, there is a period of time needed for this to happen.

Another question is when will the Temple in Jerusalem be rebuilt. If it begins to be rebuilt in church age, will not believers think that the rapture is imminent? Also, if it’s not built until the covenant is made by the anti-christ, would there be enough time to build the Temple and Israel begin their sacrifices before the anti-christ breaks the covenant in the middle of the 7 years of tribulation? Because of this, it may be built in the gap of time between the rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation period.

One further point. There is a battle called Gog-Magog in Ezekiel 38-39. Gog-Magog will attack Israel in the last days. God will intervein to destroy Gog-Magog. The question is when will this happen? The interesting thing one must take into consideration is that at the end of the war it will take seven months to bury the dead and seven years to burn all the war implements. Again, if this occurs in the church age, will not believers think that the rapture is imminent? Also, this is not God’s character in the age of Grace. The age of Grace must come to an end before that battle can happen. Also, if this occurred during the tribulation period, there would not be enough time for the war to occur and the seven months to bury the dead and seven years to burn all the war implements doting the tribulation. If it happens at the end of the tribulation, then seven months to bury the dead and seven years to burn all the war implements will go into the time of Messianic Kingdom. That seems unlikely. The best time to place the Gog-Magog war is in the intervening time between the rapture and the signing of the Covent by the anti-christ when there could be plenty of time to bury the dead and burn the implements.

Application for today

The dislike of Christians in America and around the world continues to increase. One day in America persecution of believers will become a very serious matter. If this persecution begins to increase a lot in our lifetime, we must remember that we are not in the Tribulation period and have not missed the rapture. This is something we need to teach our children and grandchildren. We must remember that before the Tribulation period or the Day of the Lord can begin, there are three dramatic events that must occur: the Apostasy, the climax of sin and lawlessness, and the revealing of the anti-christ.

Selah!