by Rev. Roger D. Best
Back a number of years ago there was a very popular Christian movie entitled, “A Thief In The Night.” The film was shown in many churches and depicted the events immediately following the rapture of the church. Suddenly there was a great number of people who simply vanished from the earth, and the characters in the film came to the conclusion that the rapture had taken place and that it was time that they turn to Christ. It made for a great story. However, there was a problem; there was no solid Scriptural basis for the story. Let’s take a closer look and see exactly what the Bible says about Jesus coming as a thief.
There are two key passages that address this subject. 1 Thessalonians 5:2 says, “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.” A second passage is Revelation 3:3, “Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.”
Pretribulationalists respond quite differently to these two passages of Scripture.
Concerning the Revelation passage, Walter Scott in his book “Exposition of the Revelation of Jesus Christ” states that the people in the church at Sardis “had been counseled to watch, and now unless they do so, they are threatened with judgment. The character in which Christ would come to them is as a ‘thief in the night.’ He shall come as a judge, unexpectedly, at an unknown and unlooked for hour . . . Christ comes to the church as the morning star, to Israel as the sun of righteousness, and to the world and religious profession in sudden surprise as a ‘thief in the night.'” John Walvoord differs with Scott when he says in his book, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” “the same symbolism is used at the second coming of our Lord, but here the figure is related to that event. The judgment upon the church at Sardis, however, it is going to be just as unexpected, sudden, and irrevocable as that which is related to the second coming.” While Walvoord may very well be correct in seeing a specific application to the church at Sardis, it is equally necessary to see the far application to the church of all ages regarding the second coming.
The pretribulationist says that the day of the Lord immediately follows the rapture, and as a result they see the entire seventieth week as the day of the Lord or the wrath of God. And yet they see the first half of the tribulation as a time of peace when a great revival takes place. In the Thessalonian passage it clearly states in verse 3 that “destruction will come upon them suddenly.” Another passage that confirms this is 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” It is clear that the question to be answered is: who is Christ coming to as a thief? In 1 Thessalonians 5:4 Paul writes, “But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief.” It is clear in the Revelation passage that the warning is to those who are asleep. In both cases the picture is the same- for the one who is not awake the coming will be like a thief; however, for the one that is awake, the coming will not be like a thief.
There is an important passage that points out the fatal flaw of those who state that the pretribulation rapture begins the day of the Lord. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 says, “Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” In other words, it is impossible for the day of the Lord to begin until the apostasy takes place and the revelation of the man of lawlessness (Antichrist) occurs. If Scripture means what is says, then the day of the Lord begins immediately after the rapture, which takes place after the apostasy comes and the Antichrist is revealed.
Jesus, in the Olivet discourse, tells us to watch for the signs and uses the fig tree as an example. In Matthew 24:32-33 He says, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.” He goes on in verse 36 to tell us that we do not know the day or the hour, but as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:1, we do know the times and the seasons.
We are exhorted in that same chapter to be alert and sober. Yes, Jesus is coming like a thief to unbelievers and even to believers that are not prepared. But to faithful obedient believers He is not coming as a thief but rather as the Lord of glory. The question is: are you expecting Him, and are you aware of what takes place just prior to His coming, or will He indeed come to you as a thief?

We continue our response to Dave Hunt’s “critique” of the Prewrath Rapture. After a couple more installments responding to his critique, we will begin to examine his other pretribulational material. We continue,

We have previously given numerous reasons why the church must be raptured at the beginning of the seven-year tribulation period.

“Numerous reasons”? No, they were simply assertions; further, he failed to cite one single Biblical text to support his assertion that the “church must be raptured at the beginning of the ‘seven-year tribulation period.’" I would like to challenge Hunt by asking him to provide just one Biblical text that teaches that the rapture will occur before the “seven-year” tribulation period. This is the nature of Tradition… repeat a particular assertion and over-time it becomes assumed, and consequently, a desire to give a Biblical defense is lessened. Surprisingly, it took half way into his article to even mention the Prewrath Rapture position. He says,

Once the dominant belief among evangelicals, the pretrib Rapture is falling increasingly into disfavor. The latest attack upon this belief is found in Marvin Rosenthal’s book The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church: A New Understanding of the Rapture, the Tribulation and the Second Coming. This book’s novel ideas cannot be supported by Scripture, and Rosenthal’s attempts to do so create numerous contradictions.

i) Hunt suggests here that many pretribers are becoming prewrathers. I must take the occasion here to highlight Tim LaHaye’s failed prediction about the Prewrath Rapture. Back in the early nineties in his book No Fear of the Storm he says on page page 113, "I predict it [Prewrath Rapture position] will prove to be an aberrant brainstorm that, despite its deep-pocketed two-year promotional campaign, will fade away before it becomes a fad."

I would council against anyone taking investment advice from LaHaye. Not only did the Prewrath Rapture view not "fade away," but over 15 years later it has become a popular and established view of the Rapture since then—not to mention that it is ironically the pretrib view that has lost popularity over the recent years. Interestingly, LaHaye gets personal by mentioning a "deep-pocketed two-year promotional campaign." This is rather hypocritical of LaHaye being that his own Left Behind series is an omnipresent promotional campaign with no end in site.

ii) Now, let me just stop a moment and say that in mature, responsible, and scholarly critiques of a position it is incumbent upon the person giving the critique to adequately explain the other person’s position so the readers can follow the argument. This entails citing texts and arguments that the other position uses to support their premises. Does Dave Hunt do this? Nope.

iii) He said, “that this position cannot be supported by Scripture.” So, I would expect Dave Hunt to interact with the position and Prewrath literature that he says lacks support. Where are these contradictions and Scriptural proofs? We are not told.

Rosenthal, long a confirmed pretribulationalist, has abandoned that position and "now believes that the Church will have to endure the persecution of the Antichrist." His basic thesis is that the church will "not escape all of the oppression of the ‘Tribulation’ period," but "will escape the wrath of God, which will be poured out…during the second half of the ‘Tribulation’ period."

Here is a perfect example in which Dave Hunt has all the facts in front of him to properly represent the Prewrath Rapture, yet he refuses to do so. Hunt fails to explain that the Prewrath Rapture does not believe that the “tribulation period” is all equally “oppression,” whatever that means.

Further, he says that this is the basic thesis. Again, he is in error. No mention that the Prewrath position holds that the Great Tribulation begins at the midpoint and which will continue for some unknown duration of time and then—we do not know the day or hour—it will be cut short with the Coming of Christ, which the righteous will be delivered and the subsequent Day of the Lord’s wrath will commence. Now how easy would it have been for Hunt to give that most basic description, let alone a fuller explanation of it? Hunt continues,

Numerous problems immediately arise. Since the Antichrist, according to Rosenthal, must appear first, the church is no longer watching and waiting for Christ but for Antichrist.

According to Rosenthal? No, according to the apostle Paul and our Lord,

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

Matthew 24:15 "So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel– let the reader understand—

Both Jesus and Paul exhort us to look for the appearing of the Antichrist as a sign. Not because the Antichrist is our rescuer or deliverer, on the contrary, Antichrist is our persecutor. So it is not either/or for Jesus and Paul, as it is for Hunt. We keep alert for Antichrist so as to evade being deceived; we look for Christ to embrace his victory. These events can occur in any generation of the church, and therefore the revealing of the Antichrist will be a sign that our Lord’s return is ever so near.
 
In light of Hunt’ teaching, Paul’s words are fitting, "Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction." 2 Thessalonians 2:3 In our next installment responding to Hunt, we hope to see some of this "Scriptural support" that he says is out there, and hopefully some meaningful interaction with the Prewrath position, which we have not seen as of yet.