[Editor’s Note: The following prewrath story is similar to so many stories we receive in the sense that many believers come to the prewrath rapture on their own. As far as I am concerned this validates the natural Biblical reading of the Prewrath position. I have never known any pretribber who has come to the pretribulational position on their own–it is always by Tradition or some other secondary source.]
Fellow Believers,
I was raised in a Church of Christ (amillennial) home and educated at the leading Church of Christ-affiliated college (Abilene Christian University), so I was thoroughly saturated with C-of-C exclusivist (“the only true church”) doctrine. But later, when I was in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, God began to work on me, then, through a series of rather remarkable events (miraculous, I believe), led me out of that bondage.
But then, since C-of-C teachings were all to which I had been exposed, I was adrift on a vast ecumenical sea without a chart, compass, or paddle. Again, my heavenly father had mercy on me and led me to a small Brethren assembly, and the leading elder/pastor (they don’t have paid ministers) took me under his wing and helped me to get the biblical doctrine of salvation straightened out. The C-of-C emphasizes correct doctrine and Christian living over a personal, spiritual relationship with God, so it’s a subtle works-based salvation doctrine. Brother Ed showed me the meaning of Eph. 2:8-10 – salvation by grace through faith, which lifted about 30 years and a million pounds of do-it-yourself indoctrination and practice off my shoulders. I was free at last! … thanks be to God’s merciful intervention.
Although I had some doubts about two other doctrines they adamantly espoused (pre-tribulation rapture and once-saved-always-saved), and I visited numerous other denominations (everyone from mildly charismatic to word-of-faith to Seventh Day Adventist to Nazarene to other main-line churches), I continued to fellowship primarily in the Brethren assemblies. But then, about 15 years ago, God gave me a keen interest in eschatology and I have, since then, studied many books and commentaries on Daniel, Revelation, and related Scriptures. And, although they all seemed to have some strong arguments to support them, I just couldn’t get a pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib rapture to fit into the end-times scenario of Revelation.
I had finally come to the conclusion that the Rapture must be at some point during the second half of the 7-year trib period, but I felt like Elijah must have – I had no idea that anyone else shared that view. Then, one day just a couple of months ago, I was searching the Internet for something (I can’t remember what), and ran across your site. And I couldn’t believe what my eyes were reading! I immediately devoured most of the articles published on your site and ordered several books, including The Sign, The Fourth Reich, and The Rapture Question Answered by Robert Van Kampen, and The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church by Marvin Rosenthal. I have read the Fourth Reich (my wife and I like to read Scripture-based fiction together) and am presently going through the others with a fine-toothed comb. I think there are a few errors, which have led you to some wrong conclusions. But those are tangential, and by-and-large, I agree with your position and thank God for bringing it to my attention.
The Lord be with you in “enduring to the End.”
Yours in Him,
Bob Giffin
