The Rapture: When Will It Take Place? Part 5d: Pretribulation Rapture

The Rapture: When Will It Take Place? Part 5d: Pretribulation Rapture
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Contemporary issues / Scripture discussion / The church / Thought for Today

If there is one view of the Rapture I want to be true, it is the belief in the pretribulation Rapture. But is it? In the previous post we saw that while some Scripture can be used in support of it, a full pretribulation Rapture is not the slam dunk many churches want to make it out to be.

Consider also what is commonly taught about the two Resurrections. What is typically said? The first resurrection consists of all believers, and only believers; those who had died in Christ, those who had been raptured prior to the great tribulation, as well as the surviving tribulation saints. The second resurrection is for unbelievers only; only unbelievers will be at the white throne judgment. But is that what Scripture says?

No, it is not. Revelation 20:4–5 (NAU): Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

That is clear, isn’t it? Who is raised at the first resurrection? Only the saints who had died during the great tribulation, those who had not received the mark of the beast and those who had been beheaded. Those beheaded had been mentioned earlier in Revelation: we saw them under the altar asking God when their deaths would be avenged. At that point they were told to be patient as more were yet to be killed. They are the ones raised; they are the ones who reign with Christ for a thousand years. Everyone else is resurrected later.

One can infer that “not received the mark on their forehead” might refer to all other believers as well, but the context indicates it is a more limited group. What we see is that the group raised is more specific than what is commonly taught about the first resurrection. Would we not be far better off sticking to what Scripture directly declares rather than listening to the words of teachers who tell us what we want Scripture to say?

The same is true of the Luke passage. While one can infer that all might escape, the text seems to indicate that only some will: “praying that you may have strength to escape all these things.” If we do not pray, will we have the needed strength? The verse implies that we will not.

There is also another means of escape we typically do not like to talk about:

Psalm 116:15 (NAU): Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.

Isaiah 57:1–2 (NAU): The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart; And devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from evil, He enters into peace; They rest in their beds, Each one who walked in his upright way.

Similarly, during the great tribulation, Revelation 14:13 (NAU): And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”

What we see in these verses is that God considers the death of His saints as a good thing. They are taken away from evil, they rest from their labors and enter into peace. The death of His godly ones is precious in God’s sight. We generally do not think of the death of our Christian loved ones as a precious thing, do we? We grieve for their loss. Yet God says that their deaths are precious. Death is one way to escape evil, to be removed from additional tribulation (see also Matthew 10:28).

We will continue our discussion in the next post.

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