I never said I would return before the Great Tribulation.
Some time ago I was driving home from a visit with my mother in Florida. The trip is a nine-hour drive and I often listened to the Bible or biblical teachings on tape. On this particular trip I was listening to a teaching tape from the Billy Graham Training Center on Revelation by Dr. Joseph Stowell, President of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Dr. Stowell was saying, “I am an unrepentant Pre-Millennialist, Pre-Tribulation Rapture kind of guy.” As I was listening to his words, I heard in my minds ear “I never said I would return before the Great Tribulation.”
I felt quite sure that this message was from the Lord, because for years I had been searching Scripture to find a passage or verse that would place the Lord’s return before the Great Tribulation. So far I have been completely unable to find even one verse in the Bible which places the Lord’s return before the Great Tribulation. So when I heard the Lord respond with, “I never said I would return before the Great Tribulation,” it did not surprise me.
I have often posed this question to teachers and pastors who hold to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture position. Do you know of any verse or passage that states that the Lord will return before; Daniel’s 70th seven, the revealing of the Antichrist or the Great Tribulation?
To date, no one has been able to produce such a verse. Yet many continue to hold to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture teaching in spite of the fact that they have no Word of God to support it. It is as though they put more faith in the teachings of man than they do in the Word of God. Not only do they not have a Word from God supporting this idea they even align themselves with the false prophets.
In Jeremiah chapter 23 and in Ezekiel chapter 13 God lists the characteristics of False Prophets. Read what God says about the False Prophets.
This is what Yahweh Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of Yahweh (Jeremiah 23:16).
Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. They say, "Yahweh declares," when Yahweh has not sent them; yet they expect their words to be fulfilled. Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, "Yahweh declares," though I have not spoken? (Ezekiel 13:6-7)
We are told the false prophets proclaim things - saying they are from God - yet they have no Word from Him. For He has not spoken what they proclaim. Here is an interesting experience as an example.
Some time ago, I attended a Prophecy Conference at the Hebron Christian Church near Athens, GA. The church hosted Dr. David Reagan from the Lion and Lamb Ministries of Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Reagan made a shocking admission during one of his presentations. He said, “There is not one verse in the Bible which states that the Rapture will take place before the Tribulation.” Dr. Reagan, however, continuously proclaims a Pre-Tribulation Rapture even though he admits there is no verse which states this position.
Dr. Reagan is effectively indicating that he meets a characteristic of a False Prophet, (He has seen nothing in the Word).
Be like the Bereans.
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11).
Know God's Word! Protect yourself and your family from False Prophets.
Richard H Perry