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My Rapture Quest But it was Hal Lindsey who first turned me on to Bible prophecy, in 1960. Both of us were students at the University of Houston, and both of us attended Berachah Church. Lindsey, in his books, often cites Thieme as his foremost mentor and Bible teacher. In 1970, I began questioning my belief in the pretribulational Rapture of the church. It happened solely because of my personal reading of the Bible. I started thinking that I could not reconcile this belief with the New Testament, that is, that it clearly taught two stages or phases of the Second Coming of Christ separated by a seven-year Tribulation. Dispensationalists call the first phase "the Rapture, and most of them call the second phase "the Second Advent." Thus, they distinguish "the Second Coming of Christ" from its second phase--the Second Advent. (This terminology can be confusing because "advent" means "coming.") What first concerned me were the two key passages that Dispensationalists cite to prove the first phase of the Second Coming, that is, the Rapture before the Tribulation. These passages are 1 Cor 15.51-53 and 1 Thes 4.16-17, and they were written by the apostle Paul. Yet neither of them indicates that there are two phases of Christ's return. And they do not even mention the Tribulation or say anything about the timing of the Rapture in relation to other events. That disturbed me a lot because Dispensationalists emphasize these two passages the most in their effort to establish that the Rapture must be distinguished from the Second Advent and that a seven-year Tribulation will intervene between them. Furthermore, Dispensationalists claim that Jesus taught the second stage, that is, his posttribulational Second Advent, in his Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21). Yet it seemed to me that Jesus in his Olivet Discourse, as well as Paul in the two passages cited above, could have been referring to the same event and therefore not two separate events. These observations challenged me to investigate this matter further. So I next read the entire New Testament very slowly and carefully with one question in mind: Does it say there will be two separate stages of the Second Coming of Christ? To do so, of course, I tried to read the scriptures as objectively as I could, laying aside my belief in the pretribulational Rapture. When I finished this inquiry, I concluded that I could not answer “yes.” Why? There was nothing in the New Testament that unequivocally stated that believers would be taken up to meet Christ in the air prior to the Tribulation. Yet Jesus had explained clearly in his Olivet Discourse what would happen to people on earth at the time of his return and glorious appearance in the sky at the end of the Tribulation. He gave three examples of two people being together on earth, and in each case one would be taken and the other would be left behind. It seemed clear to me that those taken were believers who were "caught up" to Christ in the air, just as Paul taught in 1 Thessalonians 4.17. Jesus seemed to be talking about a posttribulational Rapture. To interpret it as a pretribulational Rapture would be taking it out of its context. Or to say that the ones taken up were taken in judgment, rather than blessing, did not seem to correspond with the incidents Jesus compared it to--Noah being taken into the ark to safely survive the flood and Lot being taken out of Sodom to escape its destruction by fire. Then I read a few books on the timing of the Rapture that were written by Bible scholars. The first one I read was by Dr. John F. Walvoord and entitled The Rapture Question (1957). He was the long-time president of DTS, one of the leading Dispensationalist scholars in the world, and an acquaintance of mine. I was not convinced of his arguments. Sorry, Dr. Walvoord! Moreover, I thought several of them were wrong, illogical, or unsupported by scripture. Since Walvoord kindly mentioned posttribulationist George E. Ladd, a New Testament professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, I next read his book, The Blessed Hope (1956). I found it to be quite convincing, and it provided some history of pretribulationism which I didn't know about and that intrigued me. I was still a prettibulationalist; but I was questioning it. From Ladd's The Blessed Hope, I learned that the pretribulational Rapture was first taught by John Nelson Darby, a Bible teacher among the (Plymouth) Brethren, in 1830. In fact, this teaching became a principal element of Darby's intricate theological system that he was developing, called “Dispensationalism.” But his associate B.W. Newton, as well as Newton's cousin, S.P. Tregelles, opposed Darby's pretribulationism, alleging that it was unbiblical. Since 1967, I had been learning about the Plymouth Brethren from my dearly beloved friend and foremost personal mentor in my life--Michael (Mickey) Walsh. He was a witty, charming, short Irishman, forty years my senior. He was also an independent evangelist and a Bible teacher. Mickey was a very active speaker in the Bible conference movement in the northeast during the 50s and 60s. He was also a strong Dispensationalist. Darby and Newton were the two preeminent Bible teachers among the early Plymouth Brethren. This group was started in the British Isles during the late 1820s. Tregelles later became one of the world's three leading New Testament textual critics of the 19th century. And Newton became a widely-recognized authority on biblical prophecy. I wanted to know more about these early Plymouth Brethren and their heated controversy about pretribulationism. Since the age of eighteen, I have always been in “the Bible church movement.” These independent churches are either Evangelical or Fundamentalist and are often named “[something] Bible Church.” Most Bible churches strongly endorse Dispensationalism. For several years I was a financial contributor to DTS. I knew that DTS was the principal influence in the U.S. behind the Bible church movement and the foremost academic proponent in the world of Dispensationalism and therefore its doctrine of pretribulationism. So, in late 1971, I went to DTS’s Mosher Library and studied morning, day, and night for nearly a week. I wanted to know how pretribulationism originated; but I mostly wanted to know why B.W. Newton opposed it. Mosher Library had the complete works of Darby (34 volumes plus letters) and many of Newton’s books. I discovered that Darby and Newton were very prolific writers on eschatology ("study of last things") and that some of their books on this subject were rebuttals of each others books. I sat in the library with a Darby book on one side on the table, a Newton book on the other side, and the Bible in the middle. I constantly read back and forth, comparing all three. On just about every matter of eschatology in which these two stalwart Bible teachers disagreed, I agreed with Newton and disagreed with Darby. Ironically, right there at Dallas Theological Seminary--the bastion of Dispensationalism in the the world--I changed from being a pretribulationist to becoming a posttribulationist; yet I still remained a premillennialist. In making this change, I was no longer a Dispensationalist. (And I have held to this position, without wavering, ever since.) That winter, I wrote a thirty-page paper about my findings from this study. Not long afterwards, that paper became the catalyst for me to become a Christian writer and then a published author several years later.
The Endtimes Let’s start with the expression, “end times.” This expression does not appear in the Bible. I like to merge these two words together to form the word “endtimes.” Whether one or two words, they mean the same thing. The word "endtimes" is not easy to define. Generally, it is used synonymously with certain expressions in the Bible, such as “the latter days,” “the last days,” “the time of the end,” and “the end of days.” Jews usually use the latter expression, framing it “the End of Days.” The word “endtimes” presupposes “the end.” “The end” is an abbreviation of the expression, “the end of days,” which appears in Dan 2.28, 10.14, and 12.13. Jesus obviously borrowed this expression, “the end (of days),” from the book of Daniel when he used it in his Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24.6, 13-14; Mark 13.7, 13; Luke 21.9). Jesus’ disciples prompted his Olivet Discourse by asking him some questions. One of them was about when “the end of the age” would occur (Matt. 24.3). Some Bible versions, e.g., the KJV, translate this expression “the end of the world.” When do the endtimes begin and end? That is anybody’s guess. I use the word "endtimes" to refer to the last few years or decades before the end of the age and beyond. This term seems to presuppose the end of time. Regardless of the meaning of the word “endtimes,” some Bible scholars think that time will end at the end of this age, when Jesus returns to the earth. I don’t think that is correct. I cannot find anything in the Bible to indicate that time will ever end. Since the word “endtimes” derives from Daniel’s expression “the time of the end,” endtimes should not be understood as the end of time. “The end of time” and “the time of the end” do not necessarily mean the same. The question should not be, When will time end? Rather, it should be, What will end? This question takes us back to where the concept of “the end” seems to have originated in the Bible. Moses foretold that the Israelites would act wickedly against God and that he therefore would remove them from their land that they were going to possess and scatter them throughout the earth (Deut 4.27; 28.64; 29.28). Moses added, "evil will befall you in the latter days" (Deut 31.29 NASB). Then Moses composed a song in which God says of the Israelites in those days, "I will see what their end will be," that is, the end of their suffering (Deut 32.20). The Jewish people will experience such frightening trouble at the time of the end that it will cause a large remnant of them to turn to God in penitence and seek his deliverance. Daniel greatly elaborates this theme about "the end" in his book, starting in Dan 2. He relates that God gave King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon a dream about a huge image of a man, which was statue-like in appearance, and Daniel interpreted the dream for the king. The image chronologically portrays the future Gentile empires of the Mediterranean world, with King Nebuchadnezzar and his neo-Babylonian empire being represented as the head of the image (v. 38). Jesus called this entire time period depicted by the image in the king's dream, “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21.24). Daniel said to the king concerning his dream, “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has disclosed to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen at the end of days” (Dan 2.28). That is, the feet and the toes of the image, which both the dream and Daniel’s interpretation of it focus on most, forecast what will happen “at the end of days.” This expression does not mean that days will come to an end but that the days of Gentile supremacy in the world will then come to an end. Succeeding visions that Daniel records in his book merely serve as details that fill in the prophetic scenario outlined in this dream recorded in Dan 2. Thus, “the end” portrayed in the king’s dream in Dan 2 coincides with Daniel’s prophesied “seventy weeks,” that is, 490 years, mentioned in Dan 9.24-27. These 490 years will be completed at “the end of days” mentioned in Dan 2.28. At that time, Israel will “finish the transgression” against God’s Law and thus “put an end to sin” (Dan 9.24). So, there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that, at the end of this age, time will end. Rather, it is just the opposite; the Bible affirms that time will continue beyond “the end (of days).” For example, the 1,000 years mentioned six times in Rev 20 affirms that time will continue beyond the end of this age. If it didn’t, there would be no time with which to measure the 1,000 years. So, the expression "the end of days" in the book of Daniel refers to the end of the Jews sinning and Gentile supremacy on earth. Both of these two endings will occur simultaneously at the end of the age.
Eschatology “Last things” certainly refers to the many biblical prophecies that depict events to occur at or near the end of this age. Eschatology therefore is all about predicting the future. But the word "eschatology" is somewhat ambiguous. It can also refer to “the World to Come,” a Jewish expression that refers to the world following the End of Days. Many scholars think of “realized eschatology,” meaning that some of the blessings of the World to Come are being experienced in the present. They also use the similar expressions "already" and "not yet." So, studying the thousands of unfulfilled biblical prophecies about the endtimes is incredibly complex. It is like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle. But understanding eschatology can be aided by the use of graphs and charts that incorporate some sort of timeline in portraying the future. Premillennialists are fond of making such graphs and charts to aid in understanding their eschatological teachings. (An example is the "Still Here Logo" on this website.) The words “eschatology” and “apocalypse” are difficult to distinguish. Our word “apocalypse” is a transliteration from the Greek word apokalupsis, and i t means “uncovering,” “unveiling,” or “revelation.” It is the title of the last book in the Bible, taken from that book’s first word. The word “apocalypse” usually connotes what had previously been secret, and therefore hidden, but is now revealed to become known. Apocalypse conveys the sense of mystery. Of course, this unveiling can be of last things. Still Here books are all about eschatology and the apocalyptic.
Still Here Books I will write this series, and eight-to-ten books are planned in it. Although I have been somewhat of a sports celebrity in my life as a touring professional golfer, I am the sole author of this Still Here nonfiction series. Thus, I have no collaborators, no assisting researchers, no outside editors, and no typist. I do it all. But I might have one or more biblical scholars who critique my work. See my other books at www.kermitzarley.com. Still Here books are being published by Synergy Books, an imprint of BookPros. These books will be written for general readers. A fiction series may develop later, to be written by a Christian fiction author and therefore someone other than me. Book 1 of this Still Here nonfiction series is about typology, which is a form of eschatology. Entitled The Third Day Bible Code, this book is about a third day motif that occurs in some of the most important events in the history of the ancient Israelites that are recorded in the Bible. The Third Day Bible Code explains how these third day motifs forecast Jesus' resurrection from the dead on the third day, the general timing of Jesus’ first coming, and even his return during the early part of the third millennium following his departure. Book 2 of this Still Here series is entitled The Man from Heaven. This unique book is a dramatic presentation of the Second Coming of Christ, as well as all events beyond it, that are prophesied in the Bible. Action-packed and fast-moving, it is written in the present tense in a journalistic style. In writing this book, I first attempted to arrange the thousands of Bible verses about the endtimes in a chronological framework and then write about it, sometimes quoting or paraphrasing scripture. All scripture references appear in the margins on the same lines as they appear in the text, similar to a cross-reference study Bible. Unlike The Third Day Bible Code, which is somewhat scholarly, this book should be easy reading and engaging. For now, Book 3 will remain a secret. It will be full of surprises. Book 4 will present my personal quest regarding the timing of the Rapture. It will be interwoven with the history of the origin of pretribulationism, the relationship between Darby and Newton, and how Darby's prophecy beliefs shaped Christian Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism in the U.S. Darby is rightly recognized as “the father of Dispensationalism." Yet many Americans who subscribe to Dispensationalism, and others who only adopt pretribulationism, have not even heard of Darby, and hardly any of them know of Newton. Why? I suspect some American Dispensationalist scholars don’t want to talk or write about J.N. Darby because they are embarrassed by him. And they should be! He got B.W. Newton excommunicated from the Plymouth Brethren in a mock church heresy trial on trumped-up charges that a small Newton tract denied the impeccability of Christ. In truth, the tract was poorly written. It was published early in Newton's career. Yet Darby always was a terrible communicator on paper. (It can be very frustrating reading his works. Darby once said that he "thought on paper" rather than tried to communicate in his writings.) Newton withdrew the tract, publicly apologized with lament, and affirmed Christ’s impeccability. But that didn’t do any good; Darby and his associates never accepted Newton's action. Darby’s trial of Newton forever split these Brethren. Darby's group forbade the other Brethren from taking communion--the Eucharist--with them. Such a sad history betrays their name as well as the basis for their initial meeting. It was that all genuine believers in Christ are spiritual brethren with the right to share communion together, irrespective of church affiliation. England's state church, the Anglican Church, only allowed that of its members. Unbiased historians of the Brethren have claimed that this impeccability allegation was a smoke screen. They claim the real reason Darby forced the trial was that Newton had opposed Darby's pretribulationism, which was vital to his entire theological system. The basis of Darby's Dispensationalism was a radical distinguishing of Israel and the church as well as law and grace. The result was that Darby excised large portions of Jesus’ teaching from the domain of being Christian. For instance, I was taught that Jesus' Sermon of the Mount was "Jewish," so that it did not apply to us believers during the church age. That was the first thing I questioned about Thieme's teaching. I would ask other Bible teachers what they thought of that. At first, I was reserved about who I asked, restricting it to Dispensationalists. I hqve since learned that some scholars think this teaching of Darby is reminiscent of the early heretic, Marcion. He excised large portions of the Bible, also referring to them as "Jewish." So, stay tuned. This history of the origin of pretribulationism will be coming down the pipeline in Book 4 of Still Here. Nevertheless, it primarily will be a presentation of how the Bible affirms posttribulationism and denies pretribulationism. This complex subject will be presented in a way that I think will be relatively easy to understand.
Left Behind Books Timothy F. LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins are the authors of Left Behind, and Tyndale House is its publisher. LaHaye conceived of the series and has directed it. It is based largely on his previous nonfiction books on Bible prophecy. Jenkins has actually been the sole author of these Left Behind books. LaHaye reportedly furnished Jenkins with a prophetic outline as the basis for each nonfiction book. The Left Behind series originally consisted of twelve books that were published between 1995 and 2004. But other books, both fiction and nonfiction, have been written (the time of this writing is 2006) as sequels and prequels to the original Left Behind series. The series completely ended in mid-2007 with its last book. Left Behind has become a cultural phenomenon in American Evangelicalism. By 2005, Tyndale House Publishers claimed that Left Behind had sold over 65 million copies. Publishers’ Weekly calls it “the most successful Christian-fiction series ever.” Time magazine claims, “The Left Behind series…is among the best-selling fiction books of our times—right up there with Tom Clancey and Stephen King.” I know Tim LaHaye, barely. In late 1965, I co-founded the PGA TOUR Bible Study, which continues to flourish today with several spawned ministries. Early that next year, in 1966, we golf pros invited local pastor Tim LaHaye to speak to our study group at the San Diego Open. Tim might have been the first guest speaker the PGA TOUR Bible Study ever had. Dr. LaHaye has launched several Christian ministries in his lifetime. Prior to Left Behind, he authored forty-five nonfiction Christian books on various subjects including marriage, sociology, psychology, and Bible prophecy. At the turn of the century, the Evangelical Studies Bulletin named Tim LaHaye as “the most influential Christian leader” of the past quarter century. Prior to Left Behind, Jerry B. Jenkins had written over a hundred books. Several of them were biographies and autobiographies, some of top sports celebrities.
Left Behind Theology
The eschatology that Left Behind mirrors is that of Dispensationalism. Contrary to mainstream Christianity, Dispensationalism foresees more than one judgment and one resurrection. Dispensationalists expect a judgment of the saints to be separated by a later judgment of the wicked, with the millennium intervening. Dispensationalists believe likewise concerning the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked dead. So, Dispensationalists interpret from the Bible a plurality of divine covenants, judgments, and resurrections whereas many non-Dispensationalist scholars interpret only one of each. This penchant for dividing things up is based especially on the King James Version of 2 Tim 2.15. It reads, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” referring to the scriptures. Past Dispensationalists therefore defended their many theological divisions as “rightly dividing” the scriptures. It was their rallying cry. But all modern Bible versions translate this text more accurately and thereby do not portray this sense of dividing scripture. For example, the New International Version renders the last clause in 2 Tim 2.15, “who correctly handles the word of truth.” A prominent feature of Dispensationalist eschatology, and one that is reflected in Left Behind, is its interpretation of Eze 38-39. Dispensationalists assert that “Gog” in this passage is Russia. They therefore interpret that Russia will lead Mid-east and North African allied nations in attacking the nation of Israel and that God will intervene supernaturally, destroying them on the hills of Israel without human agency. Dispensationalists generally locate this attack on Israel in the middle of Daniel’s 70th week, therefore distinguishing it from what they call “the battle of Armageddon” to occur at the end of the Tribulation. While this interpretation of Eze 38-39 is quite prominent among Dispensationalists and peculiar to them, it is not essential to their theological system. The Still Here logo, which repeatedly appears on this website and will appear on the back cover of every Still Here book, contains a brief text that reads, “Still Here Books—a nonfiction alternative to Left Behind Theology.” While Still Here will differ from Left Behind regarding certain eschatological issues, these two series nevertheless have much more in common than they do with other Christian theological systems. Most of all, both are premillennial.
Pre-, A-, and Post-Millennialism Most early church fathers believed in premillennialism. Since most of them lived in the east, they spoke Greek and therefore did not use the Latin term millennium. Instead, they used the Greek word for “one/a thousand,” which is chilias/chilioi, from which we derive our English word "chiliasm." So, most early church fathers were chiliasts. What did it mean to be a chiliast? Chiliast Christains expected that a very evil man, whom they called “the Antichrist,” would arise in the latter days to bring an unprecedented period of tribulation upon God’s people. They further believed that after a period of a few years of this intense suffering the end of the age would occur with the return of Jesus Christ to the earth with his kingdom and the simultaneous resurrection of all the deceased people of God. Augustine’s most popular book, City of God, written during the 5th century, began to change what Christians thought of the endtimes. He and other later church fathers were not chiliasts. By then, after three centuries of imperial persecution of Christians, Catholic Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire. Some church fathers therefore believed that the church was presently undergoing the promised golden age of a literal millennium described in Rev 20, so that Jesus would return at the end of the blessed millennium. These Catholic Christians speculated about various beginning and ending points of this blessed millennium. One popular scenario was that this millennium began with Jesus’ birth and would end in the year 1000. Thus, many Catholic Christians expected Jesus to literally return to the earth in the year 1000. But when Jesus did not literally, and therefore visibly, return to the earth in accordance with their expectation, many of them afterwards resigned themselves to the belief that his 1000-year kingly reign on earth, depicted in Rev 20, should be understood non-literally. This belief is called “amillennialism,” meaning “no (literal) millennium.” And this remains the somewhat unofficial position of the Roman Catholic Church to this day. Enlightenment, humanitarianism, and the Protestant Reformation brought about a similar hope in a current golden age such as that conveyed in Augustine's City of God. By the 19th century, like their Catholic predeccessors many Protestants were expecting the world to become “Christianized,” so that the Second Coming of Christ would occur after the millennium depicted in Rev 20. This eschatological viewpoint came to be known as “postmillennialism.” At the same time, premillennialism had reemerged in Europe and Colonial America during the 18th century to become the main competing viewpoint with postmillennialism. But two world wars in the first half of the 20th century caused the demise of postmillennialism in the second half of the century. So, in recent decades the dominant millennial viewpoint, especially in America, has been premillennialism. Actually, it has been a specific form of premillennialism, called “pretribulational premillennialism,” a foundational doctrine of Dispensationalism.
Dispensationalism
So, in agreement with Still Here books, Dispensationalists are premillennial. They believe that Jesus will return to the earth at the end of the Tribulation to establish the dispensation of the Kingdom. Since Rev 20.6 says that Jesus Christ will reign in God's kingdom on earth for 1,000 years, Dispensationalists often call it “the Millennial Kingdom.” But Dispensationalists also believe in a peculiar form of premillennialism that was unknown prior to Darby first teaching it in 1830. Dispensationalists claim that Christ will return in “two stages.” The first stage they called “the secret rapture;” the second stage they called “the Second Advent.” They believed that these two stages of Christ’s return would be separated by seven years, which they called “the Tribulation.” It is Darby’s teaching of two separate stages of Christ’s return, in which the Rapture will occur just prior to the Tribulation as the first stage, that had never been heard before in the history of the church.
The Rapture
Accordingly, deceased saints (=people of God) will be resurrected and “caught up” into the air, and the bodies of believers still living on the earth will immediately thereafter undergo a change to be made like those of the resurrected saints. Then they too will be caught up into the air to join the resurrected ones, and together they will meet Christ at his coming. This term “rapture” was adopted largely because of Jerome’s Latin Vulgate Bible. Jerome translated this Bible during the 5th century A.D. It was the world's most popular version of the Bible for the next 1,000 years. In Jerome’s Vulgate, he translated the word harpazo in the Greek text of 1 Thes 4.17, usually translated “caught up” in English versions, with the Latin word rapturo from which we derive our English word “rapture.” Dispensationalists further assert that, immediately following the Rapture, Jesus will escort these believers to heaven. They will remain there with him in conscious bliss for the next seven years of the Tribulation on earth. At the end of this seven-year Tribulation, these raptured ones will return with Jesus to the earth. Then Jesus will establish his Millennial Kingdom throughout the entire world, as depicted in Rev 20.
Pretribulationism vs. Posttribulationism Still Here books, on the other hand, advocate posttribulationism in opposition to Left Behind's pretribulationism. That is, Christians will not be raptured just prior to the Tribulation; instead, everyone--including Christians and non-Christians--will be still here on the earth when the Tribulation begins. So, the primary difference between Still Here and Left Behind concerns the timing of the Rapture in relation to the Tribulation. Left Behind claims the Rapture will occur just prior to the Tribulation; Still Here claims it will occur at the end of the Tribulation. According to Still Here, Jesus will come from heaven into the earth’s atmosphere. Then all of God’s people, whether dead or living, will be resurrected or translated, respectively, and “caught up” into the air and gathered together in the air to meet Jesus at his coming. After that blessed union occurs, Jesus will continue his descent and set foot on the Mount of Olives located just outside of Jerusalem, on its east. A battle will then ensue, Jesus will emerge victorious, and he will establish the glorious kingdom of God throughout the entire world. But what about the theological battle going on now between the pretribulationists and the posttribulationists? (Midtribulationism and partial tribulationism are very minor positions.) Back in the 1970s and 1980s, I didn’t think there was much of a battle. Almost all of the many millions of American Christians who were interested in eschatology were pretribulationists. But I didn’t have the full picture of the landscape until someone informed me of it in the mid-1980s. That someone was my friend and mentor--S. Lewis Johnson Jr. He wrote the Foreword in my book, The Gospels Interwoven (1987). He was a professor of New Testament and Greek at DTS for 28 years and 4 years at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago. During the 1970s, I told him of my change to posttribulationism. Years later, in the mid-1980s, he asked me about it. He said to my surprise, “posttribulationism is winning the battle against pretribulationism on the academic level.” Today, in 2006 (the time of this writing), that academic battle is pretty much over with, and posttribulationists have decisively won it. But the situation remains the exact opposite on the lay level. Consider Hal Lindsey’s first book, The Late Great Planet Earth. Published in 1970, it reportedly has sold over 35 million copies. Time magazine had selected it as “the book of the decade” for the 1970s. And Left Behind has now sold over 65 million copies and is generating several movies. Plus, LaHaye and Thomas Ice have co-founded The Pre-Trib Research Center. With Ice as its executive director, it has several Bible prophecy researchers.
The (Great) Tribulation Some pretribulationists wrongly insist that all non-Christians will suffer the Tribulation. However, any non-Christians who refuse to worship the Antichrist's image or take his mark or the number of his name upon their forehead or hand will suffer as well (Rev 13.14-17).
Like the Antichrist's final tribulation against God's people, the wrath of God depicted in the book of Revelation will also be selective. God's wrath in the form of judgments will fall only on the wicked, especially those who blaspheme God in those days (e.g., Rev 16.1-2, 5-6, 9, 11, 21). This situation will be similar to the ten plagues in Egypt, when they fell on the Egyptians and not on the Hebrews (Exo 8.22-23, 31; 9.4-7, 11, 14, 26; 10.22-23; 11.7; 12.23, 29). How long will the endtimes Tribulation last? Most pretribulationists, including LaHaye and Jenkins in Left Behind, assert that the seven-year period called “Daniel’s 70th week” will be “the tribulation” that Jesus spoke about in his Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24.29; Mark 13.19, 24; cf. Luke 21.23). In other words, they equate Daniel's 70th Week with the final Tribulation, so that the Tribulation will last seven years. On the contrary, the Tribulation will last three-and-a-half years and therefore comprise the last half of Daniel's 70th Week. Most pretribulationists also distinguish between “the tribulation” and “a/the great tribulation” (Matt. 24.21; Rev 7.14). They insist that the “great tribulation” is the latter half of “the tribulation,” so that “a/the great tribulation” will last only three-and-a-half years whereas “the tribulation” will last seven years. A close examination of all of the critical biblical texts that depict the endtimes Tribulation indicates otherwise. For example, Matthew records that in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse he interchanged “great tribulation” and “the tribulation” (Matt. 24.21, 29), thus referring to the same time period. And Mark quotes Jesus in both sayings as saying only “(the) tribulation,” thus omitting the word “great” (Mark 13.19, 24). This evidence reveals that the insertion of the word “great” serves no more purpose than does the definite article “the.” Both words indicate merely that this tribulation will be of greater intensity than any previous tribulation that has preceded it, which Jesus therein expressly declared. So, Still Here books will differ with this Left Behind assertion by insisting that “the tribulation” and “a/the great tribulation” refer to the same time period—the latter half of Daniel’s 70th week, which will be three-and-a-half years in length.
Daniel’s Seventy Weeks
The word translated “weeks” from the Hebrew text of Dan 9.24 is shabua. It means a period of seven, which is a heptad. So, seventy shabua really should be rendered “seventy sevens” or “seventy heptads.” A heptad is similar to our English word “dozen.” As with our word dozen, whether the translation “seventy weeks” means seventy literal weeks, seventy months, or seventy years can only be determined by its context. The context of this prophecy recorded in Dan 9.24-27 is that Daniel was a Jewish exile living in Babylonia. Nearly seventy years prior, Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and his troops had attacked Judah and taken captive Daniel and many other Judeans (now "Jews") from their homeland to Babylonia. God had allowed this to happen because of the sins of the people. This period of time, in which all Jewish captives lived in Babylonia, is called "the Exile." Daniel lived a long and prosperous life during that Babylonian exile. He arose to high status as an official in his new homeland, serving various Babylonian and Media-Persian kings. But, like most Jews of the Exile, Daniel often grew homesick for his ancestral land. The Babylonians had destroyed Jerusalem and broken down its walls. The land of Judah still laid waste, in utter ruin, throughout this period. Daniel was especially concerned about Jerusalem and the future of his people. He desired that they be restored to their ancestral land. That is why he relates in his book, “I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD to the prophet Jeremiah, must be fulfilled for the devastation of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Then I turned to the Lord God, to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession” (Dan 9.2-4). Daniel records his lengthy, confessional prayer verbatim. Then he further relates that while he was in prayer the angel Gabriel appeared to him, telling him this prophecy of the seventy weeks that God had decreed upon the Jewish people and their holy city, Jerusalem.
Notice that the angel Gabriel divides the seventy weeks of years, that is, the 490 years, into three categories. These can be delineated in the following chronological order: (1) seven weeks of years, which are 49 years, (2) 62 weeks of years, which are 434 years, and (3) one final week of years, which is 7 years. So, when the first two categories have transpired, that will total 483 years (49+434=483), leaving a final period of 7 years. As stated above, most students of Bible prophecy call this last 7 years “Daniel’s 70th week.” Notice also that Gabriel told Daniel that this period of 490 years would begin “from the time that the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” There has never been any uniform consensus among Bible scholars as to what event in human history constitutes the starting point of this 490 years. However, premillennial scholars concur that it most likely was the decree of Persian King Artaxerxes Longimanus, given in the year 445 or 444 B.C., to allow Jews to return to their ancestral land to rebuild Jerusalem. This decree is mentioned in Nehemiah 2.5-8, in which King Artaxerxes granted Nehemiah’s request to take Jewish volunteers and supplies and go to the land of Judah to rebuild Jerusalem and its walls. (Persian King Cyrus had earlier issued a similar decree, in 538 B.C., but it had not been accomplished.) Most scholars who accept this decree of Artaxerxes as the starting point of the 490 years prophesied in Dan 9.24 conclude that 483 years of it transpired about the time Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and died, which probably occurred in A.D. 30. Since Gabriel relates that this period would be completed at “the time of an anointed prince,” many think, as does this author, that this anointed prince refers to Jesus of Nazareth as Israel’s Messiah. Indeed, Messiah means "the anointed one." The most difficult portion to comprehend in Daniel’s prophecy of the 490 years seems to be that, if the 483 years did indeed expire about the time of Jesus’ death, the next seven years did not produce any of the 6 things Gabriel predicted would hapen during the last 7 of the 490 years. So, although Gabriel's prophecy does not suggest it, looking back upon history there seems to be a gap of an indeterminable period of time that must transpire between the 69 weeks (=483 years) and the 70th week (=7 years). Indeed, this is the view to which all premillenialists, thus including this author, subscribe. Accordingly, at the present time Daniel’s 70th week has not yet begun and therefore must occur sometime in the future. When Daniel’s 70th week ensues, something will happen in the middle of it that will begin the Tribulation. It is the Antichrist’s declaration of war against God’s people. Apparently, he will do so when “the abomination of desolation” is set up in the temple at Jerusalem.
The Abomination of Desolation In Jesus' Olivet Discourse, he mentioned “'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel," that will be “standing in the holy place” at the temple in Jerusalem (Matt. 24.15 NIV). Neither Daniel nor Jesus explain anything about this abomination of desolation. But the book of Revelation seems to identify it as an image, an idol, of the Antichrist (Rev 13.14-15). The Antichrist’s accomplice, “the false prophet,” will deceive Israeli Jews by performing miracles and “telling them to make an image” to the beast, the Antichrist (Rev 13.14). This they will do. And this false prophet will be “allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (v. 15). The apostle Paul calls the Antichrist “the lawless one” and says that “he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God” (2 Thes 2.4). It seems that the Antichrist will do this when his image is set up in a rebuilt temple at Jerusalem, perhaps as a celebration. To whom, to what, and how does this idol, this abomination, cause desolation? It brings divine judgment on Israeli Jews just as the ancient Israelites’ brought divine judgment on themselves for making the golden calf while God was giving Moses the Law on Mount Sinai. Later, Moses seems to have referred to Israeli Jews of the endtimes making this image of the Antichrist when he prophesied in the Torah, “evil will befall you in the latter days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands” (Deut 31.29 NASB; cf. 4.23). Because this evil will arouse God’s anger against Israel, desolation will come upon the nation and its land at the very end of the age and therefore at the end of the 490 years. This desolation will happen because God will allow the Antichrist do it.
Dispensationalists’ Doctrine of Imminency The New Testament contains several passages that many Christians have thought indicate that the following simultaneous events could occur at any moment, and many of them have thought that they will occur soon: the end of the age/world, the resurrection of the righteous dead, the Second Coming of Christ, and the glorious manifestation of the eschatological kingdom of God. (Pretribulationists believe that only some of these events can occur at any moment.) Jesus’ disciples thought likewise, both before his death and soon after it. When Jesus and his disciples were approaching Jerusalem to begin Passion Week, his disciples “supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately” (Luke 19.11). But Jesus corrected their error by teaching them this parable: "A certain man of noble birth went to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return" (v. 12 my translation). Jesus was referring to himself, perhaps hinting at his Virgin Birth. But he most particularly alluded to his post-Easter ascension to heaven to receive a kingdom, as portrayed in Dan 7.13-14. Similarly, when Jesus was about to ascend to heaven his disciples asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1.7). He indirectly indicated that it was not the time. Then, as Jesus disciples watched him ascend into the sky, two angels appeared and announced to them that Jesus would return in like manner. But the angels said nothing to indicate how long that interlude of time would last. Nothing in Jesus' gospel sayings clearly indicates that he would return soon after his ascension. (This question--whether Jesus indicated that he would return soon--will be the subject of Book 5 in Still Here.) However, after Jesus ascended to heaven some early Jewish Christians thought he would return soon with the kingdom. In fact, a rumor went out to that effect. This seems to have been the reason the last chapter of the Gospel of John, chapter 21, was added as an addendum, that is, to silence this rumor. The rumor because the risen Jesus predicted Peter's death (John 21.18-19). We read that Peter then replied to Jesus concerning the apostle John, “‘Lord, what about him?’ Jesus answered Peter, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!’ So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?’” (vv. 21-23). That rumor coincided with the false notion held by some early Jewish Christians that Jesus would return soon, at least during John’s lifetime. Ever since that apostolic era, many Christians, including all pretribulationists, have cited many New Testament texts that contain a word or a phrase that they have thought indicates that Jesus' return has always been imminent, meaning that it could occur at any moment. And some of them have added that it would occur soon. In fact, many English Bible versions render the exalted Jesus’ thrice-repeated words in Revelation, “I am coming soon” (Rev 22.7, 12, 20). If this translation is correct, history has proved Jesus wrong. But the word in the Greek text here translated "soon" is tachu. It also can be translated “quickly,” as indeed it is in both the KJV and the NASB. It probably should be translated “quickly,” or “swiftly,” thus corresponding with something Jesus taught in his Olivet Discourse. He said, “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt. 24.27; cf. Luke 17.24). With these words Jesus obviously did not mean that he would return soon after he said them, but that his return journey from heaven to earth would occur swiftly. Accordingly, these three texts in Revelation could be paraphrased, "My coming will be swift." Pretribulationists strongly allege that to deny that Jesus' return is imminent--that it can occur at any moment--destroys the pursuit of godliness. But there is neither a biblical nor a logical basis for this argument. Jesus told his disciples to be spiritually vigilant, waiting for his return, irrespective of intervening prophetic events that even he himself taught. Expecting that certain prophesied events will occur prior to that return does not necessarily diminish the believer's expectation of it. For example, if a man telephones his wife to say that he will stop to buy something at the grocery store on his way home from work, that delay will not lessen her expectation of his arrival. Moreover, to expect that Jesus will return soon, or to believe that he said he would, is to contradict what he said in his Olivet Discourse. He said, “But about that day and/or hour no one knows, neither the angels of/in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matt. 24.36/Mark 13.32). In saying this, Jesus seems to have alluded to Zech 14.6-7, in which the prophet Zechariah describes the eschatological Day of the LORD, adding parenthetically that "it is known to the LORD," meaning that its timing is known only to God. If Jesus did not know when he would return, as he here divulges, then he could not have known whether his return would be soon or after a long time. Of course, history has proved the latter.
Prophecies that Negate Rapture Imminency
It should be noted that a very small minority of pretribulationists have believed that a time gap of unknown duration will, or may, occur between the Rapture and Daniel’s 70th Week. One reason for this view is that some of these pretribulationists have well recognized that some unfulfilled biblical prophecies cannot be fulfilled within the short time period of Daniel’s 70th Week. That is, it would take more than seven years for these prophecies to be fulfilled if the Rapture occurred during their lifetime. And a few of these pretribulationists have thought that some unfulfilled biblical prophecies must be fulfilled prior to Daniel’s 70th Week. Some pretribulationists are inconsistent on this issue. For example, Hal Lindsey proclaims that the Rapture of the church has always been imminent, so that it could have occurred at any moment throughout the church age; yet he constantly cites the establishment of the modern State of Israel as a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. If so, how could the Rapture of the church have occurred at any moment prior to the creation of modern Israel? To go a step further with this concept, the large majority of pretribulationists have always insisted that when the Rapture occurs, Daniel’s 70th Week will immediately commence thereafter. Pretribulationists also explain that Daniel’s 70th Week will begin when the nation of Israel and the Antichrist sign a seven-year covenant, as indeed related in Dan 9.27. This correct scenario requires that the following biblical prophecies must be fulfilled prior to the signing of this covenant and therefore prior to the Rapture, which negates its imminency:
Other biblical prophecies that must be fulfilled prior to the Rapture include the following:
Finally, the day the Rapture will occur, at the Second Coming of Christ, was predetermined long ago by God the Father, and it is irrevocable. Such a fixed date seems incompatible with the any-moment teaching of pretribulationism. Both Zechariah and Jesus implied such a fixed date when they taught that it is known only to God. Jesus indicated the same when he spoke of "the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority" (Ac 1.7). The apostle Paul was even more explicit about it when he preached at Athens that "God...commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged" by Jesus Christ (Ac 17.31). Accordingly, Jesus' return will not be imminent until just before that fixed date arrives. Summary of Still Here Theology
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