The pre-tribulation rapture theory hinges on Old Testament shadows, but what if the reality is far more powerful? God’s people won’t be whisked away before the tribulation. They’ll be the ones standing firm, a testament to faith amidst the flames.
When discussing the timing of the rapture, some futurists refer to the account of Elijah or Enoch for Old Testament parallels; types or evidence that God will rapture His Church before the great tribulation. These are allegedly types and shadows pointing to God loving these two so much He just snatched them up to heaven to be with Him.
Are There Any Old Testament Rapture Scriptures?
Breezing through just a few instances of the Old Testament doesn’t prove anything regarding the timing of the rapture at all. Rather, these examples of Enoch and Elijah are more demonstrative than they are chronological indicators of anything–especially since the Lord didn’t take them up before any major calamity or judgment on the land after “rapturing” these men.
If looking for parallels in the Old Testament will “prove” symbolism or foreshadowing of the timing of the Rapture, then they appear to demonstrate that God will put his people through difficulty before they receive their crown.
I admit that types and symbols in the OT are not inerrant, but I do not feel that I am reading into the text at all when I make simple observations.
Noah’s Ark
An example of what I am talking about would be Noah and his family; God did not tell Noah to get into the ark 7 years before the flood was to come down, but Noah and his family were lifted up on the same waters that were poured out in the judgment of the earth and destroyed the wicked.
Noah was symbolically “raptured” the same moment as the world was flooded (judged). He was not rescued or caught away secretly a significant amount of time beforehand. Jesus said in his Olivet Discourse:
“as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating, and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until that day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
Matthew 24:37-39, ESV
If the second coming of our Lord will be like the days of Noah, then that means we will be here right up until the day He returns and judges the earth. In the days of Noah, this is how the pattern was, and a new physical world was established with the remnant of righteous men God spared from judgment and began to re-populate the “new” earth with.
We read in Revelation that the ones that come out of the Tribulation reign on the earth with Christ for one thousand years (Revelation 20:4-6). Just like the elements of the world at the time were changed–remember, it never rained before the flood, and possibly there never were mountains and valleys before this catastrophic event–so also the physical make-up of this earth will be completely burned up and dissolved and completely new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells will be established at Christ’s return (see 2 Peter 3:10-13).
The Exodus & The Plagues
Another prophetic pattern to consider in Scripture would be to look at the people of Israel in Egypt before and after the Exodus, and compare it with the patterns in the book of Revelation.
We note that the plagues that God sends in the final years of human history are very similar to the ones He sent on the Egyptians in Exodus chapters 7-13. We read in Revelation 6-8:6 the different seals of the Lord, including widespread death (6:7-8) and in comparison we see the death of all the Egyptian first-born (Exodus 12:29-30). We can compare the seal of cosmic disturbances in Revelation 6:12-17 with the total blackness on the land–the ninth plague (Ex 10:21-29).
The trumpet judgments also in Revelation 8 are strikingly familiar to plagues, including the vegetation being struck divinely (Rev 8:7) compared with the vegetation being destroyed by locusts in Egypt (Ex 10:1-20). Likewise, we see locusts also coming out of the bottomless pit in Rev. 9:1-12 who were given the power to torture men for months but not to kill them. The second and third trumpet judgments, the seas and waters struck and the seas being turned to blood strikes an amazing similarity to the first plague in Egypt (Ex 7:14-25).
Is there something to notice regarding the sixth trumpet judgment in Revelation and how these angels bound at the River Euphrates waiting to unleash judgment on the inhabitants on the earth and how the geographic location is a key river in Egypt?
Two Witnesses Performing Signs and Wonders
Another parallel that strikes me as worth noting is the two witnesses of Revelation 11 proclaiming judgment and performing noteworthy signs and wonders on the world and the similarity to the two “witnesses” of the Pentateuch, Aaron and Moses. God used these two witnesses in similar fashion before Pharaoh. Some even believe Moses is one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11, along with Elijah–another famous Old Testament figure who was taken up to heaven without seeing death.
Bowl Judgments
Then there are the bowl judgments. The first one being loathsome soars (Rev 16:2), the exact same as the sixth Egyptian plague. Second and third bowl judgments of Revelation again have the waters and seas turning to blood, while the fifth bowl includes darkness on the land also. Hail is characteristic of both the end times judgment and the exodus plagues (Ex 9:13-35, Rev 16:21).
We note God’s people are in the land of Egypt—a type of world. Today God’s people are in the world (Egypt) until our Lord returns and we enter into our eternal Promised Land—God’s people then were only embarking on a journey to enter the physical promised land.
The Great Harvest Prior To The Exodus (“Rapture”) Out of The World into The Promised Land
Anyone claiming there cannot be an end-time revival must not be familiar with the idea that God’s people grew and multiplied exceedingly in the land of Egypt—so much so that the Pharaoh feared they might grow and outnumber them and be capable of revolting (Ex 1:9-10).
Can anyone say that this is not a very real possibility for God’s people in our day and age—that evangelism can rock the population of the world and scores of people getting saved in countries all over the world could cause the leaders of the world to take notice of the very real threat of God’s people becoming authentic and sparking revolution in their midst?
This is very interesting stuff to ponder if we consider the events recorded in Exodus. If people can point to things in the Old Testament to look for a pattern of a ‘snatching away’ rapture, then I’m compelled to look at Scriptures and see a people who are preserved during the judgment of God on the wicked, not taken away from it.
The people of Israel were miraculously spared from each of the judgment plagues that befell Egypt as the land of Goshen, Israel’s dwelling place in Egypt, was always free from plagues. When Egypt was swarmed with flies, God’s people had none in their camp (Ex 8:22-24); when the livestock of the Egyptians were diseased, a distinction was made between the Israelites and the Egyptians when again, nothing happened to the cattle of the Israelites, while Egypt’s died (Ex 9:5-6); no boils broke out on God’s people when the Egyptians were plagued with boils (Ex 9:10-11).
The most severe judgment or plague, the death of the first-born is the most strikingly obvious parallel to a differentiation between God’s people and the wicked. In the Exodus account, it’s the people of God who are “marked” with lamb’s blood—a type of atonement for sin to avert to just judgment of God—on their doorposts, which an angel of death would pass over but would destroy the firstborn son in Egyptian houses that weren’t marked in this manner on the doorposts.
The Mark of the Beast
In Revelation, it’s the mark of the beast differentiating the wicked from the godly; only it’s the wicked who are marked with the number representing 666, and God’s people are spared from God’s judgment of loathsome sores inflicted upon those with this mark.
Nowhere in the book of Revelation does it state that God’s people will be affected by the judgments. The pre-trib rapture proponent would gladly agree with this statement because they believe the Church has been snatched away prior to this time, which would obviously indicate the wouldn’t be there for it. Israel was miraculously set apart during the plagues in Egypt, in lifestyle, conduct and divine protection, God’s people will also be clearly set apart from the unbelieving during the time of great tribulation. In fact, Revelation 16:2 states that it’s only those with the mark that a loathsome sore or boil breaks out on. This would imply that there is a distinction between the wicked and the godly at least in this specific instance of divine judgment.
In a time when evil is abounding to its utmost crescendo in human history, the Church will finally be its most authentic and holy and thus will be worthy of persecution and martyrdom that it would naturally bring on itself. Therefore, it’s perfectly reasonable to say God’s people will be shining their brightest and the Antichrist, reminiscent of the Pharaoh, will want to get rid of them and destroy them just like Pharaoh finally kicked Israel out of the land only to chase them through the Red Sea.
A Baptism of Fire
In Exodus we watch Pharaoh assemble all of his army together to destroy the people of God who are trapped at the Red Sea where it seems like they had nowhere to go. In Revelation we see that all the armies of the world will be assembled in the valley of Megiddo, to basically fight God Himself and His people. At this point, God divinely intervenes for His people and parts the waters miraculously so they can walk out through on foot. The same water God brought his people through, representing a type of new birth or baptism, was used to destroy the army of Egypt as God made the walls of water come down on them and drowned them all.
In the Valley of Megiddo, when Jesus Christ our Lord makes his awesome return the moon will turn to blood, the sun darken and the stars will fall from heaven with His delegation, the saints–both those who were dead as well as those alive at the time of his coming (1 Thess. 4:13-17, Cor 15:50-54) meeting him in the air to escort Him to the earth (see Matt 24:29-31).
This will be a fiery return.
The same way God wiped out the earth with a flood in Noah’s day He said He’d do the same again at Christ’s return only with fire. This is understandable since the Bible states everything will be seasoned with fire (Mark 9:49).
It makes total sense that God’s people being tested by fire could possibly be this moment in the climax of the story—the same fire that melts one substance also hardens also hardens the other; while God’s people are purified by fire, the wicked are destroyed by it (Malachi 3:2-4). God’s people are translated so that they are physically able to experience this new heaven and earth, while God’s enemies are destroyed by this translating fire.
It’s instantaneous.
The same flood of water that destroyed the wicked in Noah’s day is the same flood that caused him and his family to rise above the earth; the same waters that God brought Israel throughout of Egypt God used to come crashing down on the wicked Egyptians, and the same fire he’s going to use to cleanse us and purify us with is the fire that will destroy his enemies.
When I look at the Old Testament, I see a pattern of people being purged through the tribulation, not escaping from it.
Check out this article Why Christians Should Stop Looking for the Rapture by J.D. King, author of The Beast of Revelation, a book I narrated for him.
