There is a big problem for people who believe in the mid-tribulation and post tribulation rapture theories. This is the doctrine of Imminency.
Imminency means that Jesus could come back at any time. Was this taught in the bible?
Matthew 24:36-51 – 36“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So Jesus many times made it clear to keep your eyes open as he could come at anytime.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 – 1Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
So we are told that we are to keep an eye out for Him so that it does not come unexpectedly.
1 Thessalonians 5:4 – 4But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
We don’t know the day or the hour and Jesus makes it clear on that in Matthew, but we are to keep our eyes out for the signs and by that we will know when it is near.
Also addressing Imminency and that the church was also looking for Jesus’ immediate return we see that the church in Thessalonica thought they had missed the rapture and Paul wrote this to assure them they had not.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 – 1Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
Clearly they were looking for Jesus’ return at any moment.
So if you’re a mid-tribulation rapture person, you believe that it will happen somewhere about the time the sacrifices are no longer allowed by the Jews and the great tribulation of 3 and half years is getting reading to start. One, that really narrows down the time when one can keep an eye out for Christ and two, He couldn’t possibly have come before the start of the Tribulation. So much for Imminency in this scenario.
I think you can tell that the post-tribulation position runs into the same problem in the fact that the rapture wouldn’t be able to happen until the tribulation was over and Christ was just getting to come back. There is no imminency in this scenario either.
This pretty much wraps up my pre-tribulation rapture support. To be honest with you I’ve even strengthened my already strong position stance on the pre-tribulation rapture theory. When one really looks at all things concerning the timing of the rapture, not only do they support the pre-trib position, but many also bring many problems to the other positions.
I invite you to look over at the rapture category again to review them all and since there are so many, you’ll have to click on previous posts at the bottom of the page after you see the first ten to see the others.