Before I put this book back on my shelf, I thought I’d share a timeline for anyone interested in knowing how the rapture, tribulation, and return of Christ all fit together.

One of my go-to resources when preaching on biblical prophecy is Understanding End Times Prophecy by Paul Benware. We used the book in seminary, and I always appreciate his clear and fair treatment of the issues. I know dispensationalists get teased for their complicated graphs and charts. But there’s nothing to be ashamed of for using a visual aid now and then to help visualize and harmonize complicated passages of scripture.

If you don’t believe in the rapture or a literal seven year tribulation, you still have to grapple with what the Bible means by the many passages of scriptures that seem to teach these things.

So much of this is hermeneutics — your method of interpretation — and whether to take these prophecies literal or figurative. I prefer to err on the side of being literal with biblical prophecy (rebuilt temple, antichrist, seven year tribulation, thousand year reign, etc), though obviously we know there is figurative language in the Bible and we have to account for that.

This morning I preached on the antichrist and his eventual demise at the arrival of King Jesus.

It’s been fascinating to study 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and see how they fit into other sections of biblical prophecy like the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Revelation.

I’m firmly convinced that Jesus’ return will be pre-millennial, and that before he can return, a terrible seven-year period of time of tribulation will come across the world, including the ascent of an evil antichrist.

Will Christians be here during that time and be forced to endure the tribulation? I believe the answer is no. I think we will be raptured and taken away prior to the arrival of antichrist. That’s why Paul listed himself among those who will be “alive and remain and caught up together in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17) and why “he who now restrains the man of lawlessness will do so until he is out of the way” (2 Thess. 2:7).

I wish the Bible was clearer on the doctrine of the pre-tribulational rapture, but I do believe it’s there, both explicitly and implicitly, and that it gives us hope as believers that the very next event on the eschatological calendar is God whisking away believers just before the start of the tribulation.

The lesson is clear. Be alert! Be ready! Make peace with God now — before it’s too late. God is so gracious and patient. But at some point, it will be judgment day.