How Many Second Comings?


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Pre-tribbers insist that the second coming of Jesus Christ is in two stages. They frequently display lists of alleged "differences," which, in their thinking, imply the rapture is separate from the second coming. The following list is typical of their thinking.

1. At the rapture, Jesus comes alone. But, at the revelation, He comes with all his saints.
2. At the rapture, Jesus comes for his saints. But, at the revelation, He comes with His saints.
3. At the rapture, He comes "in the air." But, at the revelation, He lands on the Mount of Olives.
4. At the rapture, the saints go to heaven. But, at the revelation, saints return to earth.
5. The rapture is signless, and could occur at any moment. But, the revelation is preceeded by signs.
6. At the rapture, only the saints see Him. But, at the revelation, every eye shall see Him.
7. At the rapture, the tribulation begins. But, at the revelation, the Millennial Kingdom begins.

The above list seems to lead to the conclusion that the "rapture" is distinct, and separated from the second coming by a period of time. The logic seems reasonable, that is, until you try to prove each point from the Bible! The fact is, each of the above "contrasts" are simply manufactured from a preconceived premise of a pre-tribulation rapture. None of these alleged distinctions can stand on their own.

Pre-tribulationists pick out a certain detail from a known post-trib passage, like Matthew 24, then compare it to a rapture passage from the Epistles, which may not mention this particular detail, and conclude that they are two separate comings. But just because a certain element is not mentioned in a given rapture passage, does not mean it does not exist. If we used the same logic on the four Gospels, we would have to conclude that there were four separate Jesus Christs, and forty eight disciples, minus, of course, the four Judas Iscariots! Each of the Gospel accounts is different; each adds certain details, while leaving out others, but never in conflict. Only when we combine all four accounts, do we get a complete picture. The same is true of the rapture passages.

When we test the pre-trib logic, by comparing the two best known rapture passages, we find differences. For example, 1 Thessalonians 4 mentions the Lord descending from heaven, the shout, the voice of the archangel, the "catching up" of the saints, and clouds. None of these things are found in 1 Corinthians 15. On the other hand, 1 Corinthians 15 mentions the dead saints receiving resurrected bodies, while this is not found in 1 Thessalonians 4. Using pre-trib logic, we would conclude that there will be two raptures, at one we will be "caught up;" at the other we will receive new bodies! Their logic cannot be sustained consistantly. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 4 has far more in common with Matthew 24 than it does with 1 Corinthians 15!

Let's briefly look at each alleged distinction between the "rapture" and the "revelation," mentioned in the previous list.

1. "At the rapture, Jesus comes alone. But, at the revelation, He comes with all his saints." Does the Bible teach that Jesus will come alone at the rapture? He will come with all the saints who have died [1 Thes. 3:13 & 4:14]. He will be accompanied by Michael the Archangel [1 Thes. 4:16].

2. At the rapture, Jesus comes for his saints. But, at the revelation, He comes with His saints. Must we separate His coming FOR His saints, from His coming WITH His saints? According to Mark 13:24-27 Jesus will come FOR His elect on earth, while coming WITH His elect from heaven, after the tribulation. Similarly, 1 Thessalonians 4 speaks of Jesus coming WITH those who "sleep in Jesus," while coming FOR those who are alive and remain.

3. At the rapture, He comes "in the air." But, at the revelation, He lands on the Mount of Olives. Doesn't Jesus have to come through "the air" in order to come "to the earth?" [cf. Acts 1:10-12 & Zech. 14:4a,5b]

4. At the rapture, the saints go to heaven. But, at the revelation, saints return to earth. There is no Scripture that says Christians will go to heaven after the rapture.

5. The rapture is signless, and could occur at any moment. But, the revelation is preceeded by signs. The Bible does not teach that the rapture could occur at any moment. In fact, the very verses used by pre-tribbers to try to prove "imminence," come from Matthew 24, which is clearly speaking of Jesus' coming after the tribulation, [cf. Matt. 24:36 & vs. 29-31]. Also, Jesus' coming "as a thief" refers to the battle of Armageddon [Rev. 16:15,16].

6. At the rapture, only the saints see Him. But, at the revelation, every eye shall see Him. There is no Scripture that says only the saints will see Jesus at the rapture.

7. At the rapture, the tribulation begins. But, at the revelation, the Millennial Kingdom begins. There is no Scripture that places the tribulation after the rapture.

The entire pre-trib approach is illogical. Instead of trying to isolate passages based upon the absence of a particular detail, we should merge them based upon their common details. If all of the elements of two descriptions of the second coming can be integrated, without conflict, we can conclude that they are the same event. When we use this approach, we find many similarities between Jesus' descriptions of His coming after the tribulation, with Paul's descriptions of the rapture found in the epistles. When these accounts are merged, we have a complete picture of the second coming of Jesus Christ.