Before the Tribulation

Bill Brinkworth

Revelation 4 signals an event that is a most anticipated promise given to believers. Every Christian from the time of the first church anxiously awaited the event that is described in this verse. Revelation 4:1 announces the occurrence of the long-awaited rapture!
“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” Revelation 4:1-2

The rapture is when God says, “Enough!” of rampant sin and takes his church, living and dead, out of this earth (I Thessalonians 4:16-18). After the church is removed, then all the terrible prophecies concerning God’s wrathful judgment upon the residents of the earth will begin. For the living child of God from this point on in the book of Revelation all that happens on this earth will not involve him; as he will be gone to heaven! Amen and Amen!

Although Revelation is a record of what John saw and heard revealed to Him by Jesus, it is meant to give us an understanding of what will happen in that day. It is believed that Rev. 4:1 is when the rapture happens because:

It says “After this …”. After what? After the periods of the seven church ages are completed (Rev. 2-3). The last church age, as compared to the church of Laodicea, pictures perfectly how the majority of churches have become today. It is after God sees the last person has gotten saved, that He ends the church ages and starts a new era; an era of His judgments!
“… a door was opened in heaven …” A door is a means to pass from one place to another. This “door” moves the dead and living in Christ from this earth to the next “room”; the “room” where God is! In Revelation 3:20, the door was where Jesus was last standing. He gave all an opportunity to trust Him as Saviour one more time during the indifferent, Laodicean church-age (the “age” we are currently in). No more answered His pleas, so He opened the door of Heaven and called His own home.
The trumpet of God was sounded just like it was foretold it would be at the time of the rapture (I Thes. 4:16).
A voice was heard calling John to heaven as it was prophesied (I Thes. 4:16) the church would be summoned up: “… Come up hither….”
It was prophesied that the Lord would come again when the earth became like the days of Noah (Mat. 24:37-38. Luke 17:26). Those days are certainly here. After the Lord judged the world of Noah’s time He sent a reminder of His judgment: the rainbow. In Rev. 4:3, there was a rainbow around God’s throne. The judgment of Noah’s day preserved only God’s own who were inside the ark. The upcoming rapture will also have His own safely preserved ( in Heaven), while God’s judgment of the tribulation takes place on earth.
Matthew 24:36 says that no one can know the day or hour of the Lord’s Second coming. If the church were to go through the Tribulation Period, as some teach, some would know the day because it would be seven years from the signing of the seven-year covenant (Dan. 9:24-27) and 1,260 days from when the Antichrist defiles the temple (Rev. 12:6).
I Thes. 4:18 says we are to get comfort in thinking of the Rapture. If the Rapture were to occur during the Tribulation, certainly no one would be comforted!
The Church will be in heaven for the marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7) before Jesus’ Second coming which is at the end of the Tribulation (Rev.19:11-14).
Twenty four elders (Rev. 4:4), including representatives of the church ages, will be in heaven before the seventh seal is opened (Rev. 8:1).
It is never mentioned in God’s Word that the church will go through the Tribulation. The church is no longer mentioned in what occurs on the earth after Rev. 4:1, because the church is no longer here! The tribulation is mostly about Israel, not the church!

Since we are currently in the last church age, the rapture mentioned in Revelation 4:1 is the next event in God’s plan. It could be today or tomorrow. The big question is are you absolutely, positively sure you will be included in the rapture? If not, now may be your last opportunity to trust Christ as Saviour and be saved!

“When Jesus comes for His own in the air, will you meet Him?”

This lesson was featured in The Bible View #435.