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The word "church" being absent from Revelation 4-19
By Alan Kurschner
Here we find a popular argument from silence made by pretribulationists to support their claim that the church is not present on earth during the “Great Tribulation.†It is asserted that the word, “church†does not appear in Chapters 4-19, therefore, it is inferred that the church is raptured just before the events of chapter 4 commence.
Furthermore, pretribbers insist that because the Apostle John is told in Revelation 4:1 to "come up here", this purports to be a picture of the rapture (despite pretribulationism's insistence on a literal interpretation of Scripture).
If one is to be consistent with this method of interpretation he must then conclude that most of the New Testament does not apply to the church. This argument uses a “concordance†type interpretation. That is, if we want to know what passages apply to the church we simply open up a concordance and finger down the page looking for usages of the word "church"; thus, they must be applicable to the church. The problem with this method is that it does not take Scripture in a normal, natural, customary sense. Hence, it is naïve and completely ignores context.
Here are my points:
i) The word “church†is absent from all the classic rapture passages: 1Thess.4:13-17, 1Cor 15:50-54, and John 14:1-4. Following their logic, are we right to conclude that the “church†will not be raptured?
ii) The word “church†is absent from the heavenly scenes in Revelation 4 and 5. But Heaven is the one place we would expect to find it, given this is where pretribulationism says the church will be at that time (because of their less than literal interpretation that Revelation 4:1 represents the church being caught up).
iii) The word “church†is absent from the books of Mark, Luke, John, 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, and Jude. Does that mean those books do not pertain to the church?
iv) Who are the recipients of the book of Revelation? Revelation 1:1 says, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show to His bondservants.†Note it does not use the term “church.†This is a very important fact about New Testament writers. They used many different phrases and descriptions to describe true believers (the true church). Here the term "bondservants†is employed.
a) Again, in Revelation 22:6 the bondservants (the faithful) are addressed. The unfaithful will not experience persecution or great tribulation; it will be the faithful or bondservants within the church
who endure persecution for their faith.
b) Notice that the term "bondservant" is used eight times in Revelation to distinguish them from look-alikes in the church. The focus in Revelation is not the church in general but the faithful, true believers who are persecuted for their faith.
c) It is to the church in general, characterized by compromise, that Christ makes an appeal to repent. The bondservants, true believers, saints, elect of God and those who hold to the testimony of Christ will endure struggle and persecution and be ultimately victorious.
v) The word “saints†is used 59 times in the New Testament. This term refers to a true believer in Christ, a member of the true church. When pretribbers claim that the references to “saints†in Revelation suddenly refer to a special group of “tribulation saints†because of a “revival†during the 70th week of Daniel, this creates a new class of Christians apart from the church. Their assumption forces this distinction upon Scripture. Further, there is no hint of revival during the 70th week. In fact, rebellious men are hardened even more through their unbelief and apostasy.
vi) It should also be noted that it is wrongly assumed that all of the events in chapter four and beyond describe God’s Day-of-the-Lord wrath. But a cursory reading of these chapters reveals that a number of these events are not part of the Day of the Lord but rather describes the persecution of God's people.
In closing, some of Christ's most severe warnings regarding the end times are found in Revelation and Matthew 24. It is not in our best interest as individual Christians or as members of the Body of Christ to “write off†these passages as applying to some group other than the true church. But we must heed the warnings, stay true to our Lord and persevere through persecution and whatever else comes our way.
Posted by Alan Kurschner on 01/23/06 @ 09:38 PM
http://www.prewrathrapture.com/2006/01/ ... e_word.php
By Alan Kurschner
Here we find a popular argument from silence made by pretribulationists to support their claim that the church is not present on earth during the “Great Tribulation.†It is asserted that the word, “church†does not appear in Chapters 4-19, therefore, it is inferred that the church is raptured just before the events of chapter 4 commence.
Furthermore, pretribbers insist that because the Apostle John is told in Revelation 4:1 to "come up here", this purports to be a picture of the rapture (despite pretribulationism's insistence on a literal interpretation of Scripture).
If one is to be consistent with this method of interpretation he must then conclude that most of the New Testament does not apply to the church. This argument uses a “concordance†type interpretation. That is, if we want to know what passages apply to the church we simply open up a concordance and finger down the page looking for usages of the word "church"; thus, they must be applicable to the church. The problem with this method is that it does not take Scripture in a normal, natural, customary sense. Hence, it is naïve and completely ignores context.
Here are my points:
i) The word “church†is absent from all the classic rapture passages: 1Thess.4:13-17, 1Cor 15:50-54, and John 14:1-4. Following their logic, are we right to conclude that the “church†will not be raptured?
ii) The word “church†is absent from the heavenly scenes in Revelation 4 and 5. But Heaven is the one place we would expect to find it, given this is where pretribulationism says the church will be at that time (because of their less than literal interpretation that Revelation 4:1 represents the church being caught up).
iii) The word “church†is absent from the books of Mark, Luke, John, 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, and Jude. Does that mean those books do not pertain to the church?
iv) Who are the recipients of the book of Revelation? Revelation 1:1 says, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show to His bondservants.†Note it does not use the term “church.†This is a very important fact about New Testament writers. They used many different phrases and descriptions to describe true believers (the true church). Here the term "bondservants†is employed.
a) Again, in Revelation 22:6 the bondservants (the faithful) are addressed. The unfaithful will not experience persecution or great tribulation; it will be the faithful or bondservants within the church
who endure persecution for their faith.
b) Notice that the term "bondservant" is used eight times in Revelation to distinguish them from look-alikes in the church. The focus in Revelation is not the church in general but the faithful, true believers who are persecuted for their faith.
c) It is to the church in general, characterized by compromise, that Christ makes an appeal to repent. The bondservants, true believers, saints, elect of God and those who hold to the testimony of Christ will endure struggle and persecution and be ultimately victorious.
v) The word “saints†is used 59 times in the New Testament. This term refers to a true believer in Christ, a member of the true church. When pretribbers claim that the references to “saints†in Revelation suddenly refer to a special group of “tribulation saints†because of a “revival†during the 70th week of Daniel, this creates a new class of Christians apart from the church. Their assumption forces this distinction upon Scripture. Further, there is no hint of revival during the 70th week. In fact, rebellious men are hardened even more through their unbelief and apostasy.
vi) It should also be noted that it is wrongly assumed that all of the events in chapter four and beyond describe God’s Day-of-the-Lord wrath. But a cursory reading of these chapters reveals that a number of these events are not part of the Day of the Lord but rather describes the persecution of God's people.
In closing, some of Christ's most severe warnings regarding the end times are found in Revelation and Matthew 24. It is not in our best interest as individual Christians or as members of the Body of Christ to “write off†these passages as applying to some group other than the true church. But we must heed the warnings, stay true to our Lord and persevere through persecution and whatever else comes our way.
Posted by Alan Kurschner on 01/23/06 @ 09:38 PM
http://www.prewrathrapture.com/2006/01/ ... e_word.php
