The snatching away before the great tribulation

In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Paul speaks of a snatching away:

… then we, the living, the remaining, shall be SNATCHED AWAY together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord.

There is much discussion about the timing of this event. Especially about the question whether this will be before or after Israel’s great tribulation. The great tribulation begins with the placement of an idolatrous image on the temple mount (“the abomination of desolation”; Matt.24:15) and lasts until the appearance of the Messiah on the Mount of Olives. That is a period of 1260 days, or 42 months, that is 3.5 years. At the return to the Mount of Olives, the Lord will appear together with the saints (Zech.14:5; Col.3:4). But in order to appear with the saints, He must first take those saints to Himself. The repeatedly asked central question is: when? Before or after the tribulation? Or in jargon: pre-trib or post-trib?

On this site you can find many studies about the above topics and the sequence in which things will happen. In this blog, I want to list seven biblical reasons why the snatching away will take place before the great tribulation. Each with a short explanation.

#1. The snatching away is a rescue from danger.

The word snatching away (Gr. harpazo) always refers to an act that happens with urgency. For example, pulling something out of the fire (Jude 23), or rescuing from imminent danger (Rev.12:5). Often also in the sense of seizing or violently grabbing prey (Matt.12:29; John 10:12).

In 1 Thess.1:10 we read that the Thessalonians awaited God’s Son from heaven, “who rescues us from the coming wrath.” So when the wrath begins, we are (just in time) brought to safety from it.

Of “the two witnesses” we know that they will operate during the 1260 days (Rev.11:3), which is the same time in which the woman (> Israel) will have a refuge in the wilderness (Rev.12:6). It is during this period that the two witnesses are given authority to shut the heavens so that it does not rain, to turn water into blood, and to destroy their opponents with fire (Rev.11:5,6). These are expressions of God’s wrath. But it is also the time of the wrath of the diabolos who has been thrown to the earth and knows he has only a short time (Rev.12:12,17). It is from this period that the ekklesia will be rescued.

#2. The snatching away occurs at the end of a period of “peace and safety.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul describes that when people will say “peace and safety,” sudden destruction will come upon them (:3). Like a thief in the night (:2). For believers, however, the day of the Lord (=His parousia) will not be like a thief in the night (:4). We live in the light and should be awake and recognize the time. That means that when the world experiences a false calm of “peace and safety,” the countdown for believers has begun.

#3. The snatching away is the removal of the ekklesia, so that the man of lawlessness can be revealed.

The man of lawlessness who will manifest in the temple in Jerusalem (2 Thess.2:4; Matt.24:15; Rev.13:14), is said by Paul to be restrained (or held back). His appearance waits for the moment when the restrainer will be taken out of the way (2 Thess.2:6,7), so that the lawless one can be revealed immediately after. This restrainer can be nothing other than the ekklesia. As long as the ekklesia is still here, the lawless one cannot reveal himself.

#4. The snatching away corresponds with the apostasia (=departure) before the coming of the day of the Lord.

If the day of the Lord is to come, the apostasia (lit. departure) must first occur (2 Thess.2:3). This is usually interpreted as ‘the falling away,’ meaning a great religious apostasy (Acts 21:21) initiated by the man of lawlessness. That meaning fits well in the context of 2 Thess.2.

But… apostasia is most commonly used as a verb in the sense of physical ‘departure’ (Acts 12:10), ‘going away’ or ‘leaving’ (Luke 13:27). And does that meaning not perfectly match what happens in the snatching away? Not an ideological or religious apostasy, but a concrete and literal one: the departure of the ekklesia!

#5. The snatching away marks the beginning of the activity of the archangel Michael.

Scripture knows only one archangel: Michael (Jude 9), and he will, according to Daniel 12:1, arise when the time of Israel’s great distress begins. Revelation 12:7 also links Michael’s action to the start of the great tribulation. Entirely in line with this, the snatching away in 1 Thess.4:16 coincides with a signal given by the archangel. The signal from the archangel is a hint to the beginning of the great tribulation.

#6. The snatching away in 1 Thess.4:17 corresponds to the snatching away of the male child in Rev.12:5.

In Revelation 12, the woman symbolizes the believing people of Israel (> sun, moon, twelve stars). She gives birth to a male child, which unmistakably refers to the Christ. As soon as this male child is born, he is “snatched away to God and to his throne,” after which the woman flees into the wilderness, where she will have a safe hiding place for 1260 days (Rev.12:5,6). The snatching away of the male child cannot refer to Jesus Christ’s ascension in the past. That was not a snatching away, there was no danger, and it was not followed by a tribulation of three and a half years.

“The male child” in Rev.12 represents, just like “the woman,” a people. Well, there is only one people that can be identified as the Christ and is also one body with Him: the ekklesia. The moment that the male child is snatched away in Revelation 12:5 (harpazo, the same word as in 1 Thess.4:17!) fits perfectly with Paul’s teaching about the snatching away of the ekklesia: before the wrath comes (1 Thess.5:9).

#7. The snatching away marks the enthronement in heaven.

With the snatching away, the ekklesia physically partakes in the glory of Christ Jesus (2 Thess.2:14). It corresponds to “the male child” being “snatched away to God and to his throne” (Rev.12:5). From that moment, heaven is cleansed (under the leadership of Michael; see #5), and Satan and his angels are cast down into the earth. Satan will then, in great fury (but without success), persecute the woman who has fled into the wilderness (Rev.12:13).

The snatching away of the ekklesia means nothing less than the evacuation of (the body of) the King. Above all, the throne pretender (“the male child”) is brought to safety. At the highest level. To establish his reign from the throne. First in heaven, and then also on earth.

Delen: