A revised view of the pretrib rapture

Revelation 7:13–17

13Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15“For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16“They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 15:1–3

1Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. 2And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 3And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!

Revelation 20:4

4Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

The key phrase here is, ουτοι εισιν οι ερχομενοι εκ της θλιψεως της μεγαλης / houtoi – these / eisin – are / hoi – ones / erchomenoi-coming / ek-out of / tēs thlipseōs-the tribulation / tēs megalēs-the great, literally, “these are the ones coming out of the tribulation the great”. The correct understanding of “coming” is the Present Participle. This is happening as John is watching. “Coming out of” is based on a common meaning of EK, a Greek preposition of motion, moving from the inside to the outside. In Classical Greek, this would be cut and dried. But John does not write in Classical Greek, and the truth is, he doesn’t really write in precise Koine Greek.



Another Greek preposition of motion is “apo”, move away from. Now, to be sure, both of these prepositions, ek and apo, can also denote position, ek – being outside of something, and apo, being away from something. Their primary meaning is of motion, and in conjunction with “erchomia”, “to come”, the correct interpretation is motion.



But back to John’s Greek . . .



John didn’t always use “ek” and “apo” technically correct. It seems that he used them interchangably. Let’s look at some examples:



This example is one of the most significant, in that is is specifically of something being removed to another place. But not from inside the tomb, but rather away from the tomb. This stone had been at the opening of the tomb, and was removed from where the tomb was. As Luke writes of the same thing, he uses “apo”, the preposition more properly used for “from”.


Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incenses went up with the prayers of the saints OUT OF (ek) the hand of the angel before God.

This example shows that while the simple meaning seems to be moving from the outside to the inside, in reality, the prayers were not exactly inside the angel’s hand, then went outside the hand. They were held in the grasp of the angel’s hand, but this is a more casual sense of the word.


Rev 15:2 and I saw as a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who do gain the victory OVER (ek) the beast,

This does not show the origin of the victory being inside the beast, moving to the outside, but rather that this victory is not found in the beast, but is found outside the beast. This shows position being outside, never having been inside.

1John 2:16 because all that which is in the world: the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not OF (ek) the Father, but is OF (ek) the world.

These show affinity. As John has just said that the lust of the flesh is in the world, he is not saying in the next breath that is now outside of the world, that is moved from the inside to the outside.


1John 3:8 The one practicing sin is OF (ek) the devil,

This is not saying that the sinner came from inside the devil, but shows affinity with the devil.


John 6:23 But other small boats came FROM (ek) Tiberias near the place where they ate the loaves

Is John saying that these boats came specifically from inside the city of Tiberius, or that they were where Tiberias is, and sailed from that place?


John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up FROM (ek) the earth, I will draw all to Myself.

Jesus was not inside the earth before His crucifixion. This is most properly translated “from” the earth, more properly denoted by “apo”.


John 17:15 I do not pray that You take them OUT OF (ek) the world, but that You keep them FROM (ek) the evil.

Here, the first EK shows motion, and direction, but the second does not, showing position, not having been inside.



And last, but not least,


Rev 3:10 Because you kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep you OUT (ek) of the hour of trial which is going to come on all the habitable world in order to try those dwelling on the earth.

This example shows EK specifically denoting position outside, not having been inside. This is not saying “I will guard you while you are in the hour of testing, taking you outside the hour of testing”, it is saying “I will guard you, outside of the hour of testing.”



The point is, while “coming out of the inside to the outside of the great tribulation” is certainly a valid understanding of this phrase, given that John shows a certain amount of interchangeability between EK and APO, as well as additional latitude to EK, based on other passages written by him, this could as well be understood as “coming away from the tribulation the great”, in the same way that the stone was rolled “away from” the tomb, of that Jesus was lifted up “away from” the earth.



“These are the ones coming away from the tribulation the great.”



We need to have outside verification to know which way John meant this usage of EK. This passage simply is not conclusive in and of itself.



Now, there is another aspect to this as well. Where do we match this up with other prophecies? Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that John did mean “coming from the inside to the outside” of the great tribulation. Would this align with the rapture as commonly taught in the standard pre-wrath view?


Mat 24:31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.

If this is in fact the rapture, and the innumerable multitude in Rev. 7:9 are the raptured believers, there is a serious inconsistency. (Actually, more than one, but we’ll stay with this one.) This gathering of the chosen ones comes AFTER the great tribulation, not during it.


Matthew 24:29-31

(29) And immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

(30) And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the land will wail. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and much glory.

(31) And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the heavens to their ends.





So this multitude in heaven in Rev. 7:9 CANNOT be those who have been gathered in Matthew 24:31, since the Matt. 24:31 gathering takes place AFTER the coming of the Son of Man, which is AFTER the darkening of the sun and moon, which is after the tribulation of those days. It simply is not possible that the gathering that happens after the end of the tribulation (and with several intermediate events), results in a group that came from the inside to the outside of that great tribulation.



Please take notice that this is a distinct difference, demonstrated strictly from the text of Scripture. Depending on how you look at this, if you see this multitude as the raptured believers, they have either come out of the great tribulation, meaning during the actual time of tribulation, or they have come “away from” the great tribulation, which could be EITHER before, or after. But if you select that option, this passage favors neither before, or after, and as such, could be either one. In order for it to allow the pre-wrath view of the rapture happening after the great tribulation, it of necessity allows the rapture to happen before the great tribulation. We have to go to different passages to determine which it is.