weary of dh's no rapture belief

lookingabove ,
welcome sister,

I think your question is highly timely. I have a personal experience I could share, but the foremost is to consider what the common ground you do have with your dh. The gospel event! and, what it did for all of mankind is what is important. It is not a contest to KNOW what prophecy means. Each one of us is on a path of which the Good Shepherd is tending. If you take a look at the account of topics on end times in this forum, you will see that there is not a 100% agreement of interpretation of the post cross Prophecy of Jesus Christ's Revealing, and I dare say, with the other prophecies that were fulfilled before the cross.  This is tough stuff to discern!

I would pray within your heart to ask the Lord that strife not be among your family. Focus on lovingkindness and patience and examine your own heart on the matter. Asking questions as to how one comes to see something also helps soften the dialog. What caused this change of heart for dh?

Yet, I ask, WHAT IF you remain yet while things fall apart around you? We are no more special than Paul, whose head was cut off, nor Stephen who was stoned, nor any of the apostles or early jew converts. And too, any of those from the remnant jew who witnessed the miracles and those jews who came to believe in the first generation, were against the grain of the Pharisee church in their day. From there we have the Faith spreading across the world, yet not without its persecution. If all of us agreed to what is going to be revealed then we would have one single denomination of Christ. BUT, we don't.

If I can give you any advice without knowing anything about you and your biblical background, I would say, throw out all books that man himself authored that says how things are to happen in the end, and prayerfully open your Bible.  Use Biblehub and similar online sources to learn about the greek and Hebrew language behind the English translation.  If anything it gives the Holy Spirit and you that intimate time.  Are you reading the Word or are you reading man's ideas of what the Word means?  It is a big step, but I have faith in the Lord that you will be led accordingly.


by the way, He is coming soon!  this we know for sure because He Himself said He will Return.  Rapture (or not,) HE IS COMING BACK TO REIGN ON THIS EARTH! AMEN?

Rest in this Hope dear Sister!

lookingabove ,

I used to believe in a PRE TB theory because it was what I was taught.  My father believed it till he passed, my mother, sister, relatives, cousins and others.  My grandmother used to have a huge chart, which I am now in possession of, that detailed the entire Revelation event system from a Pre TB view. 

Today, I no longer follow a Pre TB view, though 98% of my church does.  First, the importance is of his salvation by faith alone.  Second, his acknowledgment that he is a sinner and needs repentance.  Third, that he cant save himself and needs a savior.  If he has those things with you, he is doing well.  

I do think a Christian should believe in the rapture and I am hard pressed to understand why one wouldn't.  The reason is, Christ Jesus was the first who died and rose and its promised that if Christ was the son of God and God rose him from the dead, that all true Christians as sons of God will be likewise raised at the end.  

Now to your last question, I believe we will go through tribulation.  The word for tribulation is persecution, not wrath.  If you are looking to change him to your belief, to which he believed before, it probably will not happen at least right now.  Do not be so adamant that he is wrong and you are right in your mind.  Though he shouldn't push you either, perhaps you can use this difference to listen to each others views equally and search the scripture. The confusion will lay with children, if you have them.  Who is right, mommy or daddy. This is why its important for you both, if you have kids, to sit at the table and search it out together.  You should ask your husband questions and see if he can find the answer.

Pre TB believes we will be removed from God's wrath.  So does other ones.
Pre TB believes the seals to the bowls are his wrath.  Others place the timing of God's wrath later on past the seals.

There are many things Pre TB and other TB theories come together on.  IMO, the main points of difference is timing of the rapture and is it a separate event or the same event as the 2nd advent.

My wife was Pre TB because she was taught that.  She is a lawyer by trade and is very methodical.  I had asked her to study herself without my influence and we'd talk about chapters afterwards.  She asked questions, sometimes I could answer and other times I couldn't because her questions were really really good lol. In the end after her own self study and listening to other schools of thought (Pre TB, Post TB, Pre wrath etc), she believes we will go through tribulation to.

Its not that we look forward to doom and gloom.  We recognize that it comes in some parts of the world today even though we are sheltered from it.  When it comes to us, we need to be mentally prepared with God as our rock.  We cannot break under duress and must be strong as a testimony to others.  We are to lead them to Christ when they need us the most.  So for us, this time isn't about us - its about everyone else! And for us to not hide in our houses seeking to save ourselves, but to save others and be what God asked us to be during bad times.  When you see your neighbor who was just beat lay bleeding....dress his wounds, feed him, bring him to the inn and pay for him.  Do good unto others even in terrible times because its in your heart, not because you have to.

Many people who view it this way do not see all the events as God's wrath as Pre Tb does. Some see it as Satan's wrath, man's wrath or just world wide events that happen and the events are the result of man's sin.  God will come to take away his bride and his wrath will follow.  This isn't a salvation by faith issue! But it is an issue. 

Sometimes people can receive info that puts them on a pedestal like "I know something you don't".  We must see that in ourselves and humble ourselves with prayer.  Remind him, he may have some good ideas that you can both look at but also in kindness, remind him that as a Christian we must humble ourselves and not to have an attitude of I'm right, your wrong and the way it makes you feel.  He needs to understand that so he can step back and reflect.  That way, the next time he wants to talk about it, he can hopefully approach you differently as I am sure he's excited to talk about these things with you.

My suggestion to you is to talk to your husband, and to show openness to other models.  It doesn't mean you have to accept them by any means, at least it will either make you stronger in Pre TB or it will have you form questions of your own.  Most Churches don't teach all models.  The Pastor/Reverend has 1 and the church goes with it. 

For me, this is what started me from the path of Pre TB to not Pre TB.

I read that in Matthew 24. I started a plan to read the Bible every year and have done this for many years now.  This time though, I read Matthew 24 in reverse. Let me post it for you, I will skip some verses, but in order for you to see it how I did.

and I thought when? I read this 1,00 times...when?

And perhaps this is how he see's it.  Would love to hear back from you.  Don't pray to our Father that your husband will change his idea, pray that there will be understanding from both of you in this confusion. If he is still reading the Bible and overjoyed...its a good thing to be watered by God's word. Just make sure you both focus on other parts of scripture too... =P

Not to get off subject with lookingabove ,
But Bora, scripture plainly states the dead rise first and then those that are alive secondly. Not the other way around.

lookingabove sound advice in the above posts so I have very little to add or offer but to glean a little off what BSG said about the gospels and perhaps Venge. I was taught Pre-Trib and believed it, cuz the pastor it was right. Even when I read the support verses, my vantage point was to begin at the Pre-Trib view so it always made sense. Over the last couple years that viewpoint was heavily challenged. Why? I was taught that the book of Rev had the church in chapter 1-4 then (end of) 18 through 22 which meant the church was gone during the chapters of 5-17 (plus the Babylon portion in 18). Then I heard about chapter 12:1-2 and the Great Sign in heaven. I thought "Wait we're in the middle of the tribulation right now? How could this be-did I miss the rapture". I began to search the scriptures and things about the way Hebrews wrote text, chiasms, how John possibly saw some of the visions and explained them and some other fascinating things along the way. What I learned from this is I really wasnt certain of my view and frankly still am not 100% sold on which is correct. Instead of taking my view of Pre-Trib and interpreting the world around me through that, I now view the events around me and see where they may fit into scripture.

We're all learning and growing when we take in our daily food/water. Realizing that prayer together isnt an option right now, is it possible for you to propose to him to review the word together? Just read through OR study end times topics OR create a timeline much like StromyKnight is doing in another thread? In the end whether the Lord takes us before wrath, before Trib or later in the game is immaterial to me. I look to the resurrection as the culmination and count the physical body as but a seed for the Lord to do as he wishes. If the Lord desires to have me and my family go through Trib as a witness to Him, then it is His will not mine.

Prayers for you and others in similar situations

Thank you all for your time and advice. I'm okay with him having a different viewpoint and I didn't articulate that well in my original post or even in the title. We've discussed it in the past. I am just weary of his desire to keep bringing his viewpoint up in a superior and abrasive manner. I struggle with the idea of looking for end times if we are going to live through the entire tribulation. I don't know anyone who would be looking forward to that. How on earth do you teach a child to love Christ to the point of being willing to die for him? My adult daughter remembers being afraid after listening to her dad.

Venge, he believes we will go through God’s wrath being poured out on the earth. He believes our Christian walk is a personal and private issue. Therefore his study of scripture and prayer is a private time for him. It is very rare for him to even pray with our children. He knows I’d prefer him to pray with our 8 yr if he is around, but he avoids doing that. My reason for stating that was because of his smirking when I prayed with her. So we quietly whispered our prayers last night. Children tend to view God through the lens of our relationship with our earthly father. So to ignore prayer with a child and spew a you’ll see you are wrong attitude doesn’t do anything helpful. This is why I am weary.