The false doctrine of the ''Seven Year Tribulation'

[reddogs]

You find or come across this corruption of a "Secret Rapture" and following it a "Seven Year Tribulation", but they are not scriptural. First the proponents claim Christ will come secretly to take the church to heaven, and then, seven years later, He will come in an open demonstration of the Second Coming. In between those two events, the Antichrist is supposed to come into power and the great tribulation period of seven years takes place. None of it is scriptural but what you can call a deception to confuse good people and misdirect them into a lie.

The Seventy Year prophecy of Daniel 9 was not pointing to a "Seven Year Tribulation", but to Christ who was the point of the prophecy. The replacement of the ceremonial law and sacrificial system, the sacrifice of the lamb which pointed to Christ was replaced by Christ sacrifice at the cross and the tabernacle veil torn from top to bottom as the type replaced the antitype.

Matthew 27:51

And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Mark 15:38
And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

Luke 23:45
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

Many believers in the 7-year Tribulation don't know that this belief is rooted in the Daniel 9 prophecy. They use a verse to support this idea and it is also from this verse Dan 9:27 that the idea on "The Antichrist" and the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple on the temple mount comes from.

The idea of this false theory is that:
1) There will be a secret rapture that takes all true Christians away leaving others behind.
2) Then a 7-year tribulation occurs where those who were not taken in the secret rapture will get a chance to "clean up their act" so that when Christ's public appearance happens they can be judged worthy.
3) During the course of the 7-year tribulation the Antichrist will appear, make a covenant with the Jewish nation, then break that covenant in the middle of the 7 years, then he will walk inside the Jewish temple and declare himself to be God.

But this is not biblically accurate or the context at all of what it has in the verses.

 

[Shiranui117]

There is no "rapture" where the faithful will be taken up to Heaven and spared all the crap that will be hitting the fan in the last days. The Rapture is based entirely off of four horribly out-of-context verses--three in Luke, and one in 1 Thessalonians. Here they are:

Luke 17:34-36: I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. 36 Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”

And here's the very next verse which Rapture apologists completely ignore:
Luke 17:37 And they answered and said to Him, "Where, Lord?” So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
So from this, it's clear to see that those who are "taken" are in fact "taken and killed". Jesus here was warning of the destruction that would come upon the world, and particularly the destruction the Romans would come and visit upon Judaea in a few decades.

And now we turn 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which is the other individual verse that Rapture theologians like: Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

But if we look at the preceding verses, we see that this isn't speaking of any sort of Rapture, but rather a summoning of all the living before God for judgement.

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

And if we look at Revelation 20 and 21, we see that all the dead will be raised, and then all, living and dead, will be brought before God's throne for judgement.

 

[reddogs]

Well, if you look at the Daniel 9 prophecy, you will find
it has little to do with the many theories out there in regards to a 7-year tribulation just prior to Christ's second coming. Let’s read through the entire prophecy.

Daniel 9
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

For every day that is mentioned in this and all other biblical prophecies they are equal to a prophetic year. There is virtually no debate about this point in Christian circles and we'll find that the rule holds true in this prophecy.

The Timeframe:
The angel Gabriel starts the prophecy by giving a block of time in verse 24, seventy weeks. Seventy weeks is equal to 490 days, or 490 prophetic years. That is our timeframe for this prophecy from beginning to end.

Verse 25 tells us when this timeframe begins, “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem”. When did this occur? See Ezra 7; for this is the command where the rebuilding of Jerusalem was actually accomplished and that command was given by Artaxerxes, king of Persia which occurred in 457 BC.

So then its just a matter of following the timeline for total 70-week block given by Gabriel in verses 25 & 27:
Block 1: 7 Weeks - (49 years) - Starts in 457 BC
Block 2: 62 Weeks - (434 years) - Starts in 408 BC
Block 3: 1 week - (7 years) - Starts in 27 AD

Now look closely at the last week or 7-year block (Block 3) for this is the period of time that many think will be the famous “Seven-year Tribulation” of the future:

3 ½ Years + 3 ½ Years = 7 years (one week)
This block starts in 27 AD. What happened in this year? Christ was baptized, anointed, and started His public ministry.

The "midst of the week" started in 31 AD (3 ½ years later). What happened in this year? Christ was killed on the cross.

This block ends in 34 AD. What happened in this year? Stephen, the last disciple to the Jews, was stoned by the Sanhedrin and the Gospel went out to the Gentiles.

 

[MJS]

I agree with both of you. There is little evidence of a rapture event in scripture. There's a good article about this that I found here:

The Rapture: A Popular but False Doctrine

Here's some snippets:

"For such a seemingly major doctrine, one might expect a weighty argument, but this is what is offered in The Scofield Bible’s Reference Notes (1917 Edition): “…’caught up’—Not church saints only, but all bodies of the saved [that is, not only the living, but also the dead], of whatever dispensation, are included in the first resurrection… [It] is peculiarly the ‘blessed hope’ of the Church (cf) Matthew 24:42; 25:13; Luke 12:36-48; Acts 1:11; Philippians 3:20, 21; Titus 2:11-13.”

This offers surprisingly little information, considering how many accept the rapture doctrine based upon these notes. Additionally, all of the references he cited are about Christ’s return and the believer’s need to be ready for that event. None of them speak of a “near return” by Christ to snatch away believers.

Some rapturists today cite Acts 8:39, saying it uses the same Greek word that is translated “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. They say that the fact the Spirit of God “caught [Philip] away” shows that 1 Thessalonians 4:17 means that the saints are caught away to heaven. Yet the Spirit did not transport Philip to heaven, but rather from one place on the earth to another.

The saints of 1 Thessalonians 4:17, on the other hand, rise to meet the Lord in the air."