There are many reasons why I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture and reject a post-tribulation scenario. If I was going to use just one verse off the top of my head I would use 1 Thess 1:8-10.
"The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia
and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do
not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of
reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to
serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he
raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."
So the Thessalonians were waiting for Jesus to return from Heaven (not the
antichrist) who would rescue them from the wrath to come (not waiting to go
through it.) - And they were commended for doing so!
To my mind a post
tribulation rapture confuses law and grace, and God's separate purposes for
Israel and the Church. To my mind, it is also quite clear in Revelation (the most
detailed book of the tribulation period) that the overall structure and outline
of the book is given in Rev 1:19 where Jesus told John to:
'Write
therefore the things which you saw, and the things which
are, and the things which shall come to pass after this.'
The things John had just seen is the vision of Jesus in Rev 1:12-16
The
things which are is the messages to the churches in Rev 2:1-3:22 (these give us
an overview of the entire church age)
The things which take place after this
is Rev 4:1 onwards. From this point Revelation discusses that which happens after
the church age.
To me, it makes perfect sense that John in chapter 4.1
would be told that he would now be shown the 'things which take
place after this.' (After the church age.) It makes sense that the
church is not mentioned again after this point apart from being seen at the
marriage of the lamb BEFORE the return of Jesus in Revelation 19. It also makes
sense, to me at least, that there is such a focus on the Jews and Jerusalem again
because God has got unfinished business there! The 144,000 Jews mentioned are
even called the 'first fruits' in Rev 14:4 which makes sense to me if
this is not the church age. Otherwise, if the church goes through the
tribulation, why would they be called 'first fruits' unto the lamb?
To my mind it makes sense that the bride of Christ, having gone to the wedding ceremony, would then return with Jesus 'clothed in fine linen, white and pure.' (Compare the description of the bride in Rev 19:8 with those that follow Jesus out of Heaven in Rev 19:14).
A pre-tribulation rapture also makes sense in my mind with Jesus' illustration of His coming being like it was in the days of Noah. He says that in those days people were eating, drinking, getting married... ie carrying on with normal life having no idea that judgment was coming. This makes perfect sense in relation to a pre-tribulation rapture, but makes no sense that I can see with a post tribulation rapture where the earth has experienced all the judgment spoken of in Revelation and life will be anything but like normal!
It also makes sense in my mind why Jesus promised to come and take us back
to His home (John 14:1-3 in fulfilment of the Jewish marriage type... in a post
tribulation rapture scenario this makes no sense.)
No, thankfully the
church has been promised that it will not experience God's wrath that He
will pour out upon this earth. (Rom 5:9, 1 Thess 1:10, 5:9) The church, according
to the Apostle Paul, are sons of the light and are not of the day of darkness
(The Day of the Lord) that will come upon this earth. See 1 Thess 5:2-5.
I do want to say something briefly about Jeremiah 23:15-31 and Ezek 13 as
well. From using those scriptures in connection with the pre-tribulation rapture,
I assume that you believe that people who teach a pre-tribulation rapture are
false prophets or are just trying to please the people with something that
isn't true - something imaginary. Correct me if I'm off-base here but I
assumed that was what you were trying to say. If it is true, then all I would
say, and I'm sure you know this anyway, is that many godly men who desire
only to be true to God's word believe in a pre-tribulation rapture.
Obviously the pre-tribulation rapture was very popular among the Brethren
Churches and I don't think you could accuse them of not wanting to be
biblical or of just saying something that would please the people. Dave Hunt
wrote in 'The Berean Call' a few points concerning pre vs post
tribulation and while He gets called a lot of things, being a people pleaser is
not one of them! If you want to read it use this link:
http://www.thebereancall.org/newsletters/oct03/article.htm
I also have come to the position I hold not because someone else believes it or
because its become popular with the 'left behind' books but because I
have always enjoyed studying prophecy for myself and I believe that a
pre-tribulation rapture is the biblical view when all of scripture is looked at.
All the best.