When it comes to the study of the end-times, the natural go-to book in the Bible is Revelation. It is here that Christians come to study the tribulation, the return of Jesus, and other related subjects. Included with these is none other than the rapture.
There are a few different arguments made from the book of Revelation concerning the rapture. In this article, I will focus on an argument that is very important for those who follow a pre-tribulation rapture: the alleged absence of the church in chapters 4-18. The argument goes like this: The Greek word for “church” (ekklesia) is used twenty times in Revelation. Nineteen of these are in the first three chapters. However, beginning with chapter 4 the word disappears. It does not reappear until chapter 22 in the new heavens and new earth. However, we know from other passages (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 for example) that the church is present with Christ at his second coming (chapter 19 in Revelation).
The point is that since the church is absent between chapters 3 and 19 then the church must be in heaven during chapters 4-18 (the tribulation). The fact that the church appears and disappears in this fashion is, according to Mark Hitchcock, a well-known pre-tribber, “convincing evidence that the church will not be present on earth during the Tribulation and the outpouring of God’s wrath.” He continues, “[t]his absence is arresting and unexplainable if the church continues on earth through any part of the Tribulation.”[1]
Some believe that the rapture is present in Revelation 4:1 since John is told to come up to heaven (although not all pre-tribbers agree with this assessment).[2] To add to this argument are the twenty-four elders that appear in heaven throughout Revelation.[3] There are many different views concerning exactly who these elders are including angels[4], church age believers, both OT and NT saints[5], or even a combination of these.[6] Many pre-tribbers tend to believe that these elders represent the church only.[7]
Does this argument hold up? Does the absence of the church on earth in Revelation 4-18 and the presence of the elders in heaven prove a pre-tribulation rapture? Let’s take a look.
Is the church absent from Revelation 4-18?
The first problem with this view is that most of it is an argument from silence. This does not automatically prove it is wrong, but it should raise some red flags since we always fill that silence with what we already believe.
Secondly, just because the word “church” is never used in chapters 4-18 means little to nothing since John never refers to any group in heaven as the church either.[8] It is also important to note that ekklesia does not appear in many other books in Scripture (“Mark, Luke, John, 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, or Jude, and not until chapter 16 of Romans”).[9] Does this mean that the church did not exist at the time those writings were composed? Of course not.
It is also interesting to note that ekklesia does not appear in Revelation 19-21 as well. It does not make its next appearance (after chapter 3) until 22:16. I agree that the context in chapters 19-21 demand that the church is present. There are two important points to make here. First, there are passages that speak about people dying in the Lord and following the testimony of Jesus. “In 6:9; 12:17; 14:12; 20:4, tribulational saints are designated as those who keep the commandments of God and the testimony, or faith, of Jesus.”[10] Is this not the church, that is, Christians?
There is a common belief among pre-tribbers that the saints that pop up in Revelation 4-18 are “Tribulation saints.” Hitchcock says, “The mention of saints in Revelation 4-18 indicates that there will be believers on earth during the Tribulation, but it doesn’t prove conclusively that they are church-age believers. We must look at the context to discern which group of saints is in view.”[11]
I disagree strongly. Christians are Christians, regardless if they live before or during the Tribulation. They are believers in Jesus Christ either way. The only way that someone can divide them into “church-age” and “tribulational” saints is if they already accept a pre-tribulation rapture. Thus, it is not proof of a pre-trib rapture.
The second point is that if the word ekklesia is so important then why is it not used in chapters 19-21? These chapters cover the second coming of Christ, the fall of Satan, and give us a glimpse of such things as Judgment Day and the New Heavens and New Earth. If ekklesia is the best way to pinpoint the church in this era then why not use the word? I’m not saying that the church is absent from these chapters. I’m just saying that the Bible does not have to use one particular word to get its point across. It can use other words (like the other books mentioned above that do not use ekklesia as well).
Now let’s take a look at the elders. As I mentioned above, they are seen as anything from angels, church-age believers or even all saints from all periods. Anyone who has taken the time to study the issue will know that the meaning of the elders can be a difficult one. The point I want to make about them is that if they are Christians, do they prove that the church has been raptured? Personally, I say no. Why? First, if they are the church then why isn’t the word ekklesia used for them. If the word is so important for pre-tribbers that it proves that the church is not on earth, then wouldn’t that mean, following their logic, that the church is not in heaven either? Gundry notes, “Even were it possible to prove that the elders represent the Church, it does not of necessity follow that the entire Church has arrived in heaven.”[12]
Conclusion
I know there are many Christians who will strongly disagree with me, but I simply do not see how the absence of the word ekklesia from Revelation 4-18 proves that the Church is not on earth during that time. As I mentioned in the article: 1) this would mean that Christians are not in heaven during the same period since the word is not used for them either; 2) the church must not have existed during the New Testament period since ekklesia is not used in some of the other New Testament books. Please understand, I do not believe that this proves a pre-tribulational rapture wrong. I simply do not think it is good, definitive evidence for it. Pre-tribbers need to quit using it.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment below or on our Facebook page.
[1] Mark Hitchcock. The End (Carol Stream: Tyndale, 2012). 146. According to pre-tribbers this shows that the church was already in heaven “for some time since she has ‘prepared herself’ (Revelation 19:7). See also, John Walvoord. The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago: Moody, 1989). 103; Tim Lahaye. Revelation Revealed (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999). 100-101; Robert Gromacki. “Where is ‘the Church’ in Revelation 4-19?” 2 (PDF version). http://pre-trib.org/articles/view/where-is-church-in-revelation-4-19.
[2] David Hocking. “The Rapture in Revelation.” 5 (PDF version). http://pre-trib.org/articles/view/rapture-in-revelation; Lahaye, 100. Those who disagree include Robert Gromacki, 6; Walvoord, 103.
[3] (4:4, 10; 5:5-6, 8, 11, 14; 7:11, 13; 11:16; 14:3; 19:4)
[4] Robert Mounce. The Book of Revelation Revised (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997). 121-122. Grant Osbourne. Revelation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002). 229.
[5] Lahaye, 120. William Hendriken. More Than Conquerors (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1967). 85.
[6] G.K. Beale. The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999). 322-326.
[7] Hitchcock, 147-148; Walvoord, 106-107; Gromacki, 4-5; Hocking, 5-6.
[8] Douglas Moo. “A Case for the Posttribulation Rapture” in Three Views of the Rapture. 2nd Ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010). 230; Robert Gundry. The Church and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973). 78; Beale, 118 fn. 56.
[9] Gundry, 78. Beale, 118 fn. 56
[10] Gundry, 79-80.
[11] Hitchcock, 146-147. Also see Walvoord, 103.
[12] Gundry, 71.
Chris
I couldn’t agree with you more. Revelation 14:12-13 expresses that the believers who will be martyred for their faith in Jesus will be dying “in the Lord”! Who wants to take on the unenviable task of explaining how the Thessalonian dead in Jesus can be members of His body but the dead in Jesus in Revelation 14:13 cannot be? How can someone be in the Lord and not be a member of His body, the Church?
Pastor James Somers
The silence of revelation 4/5 from the church is practically deafening: John sees pretty much everyone else praising God…all but the church. Seems like the largest body of believers who will enter the heavenly throne room would be right there in the midst praising Jesus! After all, to be absent from this present body is to be present with the Lord…but the church is nowhere to be found in heaven where all present are praising the God of Heaven. In fact, there are only 3 instances when a group of believers are said to enter the heavenly throne room of God during all of the Book of Revelation: first during the sixth seal, immediately prior to the preparation of the seven trumpet angels and the beginning of the wrath of God: Revelation 7:9
oddly this multitude that no man can number from all nations and kindreds and peoples and languages is never identified by people as the church…though it seems the most logical choice!
The second instance when believers enter the heavenly throne room is when the 144,000 jewish servants of God enter: Revelation 14:1…clearly these are not the church but a very specific group of believers. The final time a group enters the throne room in heaven is revelation 15:2…these are also a specific group: those who rejected the mark and got the victory over the beast, his mark and the number of his name….if anyone could be called tribulation saints it is these who actually face the mark of the beast decision and choose Christ!
Thats the only times and one of these groups must be the church…otherwise how do we ever return with Christ at Armageddon? logically the first group, which no man can number, fits this necessity and no other.
Jerry Parks
Here is a post that I just put up on this topic:
What About The Missing Church or Bride in Revelation Chapters 4-19? Are They Really Missing?
We often hear that the church is missing on earth in the Revelation in these chapters 4-19. So is this true?
Here is what we need to consider in order to make a determination.
What do men mean concerning the church, when they tell us that it is missing from earth?
How does John who penned the Revelation at Jesus instruction use the word church in his other writings? Those writings being the Gospel named for him, and 1st, 2nd; and 3rd John.
How does John understand the church in Revelation? Does he use the word church as being a local body or as being the bride of Christ?
Finally is the bride present in a name other than church?
So why is this important? I believe that it will become obvious as we continue. So let’s look at our first question.
What do men mean concerning the church, when they tell us that it is missing? What they are telling us is that there must have been a Raptured church body, which is the bride of Christ because the bride is no longer mentioned. It is gone from earth, and therefore we see no mention of it in chapters 4-19. So, is this true? The word church is used several times in Revelation in chapter 1 vss 4,11 & 20;chapters 2&3; and in 22:16. In each and every one of these usages the text is speaking of local churches, as those listed in chapters 2&3. Never is the word church used to describe the bride. Isn’t this important? I think that you will agree as we look at our next questions.
How does John who penned the Revelation at Jesus instruction use the word church in his other writings? Actually this is extremely interesting, because John never uses the word church in his gospel, he does not use it in either 1st or 2nd John. In 3rd John there are 3 references to the local church. So John never refers to the bride of Christ as the church in his other writings. I think that that fact is very important, because it completely eliminates the argument that there is no church on earth during the Tribulation as we consider our final question.
How does John understand the church in Revelation? Does he use the word church as being a local body or as being the bride of Christ?
He in fact follows the same pattern with his use of the word church in the Revelation. In fact, if we were to only consider the word church as the one representation of the body of Christ or His bride; then there would be no church body in heaven or on earth during the Tribulation.
Finally is the bride present by a name other than church?
Of course there is the body of Christ in heaven where we see those who have come out of the Great Tribulation in their white robes. These we are told will rule with Christ, does that not make them a part of the bride?
Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Revelation 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (KJV)
Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (KJV)
These obviously have come out of great Tribulation, so how can we say that those in Christ, who remained alive throughout the great Tribulation are not also a part of the bride.
We also see the church or bride on earth, as those who overcome him, the Antichrist, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. And then finally we hear just after Tribulation is over:
Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Revelation 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (KJV)
So here the bride is the wife not the church. The fact is that the Apostle Paul would possibly have called this wife of the Lamb, the church, or the bride; but John was never prone to do so.
Anonymous
I agree that the absence of the word church does not necessitate that the church is no longer on the earth, but it is to be noted. Also the book of revelation tells what was, what is and what is to come, the church is the “ is” part of this revelation. Also it is interesting the church of Philadelphia was promised to be spared from the hour of trial that will come on the whole earth. If they are spared and the church references are only meant for the specific churches of that time and not applicable in referring to another time, it is rather odd to say you are spared from the hour of trial when that trial is thousands of years removed from your existence and have been long since gone from the earth. Also I can not take the letters of the apostles seriously when in Daniel as well as Revelation things are on a definite time schedule ( 1260 days etc) and yet the apostles refer to the Lords return happening at any moment, thief in the night, etc.
Anonymous
The Spirit if our Lord dwells in each one of us.For the man of sin to be manifested the Restrainer Who we understand to be the Holy Spirit is removed.Question:We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.What will happen to us when He goes?
Anonymous
The Church is not mentioned anymore because it has been wiped out by the anti-christ. He made war against the saints and overcame them, period. We must endure and overcome. We overcome him by letting him overcome us. The Church will definitely have to face the Man of Sin.
Joe
Most comments here forget the dispensations of, for example, Daniel and the 70 weeks of Israel. The church age ends at the Rapture. No more church after that. They are the bride gone to heaven for the feast of the bridegroom. Christians in the Tribulation, tho definitely saved, are not church members. There are also many O.T. examples of a pre-tribulation Rapture. The typology is plentiful. Look them up.
Anonymous
I think you all need to read the full 66 books of God’s Word as Scripture reveals Scripture. You seem to be leaving out so many of the puzzle pieces – it’s no wonder you can’t see the truth.