Glossary
Pre-Tribulation Rapture
One of the major controversies regarding end-time Bible prophecy concerns when Jesus will return to “rapture” all those who have received Him as their Savior. Will it be before or after the three-and-a-half-year period of worldwide trouble known as the Great Tribulation? Those who believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture contend that Jesus will return in secret to whisk all or some born-again (saved) Christians out of this world and into heaven. Depending on when they believe the Tribulation starts, this would be either before the Antichrist’s seven-year rule or at its midpoint. This doctrine is clearly countered by Matthew 24:29–30: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days … will appear the sign of the Son of Man.” (See Post-Tribulation Rapture.)