CHRISTIANS IN THE TRIBULATION by Jeffrey A. Wingo

Many Christians honestly believe they will not have to face the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and the coming Great Tribulation; and there are many reasons for this.

Chief among the reasons for the continued belief in a pre-tribulation rapture is really just a lack of reading the pertinent biblical text for what they say. For instance, the Bible does reveal when Christ will return to planet earth.

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ” ( Matt.24:29-31).

This verse reveals when Christ returns to earth. Notice it says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days.” That is the timeframe of the Second Coming. When Christ does return He will send His angels to gather the elect, and that my friends is the true rapture of the church. The question is who are the elect?

Many try to explain all of this away as the Jewish elect, and claim that it does not refer to Christians. That however is not accurate because many times Christians are called “the elect” in the New Testament.

For instance, the Apostle Paul wrote the following verses to Christians:

Romans 8:33: “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.”
Colossians 3:12: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering..”
Titus 1:1: “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness..”
1 Peter 1:2: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

The Apostle John wrote the following two verses about the elect:
2 John 1:1, 13: “The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; The children of thy elect sister greet thee.”

It is very clear that Paul and John are writing to the church; and so the elect here does refer to Christians. In each verse the Greek word used for the “elect” is eklektos (1) which means “picked out, chosen; chosen by God; to obtain salvation through Christ; Christians are called the chosen or elect of God. (2)

The same Greek word used for “elect” in these verses is the very same Greek word used twice by Jesus at Matthew 24:31: “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect (eklektos) from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” It is the same Greek word Jesus used at Mark 13:27 which describes the same event: “And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect (eklektos) from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”

Yes, the very same Greek word used to describe the church is the same Greek word used to describe the elect who are gathered to Christ at the Second Coming. Some may argue that in the Olivet Discourse Jesus was speaking to the Jewish nation; but I would counter that Jesus was speaking to the Jewish Apostles who are called the “foundation” of the church–“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone..” (Eph.2:20-21).

So the elect at the Second Coming refers to those who are saved by the grace of God through Christ, both the Old Testament saints as well as New Testament believers, whether Jew or gentile; all are gathered when Christ returns.

It is interesting to note that a main argument in favor of the pre-tribulation rapture is that Christians do not appear in the book of Revelation after chapter four. That however is not true, and for the record take out your copy of the Bible and turn to the following verses for proof that the church is indeed found throughout the book of Revelation.

Christian martyrs are seen in the following verses: 6:9; 7:9; 12:11; 13:7; 14:12-13; 17:6; 20:4-6. In Daniel we also see martyrs during the Tribulation 7:21 where the Little Horn (the Antichrist) is seen warring against the saints (the elect).

It should be clear by now that the elect does refer to Christians, and not just Israel as some would contend. Over and over again the church is called the elect of God, the very same elect that will be gathered at the end of the Tribulation.

In fact, Jesus told us when the resurrection of the saints (both Old and New Testament) will take place. The resurrection of the saints will take place “at the last day.” Jesus referred to this four times in the Gospel of John–6:39,40,44,and 54. The last day is the day of the resurrection of the dead saints and that my friends is the rapture of the church! The dead in Christ will be raised from the dead first and then those who are alive will be transformed to immortality in the twinkling of an eye (1 Thess. 4:15-17). All of this will take place after the “tribulation of those days;” and all of the dead saints will be partakers of the “first resurrection” which occurs after the Tribulation and after the visible, physical return of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev.20:6).

It is very important that we understand that the rapture of the church will take place after the tribulation when Christ returns to our weary planet. This knowledge will help protect us from a deception which will be so powerful that even the elect could be deceived (Matt.24:24). What is this powerful deception? That’s for my next post.

I will be writing more on this in the future. In the meantime if you would like to know more about the end of days, the Tribulation, and the ominous Antichrist, then I would recommend my new book, Alien Antichrist: The Terrifying Truth about UFOs and Aliens, Antichrist, and the End of Days. At the right of the page is a link that will take you to Amazon and you may also find the book at Barnes and Noble and at other fine bookstores.
Thanks for visiting.
Jeff Wingo

Endnotes
1. eklektos; Strong’s G1588.
2. Thayer’s Lexicon on eklektos.