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The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Joel 2:31 |
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The Post-Trib Pre-Wrath Rapture
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Level 2. In Depth Study Is the Holy Spirit removed prior to the Tribulation? Pre-trib teaches that the Holy Spirit, or as they say the "Restrainer", is removed from this earth just prior to the tribulation. Where do pretribulationsts get the idea that the Holy Spirit is taken away at this point? We can find the answer to this in II Thessalonians chapter 2. "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders," Pre-trib teaches that "only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." is referring to the Holy Spirit being removed from the world. They believe that the "he" in the above passage is referring to the Holy Spirit; where all the other "he" and "his" and "himself" are referring to the man of sin. Question, where is the Holy Spirit mentioned in the above verse? Where is the Holy Spirit mentioned, bu name, in the above passage? Answer: He's not. There is a basic principle of english grammer which teaches that the pronoun,"he" in this case, must refer back to the preceding noun. The noun, Holy Spirit, is never mentioned in this passage. The only noun mentioned prior to, "he be taken out of the way", is the man of sin (the son of perdition). Wesbster says the following -- Basic Principle: A pronoun refers to something earlier in the text (its antecedent) and must agree in number — singular/plural — with the thing to which it refers. Pre-trib scholars simply "plug-in" Holy Spirit into this verse with no reason to do so. The only reason they do this is because it helps to support the system of reasoning they have set up to advance pretribulationalism. Which is dispensationalism. What is the "What" referring to? "and now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time" So, what is the "what" referring to? Pre-trib says the "what" is the Holy Spirit, or the "withholder", or "restrainer". But, there is no mention of a restrainer in this verse. Besides that, the Holy Spirit is not a "what". The Holy Spirit is a Who. This "what" is simply referring back to the two events which must first occur; "that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,...so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God... And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time." The first event is the falling away. The second event is the defiling of the temple when, the man of sin, sits in the Temple of God. These two events are "what" withholds him from being revealed in his time. How are believers saved during the Tribulation without the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit were to be removed from the world prior to the Tribulation, as Pre-trib claims, then how are believers saved during the tribulation? The truth is that the Holy Spirit is not removed from the world. He has been here since it was formed and he will not be taken out prior to the tribulation as pre-trib claims. Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." If we are to believe what pre-trib teaches, then the gentile multitude saved during the tribulation, are saved neither to a Church relationship nor to a Jewish relationship. They are a seperate third group, set apart from the other two; or a third dispensation. They are not indwelled with the Holy Spirit, but are left to face the great tribulation by themselves. Jesus said "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Why would the Holy Spirit leave just when believers need him most?
Does the Bible teach that the Holy Spirit is present during the Tribulation? If the Holy Spirit is removed from the world as pre-trib teaches,
then how is the Holy Spirit able to speak through believers during the
tribulation? In Mark chapter 13 we see Jesus' Olivet discourse, here Jesus instructs those
going through the tribulation to allow the Holy Spirit to speak through
them when they are delivered up to "councils". Mark 13:11 "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost." If the Holy Spirit has been removed from the world prior to the Tribulation, then why would Jesus tell these believers otherwise? Did Jesus lie to them? Of corse not! Obviously the Holy Spirit is not taken out of the world at the beginning of the Tribulation as Pre-trib teaches.
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The
Post-Trib, Pre-Wrath Rapture