One of the glaring weaknesses of the pre-trib rapture view, is that the book of Revelation does not place any coming of Jesus Christ before the tribulation. The Olivet Discourse gave us the sequence of events leading up to the end of the age. In that passage, no rapture before the tribulation was suggested. There is only the gathering of the elect "immediately after the tribulation." [Matt. 24:29-31]. Pre-tribbers are forced to speculate where their alleged "rapture" fits into the whole scheme. The book of Revelation presents similar problems, moving from the seven letters to the churches, to the tribulation scenes, without mentioning any coming of Christ at all. Many pre-tribbers use allegorical interpretation in order to fabricate a pre-trib rapture, claiming that John's being caught up to heaven to see the future "represents" the Church being raptured. I am not going to deal with this type of argument in this article. [ Click here to read "The Phantom Rapture in Revelation Four," for a discussion of the "John represents the Church" argument.]

Not all pre-tribbers believe John's being caught up to heaven represents the rapture. They recognize that this kind of fanciful - allegorical interpretation is not valid. However, they are still left with the glaring problem of no rapture before the tribulation. Some excuse this by claiming the rapture is not the focus of the book. But, Revelation is addressed to the seven churches in Asia, and it exhorts them to remain faithful until Jesus comes for them. Jesus was speaking to the churches in all of the following verses. In each case he was speaking of His coming for them.

Revelation 2
25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

Revelation 3
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

Revelation 3
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Revelation 22
7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Revelation 22
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Revelation 22
20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

In Christ's exhortations to the churches He mentioned the rapture at least six times in the above verses. In my judgment, this proves that the coming of Christ for His Church is indeed a crucial issue in Revelation. Pre-tribulationists are simply overlooking the obvious, that the rapture occurs in conjunction with Christ's coming at the battle of Armageddon. And, this is exactly the picture Revelation paints.

Revelation gives only one description of the rapture. It is described in terms of a harvest. Christ is seen on a cloud harvesting the earth. The symbolism of a harvest was a common way of describing the rapture known to believers in the first century. Jesus' parable of the wheat and tares shows that both would grow until the time of "harvest" when the angels would separate the two at Christ's command. James 5:7,8 also describes the rapture in terms of a harvest, applying Jesus' parable to the Church.

James 5:7-8
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
(KJV)

Here we see the delay leading up to the rapture compared to the farmer awaiting the time of harvest. When the rainy season comes, he knows that the time of harvest has arrived. In the same way James exhorts us to be patient and wait for the rapture.

Revelation 14:14-20 vividly describes this harvest of the elect, followed immediately by the battle of Armageddon.

Rev 14:14-16
14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
(KJV)

This is the rapture of the Church that James instructed us to be patiently awaiting. The same scene is found in Matthew 24:29-31. This is the Son of Man coming on the clouds, harvesting His elect. Immediately following, the wicked are harvested by the angel and thrown into the winepress where Christ destroys them. Revelation fourteen, like Luke 17:24-37, ties together the rapture with the battle of Armageddon.

Rev 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
(KJV)

Comparing Scripture with Scripture is a fundamental technique of good Bible study. This is especially apparent in Revelation where allusions to Old Testament prophecy abound. Comparing parallel passages helps us collate Revelation with previous prophecy.

Revelation fourteen is an important passage because it brings together several elements from other parallel passages. I believe there can be no doubt that Revelation 14:17-20 is drawn directly from Joel 3:12-16. Compare these two passages for yourself. Joel adds something very important to this event. First, he included the cosmic sign, the darkening of the sun and moon. And, he called this the "Day of the Lord." The parallel winepress in Revelation 19:15 makes it all but certain that each of these passages refer to the battle of Armageddon. Yet, the sun and moon sign ties in the Olivet Discourse where Jesus spoke of these events as occurring "immediately after the tribulation." Jesus also spoke of the Son of Man coming on the clouds to harvest His elect, again paralleling Revelation 14:14-16.

The comparison of these three passages shows clearly that each are speaking of the same event, the second coming of Christ after the tribulation. So, the placement of the first harvest by the Son of Man, on the cloud, clearly reflects the idea that the rapture of the righteous occurs just before the battle of Armageddon.

The uniform teaching of Jesus, Peter, and Paul, the absence of a pre-trib rapture in Revelation, and Revelation's description of a dual harvest, makes a very compelling case for the post-trib position. These parallel passages also make a good case for the idea that Revelation in not entirely sequential from beginning to end. If the battle of Armageddon is found in chapters 14 and 19, Revelation, like Daniel, must contain a certain amount of recapitulation. [For further study of this concept, see the series of articles, "The Chronology of Revelation" found on the main page].

Go to: "The Resurrection in Revelation"

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