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The Case Against a Mid-Tribulationist Rapture

We now enter part three of the Rapture Series with "The Case Against a Mid-Tribulationist Rapture."

Mid-Tribulationists believe that the church of Christ will be on the earth for the first three and a half years of the tribulation before being raptured. Commonly the church is associated with the two witnesses of Revelation 11.

Revelation 11:3-6 gives us a description of the witnesses’ power from God by saying:

I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, standing before the Lord of the earth. If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

The first thing we must pick up is that God will give His witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. So if this is the church, the entire body of Christ will be in sackcloth and will be prophesying. This could happen, but the Bible clearly says that two witnesses will be prophesying, not a large multitude of people. In all other areas of Revelation a large amount of people have always been represented by saying something like “a multitude.” A large number like this is never symbolically represented by such a small amount in this book. Revelation 7:9 talks about a large multitude. This multitude of 7:9 is not represented by anything. No reason exists for John to describe the church as two witnesses when really it is also a large multitude. The word “two” is not symbolic in the Greek either; it does not even suggest that. The Greek word is “duo” which is the Greek word for “two.”

In Verse four we are told that these men are the “two lamp stands standing before the God.” In earlier chapters of Revelation the church is represented by seven lamp stands, not two. It seems unlikely that God would change how the church is represented in the middle of the prophecy. Instead the witnesses are represented as two lamp stands and two olive trees, not seven lamp stands.

We also see in Zechariah 4:11 and 14 that olive trees are used to represent anointed ones. Zechariah 4:11 reads:

Then I asked him, "What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lampstand and on the left side of it?"

Then Verse 14 reads:

Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth."

These olive trees are described as two specific “ones.” Not a great body of people, so it would seem that these two descriptions mean that in both cases two different people will rise up as the anointed, not a large body of people like the church.

These witnesses shall also have the power to kill anyone who attempts to harm or hurt them. This seems to contradict Revelation 6:11 as Revelation 6:11 makes clear that Christians can be killed throughout the tribulation.

Now let us examine the next part of the passage about the two witnesses of Revelation.

Revelation 11:7-8 reads:

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies [shall lie] in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Should the church be the two witnesses then the entire church shall be killed by the anti-christ at the same time. This clearly contradicts 1 Corinthians 15:51. That passage reads:

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

In the Greek the word “sleep” is the Greek word “koimao” which, in this context means “to die.” The passage is saying that not all of us shall die, but that we will be changed. If the church is the two witnesses then this directly contradicts 1 Corinthians 15:51 as the Revelation account says the witnesses are killed, but the Corinthians account says not all of us will die. Clearly this is not correct and is more evidence against a mid-tribulation Rapture.

Another interesting point is verse eight where it says that the bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, where Christ was crucified. So this means that the entire church will be killed in Jerusalem and that all of the church shall lay dead in the street for three days. Based on what I can see this is rather ridiculous that millions of bodies will be in Jerusalem and it is unlikely that all Christians will be in Jerusalem at the same time to be killed. This entire theory is very unlikely.

Now we have a look at another part of this passage, which is Revelation 11:10:

And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

Notice the part in bold letters: these two prophets. Once again, the Bible does not even suggest that two is a figurative number for a large body of people. Once again, the Greek is the word “duo” and no figurative sense is suggested.

The final part, Revelation 11:11-12 reads:

And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

While the Bible makes clear that some will indeed be raised from the dead at the time of the Rapture, the Bible also makes clear in Corinthians 15:51 that not all of the church will be dead. If indeed these witnesses are the church, then a major contradiction would exist. This is only another hole in the mid-tribulationist theory.

The mid-tribulationist theory would also allow the church to calculate the day of Christ’s return. According to Revelation 11, the witnesses will prophesy for around three and a half years, thus allowing the church to correctly predict the day of the Rapture. This is clearly in conflict with Mathew 24:36 which reads:

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven,[e] but My Father only.

Like the post-tribulationist theory, a problem exist between these two Scriptures.

The mid-tribulationist view of the Rapture appears to be riddled with errors and discrepancies. The two witnesses are literally two witnesses who God shall empower to prophesy for certain time, be killed, then risen up into heaven.