Will the Church Go Through the Tribulation? (Part 1)
By Larry W. Cockerham

Rev 3: 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Many writers believe this is a reference to the “Great Tribulation” which shall come upon “all the world.” Because the believers had kept His word, He would keep them from this time of tribulation.

Notice that this is not a local trial, but one that will come upon the whole earth. Earlier we had mentioned that the last four churches would run contemporaneously with each other to the end of the age. The true church, represented by the church of Philadelphia, would be “caught up,” whereas the churches of Sardis, Thyatira, and Laodicea would enter directly into the tribulation period.

Observe that the church of Sardis did not know “what hour” the Lord would come “as a thief” (Rev. 3: 3). The church of Thyatira would be “cast into great tribulation” (Rev. 2: 22). The church at Laodicea was told: “I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3: 16). The true believers of these churches will be caught out with the church of Philadelphia before the tribulation hour.

The tribulation will be a time of God’s wrath and judgment upon “them that dwell upon the earth” (See Rev. 6: 10; 8: 13; 11: 10; 12: 12; 13: 8, 12, 14; 14: 6; 17: 2, 8). He will keep the believer “from” this time of tribulation rather than “through” it.

Note the promise of His soon return for the church of Philadelphia: “I come quickly” (Rev. 3: 11), in contrast to the other three churches of Sardis, Thyatira, and Laodicea. Those who remain true to Him will in no wise lose their reward.

There are several direct statements that relate to the timing of the Rapture. According to the Apostle Paul, First Thessalonians 5: 9 states: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” The church will be absent from the time of the Tribulation, that seven-year period of God’s wrath upon sinful mankind.

Also, another direct statement concerning God’s wrath is located in First Thessalonians 1:10 relates: “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

Revelation 6: 17 tells us: “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” This is describing the time of Jacob’s Trouble or the beginning of the seven-year tribulation period.

When the angel Gabriel gave Daniel the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, notice that in Daniel 9: 24, he begins by saying, ” Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city.” What people and what city is the prophecy focused on? Not the church, but the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. The whole seven-year period is designed to bring Israel to repentance and to punish the Christ-rejecting nations of the world. The church will have been raptured prior to this and will be safe in heaven during this time.

In the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul states: “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” (2 Thess. 2: 7-8). The word “letteth” means hinder. Who or what is hindering the revealing of the Antichrist? Bible students agree that it is the Holy Spirit, the only One capable of hindering the evil one. When the Holy Spirit’s ministry has ended, the church will also be taken up at this time. Then the son of perdition will be revealed.