By Harry Bethel

This is a concise, yet absolute, refutation of the false teachings of an imminent return of Christ, a pre-tribulation rapture, a mid-tribulation rapture, a post-tribulation reign of Christ on this earth, and a release of Satan from the bottomless pit after the Great Tribulation.

Matthew 25:31, 46; Revelation 20:11-15: Jesus said, "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious [Great White] throne. ALL THE NATIONS will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put THE SHEEP on His right, and THE GOATS on the left...[Then after the Judgment, the unrighteous] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Who will be present at the Great White Throne Judgment?

John 5:28-29: "For AN HOUR [singular] is coming, in which ALL who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; THOSE WHO DID THE GOOD DEEDS [the saints] to a resurrection of life, THOSE WHO COMMITTED EVIL DEEDS [the unsaved] to a resurrection of judgment." Who will be resurrected at the same hour?

John 6:39-40: Jesus said, "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up ON THE LAST DAY. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up ON THE LAST DAY." When will the believers be raised up?

John 6:44: Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up ON THE LAST DAY." When will the saved be raised up?

John 11:24: "Martha said to Him [Jesus], I know that he [Lazarus] will rise again in the resurrection ON THE LAST DAY." When will the resurrection of the saints be?

John 12:48: Jesus said, "He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him AT THE LAST DAY." When will the Judgment of the unsaved be?

Acts 24:15: "...There shall certainly be A RESURRECTION [singular] OF BOTH the righteous and the wicked [together]." When will the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked be?

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17: Paul said, "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that WE WHO ARE ALIVE and remain until the coming of the Lord, WILL NOT PRECEDE THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and WITH THE [last] TRUMPET of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." What instrument will be sounded when the rapture and the resurrection of the saints occurs?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3: Paul said, "...With regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him [the rapture]...Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come UNLESS THE APOSTASY COMES FIRST, AND THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS [Antichrist] IS REVEALED, the son of destruction." What must come before the rapture? Will Christ return at any moment before these events?

1 Corinthians 15:51-52: Paul said, "Behold, I tell you a mystery; we [Christians] WILL NOT ALL SLEEP, but we will all be changed [at the rapture], in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMPET; for the trumpet will sound, and THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED incorruptible, and we will ALL be changed." When will the saints, alive and dead, be changed in the twinkling of an eye?

Revelation 10:7: "...In the days when the SEVENTH ANGEL IS ABOUT TO SOUND HIS TRUMPET [the seventh and last], the mystery of God [mentioned by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:51] will be accomplished..." On which day will the last trumpet sound and the rapture and resurrection occur?

Revelation 11:15-18: "THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDED HIS TRUMPET [the last one]...The nations were angry; and your [God’s] wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints...and for destroying those who destroy the earth." At which trumpet sound and on which day will the Judgment of God and the rewarding of the saints be?

There will be one resurrection of the dead in Christ and the unsaved and that will be on the Last Day (John 5:28-29; 11:24; Dan. 12:2; Acts 24:15).

When Jesus returns, the dead in Christ will rise first (the resurrection) then Christians who are alive will be caught up (the rapture) together with them (the resurrected dead saints) to meet Jesus in the air at the Last Trumpet (Seventh Trumpet during the Great Tribulation) which is on the last day of the Great Tribulation which coincides with the Day of Judgment on the Last Day (1 Cor. 15:51-52; Rev. 10:7; 11:15-18; Jn. 6:39-40, 54; 11:24; 1 Thess. 4:15-17).

"With regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him [the rapture]...Let no one in any way deceive you, for it [the rapture] will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness [the Antichrist] is revealed, the son of destruction" (2 Thess. 2:1-3).

There will be no pre-tribulation rapture, and no millennial reign of Christ after the Great Tribulation. The last day of the Great Tribulation is the LAST DAY. There will be no more days after the Last Day, otherwise it would not be the Last Day.

The wrath to which God did not appoint the saints is the wrath of the Last Day which includes the destruction of the earth and the entire universe (just after the rapture of the saints) and confinement of the wicked to the Lake of Fire after the Judgment on the Last Day.

Jesus said, "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33). The apostle Paul said, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

Revelation 20 says that Satan will be bound for a thousand years. We must, however, interpret this obscure passage of Scripture in the light of the many, very clear passages read in their proper context. While Satan is incarcerated, all the elect who came to life (were born-again, which is "the first resurrection") and who are in heaven, will reign with Christ from heaven while Satan is bound.

It is important to understand that Satan is bound for a thousand years, but his demons are not. They have been wreaking havoc on earth the entire time, while their leader is humiliated in the bottomless pit. The thousand-year incarceration of Satan began at an unknown date that is one thousand years prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation, and upon his release he will be cast down from heaven and enters the Antichrist, being furious because he knows his time is short (three and one-half years) and will give all his power to the Antichrist, who will then overcome true Christians who compromise and take the Mark of the Beast. Satan will enter the Antichrist, who will be a Jew, just as he entered Judas (a type of Antichrist) on the night he betrayed Jesus (Rev. 13:2, 7; Dan. 7:25; 12:7).

Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, and has been reigning from heaven ever since He ascended two thousand years ago. The saints who are in heaven reign with Christ, from heaven, for the last thousand years prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

True Christians who refused to become disciples of Jesus according to Luke 14 (including verse 33, literally) and who were never filled with the Holy Spirit because they were not obedient to Christ (Acts 5:32), will be the most vulnerable to the overcoming power of the Antichrist, and take the Mark, sealing their destiny in the Lake of Fire.

Everyone who is born again has the Holy Spirit in their spirit, but not everyone who is born again has been filled. Lukewarm Christians will be devastated by the realization that their so-called pastor and all the popular pre-trib writers, in whose teaching they trusted more than the Word of God, were deceived. Doubtless, these are the Christians who will be overcome by the Antichrist, and take his Mark, thereby forfeiting their salvation by denying Christ. Jesus said, "Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven" (Mat. 10:33). Paul wrote to Timothy, "If we endure [to the end], we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us" (2 Tim. 2:12).

 Please read God's Ultimate Warning To Christians

It has always been God’s way to take His people through tribulation and persecution, not keep them from it. Some good examples of this are Noah, the three Hebrews in the furnace and Daniel in the lion’s den. This says nothing of the martyrdom of the eleven apostles and untold numbers during the first and second century, and throughout Church history. In fact, persecution and martyrdom is the New Testament norm (please see article by that title. Also, see books such as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and Martyrs Mirror).

Noah and his family were not spared the tribulation of the Great Flood, but rather were taken right through the middle of it, with torrential rains from above and gushing waters from below. They were safe in the ark, which was a type of Christ. They abided in the ark for the duration. Jesus said He will continue to abide in us if we continue to abide in Him. There is no other hope for Christians during the Great Tribulation.

The three Hebrews were not spared the tribulation of the furnace heated seven times hotter than normal, rather they were thrown right into the middle of it. They were safe in the fire in which was observed a fourth person, Christ. The three Hebrews did not even have the smell of smoke on them when they came out. They were faithful to God and He protected them through that severe time of testing.

Daniel was not spared the tribulation of the lion’s den, he was cast right into the middle of it. Daniel, being faithful to God, was supernaturally protected by the supernatural closing of the lions’ mouths.

Christians have a higher calling than the Old Testament saints. We were called to suffer. Numerous passages in the New Testament speak of our call to suffer with Christ, rather than to be delivered from persecution and tribulation. Jesus spoke of the last days when many Christians will fall away and betray one another (Mat. 24:10), and He said, "He who endures to the end, will be saved" (Mat. 24:13). Peter wrote, "For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps" (1 Peter 2:21).

In all of the Revelation there is no mention of the Great Tribulation being seven years in duration. Every indication is that it is approximately three-and-one-half years long. The time of Daniel’s Seventieth Week was cut short for the sake of the elect (Christians) who will go through the Great Tribulation (Mat. 24:21-22).

The Great Tribulation will be a time of judgment on the world, and a time of severe testing of the saints. It will not be a time of Christians evangelizing the world, nor a time of great revival, nor a time of salvation of the unsaved. It will be a time of judgment on unrepentant mankind and apostate, lukewarm Christians who have left their first love (Christ) that will culminate with the Great White Throne Judgment on the last day of the Great Tribulation, that will coincide with the Last Day and complete destruction of the earth and the entire universe, and heaven. Also, on the last day of the Great Tribulation a new heaven and a new earth will be created. The Great Tribulation will be a time of the most severe testing of true Christians, who will not be able to buy or sell anything (food, clothing, fuel, housing, pay property taxes, etc.) without the Mark of the Beast.

There is no mention whatsoever in the Scriptures of anyone being saved during the Great Tribulation, except for the 144,000 Jews. There is no mention of any of those Jews being evangelists, contrary to popular teaching. Christians refuse to become disciples of Jesus and evangelize the world as did the apostles and early Christians before the end of Paul’s ministry. There will be, however, an angel who proclaims the Gospel to the whole world during the Great Tribulation, but apparently no one is saved (Rev. 14:6).

Many uncompromising Christians will be martyred during the Great Tribulation. This is not being overcome by the Antichrist. This is being victorious to the end, which will result in receiving a martyr’s crown to lay at Jesus feet, for His glory.

The two prophets during that time will torment "those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 11:10) with their preaching, but there is no mention whatsoever that anyone repents and is saved. Even after God uses the angels to pour out the plagues and kill a third of mankind, the rest "did not repent" (Rev. 9:20-21). When the sun’s heat will be increased and men are scorched "they did not repent" (Rev. 16:9). When people gnaw their tongues because of pain, they still "did not repent" (Rev. 16:11).

It will be to no avail to have food stored or gold and silver hidden. Gold and silver will be worthless to Christians because they cannot buy anything without the Mark. If you have a stockpile of food and water it will either be plundered by starving hordes or pleaded for by hungry Christians, neighbors and family. No matter how large your supply, it probably will be gone within the first month. Then what are you going to do during the remaining forty-one months?