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Prewrath Rapture: An Overview of End Time Events, Part 1 of 2 — Roger Best
In this opening session, Roger Best tackles a question many Christians are asking in a world marked by conflict, upheaval, and spiritual confusion: *What does the Bible actually teach about the end times?* With so many prophecy books and teachers offering competing timelines, this message aims to clear the fog by returning to Scripture and laying a foundation for understanding end-time events—especially the timing of the rapture in relation to tribulation and God’s wrath.
Why Prophecy Feels Confusing Today
Roger notes that the church often struggles to discern truth amid a proliferation of end-times opinions. Ironically, even those who claim “there are no signs” still spend much of their time discussing signs. The real challenge is not a lack of information, but the lack of agreement—particularly on questions like: Will the church face the great tribulation? When does the rapture happen in the sequence of events? When does God’s wrath begin, and how long does it last?
Major End-Times Views and the Rapture Debate
The teaching surveys key theological positions: **amillennialism** (no literal thousand-year reign), **postmillennialism** (Christ returns after a “Christianized” era), and **premillennialism** (Christ returns before a literal millennium). Roger argues that a straightforward reading of Scripture leads naturally to premillennialism. From there, he addresses rapture timing views: **posttribulation**, **midtribulation**, and **pretribulation**, noting that pretribulationism became widespread relatively recently (1800s onward). He highlights a striking point: even respected pretrib scholars admit neither pretrib nor posttrib is explicitly stated “in so many words,” meaning the debate often rests on interpretive systems.
Why Hermeneutics Matters
To avoid confusion, Roger emphasizes basic **rules of interpretation (hermeneutics)**: take Scripture in its natural sense when possible, interpret passages in context, let Scripture interpret Scripture, reject contradictions, and recognize legitimate near/far prophetic fulfillments. The goal is not to force the Bible to fit a preferred timeline, but to submit to what the text teaches.
Daniel’s 70th Week and the End-Times Timeline
A major focus is **Daniel 9**, where Gabriel explains “70 weeks” decreed for Israel and Jerusalem. Roger explains the 69-week (483-year) fulfillment leading to Messiah’s coming and being “cut off,” and why the **70th week** remains future—because Israel has not yet entered “everlasting righteousness.” He connects this to Jesus’ teaching in **Matthew 24**, where Christ points back to Daniel’s “abomination of desolation,” indicating a future period of unprecedented trouble.
Tribulation, Great Tribulation, and God’s Wrath
Roger distinguishes **the Great Tribulation** (Antichrist’s persecution) from **the Day of the Lord** (God’s wrath). He argues the prewrath view takes seriously promises that believers are *not destined for wrath* (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9), meaning the rapture occurs before God’s wrath is poured out—even if persecution precedes it.
What to Expect Next
This session sets the stage by identifying five key issues that organize the whole prophetic sequence: the future 70th week, the timing of the rapture, Israel’s salvation, when God takes back authority over the world, and the timing of Armageddon. The next session promises to place these events in order by comparing Scripture with Scripture.
