Page 199 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

The Rapture Question: Revised and Enlarged Edition
stances, how can the rapture of the church, whether presented
in the pretribulational or posttribulational point of view, be
“first” in the sense of being first in time? It is rather that the
term first is used in contrast to the final resurrection men­
tioned in Revelation 20, the resurrection of the wicked. The
resurrection of all the righteous is first, not in the sense of
number one, but in the sense of being before the final resurrec­
tion.
Accordingly, there is a scries of resurrections that the
Bible presents, namely. Christ’s first, then the resurrection of
Matthew 27, then the Rapture, and then the resurrection of
Old Testament saints and tribulation saints after the Tribula­
tion. This is not a contradiction as they all are first or before
the final resurrection. The argument is therefore without merit
as it is built on the wrong meaning of this word first.
The important point to note is that 1 Thessalonians 4
emphasizes the translation in relationship to the resurrection,
but it docs not introduce the resurrection itself as a new doc­
trine. The distinguishing characteristic of the Rapture, as op­
posed to other events where resurrection takes place, is that at
the Rapture there is a translation of living saints. As far as
Scripture is concerned, the Rapture is the only time when
living saints are translated at the same time a resurrection
takes place. None of the other events described as resurrec­
tions include this feature. Posttribulationists, accordingly, are
faced with a real problem in support of their doctrine to prove
that there is a translation in any of the series of events relating
to the second coming of Christ after the Tribulation.
Another important point is that there is no warning of the
Great Tribulation. While the second coming of Christ as pre­
sented in the Bible is clearly an event that follow's the Great
Tribulation and is so indicated in major passages such as
Matthew 24 and Revelation 4-18, by contrast, the rapture
passages have no such warning. In John 14 it is offered as an
imminent hope to the disciples; and in 1 Thessalonians 4, the
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