Page 64 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

The Nature of the Tribulation
that. The church at Philadelphia was not to enter the tribula­
tion period. By application, if expositors are correct who find
in the seven churches a foreshadowing of the entire church
age, the Philadelphia church, representing the true and faith­
ful church, is promised deliverance before the hour comes.
While it may be debatable to what extent this constitutes
absolute proof for pretribulationism, it gives no comfort what­
ever to posttribulationism.6 The relationship of Revelation
3:10 to posttribulationism will be considered at length later.
The Scriptures repeatedly indicate that Christians of this
age are kept from wrath. Romans 5:9 states: “Since we have
now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be
saved from God’s wrath through him!” This principle is illus­
trated in Scripture in such historic cases as the deliverance of
Lot from Sodom, which is taken as a specific illustration of
deliverance from wrath in 2 Peter 2:6-9. Noah and his family,
delivered from the Flood by the ark, constitute another illus­
tration of the principle. Rahab at Jericho was also delivered
from the doomed city. While illustrations cannot properly be
taken as proof, they confirm the idea that God character­
istically delivers believers from wrath designed for judgment
upon the unbelievers. If God delivers the church before the
time of tribulation, it will be in keeping with the general prin­
ciple.
Another evidence that the church will be delivered before
the Tribulation overtakes the earth is cited by E. Schuyler
English in his somewhat novel interpretation of 2 Thessalo-> o'
nians 2:3. In reference to the day of the Lord, this passage ‘ A
states: “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day \ t 1
will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of law­
lessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.” The
expression “the rebellion” is the translation for the Greek
word apostasia. It is normally considered a reference to doctri­
nal apostasy. English pointed out that the word is derived
from the verb aphistemi, used fifteen times in the New Testa-
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