Page 81 - The Rapture Question by John F. Walvoord

The Necessity of Intervening Events
if a period of time must intervene for this judgment to take
place, will seven years be enough? It is estimated that there
arc two hundred million living Christians. In seven years,
there arc just over two hundred million seconds. How much of a
fraction of a second is necessary for the judgment of each
believer? If an interval of time is needed, then far more than
seven years will be required.”3
This argument would seem to border on the ridicu­
lous—God is not subject to the same limitations as men.
Ladd’s own solution is that “perhaps the first period of the
millennial reign will be devoted”4 to this judgment. The
natural question is, If seven years is too short, would one
hundred years be long enough—approximately fourteen
seconds—to judge each of Ladd’s estimated two hundred mil­
lion? The problem is further complicated because Ladd’s
computation involves only living Christians and does not in­
clude those raised from the dead. If seven years is too short for
the church, then the Millennium is also too short. The obvious
refutation of Ladd’s argument is that God is not limited.
While the judgment of the church is properly distinguished
from millennial judgments, we can infer from such judgments
as that of the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31-46) that there
is no divine problem in judging millions at once. Undoubt­
edly, only a fraction of the seven years between the Rapture
and the Lord’s return to the earth is occupied with judgments.
The point is that this judgment, important as it is, precedes
the return to earth and could hardly be accomplished during
the process of the Second Advent itself.
Intervening Events on Earth
If the premillennial interpretation of Scripture be as­
sumed, it is evident that the tribulation period is a time of
preparation for the Millennium. Certain problems imme­
diately arise if the church is not translated until the end of
the Tribulation. Nothing is more evident in the passage deal-
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