INTRODUCTION
One of the hotly disputed topics in the evangelical world today is the rapture. Will the church be removed from earth prior to the tribulation? Or will she go through the tribulation and suffer under the God-hating efforts of the antichrist? Intimately associated with this question is the question of the eschatological views of the early church fathers. Did any of them teach a pretribulation rapture? The answer to this question is a resounding, Yes! Many of them did.
The focus of our attention in this article is the Didache, also known as The Teaching of the Twelve. Though some scholars date this document to the early second century, most commonly it is dated to the first century, generally AD 70 to AD 100. This puts it in competition for the earliest Christian document outside of the NT books, one that may have been written while the apostle John was still alive and before the canon was completed. The early vintage of this document cannot be disputed. The authors of this document apparently had interacted with some of the apostles and the apostolic associates. And this is provocative information. Irenaeus was one chain link removed from the apostles. The authors of the Didache were even closer. They had one foot in the apostolic era. Their views on the rapture, then, could be expected to reflect the apostles’ view on the rapture.
THREE PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE ARGUMENTS
We will focus our attention on the final section, Section 16, which zeroes in on the subject of the last days.
“Watch for your life’s sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come. But come together often, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you are not made perfect in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increases, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but those who endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. And then shall appear the signs of the truth: first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet. And third, the resurrection of the dead — yet not of all, but as it is said: «The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him.» Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.”
Now this passage contains three distinct arguments for a pretribulation rapture. We will walk through each of them in turn: the classic imminence argument, the choice between glorification or tribulation, and the already resurrected church returning with the Lord at the second coming.
The first argument is the fairly well-known imminence passage, “Watch for your life’s sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come.”
This is a strong argument for the pretribulation rapture from the imminence angle. The phrase “you know not the hour” doesn’t fit the second coming. Men will be able to pinpoint the second coming—at least theoretically. (The heavens being unloosed from their normal orbits could throw things off a bit.) They just need to count from either the start or the midpoint of the seventieth week. But not knowing the hour fits the rapture admirably. The time of judgment at the end of the age, heralded by the rapture, sneaks up on the world. They don’t see it coming. Moreover, we have no idea how much time elapses between the rapture and the seventieth week. So even prophetic convergence tools like the fig-tree generation and the six-thousand year theory don’t offer us any precision in dating the rapture. Men simply cannot pinpoint the timing of the rapture, and it is a fools errand to attempt to do so.
The second argument follows on the heels of the exhortation to watch and not let their lamps go out. There we read “But come together often, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you are not made perfect in the last time.”
The phrase made perfect (the verb teleioō in the passive) in last days contexts is more or less equivalent to our glorified and constitutes a reference to the rapture. [The evidence for this will be given at the end of this paper.] This is a warning that professing Christians need to make sure that they actually participate in the rapture. We could legitimately paraphrase this, “for the whole time of your church going will not profit you if you are not glorified in the rapture in the last days.”
This warning is followed by a description of the horrors of the tribulation that men will face if they miss the rapture. “For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves … and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial.”
Notice the “for” that follows the rapture exhortation. This introduces the explanation as to why men need to make sure that they don’t miss the rapture. Mere dabblers in Christianity will not be glorified but will be left behind to go into the most awful time in the history of the world—the tribulation. This horrible era will bring forth the greatest display of satanic iniquity on earth since the beginning of time. The gist of the argument, then, is that men have a choice: glorification or tribulation. The warning is clear. Don’t play games. Don’t dabble. Don’t settle for mere religion. Don’t just be a church goer. Test yourself and make sure you are of the faith. Don’t be left behind. Make sure you are born again.
The third argument is the partial resurrection at the second coming. At the end of the section we read, “And then shall appear the signs of the truth: first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet. And third, the resurrection of the dead — yet not of all, indeed as it is said: ‘The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him.’ Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.”
Now the phrase “yet not all” cannot be construed into a reference to the distinction between the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the unjust. How do we know? Because the context clarifies what is meant. The limiting statement “yet not all” is followed by the clarifying statement “the Lord shall come and all His saints with Him.” This is the first century church owning the classic dispensational position that the already glorified church shall accompany the Lord at the second coming when he descends to trample the wine press at Armageddon and establish his kingdom. The “yet not all” means that only the OT saints and the tribulation martyrs will be raised at the second coming. The church was already raised at the rapture prior to the tribulation. They enjoyed the privilege of the promise in Revelation 3:10 that they shall be kept from the hour of trial that shall come upon the entire planet to try those who dwell upon the earth.
CONCLUSION
So we see that there are three distinct pretribulation rapture arguments made in one short passage in the Didache: the classic imminence argument, the choice between glorification and tribulation, and the already glorified church descending with the Lord at the second coming. These are all common arguments used by pretribulationists today. This constitutes clear, forceful, and indisputable evidence that the pretribulation rapture was held and taught in the earliest era of the early church—even by men who had one foot in the apostolic era.
THE USE OF TELEIOŌ FOR THE GLORIFICATION OF THE RESURRECTION
In the following passages from the early fathers, we find the Greek verb teleioō (perfect or complete) used in various resurrection contexts. This demonstrates that made perfect is a reference to the rapture/resurrection of the church, regardless of where they located this event relative to the tribulation.
Theodore of Cyrus, Interpretation in the Fourteen Epistles of Saint Paul, 1 Thess. 4:16, (Migne, vol. 82, p. 649)
— “This is stated in the epistle to the Hebrews. «All these made perfect through faith have not obtained the promises in the holy apostle, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.» Therefore, all the godly together shall be brightened (glorified), the FIRST to enjoy the resurrection. For this he [Paul] also teaches in the epistle to the Corinthians. «Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at his coming, then the end.»”
— Notice that “made perfect” in Hebrews 11:40 is associated with the resurrection. This same connection is made almost universally by modern evangelicals. The glorious change is described as being brightened or glorified.
Theodore of Cyrus, Interpretation in the Fourteen Epistles of Saint Paul, Hebrews 11:39-40, (Migne, vol. 82, p. 769)
— “«All these all having obtained a good report through faith have not obtained the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.» So although their battles have been many and great, yet still they do not yet enjoy their crowns (victory wreaths).”
— In Theodore’s eyes, the saints receive their promises and crowns on the same day that they are made perfect. This can only be the day of the resurrection, which for the church is the rapture.
Eusebius, Fragments in Luke, Migne, vol. 24, p. 561
— “But he promises at the end to increase and perfect them, take them up, and bring them into his bridal chamber, where he will recline them (set them relaxed at his table) and serve them.”
— Notice the use of the rapture terminology “take them up” (paralambanō) which is followed by a clear statement that they are going to the bridal chamber. This is the church’s participation in the glorification of the resurrection at the time of the rapture.
Methodius, Life of Euthymius of Sardinia, 25
— “But when they shall outrise [from the dead] and shall outshine the sun, whatever they were promised, then the whole promise they shall obtain and this not apart from anyone but with everyone they shall be perfected.”
— Methodius clearly associates perfection (glorification) with the resurrection, and he further adds that those who enjoy this privilege shall outshine the sun.
Origen, Against Celsus, 4.29
— “And we know that in this way the angels are superior to men; so that men, when made perfect, become like the angels. For in the resurrection of the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but the righteous are as the angels in heaven, and also become equal to the angels.”
— Here Origen clearly equates perfection (glorification) with the resurrection of the righteous dead.
Athanasius, Questions in Sacred Scripture, Migne, vol. 28, p. 772
— “For this is what the apostle said, that «God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.» For apart from all the saints the half shall not receive the promised blessings. They have not yet received the [promised] perfection, for this is better, that all shall enter into the kingdom at the same time (in the same season), and from equality (on the same [ground]), all the saints shall receive the blessings of God.”
— Athanasius clearly equates the blessings of the resurrection with the concept of glorification, expressing this wonderful change with both the passive verb and the noun.
Ephraim the Syrian, How the Thief Entered Paradise Before the Resurrection, Phrantzolas, vol. 7
— “Because it is not yet the time of the reward for our labors. For the apostle says concerning the righteous, «These all having obtained a good report through faith have not obtained the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.»”
— Ephraim clearly associates perfection (glorification) with the time of reward, which all happily confess to be the time of the church’s resurrection.
For those interested in diving into this subject more deeply, I will soon post a separate article covering the patristic evidence, giving both the Greek original and English translation, along with useful notes. Here is a link for my book Recent Pre-Trib Findings in the Early Church Fathers which contains my pretrib rapture passage discoveries in Ephraim the Syrian, Eusebius, Irenaeus, and the Didache, along with evidence that Irenaeus taught a fairly developed version of dispensationalism.
Eyes wide open, brain engaged, heart on fire,
Lee Brainard
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