Eusebius — Nine Undiscovered Pretribulation-Rapture Passages

For the past year and a half, I have focused a good chunk of my morning study time on the Greek writings of early church fathers that are not included in the standard English translation sets. While there is much value to be derived from this effort, including deeper insight in early church history and in Greek syntax and semantics, these studies have a special focus — uncovering pretribulation rapture passages in Greek works that are either obscure or untranslated.

Last year, as the first fruits of this study, I presented ten clear pretribulation rapture passages from the Greek writings of Ephraem the Syrian that were previously unknown to the dispensational world. This year, I now present nine clear pretribulation rapture passages from the Greek writings of Eusebius that were previously unknown to the dispensational world.

These passages are valuable for two reasons. First of all, they are a significant addition to the body of patristic pretribulation rapture passages that we already have. Secondly, they strengthen the case that there were men in the early church who were amillennial—i.e. who followed replacement theology and practiced the allegorical method for understanding prophetic passages that pertained to Israel—yet believed in a rapture prior to the time we know as the tribulation.

(#1)   Eusebius, Fragments in Luke, Luke 17:26, Migne 24.584-585

— Indeed, as all perished then except those gathered with Noah in the ark, so also at his coming, the ungodly in the season of apostasy … shall perish …  At the time of the deluge, it (judgment) did not come and destroy all the inhabitants of the earth before (until) Noah entered into the ark.  Therefore, in the same way, at the consummation of the age, it (this pattern) says (demands) that the cataclysm of the destruction of the ungodly shall not happen before those men who are found of God at that time are gathered into the ark and saved according to the pattern of Noah …  all the righteous and godly are to be separated from the ungodly and gathered into the heavenly ark of God. For in this way [comes the time] when not even one righteous man will be found any more among mankind. And when all the ungodly have been made atheists by the antichrist, and the whole world is overcome by apostasy, the wrath of God shall come upon the ungodly.

— Ἀλλ’ ὡς τότε πάντας μὲν ἀπώλεσεν, οὐ μὴν καὶ τοὺς συνηγμένους ἅμα τῷ Νῶε ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ παρουσίας οἱ μὲν ἀσεβεῖς κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀποστασίας … ἀπολοῦνται …  ἐπὶ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ οὐ πρότερον ἐπῆλθεν οὗτος καὶ πάντας ἀπώλεσε τοὺς κατὰ γῆν οἰκοῦντας, ἢ τὸν Νῶε εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν. Κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ τοίνυν καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς συντελείας οὐ πρότερον ἔσεσθαι τὸν κατακλυσμὸν τῆς ἀπωλείας τῶν ἀσεβῶν φησιν, ἢ συναχθῆναι εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον τοῦ Θεοῦ κιβωτὸν, καὶ διασωθῆναι τοὺς τότε εὑρεθησομένους τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀνθρώπους, κατὰ τὸ παράδειγμα τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ Νῶε … πάντας τοὺς ἐπὶ γῆς δικαίους καὶ θεοσεβεῖς ἀφορισθῆναι τῶν ἀσεβῶν, καὶ συναχθῆναι εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον τοῦ Θεοῦ κιβωτόν, οὕτω γὰρ μηκέτι μηδενὸς δικαίου ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὑρισκομένου, πάντων δὲ ἀθέων ἀσεβῶν τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου γεγονότων, τῆς τε ἀποστασίας καθ’ ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης κρατησάσης, ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὀργὴ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς μετελεύσεται. 

— LATIN TITLE — Fragmenta in Lucam.
— GREEK TEXT SOURCE — Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus (series Graeca) (MPG) 24, Paris: Migne, 1857-1866. Retrieved from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (stephanus.tlg.uci.edu).
— ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOURCE — Translation is my own.
— NOTICE THE ORDER OF EVENTS:
    (1) the righteous gathered into the heavenly ark
    (2) season of apostasy = not one righteous man found, the ungodly made atheists by antichrist
    (3) the wrath of God which shall come upon the ungodly
— THE SAME EVENTS EXPRESSED IN CONTEMPORARY TERMINOLOGY
    (1) rapture
    (2) tribulation
    (3) second coming
— CONCLUSION — This distinguishes the rapture and the second coming and sandwiches the antichrist and the apostasy between them.

(#2)   Eusebius, Fragments in Luke, Luke 18:1-8, Migne 24.588

— «There was a judge who did not fear God.» … The saying «when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on earth» reveals a lapse of faith, when no faithful man shall be found, or perhaps somewhere a few scarce ones in the time of his second theophany. For the world shall meet with a great test in the season of apostasy, in which the faithful man will scarcely be found. Suddenly, there shall not even be one, because some have been taken, and the others left behind, delivered to the eagles. In this way, there shall be a lapse of faith among mankind, thereafter he shall take revenge for his saints which had been killed by the ungodly.

— «Κριτής τις ἦν τὸν Θεὸν μὴ φοβούμενος.» … tὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν «Ἆρα ἐλθὼν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εὑρήσει τὴν πίστιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς;» ἔκλειψιν δηλοῖ τῆς πίστεως, ὡς μηδένα πιστὸν εὑρεθήσεσθαι, ἢ εἴ που ἄρα σπάνιόν τινα κατὰ τὸν τῆς δευτέρας αὐτοῦ θεοφανείας χρόνον. Ὅπερ μέγα τεκμήριον τυγχάνει τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς ἀποστασίας, ἐν ᾧ σπάνιος ἔσται ὁ εὑρεθησόμενος πιστός. τάχα δὲ οὐδὲ εἷς ἔσται, διὰ τὸ τοὺς μὲν παραληφθήσεσθαι, τοὺς δὲ καταλειφθήσεσθαι τοῖς ἀετοῖς παραδοθησομένους. οὕτω τε ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐκλειπούσης τῆς πίστεως, αὐτὸς λοιπὸν ἐπιστήσεται τὴν ἐκδίκησιν ποιησόμενος τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ τῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀνῃρημένων. 

— LATIN TITLE — Fragmenta in Lucam.
— GREEK TEXT SOURCE — Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus (series Graeca) (MPG) 24, Paris: Migne, 1857-1866. Retrieved from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (stephanus.tlg.uci.edu).
— ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOURCE — Translation is my own.
— NOTICE THE ORDER OF EVENTS:
    (1) The sudden disappearance of the church—”some taken, others left”
    (2) The lapse of faith (the season of apostasy)— the taking of the church introduces this time
    (3) God’s judgment (vengeance) — this follows after the season of apostasy
— THE SAME EVENTS EXPRESSED IN CONTEMPORARY TERMINOLOGY
    (1) rapture
    (2) tribulation
    (3) second coming
CLARIFICATIONS
    (1) the season of apostasy and the lapse of faith are synonyms and refer to the same time frame
    (2) the removal of the church introduces the time of apostasy — note the words “in this way”
    (3) the judgment at the second coming follows the tribulation — note the word “thereafter”

(#3)   Eusebius, Fragments in Daniel, fragment ε, Migne 24.528

— Hence, I think the apostle Paul was moved to write in this manner on the second coming of Christ, «For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a command, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God,» and so forth. But the same apostle also set forth in order following this prophecy the end-times coming of the antichrist and his depravity, and after this the glorious appearing of our Saviour.”

—  Ἐντεῦθεν οἶμαι τὸν ἀπόστολον Παῦλον ὁρμᾶσθαι περὶ τῆς δευτέρας ἀφίξεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ γράφοντα τοιάδε, Ὅτι αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἐν κελεύσματι, ἐν φωνῇ ἀρχαγγέλου καὶ ἐν σάλπιγγι Θεοῦ καταβήσεται ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ὁ δ’ αὐτὸς ἀπόστολος καὶ τὴν ὑστάτην τοῦ Ἀντιχρίστου ἄφιξιν τὴν καὶ ἀπώλειαν, καὶ ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τὴν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἔνδοξον παρουσίαν ἀκολούθως τῇ προφητείᾳ παρίστησι λέγων.

— LATIN TITLE — Fragmenta in Danielem.
— GREEK TEXT SOURCE — Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus (series Graeca) (MPG) 24, Paris: Migne, 1857-1866. Retrieved from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (stephanus.tlg.uci.edu).
— ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOURCE — Translation is my own.
—  NOTICE THE ORDER OF EVENTS:
    (1) descent of the Lord with the trumpet of God
    (2) coming of the antichrist
    (3) glorious public appearing of the Lord
— THE SAME ORDER OF EVENTS IN CONTEMPORARY TERMINOLOGY
    (1) rapture
    (2) tribulation
    (3) second coming
— CONCLUSION — he makes a clear distinction between the rapture and the glorious appearance, and he sandwiches the time of the antichrist between them
— CLARIFICATION — the use of ἀκολούθως (akolouthōs) “in order” (see Lampe) implies that the antichrist and the glorious appearance of the Lord follow the rapture in order
— CLARIFICATION — the word ἀπώλεια (apōleia) is used here in the patristic sense of depravity (see Lampe)
— CONFIRMATION — Eusebius says the same thing in Demonstration of the Gospel (fragments of book 15, fragment 5)

(#4)   Eusebius, Commentary in Psalms, Psalm 75, Migne 23.876

— All over again I shall exalt the horns of the righteous, since they were humbled (humiliated). Then they shall be exalted when they shall reign with their own king according to the apostle who said, «For the first fruits is Christ, then those who are Christ’s in his parousia, then the end, when he shall deliver the kingdom to his God and Father, when he shall destroy all authority and power.» When the righteous shall drink the cup of life eternal, which very thing he promised them saying, «until I would drink it new with you in the kingdom of heaven.»

—  ἀνάπαλιν δὲ τὰ τοῦ δικαίου κέρατα ὑψώσω, ἐπείπερ ἦν τεταπεινωμένα. Τότε δὲ ὑψωθήσεται, ἐπειδὰν συμβασιλεύῃ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ βασιλεῖ κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον, ὅς φησιν «Ἀπαρχὴ γὰρ Χριστός, εἶτα οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ, εἶτα τὸ τέλος, ὅταν παραδιδῷ τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, ὅταν καταργήσῃ πᾶσαν ἐξουσίαν καὶ δύναμιν.» Ὅτε καὶ πίονται οἱ δίκαιοι ποτήριον ζωῆς ἀθανάτου, ὅπερ αὐτοῖς ἐπήγγελται εἰπών, «Ἕως ἂν πίω αὐτὸ καινὸν μεθ’ ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν.»

— LATIN TITLE — Commentaria in Psalmos
— GREEK TEXT SOURCE — Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus (series Graeca) (MPG) 23, Paris: Migne, 1857-1866. Retrieved from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (stephanus.tlg.uci.edu).
— ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOURCE — Translation is my own.
—  NOTICE THE ORDER OF EVENTS:
    (1) resurrection of Christ
    (2) the resurrection of the church at Christ’s parousia
    (3) the general resurrection at the end
— CLARIFICATION:
    (1) It must be noted that Eusebius is an amillennialist, so his general resurrection comes at the second coming of Christ, not after the thousand year reign of Christ. 
    (2) This means his distinction between “the parousia” and “the end” is the same as modern pretribulationists make between the rapture and the second coming. 

(#5)   Eusebius, Commentary in Psalms, Psalm 42:5, Migne 23.373

— Symmachus states it thusly, «Because I shall come forth unto my tabernacle, I shall bring myself to the house of God, with the sound of praise and confession of the celebrating multitudes.» Or, according to Aquila, «with the praise and thanksgiving of the feasting crowd.» It presents what is the end (reward) of those who in this present life are genuinely awaiting all that is coming. For the thrice-blessed end shall come upon them, the amazing tabernacle of God, even his house within her, in which the worthy are contained, and they shall be brought into [his presence], being carried aloft by the angelic host. Which even the apostle spoke knowingly of, «We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall ever be with the Lord.»

—  Λέγων δὲ ὁ Σύμμαχος, «Ὅτι ἐξελεύσομαι εἰς τὴν σκηνὴν, διαβασταχθήσομαι ἕως τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ, μετὰ φωνῆς εὐφημίας καὶ ἐξομολογήσεως πλήθους πανηγυριζόντων,» ἢ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν, «Αἰνέσεως καὶ εὐχαριστίας ὄχλου ἑορτάζοντος» παρίστη ὁποῖον ἔσται τὸ τέλος τῶν ἐν τῷ παρόντι βίῳ πᾶν τὸ ἐπιὸν γενναίως ὑπομενόντων. Διαδέξεται γὰρ τούτους τὸ τρισμακάριον τέλος, ἡ θαυμαστὴ σκηνὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ὁ ἐνδοτάτω αὐτῆς οἶκος αὐτοῦ, ἐν ᾧ οἱ ἄξιοι διαβασταζόμενοι, καὶ μετέωροι ὑπὸ ἀγγελικῶν δυνάμεων αἰρόμενοι εἰσαχθήσονται. Ἃ δὴ καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος εἰδὼς ἔλεγεν «Ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα, καὶ οὕτω πάντοτε σὺν Κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα.»

— LATIN TITLE — Commentaria in Psalmos
— GREEK TEXT SOURCE — Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus (series Graeca) (MPG) 23, Paris: Migne, 1857-1866. Retrieved from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (stephanus.tlg.uci.edu).
— ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOURCE — Translation is my own.
—  NOTICE THE MAIN POINTS:
    (1) the Lord comes unto his temple (the church)
    (2) the church shall be gathered and carried aloft by angels
    (3) this is a fulfillment of the rapture promise in 1 Thess. 4:13-18
    (4) this is the reward of those genuinely waiting for the Lord’s coming
— CLARIFICATION:
    (1) Other Eusebius passages, as Commentary on Isaiah, Bk. 2, Sect 58, have the church taken to the heavenly city when the Lord meets her in the clouds.  
    (2)  Comparing parallel passages demonstrates that for Eusebius, the meeting in the clouds is a pretribulation gathering of the church. 

(#6)   Eusebius, General Elementary Introduction, Point 31 “On Him”, Gaisford, pp. 132-3

— WHEN he has finished his spiritual temple of rational and soulish stones, that is his church, the Lord himself shall come, even the GOD Word, and with him the angel of the covenant, to the manifested temple. THEN, foreannouncing the things of his second coming, the Word says to the sinners, «Behold the Lord Almighty comes, and who shall endure the day of his entrance? Who shall stand in his appearance?»

—  ὅτε ἐκ λογικῶν καὶ ἐμψύχων λίθων τὸν πνευματικὸν ναὸν, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἐπισκευάσαντος αὐτοῦ, ἥξει αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος καὶ Θεὸς Λόγος ἅμα αὐτῷ τῷ τῆς διαθήκης ἀγγέλῳ εἰς τὸν δεδηλωμένον ναόν, εἶτα, οἷα τὴν δευτέραν αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν προαγγέλλων, ὁ Λόγος ὡς πρὸς τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς φησὶν, «ἰδοὺ ἔρχεται Κύριος παντοκράτωρ, καὶ τίς ὑπομενεῖ ἡμέραν εἰσόδου αὐτοῦ; ἢ τίς ὑποστήσεται ἐν τῇ ὀπτασίᾳ αὐτοῦ;»

— LATIN TITLE — Generalis elementaria introduction
— GREEK TEXT SOURCE — T. Gaisford, Eusebii Pamphili episcopi Caesariensis eclogae propheticae, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1842.  Retrieved from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (stephanus.tlg.uci.edu).
— ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOURCE — Translation is my own.
—  NOTICE THE ORDER OF EVENTS:
    (1) the Lord shall finish his temple (the church)
    (2) the Lord shall come to his finished temple
    (3) after the Lord comes to his temple, he foreannounces the awful judgment of the 2nd coming 
— NOTICE THE WHEN, THEN CONSTRUCTION:
    (1) WHEN the spiritual temple is completed, the Lord comes to it  
           THEN the Lord announces beforehand the things of his second coming
    (2) IF the second coming is yet future when the Lord comes to his temple,
          THEN the rapture and the second coming are distinct, separated by time.

(#7)   Eusebius, Commentary on Isaiah, Bk. 1, Sect. 54 “On Him”, 

—  But «as in Adam we all die,» according to the apostle, «so in Christ we shall all be made alive.» Since, moreover, «Christ is the first fruits of the new age, then those who are Christ’s at his parousia, then the end.» On this account he would be called the father of the coming age and again the prince of peace.

—  ἀλλ’ «ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνῄσκομεν» κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον, «οὕτως ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ πάντες ζωοποιηθησόμεθα.» ἐπεὶ τοίνυν τοῦ νέου αἰῶνος «ἀπαρχὴ Χριστός, ἔπειτα οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ, εἶτα τὸ τέλος,» τούτου χάριν πατὴρ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος ἂν εἴρηται καὶ πάλιν εἰρήνης ἄρχων.

— LATIN TITLE — Commentarius in Isaiam
— GREEK TEXT SOURCE — J. Ziegler, Eusebius Werke, Band 9: Der Jesajakommentar [Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1975]  Retrieved from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (stephanus.tlg.uci.edu).
— ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOURCE — Translation is my own.
—  NOTICE THE ORDER:
    (1) Christ is the firstfruits of the new age
    (2) then those who belong to Christ at his parousia
    (3) then the end (elsewhere described as bring a general resurrection) 
— NOTICE HIS USE OF PAROUSIA:
    (1) “the parousia” and “the end” have the same relationship as the modern “rapture” and “second coming”
    (2) He obviously sees the rapture in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and uses parousia as a technical term to refer to the rapture

(#8)   Eusebius, Commentary on Isaiah, Bk. 2, Sect. 24, portion on Is. 43:5-6  

— Many sons, born by God, I shall gather into my heavenly city, taking them up, flying them through the air, lofted like birds on the winds — I am talking about angelic powers. Some of them I shall gather to myself from the north, others from Africa, or as others say it, from the south.

—  πολλὰ τέκνα κατὰ θεὸν γεννήσας συνάξω εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιόν μου πόλιν μετεώρους αὐτοὺς ἀναλαβὼν δι’ ἀέρος ὥσπερ πτηνοῖς ἀνέμοις ὑποκουφιζομένους, λέγω δὲ ἀγγελικαῖς δυνάμεσι. καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀπὸ βορρᾶ παραλήψομαι, τοὺς δὲ ἀπὸ λιβός, ἢ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἑρμηνευτάς, ἀπὸ νότου.

— LATIN TITLE — Commentarius in Isaiam
— GREEK TEXT SOURCE — J. Ziegler, Eusebius Werke, Band 9: Der Jesajakommentar [Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1975]  Retrieved from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (stephanus.tlg.uci.edu).
— ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOURCE — Translation is my own.
—  NOTICE THE MAIN EVENTS:
    (1) the born again sons of God shall be taken up and flown through the air
    (2) their ultimate destiny is the heavenly city
— OBSERVATIONS
    (1) Here again we see the rapture to the air followed by a trip to heaven
    (2) Notice the rich diversity of rapture terms:
           συνάγω  (sunagō)  “gather” — compare synagogue (gathering)
           μετέωρος  (meteōros)  “flying” — compare meteor
           ἀναλαμβάνω  (analambanō)  “take up”
           παραλαμβάνω  (paralambanō) “gather”
           ὑποκουφίζω  (upokoufidzō) “loft”

(#9)   Eusebius, Commentary on Isaiah, Bk. 2, Sect. 58

—  In the season of the end, God shall bring them to the city of God, even the heavenly Jerusalem, and prosper them with this supreme boon, when he shall take them up like he did with Elijah, carrying them upon angelic chariots, bathing them in heavenly light … in regard to the sense, the lofted journey through the air signifies the carrying [of the church] into the heavens, which being interpreted more wisely the divine apostle said, ‘we shall be siezed in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.’ So they shall enter into the heavenly city. So all the Gentiles who have been saved shall come into the heavenly Jerusalem.

—  κατὰ δὲ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς συντελείας ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ πόλιν καὶ τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἄξουσιν αὐτοὺς τέλος ἀγαθὸν αὐτοῖς τοῦτο προχωρήσαντες, ὅτε καὶ ἀναληφθήσονται ὁμοίως τῷ Ἠλίᾳ ἐφ’ ἁρμάτων ἀγγελικῶν ὀχούμενοι φωτὸς ἐπουρανίου περιαστράπτοντος αὐτούς … κατὰ δὲ τὴν διάνοιαν τὴν δι’ ἀέρος μετάρσιον αὐτῶν πορείαν τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς φέρουσαν σημαίνει, ἣν ἑρμηνεύων ἐπὶ τὸ σαφέστερον ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος ἔλεγεν, «ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα, καὶ οὕτως πάντοτε σὺν κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα.» οὕτω δὲ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον τοῦ θεοῦ πόλιν, οὕτω δὲ ἥξουσιν οἱ ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν σῳζόμενοι εἰς τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἰερουσαλήμ.

— LATIN TITLE — Commentarius in Isaiam
— GREEK TEXT SOURCE — J. Ziegler, Eusebius Werke, Band 9: Der Jesajakommentar [Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1975]  Retrieved from Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (stephanus.tlg.uci.edu).
— ENGLISH TRANSLATION SOURCE — Translation is my own.
—  NOTICE THE MAIN EVENTS:
    (1) the church shall be taken up and flown through the air
    (2) their ultimate destiny is the heavenly city
— OBSERVATIONS
    (1) Here again we see the rapture to the air followed by a trip to heaven
    (2) Notice the rich diversity of rapture terms:
           “bring them to the city of God”
           “take them up like he did with Elijah”
           “lofted journey through the air”
           “carrying [of the church] into the heavens”
           “seized in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air”

In these nine passages we find a rich diversity of expressions used for describing the rapture, and we also find a rich diversity of illustrations used for distinguishing the rapture from the second coming. For the candid reader, the conclusion is inescapable — Eusebius taught a pretribulation rapture. He believed that the church would be removed from this earth to meet the Lord in the clouds prior to the time of the antichrist and the apostasy, and that the raptured church would be taken to heaven. The second coming proper, the visible coming of the Lord in power and glory to judge the world, followed the rapture and the tribulation. 

May the Lord bless you mightily and illuminate your mind and heart as you seek to understand his prophetic revelation in the Bible.

See also my video on Eusebius that covers seven of these passages.  Check out my book Recent Pre-Trib Findings in the Early Church Fathers — This volume 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 W. Brainard