Lesson 13 Overview

Is the Rapture of Christians Really in the Bible? with Dr. Andy Woods

This is the final lesson in the series. Dr. Woods critiques the last two competing views, the pre-wrath rapture and the partial rapture, and then wraps up the whole study. Use this overview to review the key points after watching the full video.

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The Pre-Wrath (Three-Quarters) View

Dr. Woods describes the pre-wrath rapture view, promoted by Marvin Rosenthal and Robert Van Kampen (author of The Sign). It holds that God’s wrath does not begin until the sixth seal, so the church (which is exempt from wrath) remains on earth through the first five seals, being raptured roughly three-quarters of the way through the tribulation. As before, he considers “pre-wrath” a deceptive label, since every view claims to be pre-wrath, and prefers to call it “three-quarters rapturism.”

Their key argument rests on Revelation 6:16-17, where the word “wrath” first appears, at the sixth seal. Dr. Woods answers that the wrath actually begins earlier, because Jesus Himself opens the seven-sealed scroll (Revelation 5:7) and breaks each seal (Revelation 6:1), personally causing the first five judgments: the Antichrist, war, famine, the death of a quarter of the population, and mass martyrdoms. That is plainly the wrath of the Lamb, whether or not the word “wrath” appears. He argues the pre-wrath view struggles with the sovereignty of God, since God can use indirect agents like Satan or the Antichrist to accomplish His judgment, just as He used Nebuchadnezzar to discipline Israel.

Citing Robert Thomas, he notes the verb “has come” in Revelation 6:17 is a past-tense form, meaning the day of wrath had already arrived, and that the verse simply records the moment unbelievers finally recognize what has been happening. You do not date the start of God’s wrath by when pagans figure it out, but by when the Lamb begins opening the scroll. He also observes that the word “come” (the Greek ercomai) is used at each seal (6:1, 3, 5, 7) and again in 6:17, tying the wrath back to the earlier seals. As with the flood (clearly God’s wrath though the word is not used), the absence of the word proves nothing.

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The Partial Rapture View

The final view is partial rapturism: the idea that only sanctified, watchful believers are raptured, while carnal or backslidden Christians are left behind to be purified in the tribulation and then raptured individually as they reach sanctification. It draws on Hebrews 9:28 (“to those who eagerly await Him”) and the reality of carnal Christians (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Dr. Woods notes the view is almost impossible to chart, since it requires many separate raptures.

He gives several reasons it is unbiblical:

Participation in the rapture is part of the “grace package” of roughly 33 things given at salvation by grace, not earned by practical worthiness. The symbolic parallels already studied require carnal believers to be taken too; the angel told backslidden Lot, “I cannot do anything until you arrive” (Genesis 19:22). The rapture promise was given to the carnal Corinthian church, and Paul said “we will all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51), not just the sanctified. A partial rapture would sever the one body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). It would subject believers to the wrath they are promised exemption from (1 Thessalonians 1:10). It makes the judgment seat of Christ unnecessary, since everyone would arrive already sanctified. It never objectively quantifies how much faithfulness is required, leaving people uncertain. Its teachers are individually biased, always assuming they are in the sanctified group. And it misapplies passages aimed at Israel to the church, such as the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25, part of the Israel-focused Olivet Discourse, describing Christ separating believing from unbelieving Israel at the end of the tribulation, as in Zechariah 13:8), and misreads reward passages like Revelation 3:11 (about crowns at the judgment seat, not being left behind).

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Wrapping Up the Series

Dr. Woods reviews the whole study. In the “what” question he gave ten characteristics of the rapture from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. In the “when” question he gave seven cumulative reasons for the pre-tribulation view. Then he examined the competing views (mid-trib, post-trib, pre-wrath, and partial rapture) and their deficiencies. His conclusion is that the pre-trib rapture is a real, biblical doctrine, and that the church will be removed before the tribulation begins.

He closes by mentioning several of his books, including Ever Reforming (on literal interpretation in church history), The Middle East Meltdown (on Ezekiel 38 and 39), The Falling Away (on the apostasia of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as the physical departure of the church), and The Coming Kingdom, and points viewers to his ministry, church, and seminary. This concludes the series.