~ Much of Midtribulationism is based on the allegorical method of interpretation, thus many scriptures must be transposed in order to fit their theories.
~ Midtribulationists believe that the Church will be raptured in the MIDDLE of the tribulation period, imagining the Tribulation can be split into two distinct parts.
~ They do not teach IMMINENCE, for they think they know when the Rapture will occur: halfway through the Tribulation.
~ Midtribulationists directly attack the truth regarding the imminent return of Christ because they propose a specific time the Rapture will occur.
~ Their chronology of eschatological events demands date-setting, which Jesus forbade (Mk. 13:21)
~ They often refer to a “PREWRATH RAPTURE”, believing that only the final 3.5 years of the Antichrist’s reign is the period of TRUE wrath.
~ However, how can the famine, darkness, bloodshed, and earthquakes of the first half of the Tribulation NOT be understood as God’s wrath?
~ Midtribulationism is actually a compromise between Pretribulationism and Posttribulationism, but much of their theology is actually based on the latter.
~ Many Midtribulationists view themselves as Pretribulationists, in a sense, because they do not feel the most terrible aspects of the Tribulation begin until mid-way through this 7-year period.
~Midtribulationists have taken it upon themselves to ALLEGORIZE the first half of the tribulation, but to justify their doctrine have LITERALIZED the last half.
Midtribulationists believe:
“The Tribulation and the Millennium are actual 7-year and 1000-year periods respectively. The first half of the Tribulation is the wrath of the Antichrist and the latter half is the wrath of Christ. The Antichrist will not be fully revealed until just after the Rapture. The severity of the Tribulation does not increase until after the first 42 months, so the Church will be on earth until this initial period is over. The Church must go through the first 3.5 years (1,260 days) of the Tribulation before it is raptured (Dan. 7:25). As the bowl judgments are out-poured, the last half of the Tribulation becomes much worse than the first (Rev. 11:15). Because the most horrible features of the Tribulation do not begin until mid-way through this 7 year era, the Church DOES escape the harshest aspects of violence and enmity. The first part of the Tribulation is what Jesus called “The Beginning of sorrows” and is therefore a time of cleansing and purification of His Church (Mt. 24:8). God has already verified His ability to protect His people during times of “tribulation”. For example, the plaques God sent upon Egypt were applied exclusively to the Egyptians, but not the Hebrews. The sinners were drowned in the flood, but Noah and his family were spared. The Great Tribulation is Daniel’s 70th week and the last half of this week (7 years) is called “The Day of the Lord”. Anything included in the 7 seals and the first 6 trumpets cannot be regarded as God’s wrath”, so the Church is present without experiencing His full retribution upon sin.”
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE TRUMPETS
~ Essentially, the whole theory of Midtribulationism is based on a trumpet blast. They claim the entire Tribulation period will be bad, but the seals and trumpets are not judgments or manifestations of God’s wrath. However, John connects the trumpets with the wrath of God in Revelation 11:18 and associates it with the wrath that has already come.
~ Midtribulationists actually believe the Rapture takes place at the 7th trumpet of Revelation 11 because “there is no mention of the wrath of God in the 7 seals or the first 6 trumpets”. This trumpet sounds just BEFORE the wrath of God falls on the earth. However, if the sound of the trumpet at the Rapture is a SINGULAR blast, how could THAT blast actually be one of a ‘series’ of blasts – with the Rapture taking place at the last one? Somehow, Midtribulationists have overlooked the fact that the trumpet in First Thessalonians 4:16 begins a BLESSING -but the trumpet in Revelation 11 begins a JUDGMENT.
~ Furthermore, since their theology is based on trumpets, how does the singular trumpet announcement Jesus refers to in Mt. 24:31 fit into their theology? The angels blow a trumpet to call Believers from everyplace on earth AFTER the Second Coming. The theory of Midtribulationism is completely based on the misconception that the trumpet blast of I Cor. 15:52 is the same note which will will be heard at the Rapture (I Thess. 4:16). This is because they falsely assume the blast of Rev. 11:15 is exactly the same one.
~ The trumpet blown for the Rapture event is to rescue God’s people from the entire Tribulation, while the trumpet in Rev. 11:15 pours out the bowl judgments on the wicked on earth (I Thess. 4:16). Those who carefully study Tribulationism realize that all of the 7 trumpet sounds in Revelation are part of the 84-month Tribulation and are completed prior to His Second Coming.
~ Jesus tells us it is foolish to build a house upon sand – yet this is exactly what the Midtribulationist has done (Mt. 7:26). The theology of Midtribulationism self-destructs and is washed into the bottomless oceans of delusion and heresy.