The Revelation and The Church

An Observation

By Bob Davis

God allows us some treasures on earth. One of my greatest treasures is the book of Revelation.

Contemplating this, it occurred to me that some believe and teach that the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ are a single event—implying that the Church will be present during “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7).

Therefore, I decided to study Revelation to determine what part the Church plays in John’s vision, specifically during the seven-year Tribulation.

To clarify, the Church comprises all who have been saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ since His resurrection—including believers who have died, believers who are living, and all who will come to faith until the moment of the Rapture.

At the Rapture, the Church Age ends.

After marking the entire book, I went back to identify every time and place where the Church is mentioned, present, active, or participating throughout Revelation—and then specifically during the Tribulation.

It was interesting to find that after Jesus addresses the seven churches of Asia in chapters 2 and 3, the word “church” does not appear anywhere in Revelation’s account of the Tribulation. In fact, the word does not occur again until Revelation 22:16, where Jesus says that He sent His angel to testify of these things “for the churches.”

The Bride, the wife of the Lamb, does appear in Revelation 19:7–9, following the Tribulation and immediately before the visible return of Jesus Christ described in Revelation 19:11–21.

Revelation 21:2 then portrays the New Jerusalem as a city “made ready as a bride adorned for her husband,” and verses 9 and 10 identify the city with “the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”*

Believers are unquestionably present during the Tribulation, but Revelation never identifies them as the Church. Under the pre-Tribulation understanding presented here, these are people who come to faith in Jesus Christ after the Church has been removed. They are Tribulation saints rather than members of the Church as defined in this study.

Conclusion

The complete absence of the word “church” from Revelation’s account of the Tribulation is therefore striking and consistent with the belief that the Church will not be present during that period when God pours out His wrath upon the people of the earth.

Grace and peace be with you all.
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