Matt 24:29 says "after the tribulation of those days" so doesn't that prove a post tribulation rapture?

No.  The Bible describes two times of tribulation, one a general time, and one specific.  How are we to know which is intended in Matt 24:29?   I believe Jesus was referring to both.  One tribulation is that general one Christians face in the world ever since Jesus spoke...

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

2 Corinthians 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

1 Thessalonians 3:4 For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

2 Thessalonians 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

Revelation 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.



The other tribulation is the "great tribulation", which is not like any other time, it is unlike the general tribulations of this world that the Church has always faced.  The view that since the Church has always faced tribulation, and that the great tribulation will be no different, is an open denial of the plain truth of these next few verses.

Matthew 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Joel 2:
1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

These are all describing the same time, the same thing. There is ONE day or time unlike any other, so it is impossible to be confused about it.  There are not two days that are unlike all the others, that would make no sense, and would be contradictory. There is ONE TIME that is unlike any other, such as never was, and never shall be, and it is the seven year tribulation, which has many different titles.   Daniel and Jeremiah both call it the "time of trouble", another clear reason to believe that this is the same time being described.  If you read about Jacob's life you will find there were two times he had particular trouble in his life, and both times lasted seven years; the seven extra years he worked for Rachel, and the seven years of famine that drove his family down to Egypt.

Further, in both Daniel and Jeremiah, it says "thy people shall be delivered" and "he shall be saved out of it", which, to me, are clear indications of a pretribulation rapture.  The main point I am making right now for Matthew 24 is that there are two times of tribulation.  The general "in the world ye shall have tribulation" and the "great tribulation" which is the unlike any other.

This time unlike any other, of great tribulation, the "time of Jacob's trouble", which Jesus calls "the great tribulation" is also known as

the birth pangs, or labor pains

Jeremiah 30:6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

And the birth pangs are also known as "the Day of the Lord".

Isaiah 13:
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

1 Thessalonians 5:
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Revelation 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

Isaiah 66
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.

Matt 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. [birth pangs]

Isaiah 26:
16 LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.
17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.



And the Day of the Lord is the Day of Wrath.  Zephaniah also uses the term "a day of trouble", another link to Daniel and Jeremiah's time of trouble.

Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

The day of the Lord is not to be confused with the rapture, which is a day we look forward to.
The day of the Lord is the tribulation, and is NOT a day to look forward to.

Amos 5:18  Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

Amos and Zephaniah both call the day of the Lord a day of darkness.  As does 1 Thess 5, which also uses the term wrath.

1 Thess 5
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

John 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

I believe that only people who are walking in darkness today believe they will also have to be alive on earth during the seven year tribulation, that time of darkness, the day of the Lord, the labor pains and birth pangs, the day of wrath.

I will go over all of this again, because each link is irrefutable.  The great tribulation is a unique time.   The time of trouble is also this same unique time.

Great Tribulation = Day unlike any other. (Matt 24:21)
The Time of Trouble = Day unlike any other.  (Joel 2:1,2)
Day of the Lord = Day unlike any other.  ( Daniel 12:1, Jer 30:7)

Time of Trouble = the labor pains  (Jer 30:6-7, Isaiah 26:16,17)
The Day of the Lord  = the labor pains (1 Thess 5:2-3, Isaiah 13:6-8)

The Day of the Lord = the Day of wrath. (Zephaniah 1:14-15)

Additional connections:
Found all together in 1 Thess 5, with supporting verses elsewhere in the Bible
The Day of the Lord = darkness = wrath = the labor pains

The entire seven year tribulation is the wrath of God.  It will get worse and worse, just like labor pains.  The first contractions are relatively mild, but later on the pain is worse and worse.  So also will the wrath of God get worse and worse from judgement to plague during the entire tribulation.

Labor pains are also a curse sent from God upon women.

Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

The tribulation is also known as Daniel's 70th week, which is also a curse.  The 70 years of captivity were a curse, and then multiplied by seven into 70 weeks of years.

Dan 9:11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

So, not only is the Church not appointed to wrath, we are not under the curse of the law.

Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth
on a tree:

But I digress.  Getting back to "after the tribulation" in Matt 24:29.  The Bible describes two times of tribulation, one general and one unique. How are we to know which one is specified in Matt 24:29?

"After the tribulation of those days" then could easily refer to both, because may prophesies in the Bible have more than one fulfillment, most notably the abomination of desolation, which is also described in Matt 24.  In fact, there was an abomination of desolation was fulfilled by Antiochus a few hundred years before Christ, and in 70AD, and the Bible has another abomination of desolation in the temple in view in

2 Thess 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

If "After the tribulation of those days" does refer to both time periods of tribulation, (as is a common prophetic technique and used earlier in the Olivet discourse) the general time and the unique time, then it would be describing both the beginning and end of the seven year tribulation.

In the Olivet discourse, one of the main descriptions of the tribulation prior to Matt 29, are the false Christs.  Most commentators say that this is the warning about the man of sin in the tribulation.  However, the man of sin is ONE antichrist, and the Bible says there are many antichrists now, today, in this age of tribulation.

1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1 John 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

The warnings of many false Christs, and the "many antichrists" is evidence that the phrase, "after the tribulation of those days" is referring to today's general tribulation.

The coming one antichrist, the man of sin in 2 Thess 2, is evidence that the phrase "after the tribulation of those days" is referring to the great tribulation.

I will now point out the obvious, that "after the tribulation of those days" is plural, meaning more than one.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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