The Gap Theory

A question that often comes up when discussing the rapture of the church, if you hold to the pre-tribulation rapture position, concerns how much time may there be between the rapture and the beginning of the tribulation? Many people believe there is no gap, and that the tribulation begins right after the rapture takes place, while others feel there may be some time between the two events. Personally, I am not too sure there is any way to know the answer to that precisely, but it's possible there are clues to be found in scripture.

We looked last week at the story of Noah and the circumstances surrounding his following the command of God to enter. We saw there was a period of seven days that separated his entering the ark with the beginning of the rain that fell for forty days and forty nights. If we consider the entering of the ark and the closing of the door to be a picture of the rapture of the church, could it be that this is a clue that there might be a little gap of time between the rapture and the tribulation?

Another possible clue might be found by examining some of the specific circumstances the Bible tells us will occur during the tribulation, and consider if the rapture might well be the event that produces the environment needed to force the world to make the moves we are told will occur. If you remember what we discussed last week, you will recall the following passage.

For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, Matthew 24:38 NKJV

We mentioned the fact that according to this verse, life on earth changed on the day Noah entered the ark. I don't believe anyone would care to argue that life on this earth will change dramatically immediately after the rapture. One of the biggest questions one might have is how will the governments of the world react to this event, especially in the area of enforcing peace in what will most assuredly be chaos?

When the Bible talks about government during the tribulation period, it tells us a couple of things. In Daniel 7 we see described a time when the world will be divided into 10 "kingdoms". The word for kingdom used here is "malkuw" which can be translated "realm" (of territory). So in essence Daniel is saying that during the tribulation the world will be divided into ten distinct regions or territories.

In Revelation 13 we are told that during the tribulation, the coming world leader will amass so much power that all the nations (the ten territories) will give their allegiance to him, thus establishing a one world government. Looking at both of these prophecies makes one seriously question the possibility the entire world could even talk about a one world government, much less agree to it if the period of time between the rapture and the beginning of the tribulation was short.

Of course, there is an easy answer to that and it's this; what if the framework was already done, and only had to be enacted or ratified by the governments of the world immediately after the rapture? If that were the case, the church would have two really big signs to look for to know without a doubt that the rapture was near, right? Well, I didn't bring all this up just to let you down, so listen to this.

In case you are unaware, the European Union has already divided the world into ten regions, or territories. You can check them out by using the following link.

http://ec.europa.eu/world/where/index_en.htm

As far as the one world government is concerned, in December the United Nations will convene in Copenhagen Denmark to ratify a new treaty on "global-warming". So what? Well, it is reported that although this treaty is said to be about global warming, what it really does is create a new political entity with the power to govern the world. Did you get that? In essence, it creates a one-world government. If you find that hard to swallow, I suggest you use the following link to read what others have to say about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjIheYw3fOw&feature=player_embedded#
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=113848

So my question to you is this, if the world is already prepared to enact the conditions described as existing during the tribulation, just how close is the rapture of the church? Is it possible the tribulation could begin in as little as seven days after the rapture just like the picture we see in the story of Noah?

Keep watching.