Rapture in Romans 11?

As I was reading Romans 11 a verse and concept jumped out at me. Let’s look at what Paul said. Romans 11:16-24

If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.  You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. 22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” 27 “This is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”

This is in the context of explaining the fact that the Jews had not been faithful to their promises and commitments. They had not followed the Lord, and consequently, God had stopped working with them. Paul, in chapter 9 mourned this and prayed fervently for the Jews to get back into relationship with the Lord, their God. He went on to explain that Israel had been set aside and God is now working with the Church to “preach the Gospel to all the world.” (Mark 16:15)

Our context for this consideration is Daniel 9:24-27. Let’s check that.

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. 25 So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

Daniel had read the fact that the Nation of Israel would be captive in Babylon for 70 years in Jeremiah  25:11, 12 and Jeremiah 29:10. So his prayer was, “What next?” The passage in Daniel is God’s answer to Daniel. There will be 490 years in Israel’s history. The first 483 years led up to the Messiah, when He would be cut off. We read about that in the Gospels when Jesus was rejected as Messiah on Palm Sunday then crucified later that week. (Roughly AD 29-33)

Following that event, Jerusalem would be destroyed. This happened in AD 70. The rest of the verse tells about a “prince who is to come,” who would make a peace treaty with Israel to ensure peace for seven years. This marks the beginning of the final seven years of God’s plan for Israel which will culminate in the Jews returning to the Lord. Paul seized on that prospect. Israel would be saved and returned to the place of honor in God’s plan for the world.

And this final seven-year period would be the catalyst for this transformation and repentance. In the meantime, God established the church, beginning in Acts 2 and gave them the commission of sharing the Good News of salvation to the entire world–including the Jews. This we recognize as the church age. This was the “wild olive branch” being grafted into the tree.

We know from fulfilled prophecy, that what God said in the past has come true. So what has not yet been completed just requires a “bit of time” until that is completed. The Romans passage confirms that.

But that leaves one question for us to answer. Where is the Church and what part does it play in this final restoration? The final seven years is named, descriptively as the Tribulation. It is going to be a terrible time. Revelation 5 through 19 gives a vivid account of this time of destruction, leading up to the Battle of Armageddon and the Return of the Lord Jesus. But what part of this does the Chruch play?

Paul tells us of the Rapture, the catching away of believers at some time in the future. (1Corinthians15:50-56; and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) But the exact timing of that event is not delineated for us–here. But it seems that there are some specifics given. First turn to 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 where Paul explains one detail of the “Day of the Lord.”

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (Day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

This “man of lawlessness” is the “prince to come” in Daniel 9. Daniel called his actions an “abomination.” Here Paul tells us that this guy, we call him the anti-Christ, will try to take the place of God. (Just by way of review, that happened way back there when Lucifer tried to exalt his throne above God. And Adam and Eve were encouraged to become God. And on, and on, and on. The trail will stop here.)

So this seems to indicate that the anti-Christ will not be revealed until “what restrains him” is removed from the earth. And what can restrain Satan and his work? That is the Holy Spirit. So this anti-Christ cannot appear until the Holy Spirit stops restraining him. And notice how the restraint will terminate. The One Who restrains will be taken out of the way.

What could that mean? Follow this logic carefully. The Church did not appear until the Messiah was cut off. And when Paul was talking about this in the life of the Jewish nation, he said that the branch was “broken off.” A new and different branch was grafted into the tree in its place. This is where the Church began the job that Israel had failed. That was the job of sharing the news of God’s redemption for all men. Paul’s other writings make clear the co-partnership of the Gentiles and the Jews in the Church. Galatians 3:28 says that the Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ, or the Church.

The influence of the Holy Spirit, living within individual members of the Church is definitely restraining the lawless one. It appears that Paul’s argument is that the indwelling Holy Spirit is the active agent involved in restraining the anti-Christ and his activity.

And for the Holy Spirit to be removed from the world, the individual believers in whom He dwells must leave also. Hence, the Pretribulation Rapture seems to emerge as the accurate interpretation. Now turn our attention to the Romans passage.

The branch was broken off, and a wild olive branch was grafted into the tree in its place. Focus specifically on v. 24.

...how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? 

Couple this with the seventy weeks of Daniel and we inevitably arrive at the conclusion that God’s plan was specific for Israel, 483 years. Then the Church for about 2000 years, and counting, follows. But the culmination God is seeking is specifically directed towards Israel. Daniel 9:24 specifically ties the “results” of the 490 years to Israel.

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place."

First, the focus is on “your people.” Clearly, Daniel was a Jew. Your holy city, is Jerusalem. So the purpose of the full 490 year program is to effect some result in the nation of Israel. The specifics are listed.

1. To finish the transgression. The rejection of Christ as Messiah was merely the culmination of Jewish refusal to accept God’s plans.

2. “To make an end of sin,” will occur at the final judgment. Interestingly enough, Jesus seems to have identified a dual judgment. One that focuses on nations and a second one that deals with individuals. The second one is the Great White Throne judgment of Revelation 20. The Matthew 25 judgment is specifically for nations.

32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

The sheep receive their reward. V. 34

34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

And the goats, likewise are judged. V. 41a

41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels....” 

So the sin of Israel is ended. They, as a nation, will follow their God. This prophecy is clearly directed toward Israel. Couple that with Romans 11: 26, 27.

...and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” 27 “This is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”

Did you notice the emphasis? All Israel will be saved and their sins are removed. Sounds just like Daniel, doesn’t it. And the conclusion of our thoughts is back in Romans. If Israel was “cut off” to allow the Gentiles and the Church to fulfill God’s redemptive plans, then is it logical that the Church will be “cut off” or taken out to make way for God’s plans for Israel? For them to be “grafted back into the tree?”

And the logical question is, “Where will the ‘native branch’ be grafted back into the tree?” Removing the Church by way of the Rapture makes all of this fit like a hand in a glove to all of the prophecies. And coupling that with the scenario in Revelation 7 where the 144,000 Jews are sealed and sent into the world to preach, we have a seamless transition from the Church age to the incipient Kingdom, later identified as the Millennium in chapter 20 of Revelation.

Removing the church heightens the prospect that the world will listen to the 144,000 Jews as they fan out throughout the world with the message that “Jesus has taken His own out of the world and will be back in seven years.” (Seven years minus the time since the treaty actuated by the anti-Christ, that is.)

And Jesus’ comment that no one knows the day or the hour that He will return must refer to the Rapture, as Daniel’s clock, which was literally fulfilled to the day for the “cutting off of Messiah,” will pinpoint when that Messiah will come back on His white horse in Revelation 19. It will be seven years after the treaty is effectuated.

So in this somewhat roundabout trail, we seem to have discovered a pre-Tribulation Rapture in Romans. We ought not be surprised as the Scripture is completely consistent and uniform throughout. We can trust its accuracy from Genesis to Revelation. If we find “contradictions” or lack of clarity, we can be assured that these “problems” lie in our interpretation and understanding and not with the corpus of Scripture.

We cry out with David, “Lord, I love Thy law.” (Psalm 119:97 and 113) And with John, “Even so, come Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20)