Several requisites are necessary to pinpoint that one is in the Day of the Lord. The apostle, Paul, says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 - 4:"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 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."
According to the verse above, the Day of the Lord (The Tribulation or Time of Jacob's Trouble) will not have occurred unless "the apostasy comes first". For a long time now scholars have interpreted the term the apostasy (Greek, apostasia) to mean the spiritual falling away from, or departing of, something - very likely, the biblical faith. Of late, however, there has been a growing minority of scholars who believe that this term means the physical falling away or departing of Bible believers. The physical or bodily departing of believers can only refer to the Rapture.
In one of his many Endtimes lectures, Andy Woods offers ten compelling arguments in favor of the apostasy being the physical departing or Rapture of Bible believers. Dr. Woods draws the conclusion that since the apostasy refers to the Rapture, and this must come first, therefore the Rapture must precede the Day of the Lord.
If Dr. Woods' arguments are true, is it "game, set and match" for the pre-tribulation position of the Rapture?
If Dr. Woods' arguments are true, is it "game, set and match" for the pre-tribulation position of the Rapture?