During World War 2 Corrie Ten Boom and her family were arrested by the Germans for the crime of helping Jewish people hide. She was sent to a concentration camp and endured great hardships, but she survived.
In 1974 Corrie Ten Boom wrote the letter shown below to warn Christians about the false teaching of the pre-tribulation rapture. This teaching is very popular in America, even though there is no scriptural basis for it. Many believers have bought into it because they have heard it taught by their pastor or by other Christian leaders, but we must study the scriptures for ourselves.
God has promised to deliver His people from the wrath of God, which will be poured out near the end of the seven-year tribulation period. However, there is a big difference between the persecution of Christians and the wrath of God. God never promised us that we would be protected from persecution. In fact, He promised us we would be persecuted just as Jesus was also persecuted.
The pre-tribulation rapture is a dangerous teaching because it will cause believers to be confused and even abandon their faith when they see tremendous persecution coming upon them during the tribulation. Many will fall away at that time, which is also foretold in the Bible. It is called the apostasy. I am posting Corrie Ten Boom’s letter to help warn people while there is still time.
CORRIE TEN BOOM’S RAPTURE WARNING:
The world is deathly ill. It is dying. The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet there is still a great work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of mercy to those who are still in the world. It is possible for them to do this because they are overcomers.
Christians are ambassadors for Christ. They are representatives from Heaven to this dying world. And because of our presence here, things will change.
My sister, Betsy, and I were in the Nazi concentration camp at Ravensbruck because we committed the crime of loving Jews. Seven hundred of us from Holland, France, Russia, Poland and Belgium were herded into a room built for two hundred. As far as I knew, Betsy and I were the only two representatives of Heaven in that room.
We may have been the Lord’s only representatives in that place of hatred, yet because of our presence there, things changed. Jesus said, “In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) We too, are to be overcomers – bringing the light of Jesus into a world filled with darkness and hate.
Sometimes I get frightened as I read the Bible, and as I look in this world and see all of the tribulation and persecution promised by the Bible coming true. Now I can tell you, though, if you too are afraid, that I have just read the last pages. I can now come to shouting “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” for I have found where it is written that Jesus said,
“He that overcomes shall inherit all things: and I will be His God, and he shall be My son.” (Revelation 21:7)
This is the future and hope of this world. Not that the world will survive – but that we shall be overcomers in the midst of a dying world.
Betsy and I, in the concentration camp, prayed that God would heal Betsy who was so weak and sick.
“Yes, the Lord will heal me,” Betsy said with confidence.
She died the next day and I could not understand it. They laid her thin body on the concrete floor along with all the other corpses of the women who died that day.
It was hard for me to understand, to believe that God had a purpose for all that. Yet because of Betsy’s death, today I am traveling all over the world telling people about Jesus.
There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation, that the Christians will be able to escape all this. These are the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days. Most of them have little knowledge of what is already going on across the world. I have been in countries where the saints are already suffering terrible persecution.
In China, the Christians were told, “Don’t worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated – raptured.” Then came a terrible persecution. Millions of Christians were tortured to death. Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly,
“We have failed. We should have made the people strong for persecution, rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand when the tribulation comes, to stand and not faint.”
I feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world that it is possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in training for the tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body of Christ across the world has already entered into the tribulation. There is no way to escape it. We are next.
Since I have already gone through prison for Jesus’ sake, and since I met the Bishop in China, now every time I read a good Bible text I think, “Hey, I can use that in the time of tribulation.” Then I write it down and learn it by heart.
When I was in the concentration camp, a camp where only twenty percent of the women came out alive, we tried to cheer each other up by saying, “Nothing could be any worse than today.” But we would find the next day was even worse. During this time a Bible verse that I had committed to memory gave me great hope and joy.
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. (1 Peter 4:14-15)
I found myself saying, “Hallelujah! Because I am suffering (for the name of Christ), Jesus is glorified!”
In America, the churches sing, “Let the congregation escape tribulation”, but in China and Africa the tribulation has already arrived. This last year alone more than two hundred thousand Christians were martyred in Africa. Now things like that never get into the newspapers because they cause bad political relations. But I know. I have been there. We need to think about that when we sit down in our nice houses with our nice clothes to eat our steak dinners. Many, many members of the Body of Christ are being tortured to death at this very moment, yet we continue right on as though we are all going to escape the tribulation.
Several years ago I was in Africa in a nation where a new government had come into power. The first night I was there some of the Christians were commanded to come to the police station to register. When they arrived they were arrested and that same night they were executed. The next day the same thing happened with other Christians. The third day it was the same. All the Christians in the district were being systematically murdered.
The fourth day I was to speak in a little church. The people came, but they were filled with fear and tension. All during the service they were looking at each other, their eyes asking, “Will this one I am sitting beside be the next one killed? Will I be the next one?”
The room was hot and stuffy with insects that came through the screenless windows and swirled around the naked bulbs over the bare wooden benches. I told them a story out of my childhood.
“When I was a little girl, I went to my father and said, “Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ.”
“Tell me,” said Father, “When you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?”
“No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train.”
“That is right,” my father said, “and so it is with God’s strength. Our Father in Heaven knows when you will need the strength to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need, just in time.”
My African friends were nodding and smiling. Suddenly a spirit of joy descended upon that church and the people began singing, “In the sweet, by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore.”
Later that week, half the congregation of that church was executed. I heard later that the other half was killed some months ago.
But I must tell you something. I was so happy that the Lord used me to encourage these people, for unlike many of their leaders, I had the word of God. I had been to the Bible and discovered that Jesus said He had not only overcome the world, but to all those who remained faithful to the end, He would give a crown of life.
How can we get ready for the persecution?
First we need to feed on the Word of God, digest it, and make it a part of our being. This will mean disciplined Bible study each day as we not only memorize long passages of scripture, but put the principles to work in our lives.
Next we need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Not just the Jesus of yesterday, the Jesus of History, but the life-changing Jesus of today who is still alive and sitting at the right hand of God.
We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not an optional command of the Bible, it is absolutely necessary. Those earthly disciples could never have stood up under the persecution of the Jews and Romans had they not waited for Pentecost. Each of us needs our own personal Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We will never be able to stand in the tribulation without it.
In the coming persecution we must be ready to help each other and encourage each other. But we must not wait until the tribulation comes before starting. The fruit of the Spirit should be the dominant force of every Christian’s life.
Many are fearful of the coming tribulation. They want to run. I, too, am a little bit afraid when I think that after all my eighty years, including the horrible Nazi concentration camp that I might have to go through the tribulation also. But then I read the Bible and I am glad.
When I am weak, then I shall be strong, the Bible says. Betsy and I were prisoners for the Lord, we were so weak, but we got power because the Holy Spirit was on us. That mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit helped us through. No, you will not be strong in yourself when the tribulation comes. Rather, you will be strong in the power of Him who will not forsake you. For seventy-six years I have known the Lord Jesus and not once has He ever left me, or let me down.
Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. (Job 13:15)
I know that to all who overcome, He shall give the crown of life. Hallelujah!
– Corrie Ten Boom – 1974
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Author: James Bailey
James Bailey is a blogger, business owner, husband and father of two grown children. In 1982, he surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. In 2012, he founded Z3news.com to broadcast the message of salvation by reporting end time news before it happens.
Thank you for posting this article. All my life I have heard churches talking about how they were looking forward to the rapture, but when I became a Christian in 1994 and started reading the Bible I realized that I couldn’t find the rapture mentioned anywhere. It’s something I’ve struggled with as a believer for almost 25 years and have always felt that it wasn’t biblical. I see what is happening in the world today and truly believe that the tribulation that is spoken of in Revelation is coming soon and that I will see it in my lifetime. I have to be honest and say that it scares me because in my heart I know we will not be rescued from it as the believers in rapture say but also know that as long as I stay faithful to God’s word that he will get me through it just as Corrie Ten Boom said.
The righteous have nothing to fear in what is coming upon the earth in these last days because God’s wrath is not directed at them. The safest place to be is right with Him. He is able to keep the righteous, even in times of great trouble all around.
Most English Bible translations do not include the word ‘rapture’, but the same idea is communicated with different words, such as caught up, gathered together, or taken away. The English translation comes from the original Hebrew and Greek, so the main thing is to understand the original meaning, regardless of the exact choice of words used in the translation.
The Koine Greek of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 uses the verb form ἁρπαγησόμεθα (harpagisometha), which means “we shall be caught up” or “taken away”, with the connotation that this is a sudden event. That is the rapture. It is found in many scripture passages, including these: Daniel 12:1-4, Matthew 24:15-44, 1 Corinthians 15:51-57, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, and Revelation 7:14.
James,
Precious is in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Lots of contradictory posts on this website (not comments). I am not sure as to why you are posting the above article if you do not believe in the theology of it, that there is NO rapture? Why not put up a believe statement some where on your site?
I personally find this site to be completely confusing (academic background is theology).
Not sure where you got the idea that I don’t believe in the rapture. You might be interested in reading more posts in our rapture category.
https://z3news.com/w/category/prophecies/rapture/
The main thing that’s missing from Biblical interpretation is the use of context. There is always a “who, what and a where” to consider. We generally use neither. When dealing with so call end times interpretations we fail to see that it always refers to the Jews during the time of Jesus Christ. Jesus specifically said, “this generation”, not future generations. Jesus also said that the destruction of the temple would be a marker as well.
The “what and where” is the judgement of Jerusalem, which was set up in Matthew 23 with a formal reading of the indictment. That judgement was dealing with the end of the age. That word in Greek is aion. That age was is referring to the end of the Old Covenant and the consummation of the New Covenant, not the annihilation of the dirt that we stand on. We must also consider how the Jews used words and phrases. The example that I want to point to is, God destroyed the world with water. How was the world destroyed, but life continued? Hebrew lays this out in fine detail, where it speaks of a new will and testament cannot be enforced until the testator has passed away, referring to the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant rites are not authorize outside of the temple in Jerusalem, therefore it is effectively over, and there are no prophecies of a third temple. To use the millennium framework as a starting point is an endless rabbit trail of speculation. The transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant is the Biblical frame work to have a meaningful discussion on this topic.
I have always steered toward Pre tribulation, but in believing this view Doesn’t alleviate those who are in Christ from the persecution against the church in 1 Peter 2:21-22 KJVS it says
[21] For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: [22] Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth
[23] Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
If Jesus had to face the onslaught of hatred toward Himself, to where they beat him and opened his flesh the bible says like a ploughed field, even unto death, then how do we think that the Christian life will exempt us from going through tribulation. Most if not all of the disciples were killed in a inhumane way for their walk with the lord. In saying this I certainly don’t desire to face any tribulation, but as you become more intimate with the lord, you will become less concerned of the darkness that’s covering the earth. Always be reminded that the greatest factor in it all is that God knows what he is doing, and those who are His people will overcome, not by their own power, but by the Spirit of God. Psalm 91 is a great psalm for those who choose the secret place of the most high, there is total victory in Him.
I respect Ms Boom’s opinion, but that is what it is opinion. RIP and I will see you in the rapture!!
An excellent article by a hero of the Faith, but in the end, I am still not clear on whether she held to a pre-trib rapture position. Surely she had an opinion on the timing of the rapture. Did she not attend a Baptist type church while in the US?
She strongly opposed the pre-trib rapture teaching, which was why she wrote this letter.
As lovely a Christian as she was, and as hard a life that Miss Ten Boom endured in the camps, we are not bound to believe her interpretation of prophetic Scripture. She was raised under the reserve of the teachings of Covenant teachers and theologians. She was notexposed to the depths of the clear teachings on the Pre-Tribulation Rapture found in I Corinthians 15, and II Thessalonians. She was not taught the timelines of the Book of Daniel.
Covenant theology and its Amillennial orientation based on the presupposition that Scripture is interpretable under the guise of at-will symbolism and figures of speech when not warrant rather than the grammatical and historical meaning of the words.
It is no wonder that she came to her conclusions. We can read Miss Ten Boom’s biography and her writings and learn much and be inspired by them. We must come to a reserve in her writings on prophecy for the reasons I’ve stated.
God bless.
Actually, the scriptures back up her view 100%, as did her life.
Very true, as I have been reading her book, not yet understanding the pain she must have felt seeing Bestsie suffer.
Covenant theology? Really? Do they not espouse replacement theology?
Jim Porter Sr, Ms Ten Boom is entirely correct…if you read the scriptures 1st Corinthians 15:50-57, Matthew 24, Daniel chapters 7-9, as well as 1st Thessalonians 4, 2cd Thessalonians 2, as well as Revelation chapters 12 and 16, then read chapter 20:1-7 but the whole chapter is remarkable and show there is ONLY ONE resurrection (rapture) and that it is at the END of the Tribulation period when the last trump sounds….we are about to hear the 6th trumpet sound for it is going to be WW3….make no mistake—the 1st 5 have already sounded…..Jill
Just came across this post. Please share with me the 5 trumps. I’ve tried to share with people what the scriptures show in 1 Cor. 15- at the last trump-most just scoff at me. I began a more in depth after hearing this weekend that nobody who has heard about Christ pre-trib-will be saved during the trib. Said they will be damned…shocked my socks off. I’ve not believed in rapture since 1st hearing of it when first saved. Asked the Lord if it was true to leave me behind. He has schooled me well since, but still have many pondering. And now, in our new presidency and friendship finally, with Israel, and with Christians being beheaded and killed for loving and being faithful to Christ, it is more important than ever to be so thoroughly grounded.
What insight! The Bible is so clear that there is no pre-trib rapture that I am forever surprised why so many people believe in it.
Explain Revelation 4:1??????
Revelation chapter 4 clearly states for John to be shown as to what is to come…..it has nothing to do with the “rapture” of the church…if you read the rest of the chapter you will see that….dont do yourself a grave disservice by cherry picking scriptures
[Hi, z3news. Just saw this brilliant announcement on the net. Enjoy.]
BREAKING NEWS: The producers of the “Left Behind” movie have announced that the 98th sequel of it is scheduled to come out two weeks before the end of the Great Tribulation – in time to make “imminence” finally believable. (Just kidding. But the next sequel really and truly is set for a mid-2016 appearance!)
Seriously, if you want the real skinny on “Left Behind” mania, Google “Prof. Wm. L. Craig Leaves Tim LaHaye Behind,” “LaHaye’s Temperament,” “Pretrib Rapture Pride,” “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty,” “Pretrib Hypocrisy,” “Scholars Weigh My Research,” and (for dessert) “Treena Gisborn (Facebook).”
Of course there is a rapture. Jesus, Paul, and Peter all preached the snatching away. Please re read your Bible from beginning to end and it will become clear.
The holy Bible contains Jesus Christ’s teaching on tribulation in the End times. Nowhere is rapture mentioned. The King James version is missing 7 full books of the Old Testament and various changes to the New Testament.This is the cause of many disputes and wars to divide Christians. One can say that Satan uses this to divide. He is afterall the Great Deciever. The KJ version is several hundred years old in the midst of the dark ages. That could be the clue many Christians should study. This is a war on the soul, The Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and God himself. Satan must divide Christians in order to create mass destuction. Our war is not of the flesh, it is a war between God and all that is good and Satan who represents all that is evil. We are the soldiers who must choose which side we belong to.
The rapture is mentioned throughout the Bible. Here are a few examples: Daniel 12:1-4, Matthew 24:15-44, 1 Corinthians 15:51-57, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, Revelation 7:14.
Not one of those verses speaks of a rapture. 1 Thess teaches us that we will meet Him in the air and will be with Him forever. That shoots down the false teaching of an earthly reign.
Meeting the Lord in the air is the rapture. Being with the Lord does not disprove reigning with Him on earth because that is where He will be and it says we will be with Him.
not if , but when .
/ Hi, Z3, I love your blog. Wondering if you’ve see this article that I found on the web. God bless. /
Pretrib Rapture – how WHAT becomes WHEN
Certain rapture verses in the Bible are a WHATers paradise!
WHATers can dazzle their audience with a lot of WHAT WHAT WHAT between Gen. 1:1 and Rev. 22:21 and, while you’re not noticing, quickly sneak in their own WHEN of the rapture and ignore the Bible’s WHEN!
WHATers read all of the WHAT details in I Thess. 4:13-18, emphasize the “comfort one another” at the end, and say something like “What a comforting thought that the rapture can happen at any moment BEFORE the tribulation!”
They often add: “It wouldn’t be comforting if we had to face the Antichrist.” (Maybe they believe a lighthouse wouldn’t be comforting to sailors on a dark, stormy night but only when the sun is shining!)
WHATers avoid the next chapter (I Thess. 5) which says that the rapture’s “times and seasons” happen WHEN “sudden destruction” (the “destruction” part of the “day of the Lord”) happens.
(How can the wicked be destroyed before, or during, the time of their tribulational “reign”? Even their leader, the Antichrist, isn’t destroyed until the trib’s end!)
Now look at I Cor. 15:51-54. WHATers have a blast with the first half. They dwell on “mystery,” read “in a moment” as if it really means “AT ANY MOMENT,” spend an inordinate amount of time explaining how fast the “twinkling of an eye” is, and try to prove that “last” (in “the last trump”) doesn’t really mean “last”!
Seldom do WHATers dare to reveal WHEN we are changed into immortal bodies – but verse 54 dares to when it says our rapturous change occurs WHEN WHEN WHEN “Death is swallowed up” (same as “ended”).
Obviously the trib’s time of death can’t be ended before, or even during, the trib!
And WHATers don’t want you to realize that the “Death” quote is a paraphrase of Isa. 25:8 which even Scofield etc. agree is in a posttrib setting!
II Thess. 1:6-10 is further proof that our rapture (“rest” in vs. 7) happens WHEN the wicked are destroyed – and not several years ahead of time!
And Acts 2:34-35 and Acts 3:21 declare that Christ must stay in heaven UNTIL He comes down to earth to destroy the wicked (make them His “footstool”) and restore “all things” – so how can He leave heaven ahead of time for a pretrib rapture?
II Tim. 3:14 says we should “vet” our teachers (“knowing of whom thou hast learned them”). You can do this if you Google or Yahoo “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty” and “Left Behind or Led Astray?” (on You Tube).
What I’m wondering is this: WHEN will everyone wake up and realize that a lot of WHAT will never take the place of WHEN?