Mid-Tribulationalism Examined

1. Introduction

Mid‑tribulationalism is a minority but persistent view of the timing of the rapture in biblical eschatology. It holds that the church will live through the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week (the seven‑year tribulation) and will be caught up to Christ at or near the 3½‑year mark, just before the “great tribulation.”

This article defines mid‑tribulationalism, presents its main arguments (especially the “last trumpet” connection), and then evaluates those arguments biblically. In doing so, it will also show why the church is exempted from all of Daniel’s seventieth week, not merely the second half.

2. What Is Mid‑Tribulationalism?

The mid‑tribulational rapture view teaches:

• Daniel’s seventieth week (Daniel 9:27) is a literal seven‑year period yet future.
• Only the last half (3½ years) is “the tribulation” in the strict sense (“the great tribulation”; Matthew 24:21).
• The church will experience the first 3½ years—viewed as the “beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8)—but will be raptured at the midpoint, just before God’s eschatological wrath is poured out in full measure.
• Christ’s coming for the church (rapture) and His return with the church in glory are distinct but separated by only 3½ years.

Key mid‑tribulational proponents have included J. Oliver Buswell, Gleason Archer, and Merrill Tenney.

3. Main Arguments for Mid‑Tribulationalism

3.1 Emphasis on the 3½‑Year Marker

Mid‑tribulationalists note that prophetic texts repeatedly highlight a 3½‑year period:

• “time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25; 12:7; Revelation 12:14)
• “1,260 days” (Revelation 11:3; 12:6)
• “42 months” (Revelation 11:2; 13:5)

They argue that this repetition shows the midpoint of the week is the decisive turning point when:

• The Antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel (Daniel 9:27).
• The abomination of desolation is set up (Matthew 24:15).
• Intense persecution and judgment begin.

On this reading, some major “event” at the midpoint must mark a clear transition; mid‑tribulationists identify that event as the rapture of the church.

3.2 The “Last Trumpet” Argument

Mid‑tribulationalists insist that the “last trumpet” of 1 Corinthians 15:52 and the trumpet in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 must be the same as the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15:

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“For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:52

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“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet…”
— Revelation 11:15

Argument:

• The rapture occurs at the “last” trumpet (1 Corinthians 15:52).
• The seventh trumpet is the last in a sequence in Revelation.
• The seventh trumpet sounds at (or just after) the midpoint of the seventieth week.
• Therefore, the rapture must occur at or near the middle of the tribulation.

3.3 The Two Witnesses as a Type of the Church

Revelation 11 describes two prophetic witnesses in Jerusalem who minister for 1,260 days (3½ years), are killed, lie unburied, then are resurrected and caught up to heaven:

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“Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here!’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.”
— Revelation 11:12

Some mid‑tribulationists argue:

• The two witnesses symbolize the church or representative church saints.
• Their being caught up to heaven in the middle of the seventieth week pictures the rapture of the church.
• This catching up coincides with the seventh trumpet and thus with the “last trumpet” of 1 Corinthians 15.

Others (e.g., Buswell) do not see the witnesses as representing the church but still place their rapture and the church’s rapture together at mid‑week.

3.4 The First Half Is Not “The Wrath of God”

Mid‑tribulationists typically distinguish:

• First 3½ years: “beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8), largely characterized by man’s and Satan’s wrath—persecution, war, famine.
• Last 3½ years: “great tribulation” and “the day of the LORD,” characterized by God’s direct wrath (especially trumpet and bowl judgments).

Since the church is not appointed to wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9), they argue that:

• The church must be removed before God’s wrath begins.
• But it need not be removed before the first half, since that is not yet “the wrath of God.”

Thus the church is raptured mid‑tribulation, just before divine wrath falls in earnest.

4. Biblical Evaluation of Mid‑Tribulational Arguments

4.1 Is the First Half of the Week Free from God’s Wrath?

A critical claim of mid‑tribulationism is that God’s eschatological wrath begins only after the midpoint. But Revelation itself, in harmony with the Old Testament, presents the early judgments as clearly divine.

4.1.1 The Lamb Opens the Seals

Revelation 5–6 shows that it is the Lamb who opens the seals:

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“And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’…
And one of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’”
— Revelation 5:2, 5

Each seal judgment (Revelation 6:1–17; 8:1) proceeds from Christ’s own authority. Even when God uses human and demonic agents, the source is the throne of God.

The first four seals (the “four horsemen”) bring conquest, war, famine, and death—conditions the Old Testament repeatedly identifies as instruments of divine wrath (cf. Ezekiel 14:21; Leviticus 26:21–28; Deuteronomy 28:20–26).

4.1.2 The Wrath of the Lamb Declared at the Sixth Seal

At the sixth seal, unbelievers themselves recognize the source of these calamities:

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“…calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’”
— Revelation 6:16–17

The verb “has come” (Greek ēlthen) is aorist indicative, pointing to wrath that has already arrived and is now present, not merely about to begin. By the sixth seal, one‑quarter of the world’s population has already perished (Revelation 6:8), and the survivors interpret this as the outworking of God’s wrath, not merely human anger or satanic malice.

So, biblically:

• God’s wrath is already at work in the seal judgments, which unfold in the first part of the seventieth week.
• It is artificial to confine divine wrath to only the second half.

Since believers are explicitly promised deliverance “from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10), and “God has not destined us for wrath” (1 Thessalonians 5:9), consistency requires the church to be removed before the entire sequence of divine judgments begins, not only before its latter stages.

4.2 Does “Last Trumpet” = the Seventh Trumpet?

Mid‑tribulationism stands or falls largely on equating the “last trumpet” of 1 Corinthians 15:52 with the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15. But this identification is exegetically weak for several reasons.

4.2.1 Different Contexts and Functions

• In 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16, the trumpet is associated with:

  • The resurrection of church‑age believers.
  • The translation of the living.
  • The joyful gathering of the church to Christ.

• In Revelation 11:15, the seventh trumpet:

  • Announces further judgments and the impending kingdom.
  • Is explicitly one of a series of angelic trumpets of wrath (Revelation 8–11).

The trumpets have different purposes:

• The “last trumpet” of 1 Corinthians 15 is a trumpet of blessing, summoning saints to glory.
• The seventh trumpet of Revelation is a trumpet of judgment, heralding intensified woes on the unbelieving world.

Similarity of wording (“trumpet,” “last”) does not prove identity; context determines meaning.

4.2.2 “Last” in What Sense?

The adjective “last” (eschatos) in 1 Corinthians 15:52 need not mean “last in an absolute chronological series of all trumpets ever sounded.” More naturally:

• It is the last trumpet of the church age, associated with the completion of God’s program for the body of Christ.
• Jewish apocalyptic literature uses trumpets for a variety of eschatological events—judgment, assembly, deliverance. Scripture itself uses more than one eschatological trumpet (e.g., Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:52; Revelation 8–11).

Importantly, Matthew 24:31 mentions another trumpet, at the end of the tribulation, gathering elect survivors (primarily Israel) back to the land. It is at least as plausible to identify that end‑of‑tribulation trumpet as the “last” in a chronological sense as it is to identify the seventh trumpet.

Therefore, the “last trumpet” of 1 Corinthians 15 points not to the seventh trumpet of Revelation, but to the culminating, climactic signal of the church’s resurrection and rapture, which is distinct from the trumpets of tribulational judgment.

4.3 Are the Two Witnesses the Church?

Mid‑tribulationists who see the two witnesses as symbols of the church face serious problems.

1. Literal profile: The two witnesses prophesy in Jerusalem, perform specific miracles (calling down fire, shutting the sky, turning water to blood), are killed, lie dead in the street for 3½ days, and are then resurrected and taken up. This detailed description strongly suggests two literal individuals, not a corporate symbol.

2. Universal martyrdom? If the two witnesses represent the church, then:

   • The church’s entire ministry in the first half must be limited to Jerusalem.
   • The whole church must be killed and publicly displayed, for the world to gaze upon (Revelation 11:8–9).
   • Resurrection and rapture of the entire church would have to occur 3½ days after that universal martyrdom.

Such implications are both absurd and contrary to other prophetic passages.

1. Sequence with the seventh trumpet: Even if the two witnesses were symbolic, note that in Revelation 11 the witnesses are resurrected and taken up before the seventh trumpet sounds (Revelation 11:11–15). That order is opposite to 1 Corinthians 15:52, where:
   • The trumpet sounds, and then
   • The dead are raised and the living changed.

So, the identity of the witnesses and the timing of their ascension do not support a mid‑trib rapture.

The better interpretation is that the two witnesses are literal prophets (often associated with Moses and Elijah) who minister in Jerusalem in the first half of the week, and whose resurrection and ascension are a sign within the tribulation, not the rapture of the church.

4.4 The Structure and Purpose of Daniel’s Seventieth Week

Daniel 9:27 presents the seventieth week as a single, unified seven‑year period decreed upon Israel and Jerusalem:

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“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city…”
— Daniel 9:24

The purposes listed (Daniel 9:24) are specifically Jewish:

• To finish the transgression.
• To put an end to sin.
• To atone for iniquity.
• To bring in everlasting righteousness.
• To seal both vision and prophet.
• To anoint a most holy place.

Throughout Scripture, the tribulation is:

• “The time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7).
• A period that culminates in Israel’s national repentance and restoration (Jeremiah 30:7–9; Zechariah 12:10; Romans 11:25–27).

In contrast, the church:

• Is a mystery, not revealed in the Old Testament (Ephesians 3:3–6; Colossians 1:26–27).
• Began uniquely at Pentecost (Acts 2).
• Is distinct from Israel (1 Corinthians 10:32; Romans 11).

If the entire seventieth week is decreed upon Israel and her city for accomplishing God’s covenant purposes with them, it is unwarranted to insert the church into half of it. Consistent distinction between Israel and the church strongly favors the church’s removal before the seventieth week begins, not in the middle.

4.5 The Promise to Be Kept “From the Hour”

Revelation 3:10 is also decisive:

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“Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.”
— Revelation 3:10

Key observations:

• The promise is to be kept not merely from trial within the hour, but from the hour itself—the entire time period of global testing.
• The trial is said to come upon “the whole world,” indicating a worldwide tribulation, not a localized persecution.
• The phrase “those who dwell on the earth” is a technical term in Revelation for persistent unbelievers, never for the church.

The Greek phrase tēreō ek (“keep from”)—used also in John 17:15—best fits the sense of exemption from entering the time, not protection while remaining within it. To argue that the church will be guarded “through” most of the tribulation but removed at the midpoint does not do justice to the plain promise to be kept from the hour itself.

Coupled with 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:9 (“not destined for wrath”), this implies that the church is exempt from the entire eschatological time of wrath, not just its second half.

4.6 The Loss of Imminence

Mid‑tribulationism, by definition, denies that Christ’s coming for His church is imminent in the New Testament sense. If fixed, prophesied events—the signing of the covenant (Daniel 9:27), the rise of the ten‑nation coalition, the initial seals of Revelation, the abomination of desolation—must occur before the rapture, then:

• Believers cannot truly be watching for Christ “at any moment” (cf. Philippians 3:20; Titus 2:13; James 5:7–9).
• They must instead watch for a known prophetic timetable to unfold.

The New Testament, however, exhorts believers:

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“…to wait for his Son from heaven…”
— 1 Thessalonians 1:10

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“…waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…”
— Titus 2:13

This attitude of constant expectancy is natural if the rapture is signless and possible at any moment, but it is strained if we know we must first endure at least 3½ years of apocalyptic events.

5. Why the Church Is Exempt from All of Daniel’s Seventieth Week

From the preceding biblical data, a coherent picture emerges:

1. God’s wrath permeates the entire seventieth week, beginning with the opening of the first seal (Revelation 6).
2. The church is promised deliverance from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9) and to be kept from the hour of worldwide trial (Revelation 3:10).
3. Daniel’s seventieth week is decreed upon Israel and Jerusalem, to complete God’s covenant purposes with them (Daniel 9:24–27; Jeremiah 30:7).
4. The church is a distinct entity, formed in this age, not addressed in Old Testament tribulation prophecies, and conspicuously absent from Revelation 4–18 as an earthly community.
5. The rapture, presented as imminent, chronological prior to the Day of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:9), and as a comfort to saints, best fits as occurring before the onset of Daniel’s seventieth week—not in the middle or at the end.

Thus, the church is exempted not merely from half of Daniel’s seventieth week, but from all seven years. To place the rapture at mid‑tribulation:

• Minimizes the early seals as somehow less truly divine.
• Forces an unwarranted identification of trumpets.
• Misreads symbolic details (two witnesses) as church typology.
• Undermines imminence.
• Confuses Israel’s prophetic program with the church’s.

6. Conclusion

Mid‑tribulationalism seeks a mediating position between a pre‑tribulational rapture and the church’s endurance of the full tribulation. Its key pillars—the “last trumpet” equation, the representative role of the two witnesses, and the claim that the first half of the week is not really God’s wrath—do not withstand careful exegetical scrutiny.

Scripture presents Daniel’s seventieth week as a unified, divinely decreed period of judgment and restoration focused on Israel. From the opening of the seals, the judgments are explicitly the wrath of the Lamb. Yet the church is promised deliverance from that wrath and from the hour in which it falls, while being told to look continually for Christ’s return.

On this biblical foundation, it is best to understand that the church will be removed before the seventieth week begins, not at its midpoint. The rapture is not a mid‑tribulational rescue from half of God’s wrath, but a pre‑tribulational deliverance from the entire eschatological hour of trial that will come upon the whole world.

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“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:9