It is often stated that since the church is not mentioned between Revelation 3:22 and Revelation 22:16, it is proof of a pre-tribulation rapture of the church.

When ministers and prophecy teachers make mention of there being no church between Revelation 3:22 and Revelation 22:16, they mean that the Greek word “ekklēsia” is not used.

In an earlier post titled “Dispensationalism and Historicism in Eschatology” I had reference my study of examining common arguments in biblical interpretation and this article is one of these. In fact, all of these articles are grouped together at the Dispensationalism vs Historicism topic.

So, here’s the propblem with relying on the absence of “church” in the events of the tribulation just because the word “ekklēsia” is not used…

There is also no mention of the “church” in the Gospel of John, the epistles of 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, and 2 John. The Greek word “ekklēsia” is not used in any of these books.

I certainly would not say that the absence of the word “church” in the Gospel of John, the epistles of 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, and 2 John, means that the events in these books are not related to the church.

So I am not so quick to agree that the absence of the word “church” between Revelation 3:22 and Revelation 22:16 is proof of a pre-tribulation rapture of the church.

There is a little more to it, and I know that some refer to the presence of “tribulation saints” as being present and involved in the events between Revelation 3:22 and Revelation 22:16, but that is an eisegetical assumption.

One has to read into the text and predetermine that saints are different than the saints that make up the church. In other words, there is no proof text for the assumption that there are “tribulation saints” in Revelation.

This article here is not going to attempt to exhaust the objections that may be raised but to merely deal with the subject of no use of the word “church” between Revelation 3 and Revelation 22.

If you want to delve deeper please read my earlier article “Approaching the Apocalypse” or contact me with you specific question on the Revelation.