THE RAPTURE ACCORDING TO PSALM 50:1-6
Two Phases of the Rapture of the Saints of God

Biblicl Research Society
Dr. David L. Cooper
October, 1950


God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked

A Psalm of Asaph

  1. The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken,
    And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
  2. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined forth.
  3. Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence: A fire devoureth before him,
    And it is very tempestuous round about him.
  4. He calleth to the heavens above, And to the earth, that he may judge his people:
  5. Gather my saints together unto me, Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
  6. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness; For God is judge himself [Selah] (Ps. 50:1-6).

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church

The Apostle Paul, in I Thessalonians 1:9,10, taught that the church will be raptured before the Tribulation: "For they themselves report concerning what manner of entering in we had unto you; and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come. To the Thessalonian Christians Paul said that they had turned from idols for two purposes: (1) To serve the true and living God; (2) to wait for His (God's Son) from heaven, "who delivereth us from the wrath to come," the wrath frequently mentioned in the Old Testament by the prophets, which God will pour out upon the earth at the conclusion of this age. Thus the Lord Jesus delivers the people of God from the Tribulation to come. It is clear from these and similar statements that the church of Jesus Christ will be raptured out of this world before the Tribulation judgments begin.

The Rapture of the Tribulation Saints

Psalm 50:1-6 sets forth the two different phases of the rapture of the saints of God: (1) The rapture of the church before the Tribulation; and (2) the rapture of the Tribulation saints at the end of that period of wrath. In order, however, that we may see these things, we must pay close attention to what is said in these six verses.

In verses 1 and 2 of this psalm we see a beautiful picture of our Lord and His reigning in Zion. These verses present a vision of the millennial Jerusalem. The words rendered in verse 1, "The Mighty One, God, Jehovah," are quite significant. That which is translated "The Mighty One" is in the plural number and is doubtless an echo of the doctrine of the Trinity, which was set forth by Moses and the prophets, as well as by the writers of the New Testament. The word rendered "God" is in the singular. That which is rendered "Jehovah" is the sacred name of the Eternal. But this memorial name has four significations in the Old Testament: In certain contexts it refers to the Holy Trinity; in other connections, to God the Father; in still other passages it refers to God the Son; and in yet other connections it designates the Holy Spirit. One must determine from the context its meaning in a given case.

When we take all the facts of this passage into consideration and read them in the light of related passages, we come to the conclusion that the one referred to here by the term God is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity. The reason for my making that statement is this: Here is a picture of God's reigning in Zion. Other passages show that God in the person of the Messiah is the one who is scheduled to reign there in glory and in power. He is therefore spoken of by the word God in the singular number. At the same time He is Jehovah who caused all things to come into existence, and who maintains all things by His omnipotence. But, as we have seen, the word rendered "Mighty God" is in the plural. This probably points to the significant fact that in Him, that is, in His flesh, dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9).

The Lord has called, through His ministers preaching His Word, all nations "from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof." Throughout the Christian centuries He has sent forth this call; He is sending it forth today; and we trust that it will continue to go forth until He comes in fulfillment of this passage and reigns in Zion. In fact, according to the prophetic word, there will arise a mighty army of 144,000 Hebrews who will bring about the mightiest revival of all the ages. (See Rev., chap. 7.) Thus in a peculiar and effective manner the Messiah will have called the whole world by and through these future Jewish evangelists.

But this language, while it includes all that I have just said, goes far beyond the callings which I have just mentioned. When He leaves glory, He will come with a shout and utter His voice so that it will be heard resounding throughout the entire world. This seems to be the significance of Jeremiah's statement: "Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation ..."(Jer. 25:30). When He comes to Mount Zion, He again will utter His voice and the heavens above and the earth beneath will reverberate with its echoes (Joel 3:16). It is probably to those utterances that our psalmist in 50:1 refers.

At that future time Zion, Jerusalem in Palestine, will be the perfection of beauty. It will be the joy spot of the whole earth. From it Jehovah the Messiah will shine forth in glory and splendor.

Having seen the glorious picture of King Messiah as He will reign in Mount Zion, in verse 3 the prophet goes back and describes the actual coming of Messiah to Mount Zion. In doing this, he is following what is recognized by all Bible students as the "law of recurrence." Having painted a beautiful word picture, the prophets frequently went back and enlarged or embellished the picture by further statements. In verse 3, therefore, the psalmist adds new information concerning the manner in which Jehovah Messiah will come to Zion. Throughout the whole Christian Dispensation, during which He has been seated at the right hand of the throne of God in heaven, He has kept silent. But when He leaves glory, He will break that silence and will come in flaming fire. Thus a fire will devour before Him and there will be a great tempest round about Him. The sacred writer in Psalm 97 foretold the same thing. So did the prophet Isaiah. The Apostle Paul likewise foretold the coming of the Lord in flaming fire, taking vengeance upon all who know not God and who obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (II Thess., chap. 1).

The Lord's coming in flaming fire with a tempest of wrath round about Him is His coming to the earth at the end of the Tribulation. About this proposition there can be no question--in the mind of the one who is well informed in the prophetic word. The coming mentioned in verse 3 of our psalm is therefore the coming of our Lord at the end of the Tribulation. With this thought firmly in mind, we are now ready to proceed to the next verse.

When He thus comes at the end of the Tribulation to establish His reign of righteousness upon the earth, He issues a twofold call: one to those in the heavens above; and the other to those in the earth beneath.

"He calleth to the heavens above,
And to the earth, that he may judge his people" (vs. 4).

This call to the heavens above and to the earth beneath is sounded forth in order that the Lord may judge His people. From this fact we conclude that some of His people will be in the heavens above, whereas others will be in the earth beneath. Who are those in the heavens above? Doubtless all who have died in Christ and all of those saints who will be raptured when the Lord descends from heaven to the air and raises the dead in Christ and catches up the living saints out of the world before the Tribulation begins. This psalm therefore presupposes the catching up of the saints, the church--the body of Christ--out of the world before the Tribulation. Thus the Lord gives the call to the celestial beings, doubtless commanding them to bring forth these who are in the heavens.

At the same time He issues the call with reference to the earth. Both calls are: "Gather my saints together unto me ..." The saints in the heavens above and those upon the earth beneath are to be gathered into one great place in order that the Lord may judge them.

Who are the saints upon the earth at the time of the coming of the Lord to the earth to set up His reign? There can be but one answer which is this: They are those who turn to the Lord after the rapture of the church and during the Tribulation. We call them the "Tribulation saints" because of the fact that they turn to the Lord and accept Christ under the influence of the preaching of the gospel by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who will carry forward the work of Christ after the church has been removed. That there is to be a mighty host of people who will turn to the Lord during the Tribulation is foretold by different prophets and is assumed by the Apostle Paul, especially in Second Thessalonians, and is declared, in so many words, by John in the seventh chapter of the Book of Revelations.

We are told by the Lord that those who believe on Him shall not come into judgment but have passed out of death into life. Their judgment occurred at the cross. The stroke that was due to fall upon them fell upon Him. They therefore do not come into the judgment of the world, which occurs after the thousand years' reign of our Lord (Rev. 20:11-15).

Into what judgment do they come? There can be but one answer, which is that they come before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in the body according to that which they have done, whether it be good or bad (II Cor. 5:10). Men are saved by the grace of God through faith. Saved people are to work for the Lord, who will reward them according to their works when they appear before the judgment seat of Christ. In view of all these facts and many others that could be mentioned, we must conclude that the Lord calls together all His saints--those in the heavens above and those in the earth beneath--and brings them before His judgment seat, where He rewards them for the services which they have rendered in His cause.

The saints who are thus to be rewarded at the time of this great assize of the saints are "Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice" (Ps. 50:5b). Friends, there is but one approach to God. Christ is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. He is the one sufficient and acceptable sacrifice that the sinner must bring to God by faith. Everyone who comes unto God through Him by faith is acceptable, not upon the basis of any merit of his own, but upon the worth and merit of the blood of the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. The blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. Nothing that man can do or say can add in anywise to the merit and the efficacy of the sacrifice of the all-sufficient Lamb of God.

All of us who have thus accepted the atonement of Christ have entered into covenant relationship with God by the blood of His sacrifice. We may be certain that, when the call comes that is set forth in this passage, we shall be gathered before the judgment seat of Christ to be judged in the sense of being judged as to the rewards which we are to receive for the things done in the body. May we, during our short sojourn here, give ourselves in full surrender to the Lord and to His service and thus lay up our treasures in heaven where moth does not corrupt nor thieves break through and steal.