First the Rapture by John Frederick Strombeck
First Edition, 1950

First the Rapture
John Frederick Strombeck (1881-1959), author
Moline IL: Strombeck Agency, Inc., 1950
197 pages. .5.25 x 7.5 inches, 19 cm.
Second Edition, 1951
Distributed to retail stores by Van Kampen Press, Wheaton, Ill.
(reprinted by Kregel Publications, 1992)

This blog post offering by Mary Katherine May by QualityMusicandBooks.com.

LINK to Short biography of John Frederick Strombeck as published in Dictionary of Premillennial Theology: A Practical Guide to the People, Viewpoints and History of Prophetic Studies. Mal Couch, General Editor. Grand Rapids MI: Kregel Publications, 1996. This book is out of print. LINK to this book on Abebooks.com. Also available in some libraries.

LINK to First the Rapture book copies for purchase on Abebooks.com.
LINK to book copies of The Strombeck Collection: The Collected Works of J.F. Strombeck on Alibris.com.

Foreword by M.R. DeHaan
"Take heed that no man deceive you." Matthew 24:4
Christians everywhere in all ages have believed in the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  One cannot believe the Bible without also believing in the personal return of our Lord and Saviour.  But all Christians, however, are by no means agreed on the time, the order and the details of the events prophesied and associated with this blessed hope.  Great differences of opinion and interpretation have existed and do exist among those who believe in the fact of His return, but are at variance on the details.  As a result great confusion exists in the minds of many with the inevitable result that many have become cold and indifferent to the coming of the Lord Jesus.

Brother Strombeck has succeeded in dispelling in  a Scriptural way this confusion by his logical and Scriptural discussion of the truth of the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ.  I have read with great profit and joy the manuscript of this newest volume, and when I had finished, three words stood out boldly in my mind which seemed to characterize the treatment in this volume of the truth of "That Blessed Hope," the pre-tribulation rapture of the body of Christ.  These three words which stood out were SCRIPTURAL, TIMELY and THOROUGH.  The test of truth is, of course, the Scriptures, and this volume contains an abundance of Scriptural proof.  No work could be more timely in these days when so many voices would twists the Scriptures and rob the believer of the only hope which is left in a fast-decaying age.  The treatment is also thorough, both from a positive and a negative approach.  Of special blessing and value are the chapters on the Parousia, the Trumpets, a somewhat new light on the Parables in Matthew 13, and the treatment of that precious verse, Revelation 3:10.

For many years I have taught the following order of events:

1. The Secret Resurrection and Rapture of the Believers.
2. The Day of the Lord and the Tribulation.
3. The Battle of Armageddon.
4. The Public Second Coming of Christ to the Earth.
5. The Establishment of the Messianic Kingdom.
6. The Last Rebellion at the End of the Millenium.
7. The Judgment of the Wicked Dead.

Brother Strombeck's book has greatly confirmed my conviction that this basic outline is the key of the proper understanding of prophecy.  Everything fits into this framework.  Ignoring this order leads only to confusion.  May God use this timely treatise of this vital subject to establish the saints, and to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Preface by J.M. Strombeck

The present age is an age of great anxiety because of the catastrophic events that have been predicted.  The late H.G. Wells is quoted as having said, "This world is at the end of its tether.  The end of everything we call life is close at hand."  A great general has said, "We have had our last chance.  Armageddon is at hand," and the governor of a great state has said, "At least 90% of all Americans now living will be killed by atom bombs within five years."

The fulfillment of these predictions can be nothing less than the great tribulation foretold by Jesus in the Olivet discourse.  "The end of everything we call life" would surely come but for the words of Jesus, "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Matt. 24:22).

All who believe in the imminent coming of the Lord to catch up His Church need have no fear for "those days" because that event shall transpire before these things come upon the inhabitants of the earth.

The purpose of this book is to bring assurance and peace to the hearts of true believers at a time when so many are proclaiming that the Church will go through the tribulation.  It has been written with the encouragement of several outstanding evangelical leaders and with the cooperation of a number of the Bible scholars well versed in theology and in the original Greek and Hebrew tests.  It is hoped that the reading hereof may result in a greater longing and "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Titus 2:13).

CONTENTS

Part One

   I.     Introduction

  II.    The Lord's Second Advent to the Earth

 III.   Christ's Coming for the Church

 IV.    The Day of the Lord

  V.    The Tribulation 

 VI.    The Tribulation and the Day of the Lord

VII.    The Church Age and the Seventieth Week of Israel

VIII.   The Parousia of the Son of Man and the Lord Jesus Christ

 IX.    The Manifestation of the Parousia

  X.     Not Appointed unto Wrath

 XI.     The Restrainer Taken Out of the Way

XII.     At the Last Trump

XIII.   The Argument from Silence

XIV.   The Church in Heaven During the Tribulation

 XV.    God's Vision for the Church

Part Two

XVI.    Introduction to Part Two

XVII.  The Elect and the Saints of the End Time

XVIII. The Parousia According to the Post Tribulation View

  XIX.  The Post-Tribulation View of the Rapture and the Day of the Lord

   XX.  The Parables of Matthew Thirteen

 XXI.  Miscellaneous Arguments Answered

XXII.  When Shall the Dead in Christ Be Raised?

Christian Books by J.F. Strombeck
1936   Shall Never Perish
1939   Grace and Truth: Studies in John's Gospel
1940   So Great Salvation
1946   Disciplined by Grace: Studies in Christian Conduct
1948   God Loves You!
1950   First the Rapture