Does Posttribulationism Have a Fatal Flaw?
Who Populates the Millennial Kingdom?
If all believers are glorified at Jesus’ return… and all unbelievers are judged… who remains in mortal bodies to enter the Millennial Kingdom?
This is not a trick question — it’s a theological contradiction that Posttribulationism cannot solve.
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What Posttribulationism Teaches:
•The rapture happens at the Second Coming — after the 7-year Tribulation (Matt 24:29–31, 1 Thess 4:16–17).
•All believers are caught up and glorified (1 Cor 15:51–52).
•All unbelievers are judged and removed (Rev 19:19–21).
•Then the Millennial Kingdom begins (Rev 20:1–6).
Problem: Who’s left in mortal bodies to marry, have children, and repopulate the earth?
Glorified saints don’t marry or reproduce (Luke 20:34–36).
Yet the Millennial Kingdom clearly has mortal people, children, sin, death, and even a final rebellion (Isaiah 65:20; Zechariah 14:16–19; Revelation 20:7–9).
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The Posttrib Response: “Some Unbelievers Slip Into the Kingdom”
Posttrib defenders attempt to explain this by appealing to several verses that seem to suggest unbelievers survive Armageddon and enter the Kingdom. Let’s look at them fairly — and biblically.
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1. Zechariah 14:16
“Then everyone who survives of all the nations that came against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Posttrib Argument:
Some of the nations who attacked Israel survive and are allowed to enter the Kingdom.
Biblical Response:
These survivors are not unrepentant rebels — they are believers from among the nations who came to faith during the Tribulation (Revelation 7:9–14).
They are the “sheep” of Matthew 25 — survivors in mortal bodies who enter the Kingdom and have children.
The worship requirements in Zechariah 14 apply to the descendants of these believing survivors, not to unbelieving rebels spared from judgment.
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2. Isaiah 65:20
“No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days… the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.”
Posttrib Argument:
This implies there are sinners in the Millennial Kingdom — so unbelievers must have entered.
Biblical Response:
Yes, there will be sinners — born during the Millennium, not carried in from the Tribulation.
The original “sheep” who enter the Kingdom are believers, but they are still in mortal bodies and will reproduce. Their children — like all human beings — must decide whether to follow Christ.
God does not have grandchildren — each soul must respond to the King (Ezekiel 18:20; John 1:12–13).
Some will rebel — and Revelation 20:7–9 shows that this rebellion will grow by the end of the 1,000 years.
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3. Psalm 72:9
“May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!”
Posttrib Argument:
Enemies still exist in the Kingdom and are forced to submit.
Biblical Response:
This speaks of outward submission during the reign of Christ — which is consistent with unregenerate descendants being born and subdued.
It doesn’t support the idea that enemies from Armageddon are spared and allowed into the Kingdom. The enemies of Christ who gather at His coming are destroyed (Revelation 19:17–21).
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4. Revelation 2:26–27
“The one who conquers… I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.”
Posttrib Argument:
There must be unbelievers in the Kingdom if ruling with a rod of iron is necessary.
Biblical Response:
Correct — but not original rebels.
It’s their offspring who will need correction and authority.
Psalm 2:9, which this verse quotes, prophetically declares Messiah’s iron rule, but nothing here implies that those ruled over entered the Kingdom as unbelievers.
They are born during the Millennium.
5. Matthew 22:11–13 (Parable of the Wedding Feast)
“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment… Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness.”
Posttrib Argument:
People might enter the Kingdom without truly belonging, and are later expelled.
Biblical Response:
This is a parable about the call to salvation.
It’s not describing people sneaking into the Millennial Kingdom.
The “wedding garment” represents the righteousness of Christ (Revelation 19:7–8), and the man without it was never saved.
It reinforces the truth that only the righteous enter the Kingdom — and false converts are judged.
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The Most Ignored Passage: The Sheep and Goats Judgment
Matthew 25:31–46 gives the clearest description of what happens when Jesus returns:
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory… He will separate people one from another…” (v.31–32)
Sheep:
•Called “righteous” (v.37)
•Inherit the Kingdom (v.34)
•Blessed by the Father
Goats:
•Are called “accursed” (v.41)
•Sent into eternal fire 
•They are not delayed or reviewed later — they are judged at His coming.
There is no third category.
There is no neutral party.
There is no probationary group.
The judgment is immediate, final, and global.
Matthew 25:32 — “Before Him will be gathered all the nations…”
This passage alone shatters the Posttrib idea of some goats slipping into the Kingdom.
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Only the Pretribulational View Resolves the Tension:
•The Church is raptured before the Tribulation (Rev 3:10; 1 Thess 5:9).
•A great multitude comes to faith during the Tribulation (Rev 7:9–14).
•These believers survive in mortal bodies and enter the Kingdom as the “sheep” (Matt 25:34).
•Their descendants fill the earth, worship the King (Zech 14), and are ruled with a rod of iron (Rev 2:27).
•Some will rebel at the end of the 1,000 years (Rev 20:7–9) — confirming that free will still exists under the perfect rule of Christ.
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The Bottom Line:
Posttribulationism, though sincere, collapses under the weight of Scripture.
It cannot account for mortal believers populating the Kingdom.
It undermines the finality of Jesus’ return.
And it opens the door to a Kingdom infiltrated by rebels, despite God’s clear Word.
God doesn’t have grandchildren. Every soul must choose.
And the only ones who enter the Kingdom at Christ’s return are those who’ve chosen to follow the King.