The word “rapture” is not in the Bible. It refers to the “gathering of the saints”
2 Thess 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him
1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Common teaching
– It will happen before the final seven years begins
– It will happen in the middle of the final seven years
– It will happen at the end of the tribulation, at the end of the final seven years
The Abomination of Desolation
Matt 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Dan 11:31And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
The Antichrist
Dan 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
The Abomination of Desolation
2 Thess 2:1Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
The Rapture
These scriptures prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Rapture will not happen until after the Antichrist is revealed in the middle of the final seven years...
– When we see the man of sin
– He will be given power to rule for 3.5 years
– Then shall be great tribulation
– He will make war with the saints during this
– Our gathering together to the Lord will not come until after this
Matt 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
If this is the first resurrection, then it is impossible for any other pre tribulation resurrection (so called rapture) to exist.
The Rapture – with a trumpet
● Matt 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet
● 1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
● 1 Cor 15:51-53 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
● Isa 13:9,10 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
● Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
● Matt 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Matt 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
The days of tribulation are shortened for the sake of the elect. This implies that the elect would be present on earth during the tribulation.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
The Lord has already warned us about these things, so that we would not be caught unawares. For many false Christs and false prophets would appear and deceive many- if possible, the very elect.
2 Pet 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Apostle Peter records that when the Lord returns as a “thief in the night”, there shall be a great noise and the heavens shall pass away. This statement very strongly argues that it is when Christ returns at the Armageddon, and not during some imaginary pre-tribulation rapture.
The Trumpet of God:
Another contention among the people is that the trumpet of God would sound, and the dead in Christ would rise first, and then “we who are alive and remain” would be “raptured” into the sky BEFORE THE TRIBULATION. However, a closer look at this verse and numerous others would point otherwise.
1 Thes 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
It is indeed true that at the sound of the trumpet we shall all be caught up into the air, not heaven. But when does the trumpet sound? Not before the tribulation, but after it!
Matt 24: 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
There is only ONE great day of the Lord, and it is after the tribulation, when he appears as King and sets his foot on the Mount of Olives. This is again established by apostle Paul:
1 Cor 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
The dead in Christ would rise and we who are alive would be changed only at the LAST TRUMPET, not before it. So the idea that the church would be taken away before the tribulation is an extra-biblical conception.
The Mystery of God is finished
Rev 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Tim 3:16 Tells us that the mystery is that God was manifest in the flesh! It's the identity of Jesus that is the mystery of God. So, when Jesus is revealed as He appears in the sky to gather His saints, the mystery is finished.
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him
Where is the Rapture described in the Bible?
Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
This above scripture symbolises the actual rapture of God’s people just before the vials are poured out.
But aren’t we saved from the coming wrath?
Wait a minute! But doesn’t 1Thess 5:9 say that God has not appointed us to wrath?!
The great tribulation is the wrath of Satan, not the wrath of God. We have been handed over to Satan for 3.5 years.
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
The devil will be cast to earth having great wrath for 3.5 years, the last half of the final week of years. This 3.5 years will be the great tribulation. It will be Satan's wrath as he knows his time is very short. (Revelation 12)
Rev 12:12 the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
However, the wrath of God are the Vials (Rev 15:1 and Rev 16:1)
Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
And, God specifically tells us that we will not suffer the wrath (of God) to come.
1 Thess 1:10 ...Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come
Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
1 Thess 5:9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who will suffer Great Tribulation?
Rev 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Those that come out of great tribulation in this passage are the Saints of God.
“Come up hither”
Rev 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Many people interpret the phrase “come up hither” as a symbolized rapture of the church. However, the Bible doesn’t indicate so. It was simply Jesus speaking to Apostle John, and there doesn’t exist any basis for wrongly assuming the rapture.
Is the Church missing after Rev 4:1?
Pre-tribulationists argue that the term “Church” is missing after Rev 4:1. They claim that this is an indication of the church being raptured before the tribulation. However, it is not so. The terms “Church” and “Saints” have been used interchangeably in the Bible.
Look at the below examples:
1 Cor 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints
Eph 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus
Phil 1:1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus
Col 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse:
The term “saints” appears throughout the book of Revelation (through the tribulation period).
Summary:
1. When the Lord returns it will be as the lightning flashes across the sky. It will be with a shout, with the sound of the trumpet, with power and glory. Every eye shall see Him.
2. It will be a surprise to the world as the Antichrist is ruling a one world government and proclaiming peace and safety, then the Lord will come.
3. When He comes, the saints will be gathered to Him in the air, in the clouds.
4. Then will we see the wrath of God poured out on the world.
5. Then He will descend on the nations gathered against Israel, and wipe them out and destroy the Antichrist.
6. When He touches down on the Mount of Olives, there will be an earthquake bigger than the world has ever seen.
7. He will set up His kingdom and put down the leading nations and destroy the fourth beast of Daniel 7- the last ruling One World government that the Antichrist is using to rule the world (the iron mingled with clay of Daniel 2)