Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. – Matthew 24:13
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 mentions that those caught up, or “raptured”, to meet the Lord meet Him in the air…
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
These Christians will ever be with the Lord, but they do not stay in the Air. They later appear in Heaven by the sixth seal judgment in Revelation as is read in Revelation 7:9-17…
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 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. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
These are said, by some, to be the tribulation saints because the above passage says they “came out of great tribulation”. However, if this were so, then who are these others who are these mentioned in Revelation 6:9-11 which discusses the earlier fifth seal judgment? …
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
It is evident that these who cry out for judgment here are the tribulation saints who must wait for their brothers and sisters, who were not martyred as yet, to be killed. Christians, from the church age, are not those who cry out to God for judgment as these do. Therefore, the great multitude mentioned in Revelation 7:9-17 are indeed the raptured saints of the Church.
Do notice that the raptured saints of the Church appear in Heaven, not at the end of the tribulation, nor at the middle of the tribulation, but near the beginning of the tribulation at the breaking of the sixth seal? This is before all the trumpet judgments. Therefore, do know that it is indeed a Pre-Tribulation Rapture and NOT a Mid-Tribulation Rapture nor a Post-Tribulation Rapture.
Further, the Scripture makes clear in Matthew 24:13 that you “know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh”. If the rapture were to occur at the middle or after the tribulation then it could be known the specific time of the Lord’s coming. Just calculate how many days are left after Israel signs the treaty covenant with the Antichrist as mentioned in Daniel 9:20-27 and someone would have a day-to-day countdown.
After so much preaching has been done to make these points clear, there are new Christian groups that preach again otherwise. IHOP (International House of Prayer), for example, does some very detailed teaching to attempt to prove a Post-Tribulation Rapture. Nonetheless, no sufficient answer is provided that accounts for Matthew 24:13 and other similar passages. No one knows the day or the hour the Lord Jesus comes, therefore, it MUST be a Pre-Tribulation Rapture. The Church saints appear in Heaven in Revelation before later events occur.
Before you are convinced by someone that you must stock up on items and prepare, do know it is not for the tribulation that you can prepare yourself for, unless it is that you, in fact, do not actually have trusting faith in God solely through His Son Jesus as you own Savior. About such kinds of preparations let us ask you, please, did God tell you to make them? If not, with whom really is your confidence? In God or with yourself? We encourage you to get your directions first from God.
Return to the previous page on the Forthcoming PreTribulation Rapture.
