So where is the rapture in the book of Revelation? Matthew and Revelation - Why POST-Tribbers Confuse The Two
The Rapture - the raising of the Church into heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:17)—is the next event on the prophetic calendar. The Rapture is when Christ comes back and takes every born-again believer, whether dead or alive, that is on this earth... and takes them to heaven with Him. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8, Paul expresses that the Lord’s return will be like a "thief in the night". No one knows the date or time. However, there are several signs of the End Times that we can all be aware of. Events such as earthquakes and diseases, war and dispute among nations, and persecution against Christians, are all signs leading to the Rapture.
It's important to take note that both the rapture and the Second Coming, are spoken of in Matthew AND Revelation, shown in Revelation 4:1-2 where the catching up of John represents the future catching up of the Church:
Rev 1:19 - Write the things which you have seen (past), and the things which are (present), and the things which will take place after this. (future)
Heaven is opened only twice in the book of Revelation. Once to receive John, and one in Rev:19, where Jesus and the saints come out of Heaven to make war against the nations: ' The saints can't come out of heaven, if they weren't already raptured during the Church age! The tribulation period is ushered in...AFTER God raptures the Church! Rev 19:11: And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.' These two openings represent the rapture and the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. If we want to be part of this, we need first to have opened the door of our heart to the Lord, (Rev 3:20)
The Lord is Personally Involved
In Revelation John sees the Lord Jesus in glory (Rev 1:12-20) and then hears the Lord telling Him to come on up! In like manner, at the Rapture, it is the Lord who personally comes for His bride (the Church). 'For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first..' (1Th 4:16)
John heard a voice like a trumpet, just as believers will hear a trumpet when the Lord returns. (1 Thes 4:16)
There is a Command
John is given the command to 'Come up here'. At the rapture there will be a loud command (1 Thes 4:16) It could well be 'come up here'. Daniel was given a vision of the throne. But he remained on Earth. Isaiah and Ezekiel saw a vision of the throne and the Lord also. But none were commanded to 'come up here'. Why John? Because this is what will happen to believers at the rapture.
"The things which you have seen" refers to the vision of Jesus in Rev 1:12-16. The things WHICH ARE (currently present) are the churches, as described in chapters 2 and 3. The churches are never mentioned again, until later, when God's people, who were raptured, come back with him to fight in the battle of Armageddon. Now the church is not seen again on earth until chapter 19, when it returns dressed in white robes, with Christ in His Second Coming in power and in great glory. In the rapture, He comes silently "as a thief in the night" and only those in Christ, hear His trumpet call. In the Second Coming passages, He comes back visibly, powerfully and gloriously with the saints to establish His kingdom on earth for 1,000 years, known as “the millennial reign” of Christ.
Basically all prophecy experts recognize that as well as being literal churches in the days of John, they also represent the different types of churches and issues throughout Church history leading up to His return. Then John was told to write 'the things which take place after this'. After what? After the Church Age represented by the messages to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3. So everything from chapter 4 onwards, IS FUTURE, AFTER THE CHURCH AGE. That is why Revelation 4:1 states TWICE that the things from this point on are 'AFTER THIS' (ie after the churches and church age).
The following scriptures show that God will rapture the Church before the tribulation period:
1 Thes 1:9-10. 'They tell how you turned from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.'
1 Thes 5:4-5,9. 'But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness... For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rev 3:10. 'Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.'
Luke 21:36 'Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.'
Never do those who believe in a PRE-TRIBULATION rapture, use Matt 24:29-31 or Mark 13:24-27. Why would they? The timing of this gathering is clearly said to be 'AFTER the tribulation of those days'. These scriptures aren't speaking of the rapture of the Church, at all. They are speaking of the gathering of Israel, at the sound of the great trumpet, that has been prophesied in the Old Testament to occur at the end of the tribulation....the background to the Matthew (24:31) passage is Isaiah 27:12-13... the background to the Mark passage is Deut 30:4, which also emphasizes that the final restoration (of Israel) will come from two localities: earth and Heaven... Those who are gathered from the uttermost part of heaven, will be the resurrected Old Testament saints. This part of the Olivet discourse summarizes many Old Testament prophecies (eg Is 11:11-12:6, 43:5-7, Jer 23:5-8, 31:7-14, Ezek 11:16-21, 20:40-42, 36:22-31) specifying that the final worldwide restoration will come only after the Second Coming, and not before.
Those who believe in a post-tribulation rapture, often try to link the 'last trumpet' with the 7th trumpet sounded, in Revelation. But Revelation wasn't written at the time Paul was writing to the Corinthians, and as such, they would not have had any knowledge of the seven trumpets. It is evident from the fact that Paul used the term 'the last trump', that he expected the Corinthians to know what he was talking about. The only knowledge they would have of trumpets, are those spoken of in the Old Testament, especially those of the Feast of Trumpets. The last trump refers to the Feast of of Trumpets and the Jewish practice of blowing trumpets at this feast each year. During the ceremony there are a series of short trumpet sounds concluding with one long trumpet blast which is called the Tekiah Gedolah, the great trumpet blast. This is what Paul means by the last trump. As such, it says nothing concerning the timing of the rapture; only that the rapture, whenever it occurs, will fulfil the feast of trumpets.
So the last trumpet is a reference to the feast of trumpets, and as such, Paul was showing that just as the early feasts of Passover, Unleavened bread and Pentecost were fulfilled... so too, will the rapture be a fulfilling of the feast of trumpets. To try and link this to the trumpets in Revelation is pointless. It would not have made any sense to those whom Paul wrote to.
The promise of God - the Church will not see His wrath - Having the rapture at Rev 4:1-2 makes sense in terms of other promises of God to the church. We are specifically told that we will not experience God's wrath upon the earth. We are promised that the 'rescue' will occur before this time. Revelation 6-19 is all about God's wrath on an unbelieving world. So the rapture has to occur before this time.
Notice the verse in Revelation, twice says 'after these things'. It is repeated so we know it is important. But after what things exactly? If you know Revelation, you'll know this phrase has been spoken by Jesus previously, when he gave His threefold outline to the book: Rev 1:19 "Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.
1. 'the things which you have seen' is the Vision of Jesus (Rev 1:12-20)
2, 'the things that are' is the Church age (Rev 2-3)
3. 'the things that take place after this' is that which occurs after the Church age (tribulation, Messianic Kingdom, Eternal State - Rev Ch 4-22)
Rev 3:10 KJV - Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them.
It's important to take note that both the rapture and the Second Coming, are spoken of in Matthew AND Revelation, shown in Revelation 4:1-2 where the catching up of John represents the future catching up of the Church:
Rev 1:19 - Write the things which you have seen (past), and the things which are (present), and the things which will take place after this. (future)
Heaven is opened only twice in the book of Revelation. Once to receive John, and one in Rev:19, where Jesus and the saints come out of Heaven to make war against the nations: ' The saints can't come out of heaven, if they weren't already raptured during the Church age! The tribulation period is ushered in...AFTER God raptures the Church! Rev 19:11: And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.' These two openings represent the rapture and the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. If we want to be part of this, we need first to have opened the door of our heart to the Lord, (Rev 3:20)
The Lord is Personally Involved
In Revelation John sees the Lord Jesus in glory (Rev 1:12-20) and then hears the Lord telling Him to come on up! In like manner, at the Rapture, it is the Lord who personally comes for His bride (the Church). 'For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first..' (1Th 4:16)
John heard a voice like a trumpet, just as believers will hear a trumpet when the Lord returns. (1 Thes 4:16)
There is a Command
John is given the command to 'Come up here'. At the rapture there will be a loud command (1 Thes 4:16) It could well be 'come up here'. Daniel was given a vision of the throne. But he remained on Earth. Isaiah and Ezekiel saw a vision of the throne and the Lord also. But none were commanded to 'come up here'. Why John? Because this is what will happen to believers at the rapture.
"The things which you have seen" refers to the vision of Jesus in Rev 1:12-16. The things WHICH ARE (currently present) are the churches, as described in chapters 2 and 3. The churches are never mentioned again, until later, when God's people, who were raptured, come back with him to fight in the battle of Armageddon. Now the church is not seen again on earth until chapter 19, when it returns dressed in white robes, with Christ in His Second Coming in power and in great glory. In the rapture, He comes silently "as a thief in the night" and only those in Christ, hear His trumpet call. In the Second Coming passages, He comes back visibly, powerfully and gloriously with the saints to establish His kingdom on earth for 1,000 years, known as “the millennial reign” of Christ.
Basically all prophecy experts recognize that as well as being literal churches in the days of John, they also represent the different types of churches and issues throughout Church history leading up to His return. Then John was told to write 'the things which take place after this'. After what? After the Church Age represented by the messages to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3. So everything from chapter 4 onwards, IS FUTURE, AFTER THE CHURCH AGE. That is why Revelation 4:1 states TWICE that the things from this point on are 'AFTER THIS' (ie after the churches and church age).
The following scriptures show that God will rapture the Church before the tribulation period:
1 Thes 1:9-10. 'They tell how you turned from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.'
1 Thes 5:4-5,9. 'But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness... For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rev 3:10. 'Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.'
Luke 21:36 'Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.'
Never do those who believe in a PRE-TRIBULATION rapture, use Matt 24:29-31 or Mark 13:24-27. Why would they? The timing of this gathering is clearly said to be 'AFTER the tribulation of those days'. These scriptures aren't speaking of the rapture of the Church, at all. They are speaking of the gathering of Israel, at the sound of the great trumpet, that has been prophesied in the Old Testament to occur at the end of the tribulation....the background to the Matthew (24:31) passage is Isaiah 27:12-13... the background to the Mark passage is Deut 30:4, which also emphasizes that the final restoration (of Israel) will come from two localities: earth and Heaven... Those who are gathered from the uttermost part of heaven, will be the resurrected Old Testament saints. This part of the Olivet discourse summarizes many Old Testament prophecies (eg Is 11:11-12:6, 43:5-7, Jer 23:5-8, 31:7-14, Ezek 11:16-21, 20:40-42, 36:22-31) specifying that the final worldwide restoration will come only after the Second Coming, and not before.
Those who believe in a post-tribulation rapture, often try to link the 'last trumpet' with the 7th trumpet sounded, in Revelation. But Revelation wasn't written at the time Paul was writing to the Corinthians, and as such, they would not have had any knowledge of the seven trumpets. It is evident from the fact that Paul used the term 'the last trump', that he expected the Corinthians to know what he was talking about. The only knowledge they would have of trumpets, are those spoken of in the Old Testament, especially those of the Feast of Trumpets. The last trump refers to the Feast of of Trumpets and the Jewish practice of blowing trumpets at this feast each year. During the ceremony there are a series of short trumpet sounds concluding with one long trumpet blast which is called the Tekiah Gedolah, the great trumpet blast. This is what Paul means by the last trump. As such, it says nothing concerning the timing of the rapture; only that the rapture, whenever it occurs, will fulfil the feast of trumpets.
So the last trumpet is a reference to the feast of trumpets, and as such, Paul was showing that just as the early feasts of Passover, Unleavened bread and Pentecost were fulfilled... so too, will the rapture be a fulfilling of the feast of trumpets. To try and link this to the trumpets in Revelation is pointless. It would not have made any sense to those whom Paul wrote to.
The promise of God - the Church will not see His wrath - Having the rapture at Rev 4:1-2 makes sense in terms of other promises of God to the church. We are specifically told that we will not experience God's wrath upon the earth. We are promised that the 'rescue' will occur before this time. Revelation 6-19 is all about God's wrath on an unbelieving world. So the rapture has to occur before this time.
Notice the verse in Revelation, twice says 'after these things'. It is repeated so we know it is important. But after what things exactly? If you know Revelation, you'll know this phrase has been spoken by Jesus previously, when he gave His threefold outline to the book: Rev 1:19 "Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.
1. 'the things which you have seen' is the Vision of Jesus (Rev 1:12-20)
2, 'the things that are' is the Church age (Rev 2-3)
3. 'the things that take place after this' is that which occurs after the Church age (tribulation, Messianic Kingdom, Eternal State - Rev Ch 4-22)
Rev 3:10 KJV - Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them.
