All this talk about a rapture BEFORE the tribulation, you’d think there’d be plenty of biblical evidence to support this purported assumption.
What exactly is The Rapture?
The rapture is supposedly the time just before the Tribulation when Christ returns for his people, those living at that specific time as well as for those dead during that same period. The dead in Christ will rise FIRST and then those who are alive will also be caught up together with them, where both parties will then meet the Lord in the air basically at the same time and therefore, miss out having to go through the Beast system- or The Great Tribulation period that’s about to take place on the earth.
1Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first.
1Thessalonoans 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord.
So since some of the dead will be raised during this period, a far more appropriate word for the rapture is- The Resurrection! Besides that, The Resurrection is biblical, The Rapture isn’t!
But when exactly does this rapture or resurrection take place, before or after the tribulation? Well, Christ Himself gives us the answer and please notice the similarities in blue from both Matthew and Thessalonians.
Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give its light; and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew 24:31 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.
So Christ says this event takes place AFTER the Tribulation, NOT BEFORE!
