Updated Monday 14 October 2024.
THE BIBLICAL TIMING of THE RAPTURE
To know what is Written in the Scriptures is part of understanding The Whole Counsel of God and where we are on His Prophetic Calendar. As I have explained in The Two Forms of Christianity, since AD 325 there has been a pagan Romanised State Recognised version of Christianity imposed on the western world. This has steadily become the world view of Christianity. And one of the erroneous things that the Roman Version introduced is the doctrine of Pre-Tribulation Rapture.
I have done the research, and it dates from the late 1800’s when the western church was doctrinally very weak, and Darwin and Evolution Theory was on the upsurge. It was done to hide the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters (nations). This was achieved by the Emperor Constantine in AD 325 when he merged the worship of Rome’s pagan deities with the worship of saints and angels. Both of which are abominations in the Lord’s eyes.
The Scriptures don’t use the word rapture. But it is used to describe a time of gathering or catching up of the saints. The Lord Himself teaches it in the gospels; and the apostles teach it through the letters of the New Testament. It is taught in the context of The Second Coming of The Son of Man, often referred to as The Second Coming of Christ. And there are many references in Scripture to this gathering. Here are some of them.
1) “One will be taken and the other left.”
That’s from Matthew 24:37-43. “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
The Master himself is referring to this time as, “The hour the thief would come.”
2) “The Bridegroom is Coming! Go out to meet Him, for The Wedding is here.”
That’s in Matthew 25.1-30. “Then the Kingdom of Heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but The Wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!”
Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But The Wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’
And while they went to buy, The Bridegroom Came, and those who were ready went in with Him to The Wedding. And The Door was SHUT.”
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
The lesson is clear.
The bride and the wedding guests must be shining and ready for His expected return. This enormous gathering is described in Revelation chapter 7. The 144,000 of the tribes of Israel. And also a great multitude that no one could number of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. These are they who came out of the great tribulation.
3) It is “In Christ All will be Made Alive at His Coming.”
That’s in 1 Corinthians 15. This whole chapter majors on the resurrection and explains how the dead are raised, and in what order they come.
Notice the timing. For those who are Christ’s, it is “at His Coming.”
4) We shall all be changed at the last trumpet.
1 Corinthians 15. 50-53 tells us why we have to be ‘made alive at His Coming’.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood CANNOT inherit The Kingdom of God!
Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep or die, but we shall all be changed.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMPET.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this mortal must put on immortality.
5) ” And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
That’s in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.
“For this we say to you by The Word of The Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of The Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For The Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 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 thus we shall always be with The Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
Paul, in other Scriptures tells us when he is speaking ‘as a man’ or ‘as the oracle of God’. This “By The Word of The Lord” is the strongest possible exhortation that any man can speak by.
6) “The Day of The LORD so comes as A Thief In The Night.”
That’s in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.
“But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that The Day of The LORD so comes as A Thief In The Night.”
7) “The Great Deliverance of Every One Found Written In The Book.”
Daniel 7:21-22.
“I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgement was made in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.
Daniel 12.
“At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Everyone Who Is Found Written In The Book.
8) And in Revelation 20:4-6 it is “The First Resurrection”.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgement was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
This is The First Resurrection.
Blessed and Holy is he who has part in The First Resurrection.
Over such The Second Death has No Power.”
The Second Death is The Great White Throne Judgement and The Lake of Fire at the end of The Thousand Year Reign with Christ from Jerusalem. Rev 20.11-15.
Notice the timing of the first resurrection. It is after the mark of the beast.
I am instructed to “Write The Vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2.2)
Now is the time to release it.
“For where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint and perish” (Proverbs 29.18 AV)
I was reading all the words of Jesus, both in the New Testament and as prompted in the Old. So, when the vision came and the Scriptures began to open up, I had recently read the books of Daniel and Revelation, and I could see that in nowhere in the book was there a fairy tale escape of the saints before all the trouble started. In fact, the saints seem to be there in the thick of it and exhorted and rewarded for their patience and faith in those times.
Daniel 7.21-27.
“I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, Until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgement was made in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute [lit. wear out] the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. [1,260 days in Revelation 12.6 &14]. But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole Heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High.
It is similar in Revelation 13.7-10
It was granted to him [the beast with seven heads and ten horns] to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
I could see that “the saints” meant us. Daniel uses ‘Saints’ to depict those ‘who will be given the kingdom’ ‘the people of The Most High’ ‘the people who know their God’; and in Revelation the saints have ‘patience and faith’ in the end times.
Paul the apostle to the Gentiles, was before conversion a Pharisee of the Pharisees and a great man of the Law. He does not use Old Testament words like ‘saint’ lightly. And yet he uses this term in no uncertain terms, in the New Testament, for us who believe. There are many Scriptures on this, but my favourite perhaps, is that in Ephesians 4, where the grace, the gifts to men, and the ministries are given by the Risen Ascended Lord for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come to the unity of THE FAITH and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.
That is the risen ascended Lord Jesus working to His uttermost in the believers, so that we too may be ‘grown up’ and about His Father’s Business. And to stand in the faith, no matter what age or difficulty we may live through.
1 Peter 1.10-20. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
As you read on, we are going to see what manner of time was indicated.
To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you by the Holy Spirit. Things which the angels desire to look into.
How much more should we look into them?
1 Corinthians 1.2.
To The Church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all who in every place call on the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Both the Old testament and the New refer to us the believers as ‘the saints’ – redeemed, washed, sanctified and set apart, by the precious blood of Jesus. For when He appears, we shall be like Him. That “through exceedingly great and precious promises, we may be partakers of The Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1.4.
The exhortation of the end-time Scriptures is to “Watch and pray” – and in the Hymns, “take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord.”
“It is expedient that I go, that I may send The Holy Spirit to you.”
“I will not leave you comfortless. I AND My Father will come to you.”
The advent of The Mark of the beast should be quite obvious. But remember that this is the work of the ‘deceiver of nations’, and more to the point, it is part of The Lord’s design that “that day [His Day] will come as a snare upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.” Therefore, take care that you are not embroiled, and ensnared with the “cares, and carousing, of this life, and that day come on you unexpectedly.” Luke 21.34,35. For it is at this time in the Scriptures that the kingdom of heaven is likened to “ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise and five foolish.” Matthew 25.
When will this be?
The season of His Second Coming may be fairly obvious, but, in The Lord’s own words –
“Of that day and hour NO ONE knows, not even the angels of Heaven, but My Father only.” (Matthew 24.36 and Mark 13.32) So it is no good asking Him “When will this be?” in terms of time.
So, I asked the Lord,
“Where is the rapture in Scripture?”
And much like Daniel, He showed me and made me understand.
“Behold, I am coming as a thief” in Revelation 16 verse 15.
Please take some time out with The Lord on that for a while and read the whole of Revelation Chapter 16 to see the context of it.
We can see that this does refer to the rapture, because it matches His own words and description of the event in the gospels. It also has the exhortation to Watch. More important perhaps, the book of Revelation ends with the warning “not to add to These things” nor “to take away from the words of the book of this prophecy”. So, when He says “Behold, I am coming as a thief” – about this time in the prophecy I am wholly persuaded that He is coming “as a thief” at this time as recorded in The Scriptures.
But the Lord did not just leave it there. It was like a door of understanding had opened into heaven, and He began to show me many Scriptures that confirmed the word and the pattern of His coming. I pray that too will be your experience.
Revelation 16 tells us much about the timing of the rapture.
The chapter is chronological, so we see things in time-order.
The “Thief” comes in the time of the sixth vial, which is the time of the gathering to Armageddon.
It is well after the first vial, which is poured out on them that have the Mark of the beast.
It is after every living creature in the sea dies.
It is after the rivers and springs become blood.
It is after men are scorched with great heat.
It is after the darkness in the kingdom of the beast.
It is even after the great river Euphrates dries up to prepare a way for the kings of the east.
And it is before the seventh vial, because in other Scriptures we see that we, the saints, are with Him when He delivers the fierceness of His wrath in verse 19.
So, let’s explore these points in more detail.
1. Revelation Chapter 16 is chronological, in time order.
Revelation 16 is a fairly simple, chronological chapter, listing the seven vials of the wrath of God. We can see that the chapter is chronological, because the vials are listed as ‘first’, ‘Then the second’, ‘Then the third’ etc. In other words, they come in time order. This is important and in turn reveals the promise of the rapture at or about the time of the sixth vial. And again, because it is chronological, the promise reveals the position and timing of the ‘rapture’ within the prophetic calendar of these Scriptures.
2. The Promise of His coming “as a thief”
This is revealed at or about the time of the gathering of “the kings of the earth and of the whole world to the battle of that Great Day of God Almighty to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon (Lit. Mount Megiddo).” Revelation 16.14 &16.
Note that no one here is trying to fix a ‘day or hour’ of the rapture. No one, “not even the angels of Heaven, nor even the Son knows the day or the hour, only the Father” (Mark 13.32) But what the ‘vision’ has done is to place the event much more precisely in the time scale of Scripture, and the so-called prophetic calendar.
There is a lot happening in each verse of Revelation 16, and we cannot precisely tell if the promised rapture is ‘at the gathering’ ‘during the gathering’ or ‘before the gathering, as the three unclean spirits go out to the kings of the earth’. The activity of the three unclean spirits ‘performing signs to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty’ (v14) may well be quite spectacular and well reported.
We are not dealing with tiny little bits of doctrine here, or single verses of complex doctrinal issues. We are dealing with whole chapters and blocks of Scripture. Big pieces of a Big Plan. A minister once explained that if a subject was important to The Lord there would be a lot of Scripture on it, not just a memory verse here and there. His example was Love and 1 Corinthians 13. A whole chapter on love, and a lot more besides, because love is important to The Lord. Likewise, the end times. There are whole chapters in the gospels; whole chapters and blocks in the prophets; and nearly whole books in Daniel and Revelation. The end times are important to The Lord. After all, it is His Great and Terrible Day.
If you don’t find a personal Saviour and Lord in the Scriptures, you will have missed the point. And you have missed the person who is the beginning and the end of all this glorious prophecy, the Creator and the climax of the whole of Earthly, and Heavenly, history. HIS STORY, our great reason for being here, is “That He may bring many sons to glory.”
Matthew 28.18-20. Jesus said,
“All Authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on Earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in The Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and Lo I am with you Always, even to the end of the age.”
That gathering of ‘the kings of the earth and of the whole world’ to the place called Armageddon, will not happen suddenly in five minutes, neither will it be done in a corner. It should be fairly obvious to the ‘watching’ world that at that time there is a great build-up of international military force against Israel. (Zechariah 12.2-3,14.1-4, and Daniel 11.40-45. Luke 21.28-34, Mark 11.27-32 and Matthew 24.31-36 are similar).
“Now when These things begin to happen, LOOK UP and lift up your heads, BECAUSE YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWS NEAR. But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you unexpectedly.”
3. It is after the First Vial of The Wrath of God. (Revelation 16.2)
Vial is rendered ‘bowl’ in the NKJV, but I prefer to use vial from the AV, it sounds more potent, and more indicative of the wrath of God.
Remember this is chronological, and it tells us that The Mark of THE BEAST has already happened, well before the promise of the rapture. The foul and loathsome sore that the first vial causes, comes upon ‘the men who had The Mark and those who worshiped his image’.
The advent of ‘The Mark’ is described at the end of Revelation 13.
The consequences for those who take ‘The Mark’ in chapter 14.
Those who get the victory over the beast and ‘The Mark’, in chapter 15.
And the seven last plagues, or vials of the wrath of God in chapter 16.
Revelation 13. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns. And all the world marvelled and followed the beast. And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months (three and a half years). It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the ‘Lamb’s Book of Life’. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Then I saw another beast and he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark of the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
Do Not Take The Mark!
Revelation 14. “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives ‘The Mark’ of his name.”
Here is the patience of the saints.
Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.
Revelation 15. Then I saw another sign in Heaven, Great and Marvellous; seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
After These things I looked, and behold, The Temple of The Tabernacle of The Testimony in Heaven was opened. And out of The Temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues. The Temple was filled with smoke from The Glory of God and from His Power, and NO ONE was able to enter The Temple TILL the seven plagues of the seven angels WERE COMPLETED.
4. It is after Every Living Creature in the sea DIES.
Revelation 16.3. Then the second angel poured out his vial on the sea, and it became blood as a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.
5. It is after The Rivers and Springs become Blood.
Revelation 16.4. Then the third angel poured out his vial on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.”
6. It is after men are Scorched with Great Heat.
Revelation 16.8. Then the fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.
Revelation 7.16-17. “They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Hebrews 11.37-12.4. “Wandering, destitute, afflicted, tormented in deserts and mountains – of whom the world was not worthy.”
8. It is after The Great River Euphrates dries up.
Revelation 16.12-14. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the Earth and of the whole world, to gather them to The Battle of that Great Day of God Almighty.
“Behold, I Come As A Thief.
Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”
And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
All these events of the first six vials should be fairly obvious and well reported news items. For us who believe and refuse to worship the image of the beast, or to take the mark, there are the religious and legal implications of Revelation 13.15, and the financial and domestic implications of not being able to buy or sell, in verse 17. In the world there are medical and ecological disasters, and war like preparations against Israel, all great favourites with the international media.
There is no reason why anyone should be caught out by these events.
Watch and pray – there are definite signs of the times to watch for. And The Lord is merciful, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
This is the time of the promise of his coming as a thief.
But He is not coming “as a thief” in order to catch you out as a believer, or to steal your partner or family away and leave you behind. He is coming “as a thief” to steal us, the body of Christ away from the world; away from the captivity and the persecution of those times; away from the “sudden destruction” that will come upon the nations; away into the glorious presence of The King, the reward that is “the inheritance of all His saints”; away to be “His bride” [Mat 25.1-13. Revelation 21.9], “His wife” [Revelation 19.7-8], “His army of heaven” [Revelation19.14], and eventually “the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God…” [Revelation 21.9-11].
The Lord is not making any mistakes here or causing anything that might be mis-construed as ‘injustice’. This is the fulfilment of His Great and Terrible Day of The Lord, His enormous harvest, both of tares and of wheat.
A Great Day for the wheat. But a Terrible Day for the tares.
This gathering, further described in Revelation 19, is seen as “The Marriage Supper of The Lamb!”
Revelation 19.7-9. And His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”
Even more remarkable, is that this just precedes the treading of the “winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” [Revelation 19.15], and “the armies in Heaven, clothed in fine linen, White and Clean, follow Him on White Horses.”
Revelation 19.11-21. Now I saw Heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in Righteousness He Judges and makes War. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His Name is called The Word of God. And the Armies in Heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, follow Him on white horses.
The “armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” sounds very much like us, the saints, from Revelation 19.8. And this is confirmed in Jude 14, a prophecy of Enoch, who walked with God, and was not, because God took him.
Jude 14. “Behold, The Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgement on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” [in Hebrew ten thousands is the highest their numerical system could count to.]
Continuing in Revelation 19.15.
Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (That matches the seventh vial of the wrath of God, in Revelation 16.19.)
16. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a Name Written:
King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
17. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun! and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven,
“Come and gather together for The Supper of The Great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”
19. And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
20. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
So, the saints appear with Him, following on white horses, as He delivers the final vial, “the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
Brethren, I do not see anywhere in this, the saints ‘hanging out in heaven’ for three and a half years, or seven years, or enjoying heaven while the Lord is away dealing with the nations. We are with Him.
And we are with Him in the “patience and faith of the saints”; in the suffering and persecution promised to “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus”; and in the victory, and in the ruling and reigning for a thousand years.