When Is The Rapture

The resurrection of the saints doesn’t just happen as a single event. It is part of a much larger series of events: the seven-year tribulation, the Second Coming of Jesus, and the millennial reign of Christ on earth. The question is: where does it fit on the timeline?

Many people believe in what is called the rapture of the church. The word rapture means “caught up.” You will not find the word rapture itself in the Bible, but the idea it communicates is in Scripture.

There is a day coming when the church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, but there is a lot of unnecessary debate about the timing of this event.

The Bible is not unclear on the subject. But when we misunderstand foundational Scriptures, we tend to misread the ones built on top of them. That’s what happens with the subject of the rapture.

So, in order to tell you where it fits biblically on the timeline—without debate—I need you to do something. For a few moments I want you to forget everything you think you already know about the rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to approach it with a fresh mind.

So I want you to forget when you think things happen and why you think they happen then. The only things I want you to remember are that there is a seven-year period of tribulation, Jesus is returning, there will be a resurrection, and we who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet the Lord.

Timing the Rapture Made Easy

Now, having forgotten when the trumpets sound, when the bowls of wrath are poured out, and the timing of everything, let’s look at the Scriptures and build our understanding from the ground up.

These passages give us clear information on the sequence of events:

1. The Lord Himself descends from heaven at the last trump.
2. The dead in Christ are raised from the dead.
3. Those who are alive and remain are caught up to meet them with the Lord in the clouds.
4. Jesus brings everyone who is now gathered with Him to earth (see Revelation 19 and Zechariah 14).

We can see that the resurrection happens at the Second Coming of Jesus at the last trumpet according to these verses. Even if the last trumpet were not the seventh trumpet in Revelation (which would require two last trumpets), Paul still tells us that this last trumpet happens at the appearing of Jesus. So no matter which trumpet you think this is, it is still tied to the return of Jesus.

I know that for some of you red flags are waving and warning sirens are sounding right now. But remember: I asked you to forget the sequence of events just for this exercise. I’ll be addressing those concerns shortly.

For now, let us look at these Scriptures and take from them what is clearly said. Jesus returns at the last trumpet, and at that point the dead in Christ are raised. Then those who are alive and remain are caught up to meet Him.

If we know when the last trumpet sounds—when the visible return of Jesus to earth occurs and when the dead are raised—we can pinpoint where on the timeline this event takes place.

This tells us that Jesus returns after the tribulation. It tells us that the last trumpet sounds after the tribulation. And it shows that it is after the tribulation that the saints—dead and alive, on earth and in heaven—will be gathered together with Him in the clouds.

According to the passages we just read, a simple, straight reading allows us to determine the timeline:

1. After the tribulation the Lord Himself descends from heaven at the last trump.
2. The dead in Christ are raised from the dead.
3. Those who are alive and remain are caught up to meet them with the Lord in the clouds.
4. Jesus brings everyone who is now gathered with Him to earth (Revelation 19; Zechariah 14).

This plainly explains that the rapture and the resurrection of the dead are after the tribulation—at the Second Coming of Jesus. That’s how simple this is. But many people will have warning bells going off about this.

Is it really that simple?

Why The Rapture Is Debated

As with everything in the scriptures, Satan likes to muddy the waters to make easy things seem difficult. That’s what is happening with this subject. What should be easy is clouded with confusion.

The warning bells going off in the heads of many people are screaming, “The rapture and the second coming are two different events! We are not appointed to wrath, so the church cannot go through the tribulation! And to top it all off, we aren’t supposed to know when Jesus will return. If we know it is after the tribulation, then that scripture would be wrong! You are calling the scriptures a liar!”

Suddenly, what was so simple and laid out so clearly in scripture has been drowned out by all of the teaching to the contrary over the centuries—by the confusion, the strife, and what we think we already know.

This is part of my favorite passage in the Bible. It reminds me that the scriptures are always true, but my understanding of them may not be. It has served me well to remember this about my own understanding and that of others. I hope you see why it is important here.

I am not trying to lie to you. I am not putting the scriptures at odds with each other. If it seems like there is a contradiction, it isn’t because I created one simply by quoting scripture. It is because there is something wrong with either my understanding of scripture, or yours.

This is why I asked you to put aside what you thought you knew just for a moment. I wanted you to read the scriptures and hear them by themselves without any outside voices trying to inject alternate meaning.

So let’s address those warning sirens now.

Tribulation, the Second Coming, and the Wrath of God

It is very true that we are not appointed to the wrath of God. However, an assumption is often made that the tribulation period itself is the wrath of God. That’s not a correct understanding of what happens in the tribulation.

We are told that this is actually a time of the wrath of Satan, not God. The events during the tribulation revolve around the antichrist and his war against the saints.

It is often confused with the wrath of God because the book of Revelation speaks of several apocalyptic events as the seven trumpets sound. It is often taught that these trumpets sound during the seven-year tribulation. But this is also incorrect.

The reason many believe the trumpets must take place before the end of the tribulation is because they misunderstand this passage, assuming it means Jesus immediately returns after the tribulation. So they think the trumpets must occur before it ends. But look again.

It says “immediately after the tribulation,” and then people skip straight to “then shall appear the sign of the Son of man.” But there are things that happen between those words. The sun is darkened, the moon ceases to shine, the stars fall, and the powers of heaven are shaken.

These are descriptions of some of the events that happen during the sounding of the seven trumpets. Yes—several events often said to be during the tribulation actually occur after it. Though Jesus doesn’t give a point-by-point list, He makes it clear there is an unknown span of time between the end of the tribulation and His visible return.

I will explain the timeline in greater detail in Unit 7. But even if the trumpets did sound during the tribulation, we must remember that throughout scripture God poured out His wrath on nations while His own people were still present within them. In fact, He even warns His people that if they remain in a certain city, they will share in its plagues (Revelation 18:4).

The wrath we are not appointed to is the final wrath of the judgment of God. Everything that happens before that is corrective. Even His people receive chastisement (Hebrews 12:8). But we are not appointed to the final wrath of His judgment.

So the screaming sirens claiming “we are not appointed to God’s wrath” and “we would know when Jesus returns” do not apply—because the tribulation is not the final wrath of God, and the last day of the tribulation is not the day Jesus returns.

The Hour of Temptation

It is often assumed the “hour of temptation” is the tribulation. That’s because the word temptation is usually understood negatively—as a temptation to sin. But a time of temptation can go both ways: it can be a temptation to sin, or a testing that leads to repentance.

We see that God has at times brought a period of testing on people. In Deuteronomy we are told that the plagues of Egypt (similar in some ways to those in Revelation) were great temptations from God intended to bring people to repentance.

The judgment God pours out upon the world after the tribulation is not simply for punishment. It is God giving people one last chance to repent. This is the hour of temptation—not a temptation to sin, but a testing designed to call men and women to repentance.

Every day we face temptation. But this “hour of temptation” is unique: it is singled out as a specific time and a specific testing. It is God using wrath to call people to repentance. This wrath follows the tribulation, and the saints are kept from it.

So, if we correctly understand these subjects, we can stop trying to alter the timeline given so clearly in the passages quoted earlier:

1. Jesus returns after the tribulation.
2. The dead in Christ are raised.
3. The church is caught up.
4. The saints return to earth with Jesus.

There is, however, one more objection. Even if there is no reason to alter the timeline, some will still ask, “Can’t the rapture and the Second Coming be two different events?” In other words, they ask whether there could be a rapture before the tribulation and another after it.

That idea has confused many people. The answer is no. I want to address it completely, so I will cover it in its own study next.

Continue To Unit 6:7 – Are The Rapture And Second Coming Different Events OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 6 – The Resurrection & the Big Picture