Legacy · Q&A
Will the bride of Christ be caught up to meet Him before the time of great tribulation, during that time, or afterward?

Question:
Will the bride of Christ be caught up to meet Him before the time of great tribulation, during that time, or afterward?
Answer:
This is not a difficult question to answer as long as we are looking at what is in the Bible, rather than what isn't in the Bible; in regard to the subject. In I Thess. 4:15-17 we are told that the faithful, both dead and living, will be caught up to meet the Lord at His coming, when He "descends from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God..."
In I Cor. 15:51,52 we are again told that the elect, both dead and living shall be changed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (the living) shall be changed." And to be sure that this resurrection and change takes place at the Lord's appearing and coming, we have I Jn. 3:2 which states the same.
Now in Matt. 24: 29-31 we see very clearly that the elect of God will be gathered (or caught up) to meet Jesus at His appearing and coming, which, as the scripture states, is "immediately after" the time of great tribulation. This passage also states that this event will be accompanied by "a great sound of a trumpet." From this passage we also see that everyone on earth will see the Lord at this time, and mourn (because they will realize that they have been deceived, and that it's too late to change it).
In light of the plain facts set forth by these passages of scripture, the only way that there could be a rapture of the bride before Jesus comes visibly from heaven to destroy the wicked, is if there are actually two separate visible appearings and two separate second comings of the Lord; and these things simply do not exist in the Bible. What we have seen already from the Scriptures is that His appearing is at His coming, and this is when the bride is caught up to meet Him.
In Daniel 7:21,25, we are told that the man known as "the Beast" in the book of Revelation will make war with the saints, and prevail over them for "a time and times and the dividing of time," which is to say three and a half years. To this we can add Rev. 13:5,7 where we are told that the Beast will be given power to "continue forty two months" (three and a half years), and that he will "make war with the saints, and overcome them." In Matt. 24:15-24, in describing that same time period when the Beast and his "false prophet" are in full power, deceiving the world with "great signs and wonders," Jesus said plainly that "except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." It was this period that Jesus referred to as the time of the greatest tribulation in the history of the planet. And you may note that He did not say that the elect's time on the earth would be shortened by a secret catching away, but rather that the time remaining in the earth before his second coming would be shortened for their sakes. Honestly I can't think of anything that I'd rather be wrong about, but I have no choice but to believe the things that can be positively confirmed by consistency of scripture.
Now all of these things are evident, consistent scriptural realities. What cannot be found in the Bible however, is any secret rapture of the bride of Christ before the actual visible coming of the Lord to destroy the wicked (most of them anyway) and to set up His thousand year reign on earth, which is certainly after the time of "great tribulation." The coming of the Lord, in fact, is what will end the period of great tribulation. I know it's a cheery thought for one to believe he or she will escape the greatest persecution of the saints in all of history, but the truth is that one will have to die before that time comes, in order to do so. There is no scripture to substantiate the afore mentioned school of thought. Everyone who cleaves to that belief is putting themselves at risk to be deceived by the Beast and receive his mark.
I'm aware that many read this "pre-tribulation" or "mid-tribulation" rapture into certain passages in Revelation that do appear to be implying such (Rev. 4:4; Rev. 7:9-15; Rev. 14:14-16; Rev. 15:1,2; Rev.19:1). But these scriptures can only give speculation to that thinking if one believes that the book of Revelation is a book of continual chronological sequence from beginning to end, which it is not. And in any event, these passages that seem to imply this, certainly cannot alter the consistency and definitiveness of the scriptures that have been stated here that actually describe the catching up of the saints at the Lord's appearing and coming. And to be certain, revealed truths of God are never confirmed by seeming implication, but rather by consistent evidence of the Scriptures. May we humble ourselves to God, that He may allow us the grace to be prepared for such a time!



