I have for a very long time stated that the "Great Tribulation" includes the entire NT era. We agree on that much apparently? But most people, when they mention the "Great Tribulation," are referring to the Reign of Antichrist, whether 7 years or 3.5 years. That's what I was referring to--the Reign of Antichrist.
What many miss though is that the 7th Trumpet is also the 3rd woe. The 3rd woe is Revelation 13, 17, and 18. Jesus has already been sitting in judgment in Jerusalem during the first 6 Trumpets and the 7 Thunders. The 7th Trumpet is declaring the final harvest over and now all nations and kingdoms have become those of Christ. Revelation 11:15
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever."
This is the end of Jacob's trouble and the GT. Then we see Satan is declared the 8th king, and the 42 month long Babylonian Empire, after the 7th Trumpet has already started to sound, as the 3rd woe. So people are so sure that there is going to be this 3rd woe, and that is all they talk about.
The only reason why there would be a 3rd woe, is that some humans will choose to chop their head off to avoid the mark that is instigated in the third woe. That is the ultimate decision during those 42 months. Not that there will or will not be an AC. The 7th Trumpet has declared time is up. So this is an extension of grace. But the catch is that only those beheaded will escape the second death. All alive by the end of the 42 months will have the mark.
Those beheaded are not mentioned in Revelation 7:9. Those beheaded are not mentioned in Revelation 14. Those beheaded are not mentioned in Revelation 15. The only place these beheaded are mentioned is in Revelation 20 after Satan is defeated and bound in the pit.
So there cannot be a rapture at the end of the 42 months. The 2 witnesses are killed at the end of the 42 months. A rapture is for those alive and remain. The beheaded are not raptured. They are not alive and remain. There is an ascension prior to the 42 months, because Jesus and the 144k vacate the throne and Jerusalem, as Satan is declared King. That is not a rapture, unless Acts 1 is considered a rapture. The 144k do not need to be changed. They were sealed and changed to withstand the GT during the Trumpets and Thunders. They were impervious to the woes, just like the 2 witnesses are impervious for 42 months, before Satan is given the authority to kill them. But the 2 witnesses are not changed. The same dead physical body, comes back to life and ascends into heaven. They literally lay there while the vials of God's wrath are poured out, and then leave before that earthquake shakes up Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not destroyed during that earthquake, but those still alive, do leave heading for Armageddon to fight against the Lamb.
"And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven."
"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found."
All of earth were evacuated and assembled at Armageddon, while the last of human works were leveled to make way for a new heavens and earth for the Millennial reign on the earth. It is reasonable and plausible to state the church was removed and had no part in this final harvest, because after all, the final harvest is to remove all of humanity one way or the other from the earth. Not even the final harvest goes through Satan's 42 months of AoD. Only those beheaded go through until the point they are beheaded. The 2 witnesses go through and are killed and lay dead for 3.5 days, the end of the week of the 7th Trumpet.
But what is meant by the last day? The last day of Adam's dead corruptible flesh? The last day of current creation? The last Day of the Lord? The last thousand years?
How about the church leaves on the last day of the church on earth? Then the church waits in Paradise until that last Day of the Lord is completed? The church rejoins all the nations on earth after the NHNE in the New Jerusalem. Paradise is still Paradise until the NHNE as well. The church is supposed to bring in the full harvest, no? There should not be any one left on earth unredeemed, if the church maintained the full power of the keys:
"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
The problem is the willingness of humanity to give up submission to God. The best case scenario is the church being the mountain that filled the entire earth. While we should expect the best outcome, why do people then accept the worse outcome and that Satan is allowed a 42 month extension so a few souls can be beheaded or even millions, when the church should have already had all those souls covered.
The issue is that some of the church will have to watch in shame while they would rather be on the earth during the final harvest making up for lost time. Not that the church is trying to escape something. Once Jesus is on the earth, that is it for the church. The door to their harvest has closed, and now it is the angels who will be doing the harvesting. That is the explanation Jesus gave in Matthew 13 and Matthew 25. The church watches from heaven, not stuck on the earth, wishing they had done more.
