. So tell me, how can Jesus come on a white horse as described in Rev 19 unless He has already been married for at least one year?
Wait a minute. How can you apply old testament laws concerning human marriages to Christ's marriage to the Church? Those laws do not apply in this situation. Its not the sort of marriage described in the old testament. Christians today aren't required to keep old testament laws
because of the work of Christ. So how can he (being on the right hand of the Father) still be subject to them?
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready
So the marriage is occuring in Rev 19, immediately before the second coming.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean
I do understand your point here, but the post-trib position (at least the one I believe) holds that the rapture occurs immediately prior to the Second Coming (perhaps a half hour earlier... see Rev 8:1). Dead Christians are resurrected and alive Christians are caught up to be with the Lord just after the Great tribulation, as the 7 vials of God's wrath are being poured out (we're not subject to His wrath, so the vials aren't for us). The marriage then proceeds, and soon after we return with him in verse 14. I don't dispute your point of the church being in heaven, I just don't believe they've been there for 7 years (or more).
Now I'll state the 2 best proofs I have for a post-trib position and let you think on those...
#1 1 Thes. 4:15-17: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
These verses are normally taught to refer to the rapture. The dead are resurrected, and those who are alive are caught up (raptured) to be with the Lord forever. Right? Lets now look at Revelation 20:4-6:
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and
which had not worshipped the beast , neither his image,
neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection . Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
This passage in Rev 20 states that the
First Resurrection includes those people who had been through the great tribulation and refused the mark of the beast. If the first resurrection is after the great tribulation, how then can the rapture in 1 Thessalonians be before it (since the resurrection and rapture are simultaneous)? I believe these two passages teach clearly that there is only one rapture, and its after the mark of the beast.
#2 Read through Matthew 24.
Verses 29-31: Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 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.
Now, this same description of "sun darkened, moon not giving light, stars falling from heaven, powers of heavens shaken" is found elsewhere, mostly in the old testament where it refers to the "Day of the Lord." It is the beginning of God's wrath upon the world. See Joel 2:31, Amos 5:18, Acts 2:20, Eze 30:3.
Now, according to Matt 24:29-31, the Day of the Lord comes after the tribulation. And during this time,
everyone will see Jesus Christ returning. Now read verse 31. It says at this time he will send his angels to gather his elect (Christians). That's a rapture. So now, you can either believe in two raptures (pre-trib) or you can believe that the Lord Jesus was being truthful in his account of the endtimes. He did not mention a rapture
before the tribulation, he mentioned one after. Why would he leave out a pre-trib rapture if there was one? Was he trying to deceive us? No. He was being accurate in his prophecy.
A parallel account of verse 31 is found in Rev 14:14-19. This is where the angels "reap" the earth twice, once for believers first, then for unbelievers (the grapes, cast into the winepress of wrath). This is also a parallel of Christ's parable of the wheat and tares. Christians are raptured, while the heathen are cast into wrath. That fits pretty good with my position.
Thank the Lord this isnt a salvation issue
but its still an important topic to discuss. I was taught pre-trib most of my life, but after checking it out myself, I found too much scripture to the contrary. 1 Thes 5:21 says "Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good."