Ok, for one, in Revelation in the letter to the church in Philadelphia Jesus says, Revelation 3:10 "Because you have kept my commands I will keep you from the hour of trial that will come upon the whole earth". The letter to the Philadelphia church is the only letter that has no words of condemnation only commendation. This is why scholars know them as the Faithful Church. The "hour of trial" is the tribulation period. If you read verse 8 of the same letter you see this, "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an opened door, which no one can shut, because thou hast a little power, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name". This takes some connect the dots, so bear with me.
Remember, Philadelphia was the only Church with no harsh words directed at them, they are faithful. If you skip ahead to chapter 4 and verse 1 you would read this, Revelation 4:1 After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard as of a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show thee the things which must take place after these things. After this, the definitive statement. Remember, the FAITHFUL CHURCH, was told they had an open door in heaven. So after the voice from inside the door said Come up here John saw everything from then on from above the Earth. Implying that he was no longer on Earth, correct? John, St. John or John the Divine, it doesnt matter, John was the picture of the faithful. The phrase come up here, would signify, well, come up here. 95% of the Revelation of St. John is prophecy, so it is safe to say that come up here is a picture of the Rapture. Also, the term Rapture is never found in the Bible, but the term caught up is. Rapture means, to be caught up, so if St. John was told to come up here he was caught up.
The prophecies about the Rapture are not confined to Revelation or even the New Testament. But for now we will stay in the red words of Jesus. Matthew 24:38-41, For as they were in the days which were before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day on which Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not till the flood came and took all away; thus also shall be the coming of the Son of man. Then two shall be in the field, one is taken and one is left; two women grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left. Watch therefore, for ye know not in what hour your Lord comes. We do not know when the Lord will come, but when he does come there will be two standing side by side, the one will look over and his friend will be gone. By Jesus saying it will be like in the days of Noah before the flood he implies there will be peace and happiness. With the Post and Mid-tribulation theory the tribulation starts first, so how could there be peace in the tribulation? The word tribulation is mentioned all throughout scripture and implies just what it says, tribulation. So, once again if there is great peace, and then 1 of 2 is gone, there must be a pre-Tribulation Rapture.
So we have looked at Revelation 1, 3 and 4, and also Matthew 24 and we see that there will be great peace and then there will be disappearances. A pitcher will pitch the ball to the batter, but before the ball reaches the plate the batter is gone, half the crowd is gone, the umpire is gone, and all hell breaks loose. Ok, so in Revelation 3 we see that the faithful have an open door in Heaven that no one can shut. Later in chapter four we see that a voice comes from an open door in Heaven saying, Come up here. And in Matthew 24 we see there will be peace and then we (believers) will be gone, so a post-tribulation rapture cannot fit. But this is not all.
Like I have said before, the prophecies of the rapture are not confined to the New Testament. They are all over the Hebrew Scriptures; the clearest one I have found is in Isaiah chapter 11. In Isaiah we will see that the Lord will set his hand and recover the remnant of his people. Isaiah 11:11-12 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to acquire the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall lift up a banner to the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Ok, in this verse we see that the Lord God will spread out his hand and recover the remnant of his people. Verse twelve of Isaiah is almost exactly what Revelation says, with the exception of small differences in wording.
Revelation 7:1-8 And after this I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding fast the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it had been given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we shall have sealed the bondmen of our God upon their foreheads. And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel: out of the tribe of Juda, twelve thousand sealed; out of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Aser, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Nepthalim, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Zabulun, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand sealed. This is eerily similar to Isaiah 11:11-12. The outcast of Israel and Judah are gathered from the four corners of the earth by the four angels given charge over the elements. The angels will seal the believers on their forehead, I do not think they will convert them with there words. Most likely different preachers and evangelists will play a part in this. In both Isaiah and Revelation the dispersed are gathered from the four corners of the earth. I dont know if you see it, but I do.
The prophecies of the rapture can even bee seen as early as Genesis. In Genesis we see a man named Enoch, who is taken away by God into heaven. Genesis 5:24 And Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methushelah. And Enoch walked with God after he had begotten Methushelah three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. We know from Revelation 3:8 that those who are faithful will be spared from the tribulation. Enoch walked with God, this implies he was a faithful man. Why would a genealogy mention a simple walk in the park with God and then just say God took him? This is a prophecy about how those who walk with God will be taken away into Heaven, the Rapture.
We have seen that There will be peace and then we will disappear , we will be sitting in the ball park and be gone, the man sitting next to us will be covered in our empty clothes. We have seen that those who are faithful will be Raptured and spared the Great Tribulation.
It is true that most rapture prophecies are in the New Testament. If I were to elaborate on all the verses in the Pauline epistles, the Gospels and the rest of the Good Book I would be writing all day. If this doesnt change your mind about the timing of the rapture, I would be glad to give you so many more than this. But seeing as I have written a whole article on this, I will not continue. For now I hope this will suffice.
