Will we meet Jesus in the clouds at our pre-tribulation rapture?

Will we meet Jesus in the clouds at our pre-tribulation rapture

The Bible is very clear that Jesus will appear in the clouds at the END of the 7-years of Tribulation.

Read the following verses carefully: Revelation 1:5-7; Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:29-31; Matthew 26:64; Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-27.

When Jesus appears in the clouds, it will be for the following reasons,

  1. To save the remnant of Israel in the wilderness
  2. To destroy the kingdom of the Antichrist
  3. To judge the false prophet, the Antichrist and cast Satan into the pit for 1000-years
  4. To judge the Gentile nations (aka, the sheep and goats judgement)
  5. To set up His Millennial Kingdom

Since the above list of events is clearly presented in the Bible and synonymous with Christ's second coming, at the END of the 7-year tribulation, it is surprising that so many 'pre-tribulation' believing Christians think that the rapture of the Body of Christ will occur with Jesus appearing in the clouds.

Now, just to make sure you understand me. I'm not saying the rapture of the Body of Christ will be post-trib! Not at all. The Bible is clear that the Body of Christ has to be removed off this earth first, so that the next dispensation (specific for Israel) can resume. What I am saying is that we will be raptured at least 7-years BEFORE Jesus returns on the clouds. So, Jesus only appears ONCE in the clouds, and this is when He arrives to execute the list of events above. 

When our rapture takes place, Jesus calls us upwards to meet Him in the heavens. In other words, we are raptured before Jesus has even left heaven in order to come to earth. Our rapture is a silent rapture. There will be no visible appearing of Christ in the clouds, there will be no trumpet blast, and there will be no resurrection of the dead from the graves at our rapture. There will simply be a 'shout', a call for His body to come up to heaven, a call that we will hear but the unbelieving world will not hear. It will be similar to when Jesus appeared to Saul in Acts 9. Saul saw and heard Jesus, but his travel companions only heard a sound and saw a light. In other words, they did not know what happened to Saul. They were deluded and confused, much like the world will be after we are taken.

Many Christians today connect the following two scripture passages to our rapture,

The multi-phase sequence of Christ's return

1 Thessalonians 4:16  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: 17  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.

The multi-phase sequence of the rapture events

1 Corinthians 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52  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 shall be changed. 

There is much more detail connected to these two famous scriptures that many are not aware of. Paul was provided with the revelation of the sequence of the end times events, 1 Corinthians 15:22-24. These two passages provide us with a summary of the ENTIRE 'multi-phase' return of Christ, from the SHOUT (in a MOMENT), which is our call into heaven, to His appearing in the clouds 7-years later (at the VOICE of the angel and TWINKLING of an eye), and to the inauguration of His earthly kingdom at the sound of a TRUMPET.

If you are interested in studying this for yourself, you can get all the details from my extensive study on this matter in the 12-part series called: The Stages of Christ's Ascension and Return.

Jesus indeed does come on the clouds, but this is only at the end of the tribulation. We are indeed raptured pre-trib, but our rapture is silent and the world will be thrown into delusion and will account it to some alien abduction as part of the great lie in the last 7-years. So, we meet Christ at the rapture, but we meet Him instantaneously in heaven, not in the clouds. We wait for His heavenly call, not for His visible appearing in the clouds. Maranatha!



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