Hi Garry
I posted your question at the
end of my response.
A pre-trib rapture is the only
rapture that "fits" in the Bible. What you quoted in Matthew
24:21 and Matthew 24:31 is concerning the Second Coming of
Jesus. This is exactly what will happen at the end of the
tribulation. But the "rapture" was a mystery and Jesus did
not reveal the "mystery" until AFTER the stoning of Stephen
at which time God called the apostle Paul to be a vessel for
the Gentiles.Paul tells us the mystery Gospel and the
mystery rapture was "hid" from previous generation.He said
God revealed the mystery to him and God called Paul to
be OUR apostle. God blinded Israel and put their program on
hold until the saving of the people(mostly
Gentiles) are complete during our dispensation. Once
God raptures up the believers(Body of Christ) then he
"starts back" the Gospel of the Kingdom and the previous
dispensation he had put on hold.
Romans 16
25 Now
to him that is of power to stablish you according to my
gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ,
according to the revelation of the mystery,
which was kept secret since the world
began,
Romans 11
25 For I would
not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own
conceits; that blindness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be
come in.
Ephesians
3
2 If
ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace
of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by
revelation he made known unto me the
mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,4 Whereby,
when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ)5 Which in
other ages was not made known unto
the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
1 Corinthians 15
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.
The above verses sorta walk you
through the basics of what happened. There are
many many verses in the Bible that support
this clear and logical understanding. The 12
apostles never talked about the rapture. Only
Paul did. The Jews are looking for Christ to
come back and rule on earth and they will
inherit the earth. They will be resurrected in
what Revelations calls the "first
resurrection". Too many people make the
mistake of thinking this is the rapture of the
Body of Christ. Clearly when Jesus had talked
to the apostles in Matthew 24 he was NOT
referring to the "mystery rapture". When John
wrote the book of Revelation he did NOT
know of the rapture. He was prophecying about
the Second Coming and the terrible time the
world would be going through.
I hope this helps
Thanks
Mike W
Garry B (10
Dec 2012)
"A
Pre-Tribulation Rapture - Maybe Not"
Doesn’t
a pre-tribulation rapture go against scripture
because Mat 24:21 is before Mat 24:31.
Matthew
24:21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as
was not since the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Matthew
24:31 “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.”
Strong’s
number for wind is 417. anemos an'-em-os from the
base of 109; wind; (plural) by implication, (the
four) quarters (of the earth):--wind.