The reason there seems to be so much debate over a pre-trib, mid-trib (pre-wrath), post-trib rapture is because the Holy Scriptures support all three views. There are actually three raptures. Please read on. We'll begin by taking a close look at Hanokh Hanokh was a foreshadowing of a pre-trib rapture. Genesis Ch 5:24 Hanokh walked with God, and then he wasn't there, because God took him. Hebrews Ch 11: 5 By trusting, Hanokh was taken away from this life without seeing death - "He was not to be found, because God took him away" - for he has been attested as having been, prior to being taken away, well pleasing to God. Hanokh was taken before the flood. Pre-trib. Next we'll look at Eliyahu Eliyahu is a foreshadowing of a mid-trib rapture. Eliyahu suffer great persecution before being taken up to Heaven. He also prayed that it would not rain for 3 1/2 years. Sometimes after the 3 1/2 years ended (we don't know when) Eliyhau was taken up to Heaven. 1 Kings Ch 18: 10 As ADONAI your God lives, there can't be a single nation or kingdom where my master hasn't sent to search you out; and in each kingdom or nation where they said, 'He isn't here,' he made them take an oath that they hadn't found you 1 Kings Ch 19: 10 He answered, "I have been very zealous for ADONAI the God of armies, because the people of Isra'el have abandoned your covenant, broken down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. Now I'm the only one left, and they're coming after me to kill me too." Finally we will look at YESHUA MESSIAH YESHUA MESSIAH is a foreshadowing of a post-trib rapture. After all of G-D's Wrath had been poured out on YESHUA and YESHUA suffered death but G-D rose HIM from the dead, YESHUA ascended into Heaven. John Ch 18:11 Yeshua said to Kefa, "Put your sword back in its scabbard! This is the cup the Father has given me; am I not to drink it?" Acts Ch 1: 9 After saying this, he was taken up before their eyes; and a cloud hid him from their sight. Now we have to investigate the scriptures that are most misunderstood and attach the scriptures to the proper timeline. 1Thessalonlian Ch 4: 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God's shofar; those who died united with the Messiah will be the first to rise; 17 then we who are left still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord. This is not the pre-trib rapture. This rapture is connected to Matthew Ch 24: 30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, all the tribes of the Land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with tremendous power and glory. 31 He will send out his angels with a great shofar;m and they will gather together his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Pay close attention to Matthew 24:29 first: "But immediately following the trouble of those times, the sun will grow dark, the moon will stop shining, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in heaven will be shaken After the trouble of those times YESHUA comes on the clouds of Heaven, not before. Now we will connect Matthew Ch 24: 30-31 and 1 Thessalonians Ch 4:6-17 to Revelation Ch 1 Revelation Ch 1: 7 Look! He is coming with the clouds! Every eye will see him, including those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the Land will mourn him. Yes! Amen! Let's go further and connect all of the beautiful books and verses to Zechariah Ch 12 Zechariah Ch 12: 10 and I will pour out on the house of David and on those living in Yerushalayim a spirit of grace and prayer; and they will look to me, whom they pierced." They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son; they will be in bitterness on his behalf like the bitterness for a firstborn son. This is the Post-trib rapture What about the mid-trib? Lets take a close look at Revelation Ch 6 and 14 We will first look at the 6th Seal: Revelation Ch 6: 12 Then I watched as he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, the sun turned black as sackcloth worn in mourning, and the full moon became blood-red. 13 The stars fell from heaven to earth just as a fig tree drops its figs when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 Then the earth's kings, the rulers, the generals, the rich and the mighty - indeed, everyone, slave and free - hid himself in caves and among the rocks in the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide usk from the face of the One sitting on the throne and from the fury of the Lamb! 17 For the Great Day of their fury has come, and who can stand?" The Seals are not G-D's Wrath. The Seals is a period of prosecution against G-D's people. G-D's Wrath begins after the Seals. Now, let us look at Luke Ch 17 Luke Ch 17: 26 "Also, at the time of the Son of Man, it will be just as it was at the time of Noach. 27 People ate and drank, and men and women married, right up until the day Noach entered the ark; then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, as it was in the time of Lot -- people ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built; 29 but the day Lot left S'dom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 That is how it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, if someone is on the roof with his belongings in his house, he must not go down to take them away. Similarly, if someone is in the field, he must not turn back -- Pay very close attention to verses 30 and 31. We see YESHUA saying that is how it will be on the day the Son of Man is Revealed (Revelation Ch 6:17). Now we connect Luke Ch 17: 31 to Matthew Ch 24: Matthew Ch 24: 15 "So when you see the abomination that causes devastation spoken about through the prophet Dani'el standing in the Holy Place" (let the reader understand the allusion), 16 "that will be the time for those in Y'hudah to escape to the hills. 17 If someone is on the roof, he must not go down to gather his belongings from his house; 18 if someone is in the field, he must not turn back to get his coat. So we clearly learn from this that the Abomination of the Desolation doesn't take place until the the sixth seal. When does the mid-trib rapture happen? Revelation Ch 14: 14 Then I looked, and there before me was a white cloud. Sitting on the cloud was someone like a Son of Man with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Another angel came out of the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, "Start using your sickle to reap, because the time to reap has come - the earth's harvest is ripe!" 16 The one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. (Remember: In Revelation Ch 6 we're taught this in verse 15: Then the earth's kings, the rulers, the generals, the rich and the mighty - indeed, everyone, slave and free - hid himself in caves and among the rocks in the mountains --if there are any believers on the earth why would they be hiding? They wouldn't be). Now, what about the pre-trib rapture? It is taught that Corinthians Ch 15 is the part of the pre-trib rapture. That is not true. Let's take a look 1 Corinthians Ch 15: 52 It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. Okay, first, let's explore the 'Final Shofar'. This is the final shofar at the end of YEHSHUA'S Millennial Kingdom, not before. The dead will be raised to live forever. People will be born and die on earth during YESHUA'S Millennial Kingdom. You notice that Paul says the 'Dead'. This means the Righteous and the wicked to be judged Revelation Ch 20: 11 Next I saw a great white throne and the One sitting on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing in front of the throne. Books were opened; and another book was opened, the Book of Life; and the dead were judged from what was written in the books, according to what they had done. When does the pre-trib rapture happen? Revelation Ch 12:5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, the one who will rule all the nations with a staff of iron. But her child was snatched up to God and his throne; The idea that the 'Bride' is raptured and we attend a wedding feast is not true. Why would we be attending a wedding feast when our brother and sisters who come to faith during the great tribulation (persecution) are being killed? We will be praying for them. The great persecution starts when the dragon is thrown out of Heaven Revelation Ch 12: 17 The dragon was infuriated over the woman and went off to fight the rest of her children, those who obey God's commands and bear witness to Yeshua. The male child--the Body of YESHUA--is raptured. I want to teach that it's vital to understand the importance of the scriptures concerning the raptures. This is my personal belief and I don't anyone to agree--and no one has too. I'm simply sharing in order to offer a broader view that may help some people put a few missing pieces together. We are all learning as we go. No one is perfect and no one has all the answers. We are here to encourage, love and help each other. In my next post I'll discuss why the Ezekiel Ch 38 and 39 War does not happen until after YESHUA'S Millennial Kingdom (Revelation Ch 20: 7 When the thousand years are over, the Adversary will be set free from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for the battle. Their number is countless as the sand on the seashore; 9 and they came up over the breadth of the Land and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.) It will only be during YESHUA'S Millennial Kingdom that Ezekiel Ch 38:11 comes to pass. Ezekiel Ch 38:11 You will say, "I am going to invade this land of unwalled villages; I will take by surprise these people who are at peace, living securely, all in places without walls, bars or gates. (Israel is not living in securely and in peace now and will not being do so during the great persecution). In love and in YESHUA'S Precious Name. Shalom and Blessings. Paul F