This article has been written as part of a series of studies that present varied interpretations of different aspects of eschatology. It is an area where there are many different viewpoints, and we want to encourage healthy and constructive discussion and thought. We encourage readers to reflect on the various studies put forward, and we very much welcome comments that are made in a respectful and thoughtful manner that reflects the brotherly love we should have for one another. If you wish to contribute an article to this particular series, then you can find our guidelines here. This is the second of three looking at the timing of the rapture; the first is available here. 

I long to be in the presence of the Lord, and I am certain many readers will be feeling this too. With the escalation of world events in recent times, the subject of the end times and the rapture of the Church is flooding social media platforms more than at any time I have seen in the past ten years.

When I first became a follower of Christ in 1992, I knew nothing about this future event. Yet the moment I cried out to God to save me, the Holy Spirit gave me a simple, child-like faith that Jesus will come and ‘whisk us away’, saving his followers from this evil world and delivering us from the wrath of God that will be poured out during the end times on those who have rejected him.

But as the years went by, my initial child-like faith on this subject became tested to the point of confusion. The Bible says that God is not the author of confusion, (1 Corinthians 14:33) so I prayed and asked Him if he would shine His light on the truth, for it must be contained within his word.

I felt a deep conviction that I was to embark upon a mission to look for ‘buried treasure’, and in 2014 the Lord led me into a time of intense study concerning the rapture. What I discovered led me to write a chapter about this subject in my latest book, Antichrist Arising – Global Chaos and its Prophesied Solution.

Revelation – a chronological vision

In my search for the whereabouts of the bride of Christ during the end times, I was drawn straight to the Book of Revelation. It contains the chronological visions that Jesus himself gave to his angel to give to the apostle John of all that is happening, and is going to happen, upon the earth (Revelation 1:1-2).

Chapters 2-3 contain Jesus’ letters to the churches with his warnings to wake up and repent of their spiritual slumber and sin, and turn back to uncompromising obedience to his word. Chapters 4-6 contain Jesus’ detailed revelation of what will be taking place upon the earth in the time that, in three of the gospels, Jesus refers to as the ‘birth pains’. These events will occur prior to the final outpouring of God’s wrath upon the world in the Great Tribulation, the majority of which is revealed from Chapter 8 onwards.

You will notice above that I have not mentioned Revelation chapter 7. Something of immense significance happens in chapter 7 which has taken me almost thirty years to recognise and understand. I will share my thoughts on this shortly.

Many believers wonder at what point the Church will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thes 4:13-18 AMP). A pre-tribulation view has a belief that the rapture will occur at the end of Revelation chapter 3, which would be before the events of the birth pains begin. However, in my study of the order of events in the book of Revelation, after Jesus’ warnings to the churches in chapters 2 and 3, he does not give any indication of the rapture at this point. I then studied Revelation chapters 4-6, which is what is generally believed to be describing the birth pains events upon this earth, yet I could not find any mention of the rapture within those chapters either.

We will endure the birth pains

For a great part of my life as a believer, I have personally hoped in a pre-tribulation rapture. However, after my time of study, I realised that my pre-tribulation hope seemed to be contrary to what I was reading in Scripture. This understanding came to me when reading Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. In these Gospel accounts, Jesus warns believers about what will happen during the time of the birth pains, and he says that we will see these things begin to happen.

It finally dawned on me – If it is God’s intention to rapture the Church before the birth pains events even begin, why did Jesus warn nearly 2,000 years ago that his followers would see these events happen? This question propelled me to look more deeply at what is written in the book of Revelation, and the order in which the visions of events are all revealed to John.

If it is God’s intention to rapture the Church before the birth pains events even begin, why did Jesus warn nearly 2,000 years ago that his followers would see these events happen?

What I began to understand was this: the fact that there is no further mention of the Church after Revelation chapter 3 does not definitively mean that believers have been raptured at that point. It would seem more likely that Jesus gave his warning letters to the churches (and that includes churches today) knowing that we would be on this earth to endure the time of the birth pains.

The details of these events begin to unfold in Revelation chapter 5 where the Lamb (Jesus) takes the scroll containing the seven seals. Chapter 6 is the graphic description of the opening and outpouring of the first five seals, (what is believed to be the events of the birth pains), which culminates at the end of Revelation 6:11. It is believed by many that the events of the sixth and seventh seals form part of the final Great Tribulation.

With my desire to be taken up in a pre-tribulation rapture, I have found it quite difficult to discover that, from what I was reading in Scripture, my long-held hope may not actually be the case. It appears to me that a pre-tribulation rapture (before the beginning of any of the birth pains events) does not seem to fit with what Jesus has said in the Gospels, or with the purpose of His warning letters to the churches in Revelation chapters 2-3.

So, if believers are not taken up into heaven in a pre-tribulation rapture before the time of the birth pains, we would have to conclude that the Church is still on the earth to witness all these events. If this is the case, we must trust in Jesus to deliver us out of this world before the wrath of God falls upon the earth in the Great Tribulation.

The apostle Paul made it plain that,

“God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” – 1 Thessalonians 5:9 KJV (emphasis added)

The Church being taken from the earth immediately before the Great Tribulation is known as the mid-tribulation rapture. In support of this, you will remember that, earlier, I mentioned that something significant happens in Revelation chapter 7.

The vision of Revelation 7 – the rapture

I would now like to share with you what I believe has been a ‘lightbulb’ moment for me with regards to the timing of the rapture:

At the opening of the sixth seal in the vision given in Revelation chapter 6:12-17, which begins God’s Great Tribulation wrath on the earth, that vision then comes to a sudden halt, and changes dramatically into the stunning vision given in chapter 7.

The events of the vision of Revelation chapter 7 are written directly after what John was instructed to write concerning the birth pains events recorded in Revelation chapter 6. What the angel shows to John in Revelation 7 is something that must be fulfilled before the unstoppable outpouring of the wrath of God in the Great Tribulation (described from Revelation chapter 8 onwards).

So, let’s have a look at this vision given in Revelation 7.

John is shown what seems to be a specific ‘interlude’ where God’s angels are told to hold back from unleashing any further destruction upon the earth so that a significant event can be fulfilled.

The first part of the interlude

John is firstly shown that four angels are commanded to seal the foreheads of the 144,000 servants of the Lord from the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev 7:2-8).

The second part of the interlude

After the angel has shown John the birth pains events (mentioned in Revelation chapter 6), and then God’s seal being placed on the foreheads of the 144,000 Jewish followers of Jesus Christ (in chapter 7:2-8), he is then shown the incredible vision of the multitude of believers in heaven! (Rev 7:9-17).

In this passage from the King James Version, the angel shows John the great multitude in white robes, from every nation of the world, standing before the throne of God and the Lamb. He is told that these people are those who have “come out of great tribulation”.

Delivered out of great tribulation

It is important to note that the KJV text does not say they have ‘come out of the Great Tribulation’. (Many modern translations of the Bible have changed this text to read “come out of the Great Tribulation”, which effectively changes its whole meaning.) Whilst I often refer to several translations in my studies, I was given to understand that the KJV presents us with the most accurate rendering of the original text, and as such, my understanding is that the multitude in white have been delivered out of (or from) great tribulation.

In Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the word for this ‘whisking away’ event is harpazō. Its meaning is:

• to seize, carry off by force.
• to seize on, claim for oneself eagerly.
• to snatch out or away.

Additionally, the Latin word for harpazō is rapturo from where we derive the English word rapture. This describes the coming of Jesus (the Bridegroom) to seize, carry off by force, snatch away and claim for himself his bride (his faithful followers) from the earth just moments before the final wrath of God is poured out upon the world.

To “come out of great tribulation” would suggest that believers must be in a period of great tribulation to some degree, such as being on the earth during the time of the birth pains events, which are a time of ‘great tribulation’ in themselves. Therefore, I believe that to “come out of great tribulation” can mean being delivered out of any tribulation and is not solely related to the period known as the Great Tribulation.

As God is not the author of confusion, we must believe that he would not present to us the full events of the end times in a haphazard order. As such, it is at this point in the book of Revelation that I believe the angel of the Lord is showing John that the Bride of Christ has been raptured and is standing before the throne of God.

As God is not the author of confusion, we must believe that he would not present to us the full events of the end times in a haphazard order. As such, it is at this point in the book of Revelation that I believe the angel of the Lord is showing John that the Bride of Christ has been raptured and is standing before the throne of God.

At the opening of the sixth seal

I believe that the Rapture occurs in the twinkling of an eye, at the precise moment that the sixth seal of God’s wrath is opened, which would seem to occur at the same time as God’s seal is placed on the foreheads of those 144,000 Jewish followers of Christ. It is believed that they will remain on the earth to preach the gospel during the Great Tribulation period, especially to their own people, the nation of Israel, calling those who are left behind on the earth to repent and turn to Christ. (The seemingly separate rapture of these 144,000 people appears to occur during the Great Tribulation where they are shown to be with the Lamb (Jesus) and in the presence of God (Rev 14:1-5).

When we look at what is happening on this earth today, particularly over the past two years, it would appear that these birth pains events are now converging and are unrelenting.

I believe that all three events – rapture, sixth seal, and sealing of the 144,000 – occur simultaneously. But because each event is written as separate visions in our Bibles (with the chapters and verses inserted later), our mind can tend to assume that the opening of the sixth seal, and the sealing of the 144,000, and the vision of the great multitude in heaven are all totally separate events.

Most Biblical scholars would agree that the time of the birth pains began, to some extent, the moment Jesus ascended into heaven. The birth pains of Revelation 5 and 6 are an intensification of that process – ones that precede the outpouring of God’s wrath. History shows that these events have escalated exponentially since the nation of Israel was reborn on 14th May 1948, fulfilling Bible prophecy. When we look at what is happening on this earth today, particularly over the past two years, it would appear that these birth pains events are now converging and are unrelenting.

In view of this, let us take comfort in Jesus’ powerful words that, to me, speak clearly of a mid-tribulation rapture:
“Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” – Luke 21:36 KJV (emphasis added)