After these things I looked,
and behold, a door standing open in heaven.
And the first voice which I heard
was like a trumpet speaking with me,
saying, "Come up here,
and I will show you things
which must take place after this."
Immediately I was in the Spirit;
and behold, a throne set in heaven,
and One sat on the throne.
--John, Revelation 4:1-2, NKJV
The Rapture is an integral part of Biblical prophecy regarding events of the end times. In Jesus' ultimate eschatological discourse on the Mount of Olives, recorded in Matthew 24-25, half of his teaching was taken up by talking about the rapture. Though almost every New Testament epistle mentions the return of Jesus Christ, Paul alone dealt with the subject of the rapture. He was so energized by the thought that two of his earliest writings, First and Second Thessalonians, expanded specifically the doctrine of the rapture--revealing the who, what, where, when, why and how of it. In First Thessalonians and First Corinthians both, Paul emphasizes his own expectation that the imminent return of Christ will happen in his lifetime. It is the blessed hope of the church, the promise of Jesus to return, to receive us to himself, and take us to that place he has prepared for us in heaven. And one would think that in The Revelation, which puts summary to the whole of Bible prophecy, there would be a place for such an important doctrine as the Rapture of the Church.
Various attempts have been made to place the rapture elsewhere in the Revelation than in Chapter Four. Some have tried to find it in Revelation 7:9, 14 with the great multitude that no one can number. Others have looked for it in Revelation 11:12 with the resurrection and rapture of the two witnesses, or in Revelation 7:15 with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, or in Revelation 12:5 with the catching away of the Man-Child. Still others have pointed to Revelation 14:1-2, the rapture of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, or to Revelation 14:14-16 with the harvest of the earth. And some even wait to place it in Revelation 19:11, 14, making it synonymous with the return of Christ to earth.
But wherever one places the rapture in The Revelation, it has to be in agreement with all the prophetic revelation about the event that has come before.
In Matthew 24:37-39, Jesus compared the time of his coming to the days of Noah, in which God gathered Noah and his family into the ark to preserve them seven days before He sent the flood that annihilated the inhabitants of the planet.
In Luke 17:28-30, Jesus compared the time of his coming to the days of Lot, in which God delivered Lot and his family from Sodom before He sent the fire of heaven to consume the wicked cities of the plain.
In Luke 21:34-36, Jesus warned that the Day of judgment was coming upon all those who dwelt on the whole earth, but that believers should watch and pray to be counted worthy to escape all the things that would come to pass and stand in the presence of the Lord.
In 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, Paul warned that the Day of judgment and wrath was coming, but that Jesus would deliver believers from the wrath to come.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 9, Paul assured believers that they were not appointed to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation and physical rescue through the Lord Jesus Christ.
In 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8, Paul acknowledged the trouble inflicted upon believers in the world, but he reassured those believers that God would repay with tribulation and vengeance those who troubled the believers, while at the same time giving the believers rest.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, Paul revealed that the day of God's wrath and judgment would not, indeed could not, begin until the believers departed from this planet and the antichrist was revealed.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8, Paul said that the full power of lawlessness and antichrist would be held in check until that which restrains--the Holy Spirit working in and through the faithful church--is removed.
In Revelation 3:10-11, Jesus promised the faithful church that he would keep them from the hour of trial that would come upon the whole earth.
At least nine promises have been made throughout the course of the New Testament promising believers escape and deliverance before the time of God's judgment, vengeance, and wrath upon the earth and its inhabitants. Nine times, the Bible makes it explicitly clear judgment is coming, but that believers will be given safety and rest in the presence of God during that time. In my last post, I mentioned that the Revelation is a linear progression of events. So if the Rapture of the church must precede the judgment, otherwise known as The Tribulation, it must be placed before such judgment is described in the Revelation.
Revelation Chapter Six tells of Jesus opening a scroll sealed with seven seals. With the first seal, a spirit of conquest rides forth to conquer the earth. The second seal releases a spirit of conflict between nations and between people. The third seal inflicts a spirit of economic crisis. And the third seal unleashes death and hell upon the population. Each one of them is granted or given power, authority which can only come from God.
The fifth seal gives voice to the martyrs of Christianity, who cry out for vengeance and are told to wait a little while until their numbers are complete. They are given white robes of righteousness and told to rest a little while longer.
And when the sixth seal is broken, a great earthquake accompanied by cosmic signs shakes the entire earth so violently that every person on earth cries out to the mountain and rocks, "Hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come!" They weren't looking forward to an outpouring of God's wrath that was still future; they were experiencing it in the here and now of Revelation Six. The great day of God's wrath had come.
One more point, and then I'm finished for today. When John is caught up to heaven in Revelation Four to witness the things which must take place "after this", he sees first the throne shining with the brilliance of God's presence. And around the throne are twenty-four other thrones occupied by elders wearing white robes of righteousness and golden crowns of reward. Revelation 5:6 gives them harps of worship and bowls of intercession as well. I will not attempt to identify the twenty-four elders, except to say that they are representatives of all the Old and New Testament saints, chosen by God to sit around the throne as Jesus said in Matthew 20:23. And as saints, they have already stood before the judgment seat of Christ. They have already given account of all the works done in their lifetimes. And they have already received their rewards--robes, crowns, harps, bowls and thrones. How can this have happened for John to see it in the Revelation, unless the Rapture had already brought all believers, both the living and the dead, to heaven?
The conclusion then, regarding the timing of the Rapture and its place in the Revelation, is that it will happen in time the same way it happened to John. The Church Age is now, the Tribulation is coming, but between the two the church will be resurrected and transformed, raptured into heaven to face the judgment seat of Christ, receive their rewards and assignments for the kingdom, worship together around the throne, and participate in that great Marriage Supper of the Lamb before the King of kings directs us to the stables and says, "Mount up, friends! We're going back."
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