The Pre-tribulation Rapture is False!

This Bible study is a careful examination of the Holy Scriptures that will expose the error of the popular pre-tribulation rapture teaching that many television and radio evangelists are preaching today. The apostle Paul stated that the rapture would not occur until two specific events take place:

    “But relative to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and our gathering together to [meet] Him, we beg you, brethren, not to allow your minds to be quickly unsettled…to the effect that the day of the Lord has [already] arrived and is here. Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy come first [unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come], and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition)…and now you know what is restraining him [from being revealed at this time]; it is so that he may be manifested (revealed) in his own [appointed] time. For the mystery of lawlessness (that hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority) is already at work in the world, [but it is] restrained only until he who restrains is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one (the antichrist) will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by His appearing at His coming.” II Thessalonians 2:1-8 (AMP)

       1) The apostasy has to come first, which is that predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians.

       2) The antichrist is revealed and he opposes and exalts himself against and over all that is called God or that is worshipped, even taking his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming that he himself is God. ( II Thessalonians 2nd chapter). This is the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. This is the time when the Lord Jesus told His disciples that the “great tribulation” would begin on this earth. Which I believe will be the last 3 ½ years before Christ returns to this earth. Furthermore, Paul seems to indicate in I Thessalonians chapters 4 and 5 that the rapture will not occur until it is time for the "day of the Lord" to begin.

Paul describes how the Lord will come for the church by saying,

     “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first. Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the lord!” I Thessalonians 4:16,17 (AMP)

Some prophecy preachers believe and teach that the trumpet mentioned in Thessalonians 4:16 is a different trumpet from the one mentioned in Matthew 24:31. Perry states that the coming of the Lord mentioned in Matt. 24:31 is at the end of the 7 year tribulation and that Christ is coming for the 144,000 Jewish believers mentioned in Revelation 7:4 in the middle of the 7 year tribulation period. He believes that the rapture of the church is mentioned in I Thessalonians 4:16 and there is a different trumpet blown at this time as compared with the trumpet blown at the end (or middle) of the 7 year tribulation period (Matt. 24:31).

First of all, there is no evidence of two raptures of the believers in the last days. The term “trumpet of God” is obviously refers to the fact that God planned and created the trumpet to be blown at a specific time and for a specific purpose. It does not say that God, Himself, will blow the trumpet.

Secondly, it does not make sense to think that God, the Father, the Almighty Creator of this universe, is going to sit on His throne in heaven and blow a trumpet. If that were the case, then John would have seen that while he was receiving the revelation and he would have wrote it down like he wrote down everything else he saw while in throne room of God.

Thirdly, the angels cannot blow any trumpet without the permission of God and, also, in the book of Revelation it states that the seven angels are “given” seven trumpets. They don’t have their own trumpets that they made or bought somewhere. Why would Almighty God blow a trumpet when He created the angels to do His work for Him? There is, also, no mention in the Bible of the Lord Jesus blowing a trumpet. In the Old Testament, the word used for “trumpet” comes from the Hebrew word “shophar” which means: a cornet (as giving a clear sound) or curved horn. This word is used in the book of Leviticus where we learn about the festivals that Israel was commanded by God to observe in their proper seasons.

   “Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.” Leviticus 25:9 (KJV)

The pre-tribulation believers say that when Paul spoke in I Corinthians 15:52, he was talking to a “Jewish” audience who would have known that the trumpet Paul was referring to in I Corinthians 15:52 was the last trumpet in a series of trumpets that was traditionally blown during the feast of tabernacles. They say that the trumpet blown by the angel in Matthew 24:31 is not the same kind of trumpet that Paul was referring to in I Thessalonians 4:16. The Greek word for “trumpet” use in the New Testament is “salpigx” and it means: a vibration, billow, wave, reverberation, as in the sound that a trumpet makes. It is the same word used in Matthew 24:31, I Thessalonians 4:16, I Corinthians 15:52, Hebrews 12:19, Revelation 8:2. There is nothing in the New Testament that would validate the pre-tribulation argument that there are different trumpets being blown in reference to the rapture in Matthew 24:31 and Thessalonians 4:16.

Some say that the Corinthian church would have understood the Jewish feasts and the blowing of the series of trumpets at that time. However, the Bible paints a different picture that does not agree with this interpretation. Paul was known as the apostle of the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). It is a fact that the city of Corinth (where this particular church congregation was located) was on the Mediterranean Sea coast and was a wealthy trading center. In Paul’s day it was a Roman colony, attracting a cosmopolitan population of Romans, Greeks, and Jews from various points of the Mediterranean world. This changing population created moral conditions that were regarded as inferior even by pagan standards. The definition of the word “pagan” is: a person who is not a Christian, Moslem or Jew; heathen; a person who has no religion. So why would anyone say that this was a Jewish audience who would have known about the Jewish feast of tabernacles and the blowing of the trumpets traditionally at that time? It just does not make sense.

Sadly, many of the pre-trib preachers will try to find any way they can to prove that their theories on end time events are correct, even if it means making inaccurate assumptions and illogical arguments based on their personal interpretations and imaginations. The buying and selling of gospel books and tapes dealing with the subject of end time events has become big business and many preachers are profiting financially from it. However, money should never be the motive for the true servants of God. The apostle Paul correctly informs the believers that the day of the Lord’s return (to set up His kingdom on this earth for a thousand years) will begin with a time of destruction and the wrath of God being poured out on the ungodly.

    “But as to the suitable times and the precise seasons and dates, brethren, you have no necessity for anything being written to you. For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the [return of the] Lord will come [as unexpectedly and suddenly] as a thief in the night. When people are saying, All is well and secure, and, There is peace and safety, then in a moment unforeseen destruction (ruin and death) will come upon them as suddenly as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape, for there will be no escape.” I Thessalonians 5:1-3 (AMP)

Now, it is important to understand that the tribulation period is not the same as the time when God’s wrath will be poured out on the ungodly, which is at the end of the 7 year tribulation period. The word “tribulation” comes from the Greek word “thlipsis” which means to be afflicted, anguish, burdened, persecution, trouble, tribulation. We are told that Israel and the church will face the wrath of Satan during the tribulation period.

“…Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child…And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:12-17 (KJV)

   “And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth…And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” Revelation 11:3-7 (KJV)

The apostle Paul's description of the day of the Lord’s wrath is in total agreement with what Peter and the Old Testament prophets had to say also:

"Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty...Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine..." Isaiah 13:6-13 (KJV)

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” II Peter 3:10 (KJV)

Now, compare the apostles Paul, Peter and the prophet Isaiah's description with what the Lord Jesus Himself had to say to His disciples about the end of this age and the second coming of Christ:

    "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven...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..." Matthew 24:29-39 (KJV)

It should be clear that based on the verses quoted above, the “day of the Lord” is the time when God will destroy the wicked and it is the time of the seven angels with the seven vials representing the judgment and wrath of God which will be poured out on the wicked who are left on this earth after the rapture of the church. The rapture of the church is after the seventh angel sounds his trumpet.

    “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD ARE BECOME THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD, AND OF HIS CHRIST; AND HE SHALL REIGN FOR EVER AND EVER...And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Revelation 11:15 (KJV)

To help us understand the timing of the rapture we should take note of the events that also happen at the same time as the rapture of the church. The events surrounding the rapture of the church point to a time that is near the end of the 7 year tribulation period before Christ returns to set up His kingdom on this earth. The Bible states that there will be a great earthquake at the same “hour” when the rapture of the church takes place and the wrath of God is about to begin on earth:

“And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood…And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

Revelation 6:12-17 (KJV)

    “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake…” Revelation 11:12,13 (KJV)

     ”And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” Revelation 16:18 (KJV)

The church will not be on earth when the wrath of God begins to be poured out, however, we will be here to see the antichrist make everyone take his mark (666):

   “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God…And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever.” Revelation 14:1,2,7 (KJV)

   “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb…Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:9-12 (KJV)

The apostle Paul’s teaching concerning the rapture specifically states that it will be “at the last trump”, and leaves no room for doubt that the rapture is after the seventh angel sounds his trumpet in Revelation:      “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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.” I Corinthians 15:51,52 (KJV)

   “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.” Revelation 10:7 (KJV)

Some Bible prophecy preachers even go so far as to teach that there will be more than one rapture, however, there is no Bible evidence for that belief. The apostle Paul only made reference to one rapture in his teaching on the subject:

   “For just as [because of their union of nature] in Adam all people die, so also [by virtue of their union of nature] shall all in Christ be made alive. But each in his own rank and turn: Christ (the Messiah) [is] the firstfruits, then those who are Christ’s [own will be resurrected] at His coming. After that comes the end (the completion), when He delivers over the kingdom to God the Father after rendering inoperative and abolishing every [other] rule and every authority and power.” I Corinthians 15:22-24 (AMP)

Notice in the above quoted verses, Paul stated that there would be only one resurrection of believers at Christ’s coming and then the end will come when Jesus Christ subdues all His enemies and takes rulership of earth once and for all. In his letter to the church in Thessalonica, the apostle Paul explained that the rapture is the time when the those believers in Christ who have died will be resurrected and those believers who are still alive will be “caught up” at the same time to meet the Lord in the air, and that they will always be with the Lord after that (I Thessalonians 4:16,17). The Lord Jesus, Himself, taught that there would only be one resurrection of the saints and that it would be at the end of days.

   “And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have evelasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:40 (KJV)

“No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44 (KJV)

“Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:54 (KJV)

The Greek word for “last” used in the above verses is the word “eschatos”, which means: farthest, final (of place or time), ends of, last, latter end, uttermost. It is the same word used in this verse:

   “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”   I Corinthians 15:26 (KJV) The word “day” used in conjunction with the word “last” comes from the Greek word “hemera”, which means: the time space between dawn and dark, or the whole 24 hours. It is the same word used in this verse:

    “Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.” John 11:9 (KJV)

Now the Lord gave His disciples another clue to the timing of the rapture when He compared His second coming with the way that Noah's flood came upon the earth. He stated that immediately before the flood came and destroyed the ungodly of Noah's generation, Noah went into the ark. Jesus Christ is our ark of safety in these last days and He will save us (by the rapture) from the destruction coming upon this world right before the day of the Lord's wrath is poured out on the ungodly.

It seems clear to me that Isaiah 26:19-21 (and if you read further into chapter 27 verse 1), it states that God's people will be hidden (or raptured, if you prefer) at the time when the Lord comes to punish the wicked and deal with the cause of the sin in the earth which we know is Satan. This event will not happen until the end of the seven year tribulation period spoken of by Daniel the prophet.

Many prophecy teachers make the mistake of assuming that the "day of the Lord" is the same as the 7 year tribulation period, but the Scriptures do not validate that assumption. The 7 year tribulation is divided up into two 3 1/2 year periods.  According to Revelation 11:1-7, the first 3 1/2 yrs is the gentile church and 144,000 Jewish believers (two witnesses) who will prophesy with the spirit and anointing of Elijah and the antichrist government will be allowed by God to "make war against them" and "kill" them. The second 3 1/2 yrs period will be the world domination by the antichrist government, the abomination of desolation, the mark of the beast , all who dwell upon the earth shall "worship" him (Revelation 13:4-18).  Somewhere near the end of the second 3 1/2 yr period, the rapture of the believers in Christ will take place (Revelation 11:8-15).  The rapture takes place at the sounding of the seventh trumpet of the angels.

Many pre-tribulation rapture preachers point to this verse in the Bible to prove that the church will not be here during the 7 year tribulation period:

“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)

However, when we closely examine this Scripture and compare it with the verse found in Luke 21:21 we find that it is not speaking of the rapture of the church at all. The Lord Jesus is telling His disciples what will happen to them in the future when Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies trying to capture the city.

“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judae flee to the mountains…” Luke 21:20,21 (KJV)

The Greek word for “escape” used in Luke 21:36 is ekpheugo, which means to flee out of or to escape. The Greek word for “flee” used in Luke 21:21 is pheugo, which means to run away or to flee. The Greek word “ekphuego” comes from the root word “pheugo” and they both have essentially the same meaning. No where in the Bible is the rapture of the church described as a time for us to flee or run away from anything. The rapture is an event that God will perform when He gets ready and we are to be watching, praying and witnessing until that day comes. We are instructed to,

   “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” I Timothy 6:12 (KJV)

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith…” II Timothy 4:7 (KJV)

Because of the popularity of the pre-tribulation rapture teaching, it is no wonder that the Bible says there will be scoffers and mockers in the last days that will say to the church (most likely, during the 7 year tribulation period):

   “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” II Peter 3:3,4 (KJV)

Some believe that in Matthew 24^th chapter, Jesus had to be talking about Israel because the church had not yet been formed.   However, the Lord Jesus did speak concerning the church while He taught His disciples during His earthly ministry. The Greek word for “church” is “ekklesia”, which means: a calling out, a popular meeting (as in, a religious congregation), assembly, church. It carries the idea of a community of members on earth and in heaven.

“…And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18 (KJV)

    “…And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” Matthew 18:17 (KJV)

Clearly, the church was in existence when the Lord Jesus spoke in Matthew 24 because according to the Scriptures the church began in the Old Testament:

“This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A PROPHET SHALL THE LORD YOUR GOD RAISE UP UNTO YOU OF YOUR BRETHREN, LIKE UNTO ME; HIM SHALL YE HEAR. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us…” Acts 7:37,38 (KJV)

One other argument that I have heard made is that in Matthew 24:31 where Jesus says that He will send His angels to gather together His “elect”, He was not referring to the church. They say He was talking about Israel and the remnant of Jewish believers who will go through the 7 year tribulation period and be raptured at the end. Some say that the church is raptured in Revelation 4:1 and that the church is no more mentioned in Revelation until Revelation 19^th chapter at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

First of all, in Matthew 24 the word “elect” is translated from the Greek word “eklektos”, which means: select, favorite, chosen and elect. We find this same Greek word being used in the following verses of the New Testament:

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” Colossians 3:12,13 (KJV)

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Capadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” I Peter 1:1,2 (KJV)

“Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth…Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, FOR THY SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL THE DAY LONG; WE ARE ACCOUNTED AS SHEEP FOR THE SLAUGHTER. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Romans 8:33-37 (KJV)

Paul was known as the apostle to the Gentiles. In his writings it is evident that he is writing to all believers, but specifically to non Jewish believers in Christ which would be those Christians living outside of the borders of Israel. The writer of the book of Acts (most agree it was Luke), also, informs the church that we are appointed to sufferings and tribulations in Christ Jesus, which, also, validates the post-tribulation rapture theory.

    “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22 (KJV)

The pre-tribulation crow erroneously argue that in the Matthew 24:29-31 Jesus Christ is on the earth, however, the Bible does not state that Jesus will be on the earth. It says that Jesus will come on the clouds of heaven and send His angels to gather His elect. It does not say that the angels or Jesus Christ is walking around on the earth at that time.

   “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken…And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 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.” Matthew 24:29-31 (KJV)

The pre-tribulation crowd is wrong again when they state that the church is not mentioned after Revelation 4 when John is taken in the spirit to heaven. First of all, it did not say the church was taken in the spirit to heaven, it said John was taken in the spirit to heaven. So why are people assuming that John is representing the church in this chapter when the Bible does not specifically state this? The church is mentioned throughout the book of Revelation, however, by other names which refer to the church such as:

    “And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held…and white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” Revelation 6:9-11 (KJV)

    “…Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” Revelation 7:3 (KJV)

“These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the god of the earth.” Revelation 11:4 (KJV)

   “And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Revelation 11:18 (KJV)

   “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Revelation 13:10 (KJV)

   “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” Revelation 13:7 (KJV)

    “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” Revelation 14:4 (KJV)

Here, in the verse quoted above, we see that the 144,000 Jewish believers in Christ who are sealed during the great tribulation period are in the rapture and are called “firstfruits” unto God. We, also, know that the Bible says Jesus Christ has become the “firstfruits” of them which have died and been resurrected by God to live forever and that the church is “firstfruits” of God’s creation. In their defense of the pre-tribulation rapture theory some say that the rapture of the church represents the firstfruits of the harvest, and the 144,000 in Revelation represents the wheat harvest and in Matthew 24:31 it is the four corners harvest at the end of the age. However, the Bible does not say that there will be more than one final rapture of believers in Christ.

   “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” I Corinthians 15:20 (KJV)

“…But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.” I Corinthians 15:23 (KJV)

Some pre-tribulation rapture teachers believe that there will be more than one rapture at the end or at the last 7 year tribulation period. However, the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul told us plainly that there would only be one rapture at the end:

   “Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.” I Corinthians 15:24 (KJV)

“…The harvest is the close and consummation of the age, and the reapers are the angel.” Matthew 13:39 (AMP)

There is another scripture that the pre-trib rapture believers quote to try and validate their theory of the church being taken to heaven before the 7 year tribulation comes:

   "Because you have guarded and kept My word of patient endurance [have held fast the lesson of My patience with the expectant endurance that I give you]. I also will keep you [safe] from the hour of trial (testing) which is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell upon the earth." Revelation 3:10 (AMP)

If you notice, it does not say that we will be "taken" anywhere. It only says that God will protect his people from the hour of "trial" or "testing" that is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell upon the earth. What is the "hour of trial or testing" that is to come upon the world? Could it be that the hour of testing that is mentioned in this verse refers to the time when the Antichrist will become world ruler and cause all to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads, and that he will cause all to worship the image of the beast or be killed (see Revelation 13:11-18, 14:9-12). We are warned by God not to take this mark and not to worship the image of the beast or we will have a part in the lake of fire forever.

This is why Satan is fighting so hard to keep people from reading the book of Revelation and understanding what is written in it. If Satan can deceive people into thinking that they will not be here to see anything in the book of Revelation then there is no motivation for people to study it and pray for understanding from God that they might be able to stand victorious in that evil day.