I promised that I would post regarding my belief concerning the Rapture timing but will first visit the term "Rapture" itself.
I would say that the term Rapture did not exist. The term/concept however did and was described within the Scriptures. As the Bible was assembled and then translated into various languages then the words of that particular language was used so that the meaning would carry through and be understood for what the original manuscripts said.
Those that say that the word Rapture does not appear in the Bible are correct in their statement for it doesn't however the concept of what the word Rapture describes and what it is used for does exist in Scriptures. It's basically a matter of semantics where two people can be correct although it appears they are talking about two different things. At least that is the way I see it with regards to the term Rapture.
As for the discussion regarding the timing of the event I fully believe Scripture and Jesus Christ as well as the Disciples taught and believed that the Church body, Christians alive when those end days come (that generation) will endure extremely hard times and tribulation under the Antichrist as the Day of the Lord nears. There is nothing about that statement that invalidates Revelation 3:10 or the other verses that promises that the Church will not enter into God's Wrath.
The difference comes in regarding various scriptures and how they are interpreted. Scriptures such as Matthew 24:30 & 31, Revelation Chapter 6 and whether the six seals are considered to be part of God's Wrath. The tendency though is for many who preach to take scripture literally have to change that to figuratively or symbolically when it comes to the Rapture for IF Revelation 6 is God's Wrath then they have to find some where to fit the Rapture in and the only or closest place they can do that is Revelation 4:1. They are forced to make scripture fit their doctrine rather than take it literally for what it says. They also have to change other scriptures, such as Matthew 24:30-31 to apply to something I do not believe it applies to.
I fully believe that Scripture backs itself up throughout scripture (old & new testaments) and that both teach the same story regarding the end times and the Day of the Lord.
Bill was right when he typed in the following:
Many people believe what others have told them is true -- but, cannot prove their own belief from the Bible. So, in that, my Friend, you are not alone. But, one word of warning -- not all pastors have well grounded theologies based upon the full Bible either. Pastors, like all folks, are human and prone to error and misinterpretation. So, the best advice I can give is to do as the apostle Paul suggests in Acts 17:11 andtest all teachings against Scripture.
I fully believe those who so adhere to the Pre-Tribulation teaching should do just that. The pretribulation doctrine found it's backing in the 1800's and was greatly spread with the popularity of the Scofield Study Bible and it's notes. Conservative seminaries also picked up this teaching and taught it as the only accepted truth regarding the timing of the Rapture.
Many use the verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:1 against any timing theory of the Rapture other than the Pre-tribulation theory (that the rapture will occur before the 7 year period or more appropriately the 70th week of Daniel)
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 (CEV)
{1} I don't need to write you about the time or date when all this will happen.
{2} You surely know that the Lord's return will be as a thief coming at night.
{3} People will think they are safe and secure. But destruction will suddenly strike them like the pains of a woman about to give birth. And they won't escape.
{4} My dear friends, you don't live in darkness, and so that day won't surprise you like a thief.
{5} You belong to the light and live in the day. We don't live in the night or belong to the dark.
{6} Others may sleep, but we should stay awake and be alert.
The two, highlighted, verses above appear to be a contradiction and those who adhere to the Pre-Trib position love using verse 2 to say we cannot know the time. They also use the following verse from Matthew 24 to reinforce that statement:
Matthew 24:36 (CEV)
{36} No one knows the day or hour. The angels in heaven don't know, and the Son himself doesn't know. Only the Father knows.
The real difficulty comes in though when you try to apply that teaching but fail to consider the context that these verses are in and consider the adjoining verses and what they attempt to say and teach.
In the passage from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 it isn't difficult to see that it is being written to believers/Christians and the teaching is that the rapture/catching-up will happen catching the unbelieving people unawares and "as a thief in the night". To the believers though the instructions and teaching is that they (believers/Christians) are not in the dark that it will surprise them as a thief (vs 4). Why? Christ reveals this in Matthew 24 where He answered the Disciples request to reveal to them just how to recognize the actual end times and how to know it is upon them (that Generation).
Matthew 24:32-34 (CEV)
{32} Learn a lesson from a fig tree. When its branches sprout and start putting out leaves, you know that summer is near.
{33} So when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time has almost come.
{34} I can promise you that some of the people of this generation will still be alive when all this happens.
What things is he talking about happening that are so significant and unique that they will sure signify that the time is upon us and the end/catching-up/rapture near? Christ Himself gives that answer right before the parable cited above and is copied below:
Matthew 24:29-31 (CEV)
{29} Right after those days of suffering, "The sun will become dark, and the moon will no longer shine. The stars will fall, and the powers in the sky will be shaken."
{30} Then a sign will appear in the sky. And there will be the Son of Man. All nations on earth will weep when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
{31} At the sound of a loud trumpet, he will send his angels to bring his chosen ones together from all over the earth.
Believers/Christians are taught this and it's reinforced by the Apostles in 1 Thes 5:1-4 and in 2 Thessalonians 2:2
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 (CEV)
{1} When our Lord Jesus returns, we will be gathered up to meet him. So I ask you, my friends,
{2} not to be easily upset or disturbed by people who claim that the Lord has already come. They may say that they heard this directly from the Holy Spirit, or from someone else, or even that they read it in one of our letters.
{3} But don't be fooled! People will rebel against God. Then before the Lord returns, the wicked one who is doomed to be destroyed will appear.
The Antichrist will be on the scene before the Lord comes to catch-up/Rapture His Church/People (first the dead saints then those alive at the time who have gone through the first seals of tribulation time and hardship). It was not to be a hidden mystery so that the Church/Christians would be caught unaware like a thief in the night. They had the teachings of the Apostles which were also written down and carried forward and for us in the Scriptures of the Bible as reflected in the manuscripts.
Those in the Pre-Tribulation timing corner cannot provide a scriptural reference to prove their position from a literal reading of Scripture. They have to manipulate some verses (Matthew 24:30 & 31) to say it refers to one thing when it doesn't then they have to take other literal verses as symbolic (Revelation 4:1) in order to manufacturer a Rapture happening before the 70th week begins. The actual Rapture/Catching-up though will be before God's Wrath, before the Day of the Lord comes upon the world and John discusses this Rapture/Catching-up of the Church and saints (dead first then the living) from all over the world, in Revelation 7:9:-17.
Revelation 7:9-17 (CEV)
{9} After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands,
{10} as they shouted, "Our God, who sits upon the throne, has the power to save his people, and so does the Lamb."
{11} The angels who stood around the throne knelt in front of it with their faces to the ground. The elders and the four living creatures knelt there with them. Then they all worshiped God
{12} and said, "Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!"
{13} One of the elders asked me, "Do you know who these people are that are dressed in white robes? Do you know where they come from?"
{14} "Sir," I answered, "you must know." Then he told me: "These are the ones who have gone through the great suffering. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have made them white.
{15} And so they stand before the throne of God and worship him in his temple day and night. The one who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
{16} They will never hunger or thirst again, and they won't be troubled by the sun or any scorching heat.
{17} The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to streams of life-giving water, and God will wipe all tears from their eyes."
Contrast Revelation 7:9 with Matthew 24:30 and also 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 then contrast Matthew 24:29 with Revelation 6:12-14. Note that these cosmic signs precede the gathering of Christ's people (both in Matthew 24:30-31 and in Revelation 7:9-17). That placement and timing of Scripture is no accident for they refer to the SAME Events. The Pre-Tribulation theory for rapture timing is simply not backed by scripture and is not a correct doctrine. It is though the most accepted and prevalent doctrine being taught by Conservative ministers who went to Conservative seminaries which taught the same thing without consideration otherwise. Likewise it's accepted by most Christians who hear their pastors teach and preach it without actually studying the scriptures for themselves and praying for the Holy Spirit's revelation and peace about the teaching.
The Pre-Trib advocates though are too busy trying to defend a doctrine that was taught to them by pastors and teachers that received the same teaching/indoctrination than to go back and actually look at the supporting scriptures and answer the questions what if the verses do mean this? Why don't verses the Pre-Trib folks use fit together with literal reading like those who say the Church/Christians will go through tough times during the 7 year period at the end of times? If Christ taught about the end days so specifically as to reveal what would happen, to the disciples, in Matthew 24 did he not specifically speak about a pre-trib rapture? Why would he talk about 2nd Coming (as the pre-trib folks believe vss 30-31 teaches) and somehow leave out something as important and significant as the Rapture of the Church from the disciples in this passage (Matthew 24)? The advocates of the pre-trib position have so convinced themselves that they are right that they cannot conceive that they might be in error or be chasing a rabbit down an empty hole, so to say. Simply put, their dog don't hunt.
Now if Bill wants to refute this post and mention it's length and citations then I suggest he also check out the word hypocrisy and examine his own post before making such a statement.