According to Peter, “the day of the Lord” which will come “as a thief in the night” is the time when the heavens shall pass away and the earth shall melt with fervent heat. And according to Paul, “the day of the Lord” which “cometh as a thief in the night” (the same expression) is the time of the RAPTURE:

“The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up . . . in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and seasons [when this shall happen], brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 4:16-5:3). The passage is all connected together.

A study of 2 Peter 3 with 1 Thessalonians 4-5 plainly reveals that the “day of the Lord that cometh as a thief in the night” is the time when Christ will descend from heaven with a shout, believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, destruction will fall upon the unbelieving world and the present heavens and earth shall pass away with a great noise.

Jesus also linked his Second Coming with the time when heaven and earth shall pass away. “Heaven and earth shall pass away . . . But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only . . . Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” This passage clearly refers to the time when Christ will return and gather believers — the time of which “knoweth no man”, and for which we must “watch.” Did Jesus say this would happen before a seven year tribulation period? No. Instead, this passage points to the end of the age — when heaven and earth shall pass away — as the time when Christ will return.

Even the ancient Job implied that the resurrection would not take place until the heavens shall pass away — the end of the age. “Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? . . . Man lieth down, and riseth not: TILL THE HEAVENS BE NO MORE, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep” (Job 14:10-12; 19:26,27).

Expressions such as “till the heavens be no more”, “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise”, “heaven and earth shall pass away”, and similar expressions all seem to indicate the very end of things as we know them now — the end of the age! Until that time, the dead shall not be resurrected. This conclusion is also seen in the scriptures which say the resurrection will occur at the LAST DAY.

Martha, for example, believed her brother Lazarus would “rise again in the resurrection AT THE LAST DAY” (John 11:24). And this belief was not mere speculation on her part, for Jesus repeatedly taught this truth. Jesus said that those who believe on him will be raised up “AT THE LAST DAY” (John 6:39).

“And this is the will of him that sent me”, Jesus said, “that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up AT THE LAST DAY . . . 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: 40, 44). And again he repeated the words in verse 54: “I will raise him up AT THE LAST DAY.”

With this evidence in mind, certain conclusions are apparent. Since the catching up or rapture occurs at the same time as the resurrection of the dead in Christ (1 Thess. 4:16, 17), it is plain to see that the rapture will take place AT THE LAST DAY and not seven years before the last day!

Not only do the scriptures about the resurrection “at the last day” point to the end of the age as the time of Christ’s return, but the same evidence can be seen from a study of the scriptural expression “the last trump.”

Turning again to 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17, we read: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the TRUMP of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” Notice three things that are mentioned here: (1) the TRUMPET sounds, (2) the RESURRECTION of the dead in Christ, and (3) the CATCHING UP of believers to meet the Lord in the air.

Basically, these three things are also included in 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52: “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.” Again we have the following: (1) the TRUMPET sounds, (2) the RESURRECTION of the dead in Christ, and (3) the living saints are CHANGED (which all agree is when this mortal puts on immortality and believers rise to meet the Lord in the air).

Both of these passages mention the sounding of the trumpet, but the latter passage specifies that this trumpet is the LAST trumpet! Bearing this in mind, we turn to Revelation 8:2 in which we read: “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.” As each trumpet sounds, certain events take place. There are seven of these trumpets, so the LAST trumpet (in linking this passage with the others) would be the seventh.

Let us now notice what events are connected with the sounding of this LAST 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” (Rev. 11:15-18).

Again, we notice the same three things that were included in the other passages: (1) the TRUMPET sounds, the seventh, the last trumpet, (2) the time of the dead to be raised — the RESURRECTION, and (3) the saints REWARDED, which would include their being changed from mortal to immortality, caught up to meet the Lord, etc.

These things indicate that the rapture will be at the end of the age, at the last day, at the last trump! But according to the pre-tribulation rapture teaching, the rapture would have to take place at the time of the FIRST trumpet or before, since — according to this interpretation — the church will be gone when the trumpets of Revelation are sounded! Revelation 11:18 says that the sounding of the seventh trumpet — the last trumpet — will be “the tithe of the dead” to be resurrected. God will then “give REWARD unto . . . the saints.” Where, then, is there any room for the idea that before any of these trumpets sound the saints will have already been raptured to heaven to be rewarded?

In Matthew 16:27, Jesus explained when men will be rewarded. “The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and THEN he shall reward every man according to his works:” But some imply that it is not when Jesus comes with his angels that every man is rewarded, for they say that before this — at an earlier, quiet, and secret coming — believers will be raptured and rewarded!

Jesus made it clear that there will be no “secret” coming before his coming in glory with the holy angels. “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation”, he said, “of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mk. 8:38). In that day, Christ will be ashamed of some; of others, he will not be ashamed. Some will be accepted; some will be rejected. WHEN? “When he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels”! It is agreed that the coming of Christ in glory with the holy angels is at the end of the age, and this verse actually shows that there will be no secret coming prior to this. Why? Because if there had been a secret coming of Christ seven years before his coming in glory with the angels, whether Christ would be ashamed of people or not would have already taken place!

According to the Bible, no man knows the day or hour of the end of the age (Mt. 24). But if the rapture is an event to take place seven years before the end, thousands of people would be able to determine the exact date! All they would have to do is count seven years from the time that all babies and Christians suddenly came up “missing.” If any questions remained, a trip to the cemetery would provide absolute proof that the rapture had occurred. By digging down into the graves of known Christians, it could quickly be determined that the resurrection had taken place. It would not take long for thousands to know what had happened — and to figure the exact date for the end of the age. But since the scriptures teach that no man will know the day or hour when the end of the age will come, it is evident that the rapture will not take place seven years before the end.

The Christians at Thessalonica were enduring “persecutions and tribulations” and were being “troubled” by unbelievers” (2 Thess. 1:4, 7). But Paul encouraged them with the truth that they would be given “rest” from their troubles “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God”, for “he shall come to be glorified in his saints” (See 2 Thess. 1:7-10).

In this passage we notice — as in the others — that the reward of the righteous and the destruction that shall befall the wicked are interwoven with each other as to time, both occurring at the coming of the Lord. We notice also that when Jesus comes for the deliverance of his troubled saints, he comes in “flaming fire.” No “secret” rapture here

When will the Lord render vengeance to the wicked on one hand and comfort to the saints on the other? The answer is clear: “WHEN the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them which know not God.” The time of his being glorified in his saints is also the time when destruction will fall on the wicked. There is no interval of seven years between the two. It does not say that Christ will come to be glorified in the saints and then come again a number of years later to bring destruction upon their oppressors.


Notes

1. Silver, The Lord’s Return, p. 260.
2. Roberts, How to be Personally Prepared for the Second Coming of Christ, p. 34.
3.Ford, Seven Simple Sermons on the Second Coming, p. 51.
4. Bishop, The Doctrine of Grace, p. 341.
5.Some believe this passage refers to a literal destruction and end of this planet. Others believe the expressions used here indicate the end of the age, but not necessarily the end of the planet. In Noah’s thy, it is pointed out, “the world that then was . . . perished” — but the planet remained; so likewise, “the heavens and the earth which are now” — this age — will come to its end, while the planet itself will remain. But it is not our purpose here to set one of these arguments against the other. For now we will simply point out that either way we take this passage, it is evident that it could not be talking about a time seven years before the end.

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