Seventh Trumpet Rapture

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The Seventh Trumpet Rapture

Most Evangelical Christians are taught that Jesus will return secretly and invisibly to gather the Church in the Rapture before the Tribulation. The problem with this theory is that a secret return and invisible rapture cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. In fact neither can a Pre-Tribulation rapture and return be found at all. There is not a single verse of Scripture which states that this will happen. None.

What any student of the Scriptures can find, clearly stated, and confirmed throughout the Bible is a Rapture, as the Apostle Paul said, at the last trumpet, the Seventh Trumpet of Revelation. Examine the Scriptures for yourself, without any convoluted “explanation” of how they do not really mean what they obviously state.

Behold, I tell you a mystery, we will not all sleep but we will all be changed, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. I Corinthians 15:51-52

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. I Thessalonians 4:16-17

In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished as He preached to His servants the prophets. Revelation 10:7

Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ; and he will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15

But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Matthew 24: 31

Behold, He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Revelation 1:7

Summary of the Seventh Trumpet Rapture doctrine

First of all, to avoid being mischaracterized from the start, the Seventh Trumpet Rapture presented here is pre-millennial, as well as pre-wrath and pre-permanent return of Christ. The Scriptures teach a distinct difference between the appearing of Christ on the clouds to gather the Church and His return to earth to redeem Israel, but unlike pre-tribulation doctrine, these two events are not separated by the seven year Tribulation period, and His cloud appearance will certainly be seen by everyone on the planet. There is no secret coming of Christ taught anywhere in the Scriptures, in fact we are warned against that. The Seven Bowls of God’s wrath should not be considered part of the Tribulation, but are the time of God’s wrath and judgment, while the wedding of the Lamb takes place in heaven. This will be followed by the coming of the Lord Jesus on a white horse with His saints to judge the nations, rescue Israel, and set up His Kingdom in Jerusalem.

Another distinct Rapture/Second Coming teaching is Mid-Tribulation, which this is not. This assumes that the Rapture will occur sometime around the middle of the seven-year Tribulation period. The Seventh Trumpet Rapture is completely post-tribulation.

The Seventh Trumpet Rapture is similar to the Pre-Wrath rapture theory recently championed by a few evangelicals, but with at least two major differences: the pre-wrath teaching places the rapture at the Sixth Seal and before the Seven Trumpets, which they believe are part of the wrath of God. The Seventh Trumpet Rapture doctrine firmly places the Cloud Appearance and Rapture after all Seven Trumpets sound at the very end of the seven year Tribulation period.

Scriptural proofs for the Seventh Trumpet Rapture

1. The Mystery of God is finished at the Seventh Trumpet, not before

In Revelation 10:7 the Mighty Angel declares that when the Seventh Trumpet sounds the mystery of God will be finished (“reach completion” in the NBV). The Apostle Paul clearly defines the Mystery of God as Christ and the Church ( Romans 16:25-26, Ephesians 3:3-10,5:32, Colossians 1:26-27, 2:2,3:3-4)

The mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations. But has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:24-25 NASB.

The appearance of Christ on the clouds for all the world to see (Revelation 1:7) and the resurrection/rapture of the Church will finish (complete) the Mystery of God.

When Christ who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Colossians 3:3 NASB.

At this point the entire world will have no doubt who Jesus truly is and who God’s people really are. This mystery, which today has been manifested only to His saints, will be revealed all unbelievers as well when Jesus appears on the clouds in glory.

If Jesus came on the clouds to gather His saints as He promises us in Matthew 24 before the Tribulation, then that would finish the Mystery of God well before the Seventh Trumpet but the Mighty Angel is very specific that the Mystery of God will be completed exactly when the Seventh Angel is about to sound his trumpet.

2. Jesus clearly states that He will come after the Tribulation to gather His elect

“But after those days, after that triublation...they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest ed of heaven.” Mark 13:24

Also Matthew 24:29 and Luke 21:27.

The Church is called elect or chosen in numerous places in the New Testament.

...therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved... Colossians 3:12 NKJV.

If God is for us who is against us... Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? Romans 8:31,33.

There is no reason to doubt that Jesus is referring to the Church when He says “the elect.”

3. II Thessalonians 2 clearly states that Christ will not come and gather us until after the Abomination of Desolation and the Great Apostasy

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. II Thessalonians 2:1-4

In short, before Jesus comes and we are gathered with Him in the Rapture, the apostasy must come first and the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist, must be revealed and seat himself in the temple as God. This is a clear statement that certain events absolutely must take place before Jesus returns and the Rapture can occur, namely, the Great Apostasy of the Church and the Abomination of Desolation, exactly as described by Jesus in Matthew 24.

“At that time many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. ...Therefore when you see the Abomination of Desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.” Matthew 24:9,15,16.

4. The Kingdom of the World becomes the Kingdom of God at the Seventh Trumpet

Revelation 11:15-18. This can only mean that Jesus Christ has appeared to all the world to begin the process of setting up His kingdom on earth. This begins the Day of the Lord which will eventually include the permanent return of Christ on a white horse to rescue and redeem Israel.

5. Revelation 7 describes the Church being here during the Tribulation

...a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues...”These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation... Revelation 7:9,14

The Great Multitude in heaven who came out of the Great Tribulation are Gentiles from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. That is exactly who the Church is. Nothing else describes the Church and the Church cannot be described as anything different than that.

The Dragon goes off to make war on the rest of the Woman’s (Israel’s) children who, “...keep the commandment of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12:17) Since the woman is obviously Israel, the rest of her children must be none other that the Gentile Church.

6. The Seventh Trumpet is the last trumpet mentioned in all the Bible

The Apostle Paul clearly states the the Rapture will take place at the last trumpet (I Corinthians 15:51-52). There are literally no other trumpets mentioned in Revelation or the entire Bible after the Seventh Trumpet. If there were seven more trumpets to sound after the Appearance and Rapture, then Paul could not have said that the Rapture will happen at the last trumpet. If we take Paul at his word, we must believe the “last trumpet” really does mean the last trumpet and the Seventh Trumpet is certainly the last according to Revelation.

Any student of Biblical numerology can tell you that God completes things in sevens. The seven days of Creation, the seven feasts of Israel; the seven Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls and the seven years of the Tribulation. The Last Trumpet must be the Seventh Trumpet to conform to this Scriptural principal for Last Days events.

7. The Lord tells us that we will know when He is near but not the day or hour

“But when you see these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28.

“When you see all these things recognize that He is near, right at the door. ...But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” Matthew 24:33,36.

Specific events will udoubtedly precede the coming of Christ on the clouds and the Resurrection/Rapture. Most of them are described as part of the Tribulation period.

Other events promised to precede Christ’s return:

1. The Gospel would be preached to all the world. Matthew 24:14, Acts 1:8

2. The Great Apostasy. Matthew 24:10, II Thessalonians 2:3

3. The Abomination of Desolation. Matthew 24:15, II Thessalonians 2:3-7

4. Earthquakes, plagues, famines, terrors, signs in the heavens. Matthew 24:7,28-30, Luke 21:11, 25-26

Unbelievers will be surprised on the day of the Lord but believers will not be:

For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief. I Thessalonians 5:1-4.

8. Tribulation is not wrath

Pre-Tribulation Rapture advocates insist that the Tribulation is the wrath and judgment of God and that believers are not destines for wrath, but Tribulation and wrath are two different things in Scripture.

“In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.

Acts 14:23, II Thessalonians 3:3-4, I Peter 1:5-7, 4:12, John 15:2, 16:2-3, 16:33.

The purpose of tribulation and suffering for believers is to test us in order to strengthen our faith and cause us to bear more fruit. The Tribulation is described as a test (Revelation 3:10). Gold is tested by fire (Revelation 3:18) Tribulation is not wrath. Wrath is wrath and testing is testing. the Seven Golden Bowls of God’s Wrath and the judgments of God will be poured out on the world only after the Church is taken into heaven. The Seven Seals and the Seven Trumpets are not the wrath of God, but the result of Satan and man’s activities.

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Thessalonians 5:9.

9. The Battle of Jericho prophetically describes the Gentile Bride taken out after the Seven Trumpets

When the people heard the sound of the trumpet (the seventh trumpet on the seventh day), the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down... Joshua 6:20.

Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all that she has out of there...” Joshua 6:22

The battle of Jericho is a prophetic type of the conquest of the Kingdom of the World by Christ during the Tribulation. Rahab is the type of the Gentile Bride. She is present all during the battle until the Seventh Trumpet on the Seventh Day, then Joshua sends the two spies back into the city to take her out. This is a clear prophetic type of the Rapture at the Seventh Trumpet following the Seven Seals.

10. The only literal bodily rapture described in the book of Revelation is of the Two Witnesses

And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. Revelation 11:12

The Seventh Trumpet sounds “quickly’ after the bodily resurrection and rapture of the Two Witnesses, putting the universal rapture of the Church within a very short time of this event, allowing the Church to be effectively escorted out of the world by the two. Note that in the story of the battle of Jericho, Joshua sends his two spies into the conquered city to take out Rahab the harlot, a prophetic type of the rapture of the Church. Lot is also escorted out of Sodom by two angels before the city is destroyed in God’s wrath and judgment. A Pre-Tribulation Rapture allows for no such escort by two witnesses as predicted by the prophetic types. “Their enemies watched them” as they went up into heaven, describing a visible Rapture (“When Christ ...is revealed, you will be revealed with Him”) not an invisible one as taught by most Pre-Trib Rapture advocates.

11. Jesus as the Mighty Angel appears in the clouds just before the Seventh Trumpet

In Revelation 10 we see a vision of the Lord Jesus clothed in the clouds as He comes to lay claim to the Kingdom of the World just before the Seventh Trumpet sounds. “...there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished...” Revelation 10:6-7. Although it is symbolically describing the spiritual realities of the event, here we see again the coming of the Lord on the clouds directly connected with the Seventh Trumpet. So we have three things happening at the time of the Seventh Trumpet: Jesus appearing in the clouds, the resurrection/rapture of the Two Witnesses, and the completion of the Mystery of God .

12. Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled.

“...and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled.” Luke 21:24

Paul tells us that: “...a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Romans 11:25

During the second half of the Tribulation when the Antichrist takes over, Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles, but when Christ appears on the clouds and the rapture of the Church occurs, the time of the Gentiles will be finished and Israel will be reinstated as God’s nation and priesthood on earth. If the rapture were pre-Tribulation, then the time of the Gentiles would be over before the Tribulation even started. We also see that the Gentile Church is still here during the Tribulation as the Great Multitude of Revelation 7. It is clear that the time of the Gentiles is not over until the Seventh Trumpet when the Mystery of God (Christ and the Church) is finished, then Israel’s blindness will be over.

13. The appearance of the 144,000 in heaven means that the Rapture had to have taken place at the Seventh Trumpet.

In Revelation 14, we see the 144000 with the Lamb in heaven where they sing an new song before the Throne. The last we read of them before this is in Revelation 7 when they are sealed with the seal of God to protect them from the Seven Trumpet plagues.

“Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond servants of our God on their foreheads.” Revelation 7:3.

They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their forehead. Revelation 9:4.

The seal of God obviously makes the 144000 impervious to the Seven Trumpet plagues. Since the seal of God makes them immune from harm, they cannot be martyred and can only appear with the Lord in heaven as a result of the Seventh Trumpet Rapture along with the rest of the Church. See the 144,000.

14. Joel: The heavenly signs will occur before the Day of the Lord

“I will display display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” Joel 2:30-31

The same basic description is used in Revelation 6 which occurs during the Great Tribulation:

I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to earth... Revelation 6:12.

Matthew 24 tells us that these heavenly signs will occur immediately after the Tribulation and so would also place the Day of the Lord after the Tribulation.

“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky...and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. Matthew 24:29,30.

These Scriptures clearly shows that the Day of the Lord does not begin until after the heavenly signs occur, so the Tribulation cannot be the Day of the Lord as taught by Pre-Tribulation Rapture advocates.

The Seventh Trumpet Rapture is key to Revelation’s chronology

The Seventh Trumpet appearing of Christ on the clouds and rapture of the Church is a keystone event in apocalyptic prophecy. The last trumpet is stated in such a clear, straightforward manner in Scripture that it cannot be legitimately rejected. The Seventh Trumpet Rapture provides an anchor point to guard against erroneous interpretations of Last Days prophecy, and helps to clarify certain prophetic Scriptures that may have been little understood before.

Quotable Quote

“The Seventh Trumpet Appearance and Rapture is the immutable keystone of the chronology of Apocalyptic prophecy.” Daniel Speck

Summary

The Appearance of Jesus Christ on the clouds and the resurrection/rapture of the Church will occur at the Seventh Trumpet at the end of the Tribulation period. This will be followed by the Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath while the wedding of the Church takes place in heaven, after which the Lord will return on a white horse to rescue and redeem the nation of Israel. The Apostle Paul clearly states that the coming of the Lord and our gathering together with him will not happen until first the apostasy occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, seating himself in the Temple. There are numerous Scriptures that clearly show that the Church will be here during the Tribulation period to be gathered up at the last trumpet. The Seventh Trumpet Rapture is the keystone to understanding the true chronology of Revelation and Last Days prophecy.

Disclaimer: No assumption should be made that the Seventh Trumpet Rapture doctrine outlined here and any Seventh Trumpet Rapture proposed by others are identical or that there is agreement with such proponents on any other important doctrines.

For an in depth study of the Seventh Trumpet Rapture: