1. The word cloud is not mentioned in Matt 24 as to he will gather us, When the world sees him in the clouds, He comes with his armies and destroys the beast. THEN he gathers the elect. (He is already on earth by that time)
2. Matt 24 says Jesus will come because if he does all life on earth will die. He comes to save the elect, Why save the elect just to rapture them? This makes no sense.
3. When he comes, he saves the elect. And gathers them together. Nothing here about the rapture. Nor is there anything there about the dead being raised (the elect can be translated the elect who are living, which is the context of WHY jesus returned)
In thess It says we will meet jesus in the air. It does not say the earth will witness this, it does not say he will be on a horse. it does not say he is coming to end the tribulation, it does not say he sends his angels to gather people together, It says the dead will be raised (not gathered) and those who are alive will be caught up (raptured)
You have two events. So I am sorry, Although you MAY be correct, (I will not jude you) You have failed to prove your point. And you showed why it is better to post small snipets in here. So people can give a different view. For all to see. And you to contemplate. As I have had to do for many years in my studies of end times.
I don't think most Christians truly understand how Father matures His saints from the milk to the meat but He clearly conceals His deeper truths by spreading out His precepts here a little, there a little so that we as kings under the King of kings must search out the truth all over His Word:
Isaiah 28:9-10
Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? (10)
For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.
Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
The word "cloud(s)" is most certainly mentioned in Mathew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 with each passage adding more truth:
Matthew 24:29-31
But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall 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: (30) 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 on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (31) And
he shall send forth 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.
Mark 13:24-27 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, (25) and the stars shall be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken. (26) And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. (27) And
then shall he send forth the angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
Luke 21:25-28 And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows; (26) men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. (27) And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (28) But
when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh.
Jesus was clearly including the "elect" who were dead and living in the book of Mark when He when He said "from the uttermost part of the earth"(the living) "to the uttermost part of heaven"(the dead).
He was also including the "dead" as part of the "elect" when in the book of Luke Jesus said "your redemption" to the disciples including the dead with the living will be brought together in the clouds at the beginning of the year of wrath which these passages of the rapture also add more truth to the "sum":
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) 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.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. (16) 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; (17) then we that are alive, that are left,
shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Revelation 14:12-16 Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (13) And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them. (14) And I saw, and behold,
a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw one sitting like unto a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. (15) And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. (16) And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped.
Your assumption that every passage of the rapture/resurrection must be carbon copies of each other is not how Father conceals His truths!!!
I see absolutely no "clouds" mentioned in this passage where the heavens are opened and Jesus comes with His armies at the end of that year of wrath to destroy the beast and set up His kingdom on earth:
Revelation 19:11-16 And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. (12) And his eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he hath a name written which no one knoweth but he himself. (13) And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and his name is called The Word of God. (14) And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. (15) And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. (16) And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.