Pre-Tribulation Rapture believers insist that 1 Thes 4:16-17 is a description of the Rapture prior to the Great Tribulation, whereas Matt 24:30-31 is His coming after the Tribulation. However, on close inspection they appear to be one and the same event.
'For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord' 1 Thes 4:16-17 NKJB.
'Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in Heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And His angels with the sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other'. Matt 24:16-17.
Please note the following in both passages.
* The coming of Christ from Heaven.
* Angel(s).
* Trumpet sounded.
* The catching up of saints to where Jesus is.
It is clear to any impartial individual, that what is described in both passages is the same event. And that event is Christ's coming in glory at the end of the age.
If it is said that there are some things not mentioned in both passages, then neither is it the case with John 14:1-3 which Pre-Tribbers claim to be the Rapture.
Please note the word 'meet' as in meet the Lord in the air 1 Thes 4:17. The word is 'apantesis' in the Greek and describes civic officials going out to meet a VIP and escorting him back to the city. This means that after the dead in Christ are raised and those alive are caught up to be with Him, they then proceed back to earth where Christ will set up His Millennial Kingdom.
On a historical note. The Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine was unheard of in the whole of Church history, up until John Nelson Darby came up with the idea, in 1830. Food for thought.
'For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord' 1 Thes 4:16-17 NKJB.
'Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in Heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And His angels with the sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other'. Matt 24:16-17.
Please note the following in both passages.
* The coming of Christ from Heaven.
* Angel(s).
* Trumpet sounded.
* The catching up of saints to where Jesus is.
It is clear to any impartial individual, that what is described in both passages is the same event. And that event is Christ's coming in glory at the end of the age.
If it is said that there are some things not mentioned in both passages, then neither is it the case with John 14:1-3 which Pre-Tribbers claim to be the Rapture.
Please note the word 'meet' as in meet the Lord in the air 1 Thes 4:17. The word is 'apantesis' in the Greek and describes civic officials going out to meet a VIP and escorting him back to the city. This means that after the dead in Christ are raised and those alive are caught up to be with Him, they then proceed back to earth where Christ will set up His Millennial Kingdom.
On a historical note. The Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine was unheard of in the whole of Church history, up until John Nelson Darby came up with the idea, in 1830. Food for thought.