Pre, Mid, or Post Tribulation?

I believe in a pre-tribulation Rapture.

Society will have degenerated very badly, which it certainly has today, but the world will be moving along with what seems normal. The Rapture will then occur suddenly, catching most of us off-guard.

There is some debate amongst Christians as to just where in the tribulation timetable the general Rapture of the church does occur.

The Tribulation itself is seven years long. It is probably slightly less than seven years. Most likely, it is 2520 days, or two stretches of 1260 days. There may be a little gap between the Rapture event and the beginning of the 2520 day run.

Scripture hints at Rapture-like events inside the Tribulation, and some churches think the church must pass through some or all of the Tribulation.

One who believes in a pre-tribulation rapture expects the entire body of Christ to be taken into glory without dying before any of the Tribulation. One who believes in a post-tribulation rapture expects the body of Christ to struggle through all of the Tribulation. It then follows that one who believes in a mid-tribulation rapture expects Christians to get through the first half.

There are different Rapture-like events in the Scriptures. One obvious example is with Enoch,

23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
- Gen 5:23-24

5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
- Heb 11:5

Notice that Enoch was taken before the flood. Actually in the Genesis timeline, Enoch is raptured in the year 987 and the flood occurs in the year 1656.

Another example is with Elijah who was taken up to heaven in the famous chariot of fire.

11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
- 2Kings 2:11-12

(Notice that in both these cases, nothing was ever found of Enoch or Elijah, thus implying that even their clothes went with them.)

The mid-Trib event is the two witnesses, who are almost certainly Moses and Elijah.

11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
- Rev 11:11-12

Also at this time, we know the 144,000 Jewish witnesses are taken. These guys are all males, all virgins - both physically and spiritually, and literal ethnic Jews: 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes. We know that they are selected and specially sealed in Rev 7 and they are all in heaven in Rev 14.

So there is a mid-trib Rapture, certainly of these 144,002. After this, over the remaining 1260 days, the wrath of God is poured out.

The main topic of this blog is the general Rapture of the Church. Because the dispensation changes during the tribulation, and works becomes a condition of salvation, the two periods cannot co-exist. Therefore, any Christian or Messianic Jew who is saved by grace through faith cannot go through the tribulation and must be raptured out in advance.

This is an operating premise of my blog.