Are You Ready?

1 Thessalonians 5
9 For God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many pre-tribbers make every attempt to paint a picture of the tribulation so horrible, no Christian could possibly endure it. The entire period is labeled, the "time of wrath." Then, they introduce 1 Thessalonians 5:9, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath..." Therefore, a pre-tribulation rapture must be implied. After all, "Jesus would never allow His bride to be dragged through the mud before the wedding!"

This sounds good to modern Christians who have never missed a meal, or slept on the ground. It seems only reasonable, for believers who have service agreements on all their appliances, to be raptured before that awful time. But for the Thessalonian Christians who received this letter, life was not so easy. They were being persecuted severely for their faith; many had been killed, [1 Thes. 2:14, 2 Thes. 1:4-6]. Paul was not telling them they would not have to suffer. They were already suffering. He was saying they would get relief, when Jesus comes to destroy their persecutors.

The Context of 1 Thessalonians 5.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 must be interpreted within it's context. Paul wrote in verse 2, the "Day of the Lord" is coming as a "thief in the night." The fact that the sun and moon will be darkened, "after the tribulation," but before the "Day of the Lord," demonstrates that the "Day of the Lord" is not the tribulation, as pre-tribbers claim, but follows it. According to verse three, "sudden destruction" will overtake the ungodly at that time. The seven year tribulation cannot be characterized as "sudden destruction," nor can it rightfully be labeled the "Day of the Lord." During the tribulation the tension builds to the climax, when Jesus is revealed from heaven, to destroy the ungodly, [Rev. 19:11-21].

Luke 17
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

The wicked will be destroyed the same day, suddenly, when Jesus is revealed. It is within the context of the "Day of the Lord" that Paul wrote, "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation, by our Lord Jesus Christ." It is God's wrath, at the battle of Armageddon, that we are exempt from. We are not promised exemption from persecution, or even martyrdom. In fact we are promised persecution, [Luke 21:12-19, John 16:1-4,33, 2 Tim. 3:12]. But we can be certain, as Paul reassured the Thessalonians, that God will destroy those who persecute us, and deliver His people from persecution. When He comes in judgment, we will be spared, because, "God hath not appointed us to wrath..."

The Wrath of the Tribulation
No doubt, the great tribulation will be dreadful. Jesus said there has never been anything like it before, nor will there be anything like it again. But Revelation paints a picture of a large group of overcomers emerging from the hour of trial, [Rev. 7:14, Rev. 12:11, Rev. 20:4]. Some of God's wrath will be unleashed during the tribulation on the followers of Antichrist. But this wrath is selective, not universal. [See: Rev. 9:4, Rev. 16:2, Rev. 16:10].

God's Wrath in the "Church Age"
In Daniel 9:26, Matthew 24:2, Mark 13:2, Luke 19:41-44, and Luke 21:20-24, the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was foretold. According to two of the above passages, Luke 19:41-44 and Luke 21:20-24, this was God's wrath on Israel. If it is true that 1 Thes. 5:9 teaches Christians cannot be on earth when God's wrath is unleashed, why didn't the rapture come before A.D. 70! Forty years into the "Church age" we find "wrath" without a "pre-wrath" rapture!Since God's wrath can be found prior to the tribulation within the alleged "Church age," and Christians were not raptured, there is no logical grounds for demanding a pre-trib rapture in order to keep Christians separate from "wrath" in the tribulation.

Saints in the Tribulation
The book of Revelation refers to believers in the tribulation many times. All rapture views place saints of God on earth during God's wrath. Whether we call them Israel, the Church, or tribulation saints, is irrelevant. If a single saint is on earth at that time, all of the pre-trib logic is nullified. Are the "144,000," the "great multitude" of Rev. 7, the saints who "overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb," and the beheaded overcomers of Rev. 20:4, "appointed unto wrath?" One must have an elitist attitude in order to sustain such a conclusion.

The Old Testament Connection
God has routinely judged the wicked while supernaturally protecting His children at the same time. The precedent set in Egypt is important because it establishes God's normal method of judging the wicked. God protected His own people while pulverizing the Egyptians with a series of plagues identical to many of the plagues in Revelation. Other examples could be cited, such as Noah and the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God never raptured His people before to avoid His wrath, He simply protected them, or gave them the means to protect themselves, such as Noah's ark, and the early warning given to Lot.

13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 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 will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Paul indicated to these Christians, and his main reason for addressing the resurrection / rapture, was so they would not sorrow as those who had no hope. It is apparent the Thessalonians had a question about the resurrection that Paul was trying to answer. Their sorrowing had to do with those who had died. In his answer, Paul clarified the exact events surrounding the resurrection and rapture. While the question is not stated, we can reconstruct it from Paul's answer. Notice his answer linked the timing of the resurrection to the catching up of the living saints. Therefore, their question most likely concerned the fact of, and the timing of, the resurrection of the dead in Christ. Notice that Paul, in answering their question, assumed his readers were familiar with the Lord's coming itself. He attached the timing of the resurrection of dead saints to an event they were already familiar with, the catching up of the living saints.

1 Thess. 4
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [or precede] them which are asleep.

I want you to notice that before Paul begins to speak of the timing of the resurrection, he mentioned "the coming of the Lord" as though they were already familiar with this event. He took it for granted that they knew what the "coming of the Lord" was. Then he proceeded to link the timing of the resurrection of the dead saints to this event.

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 which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

These believers were already familiar with the Lord's descending from heaven, and the living believers being caught up in the clouds when the trumpet sounds. Paul simply placed the resurrection of the dead saints in the proper place in the sequence of events. In essence, Paul does this by saying that the dead saints will rise just before we are "caught up." So, it apparent that the Thessalonians were familiar with Christ's coming, and the "catching up" of the living believers. But, they were not sure where the resurrection of the dead saints fit in. How is it that they knew about the coming of Christ, and the catching up of the living saints, but did not understand where the resurrection fit in? It is because of their familiarity with the Olivet Discourse. In that passage, Jesus described His coming, and the gathering of the elect, but He did not specifically mention the resurrection of the dead.

Matthew 24
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun 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 in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send 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.

Paul's words would, no doubt, bring to memory the words of Christ in the Olivet Discourse. Notice the similar language. Both mention the coming of the Lord. Both mention the sounding of the trumpet to gather His own. Both mention angelic participation. But when we look at Jesus' words, we see that He did not mention the resurrection of the saints specifically in the Olivet Discourse. Based on these things, the Thessalonians' question for Paul becomes apparent. They wanted to know, when the trumpet sounds, and Jesus comes in power and glory, sending His angels to gather His elect, what will happen to those who have previously died? Will they be raised to witness the revelation of Christ to the world in all His glory, and to participate in the establishment of Christ's Kingdom? Or will they be raised at some other time? Or perhaps not at all? The fact that Jesus only spoke of the living, and did not place the resurrection in His sequence of events described in the Olivet Discourse, caused these Christians to worry about their departed brethren not participating in the spectacular events surrounding Christ's revelation to the world in power and glory, and the setting up of His Millennial Kingdom. Paul's answer indicates that this was indeed the problem. By linking the timing of the resurrection to the gathering of the living that Jesus spoke of, Paul completely resolved the problem for them, and gave them reason for hope regarding their loved ones who had died.

Again, so far we find nothing in Paul's writings that conflicts with the scenario described by Jesus. And, we also see Paul's relying on Jesus' Olivet Discourse. Here you will see that Jesus' teaching was the authority, and Paul simply supplemented it with additional details, and dealt with questions arising from Jesus' discourse.

In 1 Thess. 4, Paul dealt with the relationship of the resurrection to the rapture. The dead in Christ will rise first, then the living will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Paul continued in chapter 5 by addressing the question of when they might expect the rapture and resurrection to come.

1 Thessalonians 5
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
(KJV)

Notice Paul was placing the rapture in the "Day of the Lord." This is an extremely important point. Here Paul shifted from describing the events surrounding the rapture to speaking about when the rapture might come. And he referred them again to something they already knew, "yourselves know perfectly..." The "Day of the Lord" was coming as a "thief in the night."

Paul used a phrase that was familiar to these Christians. The "Day of the Lord" is found several times in the Old Testament, always in the context of Christ's coming to destroy the enemies of Israel, [see: Isa. 13:6-13, Joel 3:9-17, Zech. 14]. This is exactly what Revelation 19 records as the "battle of Armageddon."

The nature of the "Day of the Lord" is crucial to understanding this passage. It is also critical to any foundational understanding of eschatology in general. Pre-tribulationists claim the "Day of the Lord" includes the alleged pre-trib rapture and the entire tribulation. This allows them to reconcile 1 Thessalonians 5 with pre-tribulationism, since Paul instructed believers to be watching for the "Day of the Lord," [1 Thess. 5:1-6]. If the "Day of the Lord" comes after the tribulation, as every Old Testament occurrence seems to indicate, then Christians must still be here at the end of the tribulation in order to watch for that day.

Much has been written by pre-tribulationists trying to stretch the Day of the Lord forward to include the entire tribulation and pre-trib rapture. Comparisons of similar themes, such as wrath, judgment, etc. have been offered as evidence. Yet, no one has provided any biblical requirement supporting making them synonymous. None of the Old Testament passages support this conclusion. It comes only from a preconceived assumption of a pre-trib rapture superimposed on the Thessalonian passage. Their theory is a product of reverse engineering of the Scriptures in order to get the desired outcome rather than applying sound rules of interpretation. The fact is, there are definite biblical passages that forbid the "Day of the Lord" from overlapping the tribulation. The two are mutually exclusive.

First, throughout the Old Testament, a catastrophic sign is associated with the coming of the "Day of the Lord." The darkening of the sun and moon will herald that day. [See: Isaiah 13:9,10, Isaiah 24:19-23, Joel 3:13-15]. Here is one example.

Joel 2
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
(KJV)

Matthew 24
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, ...
(KJV)

These verses establish a clear sequence of events. They place the cosmic signs, the darkening of the sun and moon, between the end of the tribulation and the beginning of the "Day of the Lord."

This absolutely forbids any overlapping of the tribulation into the "Day of the Lord." They are distinct events. No other interpretation is possible without doing violence to these passages.

Secondly, the very first time the "Day of the Lord" is mentioned in the Bible, the text clearly forbids associating it with the tribulation. Isaiah two describes the "Day of the Lord" with the following words:

Isaiah 2
10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:...
17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
18 And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
(KJV)

Twice these verses indicate that the Lord alone will be exalted in the "Day of the Lord." This is an exclusive statement. No one else can be exalted or worshipped during the "Day of the Lord." Yet, during the tribulation, the Antichrist will be worshipped as God. [See: Rev. 13:3-8,14 & 2 Thess. 2:3,4] And, his image will be worshipped as well. Isaiah's statements about the Lord alone being exalted, and the idols being abolished during the "Day of the Lord," forbid any overlapping with the tribulation and reign of Antichrist.

The celestial sign, and the statements in Isaiah two, absolutely forbid stretching the "Day of the Lord" forward to include the tribulation, as pre-tribbers attempt to do. Furthermore, Paul made another clear statement which eliminates the possibility of the "Day of the Lord" including the entire tribulation and supposed pre-trib rapture.

II Thess 2:1-3
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
(KJV)

Most translations read "Day of the Lord" in verse 2. There is a variation in the Greek manuscripts here. Some ancient manuscripts read "day of Christ" and others read "day of the Lord." I don't want to get into a debate on which is correct. It really doesn't matter. If "Day of the Lord" is correct, the text indicates that the "Day of the Lord" comes after the tribulation, because events that occur during the tribulation, [the falling away and revelation of Antichrist], are said to come before the "Day of the Lord." If the "Day of Christ" is the correct reading, then this verse alone settles the pre-trib / post-trib debate, since the phrase "Day of Christ" is only used by Paul elsewhere to refer to the rapture of the Church. In this case, Paul is saying that the rapture cannot come until after the falling away and the Antichrist.

The meaning of the phrase "Day of the Lord" holds the key to the interpretation of Paul's instructions to believers in 1 Thessalonians. The meaning of 1 Thessalonians 4:13 - 5:9 is entirely dependent on the meaning of this phrase. There is no question the rapture and the coming of the "Day of the Lord" are firmly connected by Paul in this passage. He uses the term "Day of the Lord" as a synonym for the rapture. Notice Paul instructed Christians to be watching for the coming of the "Day of the Lord." And, as we have just demonstrated, the "Day of the Lord" is after the tribulation. Therefore, Christians must pass through the tribulation in order to watch for the "Day of the Lord." The rapture that Paul referred to is after the tribulation.

1 Thess 5:2-6
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 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.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
(KJV)

Since he instructed Christians to watch for the "Day of the Lord," and, as we have seen, that day comes after the tribulation, Paul was simply confirming Jesus' teaching in the Olivet Discourse. There is nothing here to suggest new revelation of a secret pre-trib rapture. In fact the opposite it true. Paul said in verse 2 that they already knew this perfectly. He was simply refreshing their memory. Yes, in chapter 4 Paul gave them some new revelation. He placed the timing of the resurrection just before the catching up of the living. This exact sequence was previously unknown to them. But, in chapter 5, his comment about their being already familiar with the coming of the Day of the Lord, indicates he was now pointing them back to something already revealed in Scripture.

How did the Thessalonian believers know perfectly that the Day of the Lord was coming as a "thief in the night?" Because they were familiar with Jesus' teaching in the Olivet Discourse! The idea of Christ's coming as a "thief in the night" was originated by Jesus Himself when describing His coming. After describing His coming in glory "immediately after the tribulation," Jesus said to His disciples:

Matt 24:42-44
42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
43 "But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
44 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
(NKJV)

Obviously, Paul was referring to Jesus' teaching! His reminding them of Jesus' "thief" illustration leads to the conclusion that he was confirming the chronology Christ gave. The following table shows that Paul was using Jesus' teaching in the Olivet Discourse as the basis of his instructions to the Thessalonian believers. He was simply repeating Jesus' instructions to the disciples. In effect, he was applying the teaching of Jesus to them, connecting their "watching" for the rapture with Jesus' instructions to be watching for His coming "immediately after the tribulation."

There is no question that Paul referred his readers to the Olivet Discourse, which only teaches a post-trib coming of Christ, to answer their questions about the rapture. This is substantial evidence that Paul taught a post-trib rapture. His use of the phrase "Day of the Lord," which other Scriptures place after the tribulation, to describe the rapture, makes it impossible to reconcile this passage with pre-tribulationism, in my opinion. Once again, we have every reason to connect Paul's teaching on the rapture to Jesus' teaching on the second coming. Nothing here excludes this linkage. And as the table above illustrates, there is much evidence of this connection. Therefore, the natural inference is Paul was simply building on Jesus' teaching, and was encouraging the Thessalonian believers to be watching for Jesus' coming after the tribulation!

Here is another reason the "Day of the Lord" cannot be stretched forward to include the tribulation in this passage. Paul wrote, "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." Notice it is those who are suprised by the sudden coming of the Day of the Lord that encounter sudden destruction with NO ESCAPE possible! In a pre-trib scheme, where the Day of the Lord is supposed to be the beginning of the tribulation, many of those who enter the tribulation, and consequently are among those surprised by the coming of the Day of the Lord, are still saved to become the multitude of "tribulation saints." Therefore, Paul's statement that "they will not escape" is necessarily false if the pre-trib theory is true! Paul's point is clearly that all those who are "in darkness" and who are surprised by the coming of the Day of the Lord will encounter "sudden destruction" and none of them will escape! This is precisely what Paul also indicates in 2 Thess. 1, as we will see in the next article.

One of the glaring weaknesses of the pre-trib rapture view, is that the book of Revelation does not place any coming of Jesus Christ before the tribulation. The Olivet Discourse gave us the sequence of events leading up to the end of the age. In that passage, no rapture before the tribulation was suggested. There is only the gathering of the elect "immediately after the tribulation." [Matt. 24:29-31]. Pre-tribbers are forced to speculate where their alleged "rapture" fits into the whole scheme. The book of Revelation presents similar problems, moving from the seven letters to the churches, to the tribulation scenes, without mentioning any coming of Christ at all. Many pre-tribbers use allegorical interpretation in order to fabricate a pre-trib rapture, claiming that John's being caught up to heaven to see the future "represents" the Church being raptured. 

Not all pre-tribbers believe John's being caught up to heaven represents the rapture. They recognize that this kind of fanciful - allegorical interpretation is not valid. However, they are still left with the glaring problem of no rapture before the tribulation. Some excuse this by claiming the rapture is not the focus of the book. But, Revelation is addressed to the seven churches  in Asia, and it exhorts them to remain faithful until Jesus comes for them.  Jesus was speaking to the churches in all of the following verses. In each case he was speaking of His coming for them.

Revelation 2
25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

Revelation 3
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

Revelation 3
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Revelation 22
7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Revelation 22
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Revelation 22
20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

In Christ's exhortations to the churches He mentioned the rapture at least six times in the above verses. In my judgment, this proves that the coming of Christ for His Church is indeed a crucial issue in Revelation. Pre-tribulationists are simply overlooking the obvious, that the rapture occurs in conjunction with Christ's coming at the battle of Armageddon. And, this is exactly the picture Revelation paints.

Revelation gives only one description of the rapture. It is described in terms of a harvest. Christ is seen on a cloud harvesting the earth. The symbolism of a harvest was a common way of describing the rapture known to believers in the first century. Jesus' parable of the wheat and tares shows that both would grow until the time of "harvest" when the angels would separate the two at Christ's command. James 5:7,8 also describes the rapture in terms of a harvest, applying Jesus' parable to the Church.

James 5:7-8
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
(KJV)

Here we see the delay leading up to the rapture compared to the farmer awaiting the time of harvest. When the rainy season comes, he knows that the time of harvest has arrived. In the same way James exhorts us to be patient and wait for the rapture.

Revelation 14:14-20 vividly describes this harvest of the elect, followed immediately by the battle of Armageddon.

Rev 14:14-16
14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
(KJV)

This is the rapture of the Church that James instructed us to be patiently awaiting. The same scene is found in Matthew 24:29-31. This is the Son of Man coming on the clouds, harvesting His elect. Immediately following, the wicked are harvested by the angel and thrown into the winepress where Christ destroys them. Revelation fourteen, like Luke 17:24-37, ties together the rapture with the battle of Armageddon.

Rev 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
(KJV)

Comparing Scripture with Scripture is a fundamental technique of good Bible study. This is especially apparent in Revelation where allusions to Old Testament prophecy abound. Comparing parallel passages helps us collate Revelation with previous prophecy.

Revelation fourteen is an important passage because it brings together several elements from other parallel passages. I believe there can be no doubt that Revelation 14:17-20 is drawn directly from Joel 3:12-16. Compare these two passages for yourself. Joel adds something very important to this event. First, he included the cosmic sign, the darkening of the sun and moon. And, he called this the "Day of the Lord." The parallel winepress in Revelation 19:15 makes it all but certain that each of these passages refer to the battle of Armageddon. Yet, the sun and moon sign ties in the Olivet Discourse where Jesus spoke of these events as occurring "immediately after the tribulation." Jesus also spoke of the Son of Man coming on the clouds to harvest His elect, again paralleling Revelation 14:14-16.

The comparison of these three passages shows clearly that each are speaking of the same event, the second coming of Christ after the tribulation. So, the placement of the first harvest by the Son of Man, on the cloud, clearly reflects the idea that the rapture of the righteous occurs just before the battle of Armageddon.