How Soon Will The Rapture Take Place ?

With much speculation as to the time of the Rapture of the Church, I will try to narrow down the time frame, according to the Bible.

The first thing many will say is that For ye know neither " The Day Or The Hour" True

That does not mean that we cannot know the Year, The Month or even The Week. Let us look at some scriptures that will provide some insight.

Mt 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither " the day nor the hour" wherein the Son of man cometh.
Mt 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an " hour " as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Lu 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an "hour " when ye think not.

Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

It says in verse 34, not to be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkeness and if we do not, That we will be aware of that coming day.

In verse 36 it says that if we watch and pray, we can escape all the things coming upon the earth.
Verse 34 can be translated to mean that the saints will be taken out of the earth and "escape" the "Great" tribulation period.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The saints will go through the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation period, but will be Raptured at that point.
Re 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which "came out " of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

4 � And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the " beginning of sorrows "
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: ( the Beast technology wiil be in all the major cities, nowhere to hide. That is why we are told to "flee into the Mountains" where they cannot see)

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect�s sake those days shall be shortened.

Da 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. ( this week refers to a seven year period in which the Beast will break his agreement with the nations after 3 1/2 years, The time of the Rapture.

Dan 12:1 � And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, (The Tribulation Period ) such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. [wise: or, teachers]
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Today we are nearing the end of the "Increase of Knowledge"
which started at about 1900.

The word "Rapture" does not appear in the Bible, but it refers to this event:

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51� Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all 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.,
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? [grave: or, hell]
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 � Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

In Luke 21 we see that the day will not come upon us unawares, that if we a
re prayful we can escape the things coming upon the earth.

That at the time of the end "Knowledge will be increased"

That the Beast will cause "ALL" to recieve a mark at the middle of the seven year tribulation period.

ALL this means that we have a short time left, the Mark is already here, It has not been forced upon us yet, but everything is in place. Once the Seven year agreement is made with the Nations and The Beast, we will have approx. 3 1/2 years
This agreement could have already been made behind the scenes or will be made behind the scenes.

At Best We Have Seven Years:

like the bible says no man shall no the hour nor the day on which the son of man cometh

but somthing big is about to happen no doubt

wot religion are you

How Soon Will The Rapture Take Place ?

...Some time apres the tribulation....

The rapture(noun) of the church, will be the excitement at the instant the last trump sounds, indicating that the battle is over and the promised land is retaken, when in the twinkling of an eye, spiritual Israel will be changed into resurrected Israel.

Well, according to some biblical scholars, Revelation refers to events in the past.

But, let's just suppose for a minute, that it is the end times being referred to.

For starters, even those to feel the Rapture, still have to suffer through the other disasters heralded by the other 6 trumpets! Yikes!

Next, are you a descendant of the original tribes of Isreal? Are you a virgin male? And then you have to be one of 144,000 picked from THAT lot!

If none of the above apply, then by your own book, you don't have a ticket, so no need to worry about it!

Every generation of Christians for the last two thousand years including the disciples believed that they would be the ones ruptured off this planet.

If Christianity lasts that long the next two thousand years will be full of similar anticipation.

Originally posted by Gazrok
Next, are you a descendant of the original tribes of Isreal? Are you a virgin male? And then you have to be one of 144,000 picked from THAT lot!
If none of the above apply, then by your own book, you don't have a ticket,

so no need to worry about it!

Hello Gazrok:
Nope, none of the above:-) You see, an honest bible scholar does not study the bible to find dogma, he studies the bible to find out what it says...LOL

Despite the premise of the 'Left Behind' series of books, many theologists believe that the rapture will not happen before the 'Tribulation' but afterwards, just prior to the destruction of the existing world.

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 ... 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. 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.
Matthew 24:29-31

Paul also states that ... 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: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

More here

There is nothing in the Bible that refers to the rapture. If you feel as if some of those verses indicate it to be true, than that is an opinion. Now my question for you is what do you feel is the single strongest peice of evidence that the rapture will occur.

You said that the word rapture doesn't occur in the Bible, which is true. Just remember that we are trying to interpret an anchient language when it all comes down to it. Thousands of years of interpretations may disguise words on an individual basis. The interpretations shouldn't disguise the message though. If they do, then that would mean that every word in the Bible would be subject to heavy scrutiny. If that is not the case, please give me what you consider to be your strongest peice of evidence that the rapture will occur. I'm not looking for individual verses from 50 different locations, situations, and time frames in the Bible. I am looking for your one biggest peice of evidence.

Anyone can join in on this one.

for those that believe in a pre-trib rapture.................God better get his (her....it?) rear in gear.............because if it doesn't happen soon..........he's liable to come back to an extinct species.............by either genetic designer bio weapons.............or the assimilate of our carbon based life into silicon artificial life.............then would we even be humans.......or cyborgs??

Look.........we are cloning, genetic engineering......working and mixing brain cells with silicon chips............not to mention having the power and resources to rape and ruin the planet eventually..........what will humans actually be defined as in 20, 50.......100 years??

Rapture??...............it only comes from the statement in the bible that the restrainer must be removed before the beast rises..............

the restrainer is often thought of as the holy spirit.......and since it resides as one in christians then it is thought that the holy spirit and christians are both removed at the same time............

Speculation on a highly symbolic book of John in an ancient book to supposed to be the inspired word of God?.............

Look.........we are cloning, genetic engineering......working and mixing brain cells with silicon chips............not to mention having the power and resources to rape and ruin the planet eventually..........what will humans actually be defined as in 20, 50.......100 years??

We don't have even 20 years left, the Mark is here in the form of the Digital Angel Chip. Already in Europe they are using it to allow "Chipped" members into exclusive areas of certain clubs, without the "Chip" you can not access those areas. They are currently "Fine Tuning" their system for implementation once the Beast arrives on the scene.

What if the rapture is a symbolic way of talking about death. I can see the scriptures aligning with being taken away as just dying.

WE cannot know...we need to be ready for the return of christ everyday....but to try to figure out when, i think might be foolish....it says in the bible that not even the angels know about such things,,,so lets do our part and be ready leave the details to god...GAZROK i think you are talkin out your rear where do you get your information? sounds like some jehovahs witness jive....

Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

It says in verse 34, not to be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkeness and if we do not, That we will be aware of that coming day.

We do not know the "Day" or "Hour" That does not say that we can not know the "Year" and maybe even the "Month"

For sure verse 34 states that we can be "Aware" that his return is very close.
The signs of the times also lets us know we are close.

yes your right about being aware...we should be...and ready for his return...i dont think you should split hairs though,,,"well he did not say we cannot know the month or year" come on realy? do you think we can bring it down to some equasion? this is god stuff ...our job is to be ready

It won't happen.

Events have more closely matched the scenario in the past. And this is a teaching of only one religion. People have been preaching that it will happen "any second now" ever since 33 AD.

listen byrd, better make sure that your information is correct...or you will find yourself left behind....it says in the bible that in the last days scoffers will come saying "where is this coming he promised? ever sence our fathers died everything goes on as it has sence the beginning of creation"....i dont know if you own a bible ...but if you do then i would encourage you to read 2 peter3:3

2 Pet3:3 � Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Amazing, almost your exact words Byrd

It is these facts that they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the first world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished from the first great rebellion against God.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same spoken word of God, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men, men that choose to ignore the written witness of God.
Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Don't think the Lord is slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Then I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. [hell: or, the grave]Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

I then saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And he heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

"And he said unto me, Write: for the words of this book are true and faithful".

Originally posted by Byrd
It won't happen.

Events have more closely matched the scenario in the past. And this is a teaching of only one religion. People have been preaching that it will happen "any second now" ever since 33 AD.

I disagree yo.
the Bible has predicted a cashless society, global destruction (nukes) satellite TV (it claims the whole earth will see the 2 prophets in the street rise), one world gov and language, and in Matthew it talks of the generation that sees the fig tree bud will not pass away. Isreal became a nation in 1947-1948.
thus, the generation God comes back Isreal would have been a nation then.
I think its soon, and yeah since the early AD years people did say Jesus was coming back "any second" the disciples that saw him ascend to the clouds thought hed be back in their life time. so far, if God came back now, their calculatiosn are off 2K years plus. so dont put a date on it.
and to God, a 1K years to us is 1 day to him. so according tohim, hes only been gone 2 days since he came.

I agree with Byrd,

It's only from one religion. And it's no more valid than that of another religion. Byrd is of a religion other than christianity and her religion has more value for her than christianity. One religion does not have all the facts. Especially if there are hundreds of different subreligions within that one religion.