NO I am not going to be date setting here because the Bible tells us no-one knows the time or the date of this.

Most of us think we know what the rapture is, most of us have heard about it in one way or another. Some of us may recall the films "Left Behind" all about this, but they took the standard American pre tribulation theory as being fact, but...

The word rapture is derived from Middle French rapture, from the Medieval Latin raptura ("seizure, kidnapping"), which derives from the Latin raptus ("a carrying off") which translates the Greek as rapiemur("we will be caught up"). The word rapture does not appear in the Bible, it does not appear in the original scrolls. Many people get this from this verse in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - 17
"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." to be caught away.

One of the best descriptions I have read is from https://www.gotquestions.org/rapture-of-the-church.html

• The rapture of the church is the event in which God “snatches away” all believers from the earth in order to make way for His righteous judgment to be poured out on the earth. The rapture is described primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50–54. God will resurrect all believers who have died, give them glorified bodies, and take them from the earth, along with all living believers, who will also be given glorified bodies at that time. “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). The rapture will involve an instantaneous transformation of our bodies to fit us for eternity. “We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

I will agree that we are going to be taken away from this world into Heaven before the wrath of God is poured out onto the earth in the final days. However most christians will tell you that this is going to happen before the start of the tribulation, that is what they have been taught, that is what they believe. I am not so sure, when you study the book of Revelation I am of the belief that all of us saved and sinner go through most of the tribulation side by side. There are three popular beliefs about the rapture that are preached in most churches, but you can say that they are a theory, each of them can be proved and disproved in the Bible, all of them follow one of these theories. So what are they?

Pre Tribulation
As the title suggests, these believers and this will cover well over 50% of Christians, believe we will be raptured out of here before the tribulation starts. No not the second coming of Jesus as mentioned in the Bible, but Jesus is simply going to call us out of this world, and this is just the Christians, sorry most Christians believe that the Jews remain whilst they get to go to the marriage feast. You can probably guess that I have a problem with this, and not because only the Christians get to go, but think along the lines of if we all go at this particular point, then nothing in the book of the Revelation is for us. The pouring out of the final great move of GOD is not for us, the causing the Jew to jealousy is not by us, the fact that not all prophecy has at that time been fulfilled, the fact that all the word of GOD has not yet been fulfilled, but there, they have their belief so they are fine...

Mid Tribulation
Again these people believe the rapture will be mid way through the tribulation. Not as many as the pre trib people in number but still a fiar few. Most of these churches will teach that they are raptured just before the anti-christ sits in the temple in Jerusalem and causes the abomination of desolation to stand in the temple. Again this means that they are gone before the end days prophecies have been fulfilled, the Jews have as yet not been fully saved, but there, they have their belief so they are fine...

Post Tribulation
This is a weird one, these people and there are not many believe that the rapture happens after the tribulation. Hmm, after the tribulation, so after all the seven seals have been opened, after the severn trumpets have sounded, after the bowls of wrath have been poured out, even after the second coming of Jesus. Seems to me to be a little late to the party here, I dont think I will accept this one.

There are other theories, you may have heard of some, but I have heard of Pre - Wrath, Post Wrath, I have even heard some say Post Millenium Kingdom. As I have previously said, these are all theories, non can be proved and they can all be preach as true with specific verses, usually taken out of context. Are you really willing to believe in one theory, discounting what the Bible has to say about it. Are you seriously going to put your life on the line and not find out about "what happens if you are wrong".

My thoughts on this
Let us read again 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - 17
"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."
My understanding is that Jesus is going to descend from Heaven to the earth with a huge shout, the arch angel is going to blow a trumpet. It is going to be noticed, and if you notice the shout and the trumpet, do you think those who get resurected from the grave are going to be quietly asscending and as they come past the surfcae of the earth those of us alive join in. I think I can fairly safely say no one is going to sleep through this noise and no one is going to be able to say they didnt see it. I see this as the second coming of Jesus, the rapture as people have named and the second coming are both the same even and my belief is that this will happen one year before the end of the tribulation. Obviously I cant prove this, there are hints in the Bible if you know where you are looking and what you are looking for, it is not in plane sight.

I will be saying more in my other articles from the Book of The Revelation.

What I usually suggest to people who ask my questions about this subject is to pray and hope for the best but make preparations for the worst scenario.

Intro article on The book of Revelation
Article about the seven seals
Article about the seven Trumpets
Article on the Rapture.