The word rapture is not found in scripture. It is a modernized popular term used to describe the Lord’s 2ND coming. Wikepedia notes that it comes from the Latin word raeptius, which in turn is a translation of the Koine Greek word harpazo (used in 1 Thess 4:17) and has a modern English meaning of “caught up” or “taken away”. This word rapture has been used to describe the time when Jesus returns to the earth via the clouds (the 2nd coming) and the dead in Christ rise first, followed by those yet living to meet Him in the air (1 Thess 4:16-17).

Let’s go back to the first people to ask in the New Testament about His 2ND Coming: His disciples. They asked "When will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matt. 24:3).

WHEN and WHAT?

According to scripture, Jesus will return to gather to himself those who are His (Saved by His atonement for their sins dead or living). However, much controversy surrounds the timing of this momentous event. The controversy is usually divided into various views. This study outlines: pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and post tribulation. However, there are more.

As cited by Wikepedia Encyclopedia, the pre-tribulation doctrine became popular in the 1800s after the visions of a 15yr old girl named Margaret McDonald were published then popularized by John Nelson Darby. Believers in this doctrine claim that Jesus’ 2nd coming will be in 2 parts- the first before the tribulation, the second, after the tribulation period. Believers of this doctrine claim that God would not allow his people to suffer tribulation, citing passages as in scripture where God rescued his people from wrath.

One such passage included Gen 19, Lot’s escape for Sodom and Gomorah - yet careful study of this passage will reveal that Lot was given a way of escape -which did not include being caught up in the clouds. It was  safe passage out of the city to the hills as described also describesd in Revelations and other endtime scriptures.

Wikepedia also notes that another view of the timing of Christ’s return is referred to as the mid-tribulation. This view also holds to a 2 part coming, the first coming of is at a point of 3 ½ years into the tribulation period. The second part of the second coming then occurs at the end of the tribulation.

People holding this view will cite often misunderstood prophetic references in Daniel, The Gospels, Paul’s Epistles, and Revelations. This view and popularized Pre-tribulatiaon rapture does not hold weight when put to the light of Jesus’ own words and chronological scriptural understanding. They appear to use speculation and imaginative additives to the text which create their out of context fantasy views.

Post-Tribulation and Hebraic Messianic doctrine show that Jesus will return for His congregation at the end of the tribulation period, a point scripture refers to as “the last trumpet” and “the last day.” The words of Jesus found in Matthew 24 give a chronological order of the events to happen before, during and at the end of the tribulation in accordance with references to Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy:

1. Many will come claiming to be the Christ. (v5)
2. There will wars and rumors of war, but the end is yet to come (v6)
3. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom (v7)
4. Famines and earthquakes (v7)
5. The Abomination of Desolation spoken in Daniel will occur (v15)
6. People of Judea must flee to the mountains (v16)
7. FOR THEN, there will be great suffering like never before or ever will be again (v21)
8. Don’t believe those who are saying Christ is over there (v23)
9. False Christ and False Prophets will appear and perform great miracles that could deceive the elect, if it were possible. (v24)
10. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SUFFERING, the sun will be darkened, moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven. (v29)
11. THEN, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in Heaven arriving on the clouds (v30)
12. He will send his angels with a LOUD TRUMPET blast to collect his people (v31)

In Ithis passage, Jesus himself tells us when the rapture occurs- which is ONLY after the suffering or tribulation. At no time does He refer to a 2-part second coming.
The key point to understand is that Jesus is very clear that the “Resurrection” of the just will take place on the “Last Day” when He Returns.


John 5:25-29- KJV
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Daniel 12: 1c-3 But at that time your own people,
all those whose names are found written in the book,
will escape. Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake –
some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence.
But the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavenly expanse.

Acts 24:15, KJV
And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

Revelation 20:4-6, KJV
(4) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
(5) But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
(6) Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

John 6:39-40, 44&54 All of which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the LAST DAY. I will raise him up at that. LAST DAY. KJV
6:44-I will raise him up at the LAST DAY. KJV
6:54-I will raise him at the LAST DAY. KJV

11:24- Martha said, “I know that he will come back to life again in the resurrection at the LAST DAY. NET

12:48-The one who rejects me and does not accept my words has a judge; the word I have spoken will judge him at the LAST DAY. NET

Notice also in your Bible that the Day of Lord is also used in to note Christ’s return to resurrect the dead in Christ and transform the living believers. ( I Thess. 4) When is the Last Day? At the Sound of the 7th Trumpet. (1 Corinthians 15 & Rev 11 ) Again signifying one day, not two separate days or events.

HOW?

Believers of the Pre- and Mid-tribulation doctrines also hold that the 1st part of Jesus’2nd coming will be a silent coming. This doctrine is adapted from the “thief in the night” scriptures (Matt 24:43-44, I Thess 5:1-5, 2 Peter 3:10, Rev 3:3) and states that Jesus will come quietly like a thief in the night. However, this is a gross mis-interpretation (False teaching) of the word of G-d. The “thief in the night” scriptures are a warning to the unprepared generations. Jesus himself states in Matthew 24 that a thief can not overtake one who is prepared and watching but a thief will overtake one who is NOT prepared. Paul, Peter and John only repeat the words of Christ in their own writings.

Not only does scripture NOT state Jesus’s Coming will NOT be silent, but scripture, factually, gives a direct opposite picture of the second coming of Christ.
Matthew 24:29-31
“Immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. KJV

1 Thessalonians 4:16
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. KJV

2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare. KJV

Many hold Christ's coming will be a surprise to believers, yet with all these signs and event that could sleep during all this. Jesus Christ will come like a thief in the night to those who are spiritually asleep and caught up in sin; not as a thief to those patiently watching, waiting and obeying his words, and praying as outlined in Matt 24: 42-44, Luke 21:34, 1 Thess. 5:1-4, Rev. 3:3, and Rev. 16:15.

It is important to note that the Exodus from Egypt is a type of foreshadowing for the Endtime Exodus from this earth to Heaven. God did not come twice to get them. He called them out at one time, just as scripture shows the "post tribulation Day of the Lord".

Eddie Chumney, Messianic Rabbi notes that the Exodus is an example of the End of Days (Achrit Haiymin)where similar miracles, songs, and events correlate in Hebraic and Apostolic writings such as Micah 7:14-19, Hosea 2:14-15, Exodus 15 and Revelations 15. He notes that the Hebrew calender feasts and days
point to the Return of Jesus Christ and His millinum reign.

Conclusion
The OT Prophets, Jesus, and NT writers use signs, not an “exact” date and hour of His return. ..“Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone ( Matt.24:36/25:13). However, Christ gave subtle hints: “When you see these things, meaning certain signs, Anti-Christ, and social events correlating with the prophet Daniel’s 70 weeks, then His time of His Return was near. (Matt 24:15-21 and Luke 21:31-32). Christ was warning every Christian generation to be imminently ready for the End time phases that would come because God the Father had not revealed it to Him at that time. This idea remained throughout the apostles teachings. The fact of His coming to rapture up the saints in eternal transformation is based on clear chronological scriptural defined signs and seasons. It will be our Day of the redemption that we have been sealed of the Holy Spirit for. The celebration of the Feast of trumpets marks the end of the age and beginning of the well awaited 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ.

References:
1.Holy Bible KJV and NET translations
2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture
3. Eddie Chumney, Hebraic Bible Prophecy DVD, 2007
4.http://www.hebroots.org/yeshiva/IntroFestivals/web/default.h tm