Rapture Beliefs
Here is a summary of the four most popular beliefs about the timing of the Rapture of the Church. Each belief system is in relation to the Tribulation Period: the 70th Week of Daniel as described in Daniel 9:24-27.
1. The Pre-tribulation Rapture belief advances the idea that the 70th Week of Daniel is all tribulation and the wrath of God. They believe the Rapture of the Church will take place before the time of tribulation. This position holds that there are two comings of Christ: one at the beginning of the final 7 year period; and another at the end of that 7 year period.
2. The Mid-tribulation Rapture belief says the Rapture will take place in the middle of the 70th Week of Daniel – in the middle of the 7 year tribulation. They also hold to the belief that there are two comings of Christ: one in the middle of the final 7 year period; and another at the end of that time.
3. The Pre-wrath Rapture belief sees the Rapture and the Coming of Christ as a single event sometime in the 2nd half of the 70th Week immediately following a “shortened” time of “Great Tribulation.” They see the first 3½ years as a pseudo-time of peace; and view the “Great Tribulation” as an unknown shortened length of time in the 2nd half followed by continued tribulation for the balance of the 3½ years for those left on earth.
4. The Post-tribulation Rapture belief sees the first half of the 70th Week as a pseudo-time of peace; and they hold that the Rapture and the Coming of Christ is a single final event occurring at the end of either a 3½ or a 7 year period of time. Those who hold to a belief in a 7 year tribulation consider the last 3½ years to be the time the Lord called the “Great Tribulation.” Some who hold to a Post-tribulation Rapture belief, however, say there are only 3½ years of Daniel’s 70 Weeks yet to be fulfilled – which they consider to be the “Great Tribulation” – followed by the Rapture and the Coming of Christ at the end.