A professor at my college made a statement at the beginning of one semester. Since that was 40 some years ago, I will not give it word for word. But I still remember the idea of what he said.
"When establishing doctrine on any subject, first find the most complete writing on that subject, or, if there is not one place that has a more complete picture than another, find the latest verses on that subject, for God is a self revealing God, and over time, gives a more complete revelation. Therefore, later scriptures will give a clearer picture than older scriptures. Establish your doctrine from this most complete or latest scriptures, and then fill in missing pieces from the lessor scriptures."
If we follow his idea, of course the book of Revelation is the most complete thesis on the end times. And, it is the most recent of latest of all scriptures on the end times. So we must estabish the main points of our doctrine of end times there, not from other scriptures. We know there is a rapture or "catching up" of the church from Paul. Could we expect to find this in Revelation? Many people would immediately assume so. However, for the most part, the book of Revelation is concerning the Hebrews, not the Gentile church of which we are a part. Chapters 8 through 16 are entirely about their 70th week, of which we are not to take a part. Paul made it clear that we - the Gentile church - have NO appointment with His wrath. His wrath clearly begins with the opening of the 70th week. (Note, the seals are NOT a part of the 70th week.)
So IS the rapture seen in Revelation? Can we find any hint of the timing of the rapture there? Yes, God in His great wisdom and mercy knew we would have these arguments and so, left us some hints. John got to see the church in heaven, immediately following the rapture. He was in heaven, and so did not see the catching up.
So many get confused with the chronology of Revelation. But here is an axiom:
Any theory of end times that must re-arrange the God given chronology of Revelation is immediately suspect, and will be proven wrong.
Prewrath doctine must do a LOT of rearranging. They have the time of great tribulation - before John has even started the 70th week.
So to find the timing of the rapture - in relation to the 70th week - one must first understand WHERE in Revelation the 70th week begins and ends. Most of the classical doctrines, i.e., pretrib, prewrath, and posttrib, have gotten this part wrong; they cannot identify the beginning of the 70th week. They cannnot identify the midpoint or the end either.
The 70th week begins with the 7th seal, and ends with the 7th vial. The exact midpoint is the 7th trumpet. God has "marked" the entire 70th week with sevens.
I know many will disagree so far, so we will hold the tiime of the rapture to another post.
Coop