Just so I'm clear, Rev 7:1-8 NIV takes place on earth, and Rev 7:9-17 NIV takes place in heaven, correct?Marcus O'Reillius said:Exactly.
Revelation 7:9-17 is in Heaven. While John is shown what transcribes elsewhere at times, his location in Heaven does not change from the setting once he is taken up from Rev 4:1 and his place is as he describes in detail in chapters four and five. He is taken to other realms in the spiritual plane of Heaven (Rev 17:3), but there be no need for him to go to earth for God, who is omnipresent, to present John with the pictures of what takes place on the earth.
So if the 5 seals are birth pains, and the 1st trumpet is the beginning of God's wrath, then rapture HAS to be in Rev 7:9-17 NIV.
Rapture is after birth pains and before God's wrath. Is this your conclusion also? - ATP