When is the resurrection?

Pre Trib: Is there an ‘up-front rapture’ that takes all Christians out of the world and away from all end time circumstances?
Mid Trib: Is the resurrection in the middle of everything?
Post Trib: Is the resurrection after the ‘tribulation’? What is the ‘last trump’?

These are the usual questions. To that we can add some more overall queries.
Is the day of the Lord the same as the resurrection?
What is the day of the Lord? (See article: Day of the Lord )
Where is the Church (woman) for three and a half years?
Is this the only resurrection?
What about ‘one is taken, one is left’?

All of these questions are concerned with timing. In order to resolve almost any issue about the return of Christ, the correct overall timing of all the events will put the question into a much clearer and therefore simpler perspective. Everything during the ‘last days’ or the ‘day of the Lord’ takes place within a structure that makes a whole. This has been the foundation of the Toolkit. Take every single event of the end time and find out how they can all relate to each other without a contradiction.

The topics to resolve this issue are:
‘I come as a thief’.
The ‘tribulation of those days’.
The sixth seal.
The abomination of desolation.
The great tribulation.

‘I come as a thief’.

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 1 Thess 5:2

This and many other verses (see: I come as a thief ) emphasis the point there will be no warnings or indications that the day of the Lord is about to start. One day it is as in the days of Lot, and as in the days of Noah. The next day it is very definitely not the same; it is within the ‘day of the Lord’. The day of the Lord therefore has a very distinct beginning. The sixteen times this is mentioned is letting us know in no uncertain way we will not know the time in advance. There will be nothing to indicate it is about to start. That is the real point of this much emphasis. That much should be clear.

Paul has told us the start of the end time the ‘day of the Lord’ has no warning and is a total surprise, next he goes on to explain the resurrection itself will be no surprise at all.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. 2 Thess 2:1

Paul is insistent when saying that the day of the Lord will be a surprise, that the resurrection will be the opposite. It will be well and truly signposted by the unmistakable presence of the beast that will arise at the time shortly before the ‘gathering together unto Him’.
The ‘abomination of desolation’ being committed in Jerusalem (the beast saying he is god), Paul explains is the sign given to prevent any possibility of being deceived into thinking that the resurrection might have occurred already. This unmistakable ‘abomination’ must occur first.

A whole series of events will take place before the resurrection:
So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Matt 24:33

Other articles show that the first event of the end time is the gospel going to the entire world. (See: Gospel ) From that moment on most Christians will realise that ‘the Lord cometh’.
Two courses of action are now open. One is to optimistically sit back thinking it is all over and wait to be resurrected. The other course of action is to fulfil all the scriptures that instruct God’s people what they are to do once the end time is obviously underway.
In a nutshell God’s people will be in a head-on confrontation with the beast and as pointed out in Matt 10 this will be right up to the day Christ ‘gathers’ them.
(This is the subject of: Come out of Babylon My people ).

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. 21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. 23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. Matt 10:16 (For the subject of Israel see: Who Is Israel )

This will cause many that were expecting an immediate ‘rapture’ to be disappointed. They said ‘peace and safety’ expecting that with the presumed imminent arrival of Christ that ‘became obvious’ once the gospel had gone out, all their problems were over. What should have been obvious with the event that is the gospel going to the entire world was the ‘day of the Lord’ had just started. A very different set of circumstances to the resurrection itself.
The opposite of what they expected occurred, Babylon fell. (see: fall of Babylon) This completely unexpected series of events caused the disillusionment that resulted in the ‘great falling away’. The fall of Babylon caused such a financial disaster, the world had to immediately ‘jockey for position’. By that I mean the world sunk to the means of last resort – war. The new world order resulted in the very sudden rise of the beast power ‘for one hour’. These dramatic shifts in global balances caused a world war with its associated famine and disease that claimed a quarter of the world’s population.

Amidst all this the people that are still faithfully serving God have to function. Their numbers have been drastically reduced (as a result of the great falling away). They are helping, explaining and warning where necessary what these days are really about, and what God requires of all peoples. For their effort they are severely persecuted. The beast offers food and the means of day-to-day survival. Christ offers a ‘cross’ that all who profess to be true Christians must carry; or they are ‘not worthy of Me’.
It will be impossible for God’s people not to know that they are in the day of the Lord once it starts, and they will know when the resurrection is imminent by the actions of the beast. That is the point Paul is making.

The Tribulation Of Those Days and Sixth Seal

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matt 24:29

This verse in Matthew mentions the great sound of the trumpet mentioned elsewhere:

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. 1 Thess 4:16

And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: … 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. Heb 12:19

The Matthew account is consistent with the resurrection elsewhere and Mark shows it clearly as well:

But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. 26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. Mark 13:24

The point is the resurrection in Matthew and Mark (and Luke) shows this occurs when the sun turns dark and the moon turns the colour of blood and other unmistakable events.

Compare this with what is very clearly the sixth seal in Revelation:

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? Rev 6:12

The exact same details are all found here. A more detailed explanation is given in the article: The Sixth Seal
The sixth seal as recorded in Matt, Mark and Luke has the added detail of the resurrection.
However the phrase ‘immediately after the tribulation of those days’ must refer to the events immediately prior to the sixth seal and that can only be seals one to five.
We can also see that included in what happens immediately after the ‘tribulation of those days’ is the resurrection.

Can we pinpoint the timing of this event? Firstly it is after the first five seals. These seals include world upheavals and changes in national political structures and alliances. The rise and fall of worldwide trade and military activities would take some time to occur (a year or two) but it appears we are not given much in specific guidelines at to work this time period out; more on that later. However the period of time left remaining after the resurrection is much clearer. This time by default will have to be after the sixth seal making it the seventh seal.

The abomination of desolation occurs and we are given a period after that of forty-two months until the beast’s reign is brought to a close. Christ is the one who does that at Armageddon.

And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. Rev 13:5 See also Dan 12:11

If we presume the Church is resurrected at this point in time, at approximately the time the beast has said he is god, 2 Thess 2:1, do we have a three and a half year period mentioned that accounts for the Church? Yes we do. Revelation 12 shows the ‘woman’ to be in the wilderness for that period of time. The women can only be the Church since she ‘keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Jesus Christ’. This is as good a definition of the Church as any. Since the ‘woman’ is totally out of reach of Satan and he has been cast down to earth and his activity restricted to the earth, the meaning of “And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth” falls in line with the position that the Church has been resurrected and are out of his reach on the ‘sea of glass’; God’s throne. The earth, literally the round planet where Satan is now confined to is the only place he has any influence. He has been severely restricted and cannot reach into ‘heaven’ anymore. The earth has ‘swallowed’ his efforts to harm the resurrected Church. (The war in heaven gave Michael something to think about, all indications are it was not an easy task. Satan for the time being is allowed to wield enormous power).

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Rev 12:13

We also have a mention that a portion of the Church will not see ‘the hour of temptation (trial)’ – the great tribulation. (The resurrection would also be the first ‘reaping’ in Rev 14:15. Armageddon is the second ‘reaping’ in v19).

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Rev 3:10

It should be noted here that not all of the Church have been selected for this resurrection. There is at least one more resurrection, a ‘thousand years later’, which would correspond to the end of the millennium. (Many scriptures make it clear not all who say they are, or act like, or even do miracles in Christ’s name, are in fact true Christians. The definition of who is a true Christian depends for each one of us on ‘how’ and ‘if’ we cross the finishing line).

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 worshipped 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. This is the first resurrection. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. Rev 20:4 (NB. The sentence ‘This is the first resurrection’ has been put in its correct place. It makes no sense in English otherwise. There are many instances of Hebrew thought patterns in the OT that appear ‘jumbled’ with the clauses not in the normal position as used in English. John is still thinking in ‘Hebrew’). Not being in the first resurrection is not a salvation issue. Paul refers to the first resurrection as being the ‘better one’. Also note that he draws no distinction between the ‘reward’ of those from the old covenant, the ‘they’ and the ‘us’ of the new covenant, we are all treated as one together.

Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. Heb 11:35

Summary so far:
1) The resurrection cannot be at the beginning of the time period known as the day of the Lord. That would present a whole series of complications and contradictions with scripture.
2) The (first) resurrection does comfortably fit with all scripture at a point three and a half years before Christ returns with the saints at Armageddon.

The Possibility of a Post Tribulation Resurrection?

The ‘great tribulation’ and the ‘last trump’.

In Matt 24:15 Christ says: ‘when you see the ‘abomination of desolation’ then (v 21) shall be great tribulation such as never seen before’. This is referring to the great tribulation, there can only be one worst time ever. The ‘abomination’ takes place three and a half years before the end of the ‘day of the Lord’ at Armageddon where the beast is rounded up and cast into the lake of fire with the false prophet. This period by default has to be the seventh seal since the sixth seal has been defined as the time when both the resurrection and the abomination took place. ‘Immediately after’ will last for the next three and a half years.

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place. Matt 24:15
…from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Dan 12:11
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. Matt 24:21

After the sixth seal in Revelation 6 the next chapter of Revelation introduces the 144,000 representing the first fruits that have been resurrected along with the ‘innumerable multitude’. In chapter 8 the seventh seal is introduced which is the continuation from chapter 6. There is a silence in heaven, a deadly silence in anticipation of this ‘worst time ever for the world’. Satan has been sent down and let loose and he is really upset knowing that his days are virtually over. He will try to take mankind out with him if he can. Christ said no one would survive this period if He did not step in and intervene. Matt 24:22.

During this period when Asia descends on the Middle East to fight the beast (who has just taken it by force), one third of mankind perishes. In one event alone, over two thousand million people die. (Asia = kings from the East of the Euphrates River [North and East: Daniel 11:44])

And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. Rev 9:16

During this period Satan goes off to make war against the ‘remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ’. That statement alone tells us the Church had ‘gone’ at a fairly early stage of the great tribulation. Those that did not qualify will find it very difficult to hide from a spiritually capable enemy. If the Church as a whole were around at this stage, they too would not survive until a resurrection.

It should be clear where the bulk of scripture lies. The only point left that needs clarifying is the expression the ‘last trump’.

The Last Trump

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1Cor 15:52
There is a line of reasoning that suggests that the resurrection will be just before Christ returns at the very end i.e. Christ on His way down picks up the saints that have been protected in a ‘place of safety’; they go up to Him and immediately come on down with Christ. It is based on the ‘last trump’ being the very last trumpet of the seventh seal. Not an unreasonable position since the bible says it. However, it flies in the face of all the other scriptures so how do we explain this verse?
Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words explains this expression under the listing Trump, Trumpet.
1 Cor. 15:52, where "the last trump" is a military allusion, familiar to Greek readers, and has no connection with the series in Rev. 8:6 to 11:15
What Vines is saying is the last trump was a familiar speech idiom of the day, well known in its time.
In the same chapter of 1 Corinthians 15 Paul uses an idiom again in verse 23

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
‘own order’ …signifying "that which has been arranged in order," was especially a military term, denoting "a company;" it is used metaphorically in 1 Cor. 15:23 of the various classes of those who have part in the first resurrection. (Vines)
Robertson says: Order (ταγματι [tagmati]). Old military term from τασσω [tassō], to arrange, here only in N.T. Each in his own division, troop, rank.
Bullinger also acknowledges them both as idioms.
In verse 33 of the same chapter Paul quotes a well known Greek classical author of his day: Menander: ‘evil communications corrupt good manners’.
Paul is a very highly educated man and he pulls whatever he needs from many sources to make his point.

For us in the light of other scripture it is not feasible for the resurrection to take place at the end of the seventh seal after the great tribulation and we can see that Paul quite often used a suitable quote where necessary and this one ‘the last trump’ means roughly the equivalent of ‘when the time is appropriate’. Nothing indicates this expression is literal. Paul would explain further in another place if something else were the case.

‘One is Taken, One is left’

In Matt 24:40 we have the verse that many suggest indicates a sudden unexpected rapture.

Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

This expression comes right in the middle of very specific instructions to understand that the day of the Lord starts unexpectedly. To have a resurrection at this point would not be possible for all the reasons given in this article. Something else is being alluded to. The answer is explained in ‘come out of Babylon My people’, a separate subject.
Something to think about in the meantime: In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (all ‘Church’ members) some were ready when the cry went up the ‘Lord cometh’. They were ‘chosen’ for the wedding, the others were not. Similarly, when the first event of the end time occurs and it becomes obvious that Christ is going to return, i.e. the cry goes out the ‘Lord cometh’ some will be ready in the sense they are prepared for what they are to do. They are chosen not ‘taken’ which is the sense of the Greek word paralambano. See: One Shall be Taken

Conclusion.

The resurrection occurs midway through the end time after the ‘tribulation of those days’ (the first five seals) but before the ‘great tribulation’ of the seventh seal.

For a more detailed way of demonstrating how this conclusion is reached, please contact us for more information. readandrun@btinternet.com