The Rapture of the church is the next great event for the Christian. Nothing needs to happen before this event, and nothing will happen before this event. Many think that the Tribulation could occur next, and some even think that we are in the Tribulation. But Scripture makes clear that before the Tribulation starts the Rapture will occur.

And for those who aren’t convinced that there even is a rapture, here are two points of evidence from the Scripture that proves it.

The Rapture of the church proved by Daniel 9:24-27.

Daniel 9:24-27

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.  25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27 “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

If you read this passage carefully you will see that there are a great many details to consider. And I have been careful to highlight these details in my book, Biblical Evidence of a Pretribulation Rapture—which I recommend to you.1  But in our study here we will narrow it down quite a bit. The idea that I want you to see here is that God has decreed (or determined) for His people (Israel) a period of time, with suffering, to bring them as a nation to repentance and salvation. We see this in verse twenty-four. The period is seventy weeks, which means seventy weeks of years or 490 years. These weeks are broken down in this passage into three parts: seven weeks (or forty-nine years), sixty-two weeks (or 434 years), and one week (the last seven years). The first forty-nine years is from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (in 445 B.C.) to the closing of the Old Testament. The next 434 years is during the intertestamental period and to the first advent of Messiah, which was fulfilled at His triumphal entry in A. D. 30. The third and last seven years is during the seven-year Tribulation; that period is the period that “the people of the prince (or the antichrist) will promise to the Jews as a time of peace (v. 27).

Now you may notice that from the end of the sixty-two-week period to the beginning of the last week, there is a huge gap of time. This is where the church has fit in. This gap so far has been about 2024 years long. And please understand that the last week (which will be the Tribulation period) cannot begin until the church age is completed. So, you see what I am getting at. When God sees that it is time to end the church age and to continue again the program for Israel, He will rapture the church to heaven. But that last seven years of Tribulation doesn’t have to begin immediately—and I don’t think it will. It will not begin until the antichrist signs a covenant of peace with the Jews for seven years (v. 27).

The Rapture of the church proved by New Testament verses. There are several New Testament verses that designate the Rapture of the church. In my study I counted thirty-one such references. Here are three that are most well-known.

John 14:1-3

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

In this passage verse three is the key rapture verse. When Jesus comes again to receive us to Himself, this is the Rapture. And when He takes us up to heaven He will give us our own dwelling place that He has been preparing for us.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

In this passage the rapture itself (our being taken up to heaven) is not mentioned, but it is implied. It will happen just as, or immediately after we are “changed” (when our bodies are transformed); and it will happen when we are yet alive. Some people suggest that though our transformation will happen instantly— “in the twinkling of an eye,” we may go up slowly so that people will see us go up; perhaps just as Jesus was seen by His disciples when He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9). I don’t know if I believe that, but it is a fascinating thought.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

This passage really shows quite vividly what will happen at the rapture. Our transformation is not mentioned, but it is implied. First the dead will be transformed and taken up; then we who are alive will be transformed and taken up; and we will be “caught up together with them [with those dead who went up first] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…”

You know, the more I read this passage the more I think this event will not at all be secret or unseen. People may see us go up, and they may also hear a shout and a trumpet sound. I wonder.

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1 Stephen Nielsen, Biblical Evidence of a Pretribulation Rapture (published by Stephen Nielsen, http://www.stephennielsen.com, 2024), pp. 17-58.