Those who know that we will see suffering and persecution by anti-christ tend to look at life and scripture in a different way than those who think we will be removed from all the pain before things get bad.

In my opinion Pre-Trib Rapture...is an uneducated and immature point of view...any serious student who gives this question serious study will come to the same conclusions. (That Christians will see persecution), but most do not see the importance of the matter.

The most specific things to look for in this matter of timing of the rapture...are the signs of the coming of the son of man on the clouds of heaven and then what follows these signs....the rapture.

This takes us right up to the sixth seal.  Revelation 6:12:14

12I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

To give some context of timing to this event we can look at Matthew 24:15-31 which addresses the general timeline from the midpoint of the 7 years until the rapture.  We can see that the rapture happens after the signs in the heavens.

15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25Behold, I have told you before.26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

29Immediately 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: 30And 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.31And 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.

Many people get tripped up thinking that the signs of the coming of the son of man take place at the end of the 7 years.  This is not correct...because scripture shows the trumpets of judgment begin before the end of the 7 years...which are part of the seventh seal.  God's wrath begins in the midst of the final 1260 days.  When exactly...we do not know.  But we know that when the trumpets are completed.  That the 7 years and 70 weeks are completed)

But what we really see at the end of the 7 years is the bowls of wrath (the final wrath of God) which come after the completion of the 7 years.  This is what is described in Daniel 9:27

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."

"EVEN UNTIL THE CONSUMMATION" means the end of the appointed time...the end of a thing is it's consummation.  It could also be used in terms of "consummating the marriage" which I am sure you understand.  When the two become one flesh...the marriage is complete.  So it thusly refers to the consummation of the appointed times...namely the 70 weeks of Daniel...and specifically the end of the last 7 years.

The 7 seals of Revelation unveil the events that happen up until the end of the last 7 years.

When the seventh seal is opened...right after the rapture....the angels are given trumpets to bring the wrath of God upon the earth.  But when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet...

Revelation 10:7 When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God's mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets."

In other words...the end of the plan of 70 weeks...will be completed.

Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: "The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever."

After the "consummation" of the 7 years...the angels pour out the final wrath of God.   Remember this is now the end of the 7th seal.  All the events that needed to take place in the Seventy Weeks of Daniel's prophecy are now being fulfilled.  This is in reference to Daniel 9:24

24Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

None of these conditions have been fulfilled on earth on the people of God or upon the Holy City.  Ask yourself...among the Jews and the Christians and in the Holy City Jerusalem has the transgression been finished?  Have we made an end of sins?  Have we been reconciled to God on earth? (or are we still waiting for His return).  Are we witnessing Everlasting Righteousness among God's people and in the Holy City Jerusalem?  Has the vision and prophecy been sealed up? (or does it not say 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17"?) And of course, have we anointed the most Holy? (This would be Jesus Christ upon the throne of earth ruling as King of Kings and Lords of Lords)

No, we have not seen the end of the 7 years...and neither have we seen all of these things fulfilled from Daniel 9:24.  Although some might argue that some of these things have been fulfilled...it is clear that not all of them have been fulfilled...and will not be until Revelation 11:15 when the loud voices from heaven shout...that

"The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever."

And with the 7 years (and 70 weeks) completed...the consummation begins

Revelation 15:1 Then I saw in heaven another marvelous event of great significance. Seven angels were holding the seven last plagues, which would bring God's wrath to completion.

Now regarding the timing of the ending of God's Final Wrath...Daniel 12 addresses these things.

5Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. 6One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”

7The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.b When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

(THIS IS THE LAST 3.5 YEARS or 1260 DAYS)

8I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”

9He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.

11“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. (THIS IS AN ADDITIONAL 30 DAYS - AFTER THE 1260 DAYS) 12Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. (AND THIS IS YET ANOTHER 45 DAYS - PAST 1290 DAYS)

What will happen at this full 75 days past the end of the 7 years?  God will restore the earth and set up His Kingdom where we will rule and reign with Christ for 1000 years.

We live in exciting times...seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

The Strong Watchman