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 by no means precede those who are asleep. (16) For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord.”
The same event of the catching away of the church is described in the above passage of scripture. It is in this passage that we see that we will meet our Lord Jesus in the air, as already mentioned. Let me say that there is only one second coming of Christ, and that every saint (both Jews and Gentiles alike) will meet the Lord in the air at His coming.
Revelation 8:1-6 “When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (2) And I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets. (3) Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. (4) And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand. (5) Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thundering’s, lightnings, and an earthquake. (6) So, the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.”
As I have already mentioned, it is when the church is caught away from the earth that the wrath of God will be poured out on those who remain on the earth. The above passage of scripture describes the seven angels preparing themselves to sound their trumpets. If you read the book of Revelation you will see that each of those trumpets, once sounded, reveals another judgement of God poured out on the earth. This will be a horrific time for those on the earth, but the church will not be present to experience it.
Michael E.B. Maher
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