The Bible teaches a pre-tibulation rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ

In any case, I will respond to what you have said first in PART 1 and then state my case for a pre-tribulation rapture in PART 2. PART 1 Your point on the three harvests of Leviticus 23 is interesting, but I see a few problems with your delineation. Is the first harvest, as you related it to Christ and the group of resurrected saints, fulfilled because of their resurrection or ascension to heaven? We know Lazarus was raised from the dead before Christ's resurrection (John 11:41-45), the Apostle Peter raised a woman from the dead (Acts 9:36-42), and even in the Old Testament Elijah raises a boy from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-24). Your evidence that these "first fruits" were taken to heaven based on Revelation 5 and 11 is not very strong as there is no way to show that these must be those which were resurrected with Christ. In fact I believe that the identity of the 24 elders are the 24 representatives of the Church which was raptured because Revelation 4:4 tells us that they were "clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold" which relates to 2 Timothy 4:8, et al. And Revelation 5:9-10 proclaims the song these elders sang saying, "[Thou] hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests. . . " How can these elders be saints of Israel if they claim that they were redeemed out of every nation? Also they claim that they were made kings and priests which things John says the Church were given to be (Revelation 1:6). In either case, Revelation 5 and 11 are not a strong proof text for your case. Your delineation concerning the second harvest has just one problem: how can you say that the 144,000 were raptured along with the two prophets/witnesses? There is not any verse which tells us that they were resurrected, only the prophets/witnesses were raptured in Revelation 11:11-12. There is no need to say they were raptured as to be absent from the body (as a saint in Christ) is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Based on Revelation 14, I do not think we can say that this is a harvest of God's people "both living and dead. " There is also no mention of "the last trumpet. " Isn't the seventh angel (or trumpet) in Revelation 11? People who hold to a mid-tribulation rapture generally point to Revelation 11 as the time when the Church is raptured based simply on the sounding of the seventh angel or "last trump. " You are also leaving out the resurrection of Revelation 20, where does this come into play in your feast-day delineation? I do not think you have made a very strong case based on the feast days. PART 2 I do not think we should look to the feast days for an event concerned with the Church of the dispensation of Grace. We must understand that the dispensation of Grace, concerning the Church, was a mystery given to the apostle Paul and not to the other disciples. This mystery is not to be found in the Old Testament and non of the other apostles knew of it until Paul; it was a mystery hid in God from the foundation of the world (Romans 16:25, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Ephesians 3). This entails that anything concerning the Church of this dispensation of Grace is a mystery not to be found in the prophets of the Old Testament. The mystery of the rapture of the Church is also one of these events which, concerning the Church, is unknown to the saints. Notice in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Paul speaks of this event as a mystery, but the idea of a future resurrection, if this is what He was merely referring to, was well known even before the resurrection of Christ (Matthew 22:31, John 11:24). Paul is referring to an event which is exclusively for the Church of this dispensation and which is before the events of Revelation 19 and 20. 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, the parallel verses to 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, tells us that this event involves the dead in Christ being raised before those which are still alive, the Lord descending from heaven with a shout (a call? ) from the voice of the archangel (Michael), a trumpet call (last trump), and a meeting of the raptured saints with Christ in the clouds. I would challenge anyone to find a passage in the book of Revelation which describes this event in light of every detail. Many people propose raptures in different parts of Revelation based only on one event such as the trumpet call (Revelation 11) or even the similarity of Christ coming out of heaven (Revelation 19), but can cite no passage which includes all the details of the event to which Paul is referring. Now having established that this event cannot possibly be in Revelation 11, 19 etc. , and having previously stated that this event cannot conclusively be in Revelation 14, let me now state why I believe this rapture event must take place before the tribulation, that is, before Revelation 6. Notice in Revelation 3:21-22 Jesus says, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. " In the very next chapter we find John caught up in the spirit and given the vision of a future time where he sees Jesus upon the throne and 24 elders seated around the throne. The 24 elders are no doubt representatives of the Church based on Revelation 3:21-22 and based on there apparel. 1 John 5:4-5, written by John, the same author of Revelation, wrote that our faith in Jesus Christ makes us overcomers, and Revelation 3:21-22 refers to those who overcome as being the ones granted to sit with Christ at His throne. This must be the Church. I believe 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 1 Thessalonians 5:9 teach that the Church shall not be subject unto the wrath to come. The wrath spoken of in these verses is no doubt the great tribulation period (Isaiah 13:9-13, Jeremiah 10:10, Ezekiel 7:19, Nahum 1:2, Zephaniah 1:15-18, Matthew 3:7, Luke 21:23, Romans 2:5, Romans 12:19, Ephesians 5:6, Colossians 3:6, Revelation 6:16-17, Revelation 14:19, Revelation 19:15). I believe 2Thessalonians 2:7 is referring to the Holy Spirit in the Church, the Body of Christ, who withholds (lets - KJV) the Antichrist from establishing Himself as God in the temple (the abomination of desolation). It is not until the Holy Spirit I removed with the Church that Antichrist shall be revealed. My final point is that we are to be looking for the coming of our Savior in the clouds and not for the signs of the great tribulation and the Day of the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, Titus 2:13). Our hope, as Church age believers in this dispensation of Grace, is the imminent return of our Lord to receive us up into glory whether our bodies be in the grave or on alive on the Earth at His appearing. ". . . there is no mention of any signs or events that precede the Rapture of the church in any of the Rapture passages. The point seems to be that the believer prior to this event is to look, not for some sign, but the Lord from heaven" (Feinberg, "Case, in Three Views on the Rapture," p. 80). What a blessed hope we have to be looking forward to that day when this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality; a day when we shall appear with Him in glory and see the face of our Lord (1 Corinthians 13:10-12, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, Colossians 3:4). Baruch Hashem Adonai (Blessed be the name of the Lord! )