Some tell us that the catching up of the saints from this earth (the rapture) will happen before the tribulation starts. Well, how can that be? The passage below conveys that a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language will stand in white robes before the elders (v.11), the living creatures (v.11), the angels, and before God after enduring the great tribulation. How do I know? Verse fourteen explicitly states that this multitude consists of those who came out of the Great Tribulation:
9After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” 13Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” 14I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:9-14; emphasis added).
This meeting in heaven is the rapture of God's people worldwide (v. 9). Some teachers and books inform us that the believers mentioned are those left behind after a pre-tribulation rapture. They claim that they were saved during the tribulation. However, this contradicts the Scriptures, as on two different occasions, Jesus stated that the door would be shut when the Bridegroom comes for His bride (Matthew 25:10, Luke 13:25). If Jesus were to come in a pre-tribulation rapture (if such a thing existed) before the trouble (tribulation) began, then why do we not see the pre-tribulation saints welcoming this great multitude we just read about in our Scripture passage above? We see the angels, the living creatures, the elders, and God Himself welcoming this great multitude, but no pre-tribulation saints! Why is that? Because there is no pre-tribulation rapture.
For the sake of argument, suppose there is a pre-tribulation rapture and that those who are not saved are left behind to come to Christ during the Great Tribulation. Essentially, we teach people that they don't have to come to Christ now. When unbelievers see Christians suddenly raptured, it will confirm that there is a God, and they can come to Christ then. Is that biblical? Of course not! In my opinion, the part of the church that teaches that people can be saved after the church is caught up in a pre-tribulation rapture is working against the convicting grace of the Holy Spirit.
The church must awaken from its slumber and prepare to endure hardship and persecution at the hands of the Antichrist. We will be delivered by a catching up (rapture) at some point (no man knows the day nor the hour) during the tribulation and before the wrath of God is poured out on the unrepentant. The time to prepare to endure hardship for Christ is now, not when trouble arises. The best way to prepare for the darkness before the Bridegroom's coming is to store the Word of God in your heart. Eliminate the moral corruption that seeks to drag you down; “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1). Begin to plead before the throne of grace for those around us, that they, too, might draw near to God. Keith Thomas
To study this topic further, click the All Studies box at groupbiblestudy.com, then scroll down to The End Times series. The study is number 5, The Rapture and Day of the Lord. The video teaching this topic is found at the following link: https://youtu.be/55VR6a8P9Bo