Post-Tribulation!
Matt 24v29-31: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days..."
2Thess 2v1-8: "concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him...Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed...And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming."
First of all, by leaving out verse 2 in the scripture above, you have left out very important information. Below is the actual scripture:
"
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter presuming to be from us, alleging that
the Day of the Lord has already come. Let no one deceive you in any way,
for that day (the day of the Lord) will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed. He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
It is "
the day of the Lord" that Paul is referring to in the scripture as "
that day," which is referring to the time of God's wrath and which follows our being gathered to the Lord. By leaving out verse 2, you make "that day" as referring to "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him." If you will do a study on "the day of the Lord" you will find out that it is always referred to as a day of darkness, of black clouds, a day of wrath and fierce anger. In opposition, "the appearing of our Lord and our being gathered to Him will be a blessed event.
The reason that I bring this up is because, "the coming of our Lord and our being gathered to Him" takes place first and is then followed by the "day of the Lord" which is the time of God's wrath. Therefore Paul is saying "don't let anyone deceive you for
that day (the time of God's wrath) will not come until the apostasy occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed.
Our being gathered to Christ takes place first, which is then followed by the day of the Lord, which is when the man of lawlessness will be revealed and God's wrath will begin to be poured out via the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments.
Rev 7v9,10,13,14: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
"out of"...you have to be "in something" before you can come "out of" it!
And so forth...
The multitude in the scripture above which no man can, is referring to the great tribulation saints and not the church. This group will be those who will come to believe in Christ after the church has been removed and who will be on the earth during the time of God's wrath and during the beasts reign. In support of this, the word "ekklesia" translated as "church" is used 19 times throughout chapters 1 thru 3 and then after the end of chapter 3 it disappears from the narrative and appears one last time in Rev.22:16. After that, the word "hagios" translated as "saints" is used to describe the believers during that time. Therefore, it is not the church who is in view as those who have come out of the great tribulation, but those saints who will be killed during the great tribulation period. This group is also mentioned in Rev.15:2 and 20:4-6.
In further support of this, John was previously told to write letters to the seven churches. Now here in Rev.7:9-17 we are introduced to another group. The very fact that they are being introduced and that the elder is asking John who they are, tells us that this group is not the church. In addition to this, John doesn't know who they are.
In Rev.1:10, John heard a voice which sounded like a trumpet. Then in Rev.4:1 he hears the same voice like a trumpet saying "come up here." The voice which sounds like a trumpet is a clue to the reader, which is synonymous with the "trumpet of God" found in 1 Thess.4:16 where Paul describes the church being changed and caught up. Rev.4:1 is a prophetic allusion to when the church is caught up in the chronological order of Revelation, which takes place prior to the first seal being opened.
