The Jesuit Ribera derived the "last seven years of tribulation" by going to Daniel's prophecy of the 70 Weeks and illegitimately slicing off the last week and sending it down to the end of time. There isn't a single other "numerical specific time prophecy" in all of Scripture where anyone attempts to insert a "gap" except in Daniel 9. No precedent whatsoever.
Don't care about Ribera! I myself, derived the last seven years of tribulation by going to Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weeks and interpreted the last seven as being fulfilled leading up to the Lord's return at the end of that seven years.
That last seven years is divide up onto two 3 1/2 periods with the setting up of the abomination dividing the two. These two dividions of 3 1/2 years are referred to in Revelation as 1260 days, 42 months and a time, times and a half a time, which solidifies that Daniels prophecy regarding that last seven years is future. Regarding this, you have no fulfillment of the events of that last seven years regarding the seven year agreement by the antichrist with Israel and no abomination being set up in the holy place within the temple in the middle of the seven. Without the fulfillment of those vents, you have no fulfillment of that prophecy. After the church has been gathered, God is going to pick up right where He left off with Israel, complete with a temple and animal sacrifices in fulfillment of that last seven years.
Actually, it's called "secret" because that's exactly what is claimed it will be - an event where Jesus quietly sneaks into town and sneaks out with the saints. But, the promise is fulfilled at the Second Coming, when at that time the saints get raptured up.
It is not a secret, but is simply the Lord appearing in the atmosphere to call up His bride and take her back to the Father's house and that before He beings to pour out His wrath.
Did God deliver Noah from the flood or through the flood?
If God had removed Noah from the earth, then currently there would be no one on the earth. Noah, his sons and their wives, needed to remain on the earth to repopulated it. Since God's wrath is going to affect the inhabitants of the entire earth, there will be no ark to escape with and no small city to run to. If you understood the severity and magnitude of those coming plagues of wrath, you would understand that it will be the worse time in the history of the world, with the majority of the population being killed. Therefore, the Lord is going to keep His promise of coming back to get us prior to pouring out His wrath, not after. He's not going to have His bride beat up and then come and rescue her.
"I pray that Thou shouldest not take them out of the world, but that Thou deliverest them from the evil." -- John 17: 15 KJV
Oh how many people have I seen use this scripture! Regarding this, Jesus is praying for His disciples, otherwise, if He removed them from the earth, there would currently be no gospel here on the earth, because there would have been no one here to preach it. In addition, "that you should not take them out of the world" as in reference to that time and does not mean that believers would never be taken out of the world. All that you are doing, is what so many have done before you, which is to grasp at apologetics to reject and distort the truth. The verse that you provided above is one of many those false apologetics.
In regards to "not take them out of the world," we also have the following scripture:
"In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am. "
So according the Lord's promise above, He said that he was going to the Father's house, which is in heaven, to prepare dwelling places for all believers. And then He says that He is going to come back to get us and take us to the Father's house to those places that He prepared for us. You have to make room for other scriptures and not just camp out on the one above.