The rapture of the firstfruit is depicted in Revelation 14:1 and 4. They will be raptured before the manifestation of Antichrist and his persecution of the saints (Rev. 14:9-12). This means that their rapture will be before the three and a half years of the great tribulation. They will be raptured to Mount Zion in the third heaven where Christ with the Father is today. In the Bible there are two Zions. One is the earthly Zion, which is one of the mountains on which Jerusalem was built. The other is the heavenly Zion in the third heaven where Christ with the Father is today.
Revelation 14 does not say that the firstfruit will be raptured. This is because these overcomers followed the Lamb all the time. Because they were always with the Lamb, having followed the Lamb wherever He went, they are seen in Revelation 14 standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. Because they are already in the Lord’s presence, the rapture will not come as a surprise to them. They are living in the heavens today, and they will be standing with the Lamb in the heavens on Mount Zion in the future.
The third kind of overcomers are those in Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-8). Philadelphia is the top church among the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. This church had two top points. First, they kept the word of God even though they had a little strength. Second, they did not deny the name of Christ. This is why we do not like to have any denominational names such as Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, or Methodist. All these names are an insult to Christ. If a wife were to take another name besides the name of her husband, this would be an insult to her husband. We are Christians. We are not Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, or Methodists. We are Christ’s, so we must keep His name. We must be like those in Philadelphia who kept His word and did not deny His name. These overcomers in Philadelphia will be raptured before the hour of trial on the whole inhabited earth, that is, the time of the great tribulation of the last three and a half years of this age (Rev. 3:10; Matt. 24:21; Rev. 12:13-14). They will be raptured to the temple of God in the third heaven where Christ with God is today (Rev. 3:12). These overcomers will be pillars in the temple of God.
The overcomers will also be the watchful and beseeching saints (Luke 21:36). They will be raptured before the coming of the great tribulation (Luke 21:34-35; Matt. 24:21) to the third heaven where Christ is today.
The fifth category of overcomers is depicted by the watchful one of the two saints in Matthew 24:40-42, which says, “Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord comes.” These men are brothers in Christ, and the women are sisters in the Lord. The phrases “watch therefore” and “your Lord” prove that the two men and two women are saved believers. The Lord would not charge unsaved people to watch, nor is He the Lord of the unsaved. The time will come when the watchful ones will be suddenly taken by the Lord. This will be before the coming of the “flood” of the great tribulation (Matt. 24:36-39) for them to be with Christ in His parousia (presence) in the third heaven. The great tribulation will be like the flood at Noah’s time to judge the entire world.
The Lord’s prophecy in Matthew 24 and 25 covers all the people of God, signified by the number twelve, which is used several times for the New Jerusalem as the totality of God’s redeemed and glorified people. The two men or two women in Matthew 24, represent the living believers at the Lord’s second coming by the number two, which is a minor part of the number twelve; and the ten virgins in Matthew 25 represent the dead saints at the Lord’s second coming by the number ten, which is the major part of the number twelve. Among the living ones, some will be raptured, taken away, earlier, and the others will be left. Among the dead ones, the man-child will be resurrected and raptured three and a half years earlier, while the rest of the dead saints have to wait for three and a half years for their resurrection and rapture.
The second section of the rapture is the section of the majority of the saints, including the resurrected ones and the remaining ones. All the dead saints through the centuries, through the generations, will be resurrected, and join the remaining ones, the living ones, to be raptured together at the Lord’s coming back (1 Thes. 4:15-17; Matt. 25:1-12; Rev. 20:4, 6; 15:2; 1 Cor. 15:51-52). This will take place at the consummation of this age in the Lord’s parousia (presence) and at the close of the great tribulation, after the manifestation of Antichrist (Matt. 13:39; 1 Thes. 4:15-16; 2 Thes. 2:1, 3b-4; Matt. 24:21; Rev. 14:9-12).
The majority of the saints will be raptured to the Lord’s barn in the air within the clouds, where Christ’s parousia (presence) will be then (Matt. 13:30; 1 Thes. 4:17; Rev. 14:14-16). The Lord will come to the air, and in the air He will have a place to receive His harvest. This is His barn in the air within the clouds. By that time Christ’s parousia will no longer be in the third heaven, but it will have traveled to the air and will linger there for a short time. As we have seen, the firstfruit is brought from the field into the temple of God, the house of God, for God’s enjoyment and satisfaction. The firstfruit of the believers, the overcomers, will be brought directly to God’s house in the heavens. When the field is completely ripe, that is the time of the harvest. At that time, the majority of the believers will be harvested and taken to the Lord’s barn in the air.
The final section of the rapture is the section of the two witnesses (Rev. 11:11-12). These do not belong to the firstfruit or the harvest. These two witnesses will be Moses and Elijah (see Rev. 11:3, note 1, Recovery Version). Their rapture will be at the end of the one thousand two hundred and sixty days—forty-two months, the second three and a half years of the last week. Revelation 11:2 and 3 tell us that these two witnesses will prophesy for a thousand two hundred and sixty days. Then they will be killed, resurrected, and raptured to the air where Christ’s parousia (presence) will be.
Their rapture will take place on the same day that Antichrist is put into the lake of fire. Christ and His heavenly army will defeat Antichrist with his earthly army, and Antichrist and the false prophet will be thrown alive into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:19-20). When the Lord returns on that day, the whole house of Israel will repent. Therefore, on the day the two witnesses are raptured, Antichrist will be thrown into the lake of fire, and the children of Israel all will repent. That is the last day of the three and a half years of tribulation, and that will be the last day of this age. Then the next age will begin.