The rapture of the majority of the believers will be after the man of sin, Antichrist, is revealed (2 Thes. 2:1-4). Second Thessalonians 2 gives us a strong basis for saying that the rapture of the majority of believers will be at the end of the great tribulation. This portion of the Word clearly says that before the saints are raptured, the man of sin, Antichrist, will be revealed and that he will sit in the temple of God “proclaiming himself that he is God” (2 Thes. 2:4). This idol worship will transpire before the rapture of the majority of the believers. Whenever those in Newton’s group placed these verses before those in Darby’s group, those in Darby’s group were embarrassed. Darby taught that all the believers would be raptured before the tribulation but, as the Newton group pointed out, Antichrist must first be revealed and set up his image in the temple and force people to worship it before the Lord comes back and the saints are gathered to Him. Whenever this portion of the Word is brought up, the mouths of the teachers who say that all the believers will be raptured before the tribulation are silenced.
The rapture of the majority of the believers will be after the beast, Antichrist, forces people to worship him and his image in the great tribulation (14:9-16). This is revealed clearly in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation.
This rapture will also be after Satan’s, the great dragon’s, war with the remnant of God’s people at the time of the great tribulation (12:17, 14, 5). This will be after the rapture of the man-child. According to Revelation 12, the man-child will be caught up to the throne of God prior to the last three and one-half years. Approximately three and one-half years later, the majority of the seed of the woman will be taken up. This means that after the man-child has been taken away, the remnant of the seed of the woman will suffer Satan’s persecution. Hence, the majority of the believers will still remain on earth and will be raptured at the end of the great tribulation.
The rapture of the majority of the believers will be at “the consummation of the age” (Matt. 13:39). The completion of the age is the end of the great tribulation. According to Matthew 13:39, this will be the time of harvest. Christ came to sow the seed into the field to produce a crop for God. This crop will be harvested at the completion of this age. The completion of this age will be the last three and one-half years. Starting from the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem, a period of seventy weeks has been determined. The first sixty-nine weeks, extending from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the crucifixion of Christ, spans a time of four hundred eighty-three years. After Christ’s crucifixion, there is a long gap. Eventually, the gap will be closed, and the last week, the last seven years, will begin. The last half of this last week will be the completion of the New Testament age, which extends from the cross to the end of the great tribulation. No one knows how long will be the gap between Christ’s crucifixion and the beginning of the seventieth week. But Daniel 9 does reveal clearly that the end of this age will be the seven years of the last week. The completion of the age is the last half of these seven years. Toward the end of these three and one-half years, the majority of the saints will be taken away. The overcomers will be raptured some time prior to the last three and one-half years. The time of this is unknown. While the time of the rapture of the overcomers is unknown, the time of the rapture of the majority of believers is known, for we are told that it will be at the seventh trumpet, which is near the end of the great tribulation.
Now we come to the place to which the majority of the believers will be raptured. First Thessalonians 4:17 reveals that the place is “in the air,” and Revelation 14:14-16 indicates that it will be “on the cloud.” The overcomers will be raptured to the throne, to the presence of the Son of Man in the third heaven. But 1 Thessalonians 4 tells us plainly that the majority of the believers will be caught up to the air, and Revelation 14 reveals that the harvest will be reaped to the cloud. At that time, Christ will no longer be clothed with the cloud, but will be sitting on the cloud in the air.
The condition of the rapture of the majority of the saints is that the harvest is ripe. Revelation 14:15 says, “And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, Send forth your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Hence, ripeness is the condition of the rapture of the majority of the believers.
Besides these two kinds of raptures, the rapture of the overcomers and the rapture of the majority of the believers, there are two other kinds of raptures: the rapture of the two witnesses (11:12) and the rapture of the saints who will overcome the beast, his image, and the number of his name (15:2).