John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which ALL who are in the graves will hear His voiceand come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” Acts 24:15, “…there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.” Revelation 20:4-5, “…And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

In John 5:28-29, the resurrection of life for the doers of good and the resurrection of condemnation for the doers of evil is not one resurrection with two classes, but rather two resurrections separated by title, type, time, and order. Acts 24:15 agrees with “a” resurrection singular but the word “both” refers to “two” people types, and so there is one resurrection for the good and one resurrection for the evil. Revelation 20:4-5 reinforces with a separation of time and with the separation of order. Those who are first resurrected live and reign with Christ for a thousand years but those who are evil are resurrected second and do not live again “until the thousand years were finished.”

In the First Resurrection, the word first or protos means “preceding all others” and in the context of 568 times in the Bible, the word first is never found to mean anything different. Pre-tribs recognize a major problem that there must be a resurrection before a rapture and invented phases of the first resurrection to create another resurrection before the tribulation. This is a major pre-trib rapture flaw because our “gathering together” or “caught up together” resurrection and rapture of all believers is in the same time frame; the last day, the hour, the moment, in the twinkling of an eye. There cannot be a rapture until there has been a resurrection.

One best selling author wrote, quote, “…a token number of saints who had recently died were resurrected at the time of Jesus’ resurrection…He took a wave sheaf of believers resurrected with Him and waved them before the Lord in the heavenly tabernacle.” End quote. Those who came out of the graves at the resurrection of Jesus in Matthew 27:52-53 “went into the holy city.” Theydid not go with Jesus into the heavenly tabernacle because Revelation 15:5-8 states that “no one was able to enter the temple [of the tabernacle] until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed” This is theseventh trumpetat the end of the tribulation. Because the resurrection of Jesus was the first fruit from the dead in an incorruptible glorified body, then Lazarus who was raised from the dead previous (John 11:43-44) was still in the camp of the Old Testament saints, and so Lazarus was not resurrected into an incorruptible glorified body suitable for heaven but a restoration to life. Those also raised in Matthew 9:18-25, Matthew 10:5-8, Acts 9:36-41, Acts 20:9-12, Hebrews 11:35 were all restored lives that went to the grave again to be apart of the first resurrection. The body of Lazarus and all the others are still in the grave today waiting for the first resurrection of life. Further confirmation is as Paul warned in 62 AD in 2Timothy 2:17-18, of “Hymenaeus and Philetus…who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.” When Paul and John wrote in 62 and 95 AD, there had not been a resurrection or even an alleged first phase. The first resurrection was still future.

John 6:39 “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.” John 6:40 “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:54“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, I will raise him up at the last day.” John 11:24 “Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus repeats four times in John 6 verses 39, 40, 44, and 54 that the first resurrection of life of the believers will happen at the last day! In John 11:24, Martha repeated Jesus saying, “I know that he [speaking of Lazarus] will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” The words of Jesus couldn’t be much clearer that the first and only resurrection of life is at the last day and fits with the “hour,” the “moment,” and the “twinkling of an eye, the time of the last trumpet! (1Corinthians 15:51-52)We can pin point the time of the rapture event by reading where Jesus says exactly in the Bible where the First Resurrection is—Revelation 20:5! It just may not be where we want it to be—after the tribulation.

It matters not about any other argument, the resurrection must come before the rapture and “the” resurrection is exactly where Jesus says it is. All other questions of immanency, wrath, etc. must conform to the resurrection first. Jesus inLuke 21:12-18 warning of the days before the tribulation says, “…before all these things…” they will persecute you, deliver you to prison and they will put some of you to death but this is not the “day of the LORD” wrath.If God says the resurrection and rapture is after the tribulation and we are not appointed to His wrath, then it must be that God will Passover His own people again rather than an airlift protection. Can God Passover again? Certainly! Jesus promises in Luke 21:36 in the context of the tribulation, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

“Our gathering together”

1Thessalonians 4:15-17, “…WE who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep…the dead in Christ will rise first then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” 2Thessalonians 2:1-4, “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and OUR gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 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…so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

In the Thessalonian letters, 1Thessalonians 4:15-17 “we will be caught up together” is the third mentionof Christ’s coming and 2Thessalonians 2:1-4 “our gathering together” is the fifth mention. (1Thes. 2:19, 3:13, 4:15-17, 5:23, 2Thes. 2:1) Paul included himself in both by stating “we” and “our.” Once “we” the church are “caught up together” in the rapture of 1Thes. 4:17—we are not here—then “we” cannot be gathered together again from the earth a second time in 2Thessalonians 2:1 and so our gathering together in both passages then must speak of the same event.

Recognizing this fact, even pre-tribJohn MacArthur in his NKJV study Bible commentary on page 1854 writes of 2Thessalonians 2:1, “obviously referring to the rapture of the church described in 1Thess. 4:13-18.” End quote. Pre-tribHal Lindsey, in his book The Rapture on page 123 says of 2Thessalonians 2:1, “‘and our gathering together to Him…’ This could only refer to the Rapture when all Christians will be caught up to be with Christ.” End quote. (Emphasis mine) We must note that some versions translate 2Thessalonians 2:2 as the “day of the Lord,” a dreadful wrath, however  other versions  rightly translate the Greek word Χριστός Christos, Strong’s 5547, as the “day of Christ,” the hope of the believer and a time to rejoice.

Even pre-tribs agree that “caught up together” in 1Thes. 4:17 and “our gathering together” in 2Thes. 2:1, are the same rapture of the Church event. Paul continues in 2Thes. 2:2-4, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [Χριστός Christos] will not come unless the [ἀποστασία apostasia] apostasy comes first,” then the revealing of Antichrist, then Antichrist sitting in the temple claiming to be God. (A temple must first be rebuilt) Our gathering together to Christ after these significant tribulation events is absolute proof that this event cannot happen before the tribulation. To believe that “our gathering together” is before the tribulation, Paul says is to be deceived.

The pre-trib position confuses the understanding of eschatology by arbitrarily choosing which “gathering together” verses fit the pre-trib position like 1Thessalonians 4:15-17 and which ones do not fit pre-trib like Matthew 24:29-31. When the Bible does not speak of the rapture in Matthew, Mark, or Luke, it is labelled as a secret, silent rapture. The position should not determine the verses; the verses should determine the position. As we have just proven, all verses that speak of our gathering together are the same “Elect” and the same second coming event. When we read in Matthew 24:29-31 and Mark 13:24-27 of our gathering together of His elect, in Luke 21:28 of our redemption drawing near, and the five mentions of Christ coming in 1Thes. 2:19, 3:13, 4:15-17, 5:23, 2Thes. 2:1, these are all one and the same event. This makes eschatology very simple to understand. These all teach of the Second Coming:

Matthew 24:29-31, “Immediately after the tribulation…they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds …And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect…” Luke 21:27-28, “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Mark 13:24-27, “after that tribulation…they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds…and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.” 1Thessalonians 2:19, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?” 1Thessalonians 3:13, “so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” 1Thessalonians 4:15-17, “…we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” 1Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2Thessalonians 2:1, “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him…”

We may not be apart of the raptured in our lifetime however we will all certainly be apart of the resurrected in our gathering together at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Will you be part of the first resurrection of life? Jesus said in John 3:3, “…unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Acts 4:12 speaks of Jesus, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”