1 Cor. 15:52 speaks of the last trumpet. Post-tribulationists believe this is the seventh trumpet in Rev. 11:15-19. The trumpets in Revelation pertain to judgments in the tribulation while I Cor. 15:52 pertains to the rapture of the church. 1 Cor. 15:50-58 and 1 Thess. 4:13-18 omit the word “last” trumpet and any reference to judgment. Many believe this is the sounding of the trumpet at the end of the church age.
Charles Ryrie says, “Mid-Tribulationism argues that the seventh trumpet of Rev. 10:7 corresponds to the last trumpet of 1 Cor. 15:52. If this be true, then the Rapture (described in 1 Corinthians) will occur at the midpoint of the Tribulation (the time when the seventh trumpet sounds). This is a somewhat simplistic argument that assumes that all blowing of trumpets must indicate the same kind of event. This is not true. In Jewish apocalyptic literature, trumpets signaled a variety of great eschatological events, including judgments, the gathering of the elect, and resurrection. The seventh trumpet is a trumpet of judgment, whereas the trumpet in 1 Corinthians is one of resurrection and deliverance. That they indicate the same event is an assumption.”
In Rev. 12 there is no mention of Israel and the church co-existing in the tribulation period.
In Rev. 19: 11-21 there is no mention of rapture at the second coming of Jesus at the end of the tribulation period.
In Rev. 18: 20 the church is in heaven rejoicing over the destruction of Babylon at the end of the tribulation period before the second coming.
The Post-Tribulation view serves no purpose. Why go up and come right back? This view allows no time for the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Judgment of the Sheep and Goats [nations], and the Marriage Supper.
The Post-Tribulation view can’t explain the millennium being populated by sinful people. If all are raptured at the end of the tribulation with glorified bodies, then they can’t populate the kingdom with sinful people who will revolt at the end of the Millennium.
The absence of the word “church” in Rev. 13:9 is obvious. The word “Churches” is used in all seven of the churches in the church age in Rev. 2-3. It is absent in 13:9 because the church is in heaven before the tribulation.
1 Thess. 4:13-18 demands a pre-tribulation view because of the teaching of comfort. Comfort makes no sense if there is a post-tribulation view. If post-tribulation, the Thessalonians would be rejoicing over their loved ones who died and went to heaven and grieve that they were left to go through the tribulation.
In Rev. 3: 10 the faithful church is promised that they will miss the time of tribulation to come upon the “whole” earth. They will be “kept from,” not “through” the tribulation.
