Rev 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial... 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Jesus comes "as a thief" after the bowls of wrath are poured out, not before!
1 Thess 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
This salvation from wrath our Jesus will accomplish when he returns on his white horse at the battle of Armegeddon!
How is He coming as a thief in the midst of the Tribulation. It would be just the opposite. That’s like a San Jose merchant being surprised that a thief stole from his store during the anti-Trump demonstration. No surprise at all.
After the security agreement is signed insuring peace to Israel, one can count the years and days. No surprise there either.
The Day of the Lord (ie Daniel’s 70th Week) will be so cataclysmic that it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Lord is about to come. However, Daniel is so precise that we can know the exact day when the Tribulation ends.
I don’t see how a mid-Trib or pre-wrath rapture is a surprise to anyone.
A thief comes to take. In John 14 the LJC promised to return and take the believing church to where He had been preparing a home for us. He will take us from the hour which will try the whole earth.