And as you say, the 2nd coming of Jesus will be known to all...It won't be a mystery and 'all' eyes (the entire world) will see him...
In the pre-tribulation rapture, only Christians will see Jesus...
While the rapture of the church is clearly manifest in the bible, there are religious groups that claim they can't find it there...I can only assume that God has blinded them to the fact since it is so cleary attested to in the word of God...
And then many Christians can see the rapture in the scripture but they claim it is at the end of the tribulation period...
What most people don't consider is that there is more than one resurrection spoken of in the bible...
In the book of the end times, God says 'come up hither' three different times...But then people get hung up on this verse:
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
To those people the rapture is at the end of the tribulation...
But as any farmer knows, there are 3 'pickings' when it comes to the harvest...When the tomatos start getting ripe, you rush out and pick the first ripe ones among the green...You pick the firstfruits...
In the peak of the season, you go out and get the main harvest...But, there will yet be some left that are not ready to pick...At the end of the season, after the main harvest is sold, or put up for the winter, you go out and get those last few that have become ripe before the frost hits...Those are the gleanings...And they are all the First resurrection...All are Christians...
The first resurrection of God's believers has three parts to it...There will be a pre-tribulation rapture, AND there will be a post tribulation rapture...
And what if the pre-tribulation rapture wasn't revealed until the 1800s??? So what??? I have no doubt that some things that will happen in the future have yet to be revealed...
Heh, heh.
I always thought the old wedding customs were an interesting portrayal. But I really like your tomato harvest comparison...I can relate to that!
Just don’t count on pre-trib. I doubt it will happen then, but just be ready no matteer when it occurs. God will certainly be with the believers through it all, no matter when we leave this earth.