Believers Are In Heaven BEFORE Jesus Opens The Seals

September 25

"Now when he had taken the scroll,
the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp,
and golden bowls full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints..."

Before the Lord opens the scroll containing the seal judgments to be unleashed upon the earth, the believers are in heaven, those who have been redeemed by his blood out of all the ethnic groups of the world.

In heaven they declare:

"You are worthy to take the scroll,
and to open its seals; for you were slain,
and have redeemed us to God by your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
and have made us kings and priests to our God;
and we shall reign on the earth."
Revelation 5:8-9

The redeemed are in heaven watching as the Lamb of God takes the scroll and begins opening the first seal.

Some believe that the Rapture of the church takes place at the middle of the Tribulation, the "pre-wrath" position. But the redeemed out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation are in heaven watching, before the first seal is even opened.

Understanding the purpose of the last seven years is key to understanding the timing of the Rapture. The 70th week prophecy in the Book of Daniel, chapter 9, shows us that the entire last period of seven years is determined "upon thy people, and upon thy holy city," - the Jews, and Jerusalem. It's the “time of Jacob's trouble,” not the time of the church's trouble.

Before the last seven years begin, believers in Jesus Christ will be removed, those seven years are not determined upon the church. The "mystery of the church age" ends, (Ephesians 3:1-7) and the story goes back to Israel. God isolates her, that he alone may deal directly with her.

More:
The Rapture