The Second coming of Christ
Matthew 24:26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
Now there are those that see the events in verse 31 as the Rapture. However this is not the case.
Revelation 3: 10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 12 All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.
It is this promise that shows that the Rapture and the events that occur at the return of Christ at the end of the Tribulation are two separate events.
As we look at verse 31 from Matthew in the KJV:
“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
We see that the term chosen ones goes to elect
Elect – eklektos – chosen out, elect, choice, select: of those chosen out by God for the rendering of special service to Him (of the Hebrew race, particular Hebrews, the Messiah, and the Christians)
In this case though since the Christians are removed before the Tribulation as is promised in Revelation 3:10 this must mean the Hebrews or Jewish people.
So this is the third Rapture and is of the Jewish people. The First Rapture takes place before the Tribulation begins and is as shown above for those Christians that have been loyal unto to God through His Son Jesus Christ. The Second Rapture occurs at the midpoint of the Tribulation at which time the third temple is desecrated. It is here that those that are martyred in the name of Christ will be called up before the Throne of God. It is also at this time that 144,000 will receive the mark of God and will bear witness through the last half of the tribulation. Since it is clearly shown that the 144,000 are all Jewish adds more evidence that the third Rapture which happens as Christ returns is solely for the Jewish people. The chosen and promised nation of God unto Abraham.
The Second coming will be an event that will be witnessed by the entire globe and will take at least a full day to accomplish as Christ appears at a fixed point in the sky above and the earth will rotate below Him and all will see that Christ is real and He has returned. None will be able to question this.