The rapture may happen at any moment and will be a wonderful event for Christians. All those who have repented of their sins and trusted Christ as their Savior will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The rapture is described in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord” (NASB).

Your question is a very good question. I believe that the answer is found in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (NASB). The twinkling of an eye is a phrase used to indicate an instantaneous or indivisible moment of time. The rapture will happen so fast that there will be no time for Jesus to be seen by everyone, everywhere.

If any reader plans to wait until they see the Lord Jesus at the rapture before deciding whether or not to trust in Him as their Savior, then they will not see Him. We read in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For He says, ‘at the acceptable time I listened to you, and on THE DAY OF SALVATION I helped you.’ Behold, NOW is ‘the ACCEPTABLE TIME,’ behold, NOW is ‘THE DAY OF SALVATION’” (NASB). Do not wait! Trust Christ today.

After the rapture there will be seven years of terrible trouble on this earth called the Tribulation. After those seven years, Christ will come with His saints to judge the world and reign for a thousand years. At that time the Lord Jesus will be seen by everyone, everywhere. We read in Revelation 1:7, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and EVERY EYE will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen” (NASB). We also read in Matthew 24:30, “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then ALL THE TRIBES of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory” (NASB).

We have seen from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 that the Lord Jesus will come at the rapture FOR His saints to receive believers to glory. Seven years later Christ will come WITH His saints to judge the world in righteousness. We see this in Jude 1:14-15: “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came WITH many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him’” (NASB).

Not only will every eye SEE Christ when He comes to reign for a thousand years, but every knee shall BOW. We read in Romans 14:11, “For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD’” (NASB). Bow to Christ in repentance today, trusting in Him as your Savior. The Lord Jesus loves you so much that He died for you! Live your life giving praise to God instead of bowing to Him later as your Judge!  (DJ)  (697.3)