What Comes Before the Catching Up to the Lord in the Clouds in the Air (1th 4:16-17) and What Comes After This Event?
1) Direct answer
Before the catching up, the Lord descends with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God—this call gathers and readies the Bride, the dead in Christ are raised, and the living saints are changed. After the catching up, the Bride meets the Lord in the air and goes to the Marriage Supper, while the earth enters the great tribulation and God turns to Israel; then the Lord returns with His saints to reign in the Millennium, followed by the White Throne judgment and the New Heavens and New Earth.
2) Scriptural explanation
- The order itself: “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God… the dead in Christ shall rise first… then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up… to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). “We shall not all sleep… at the last trump… the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
- The Bride made ready before the meeting in the air: “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). “His wife hath made herself ready… blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:7–9).
- Kept from the hour that is to try the world: “I… will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world” (Revelation 3:10). “Watch… that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things… and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36).
- After the catching up: earth’s tribulation and Israel’s sealing and witness (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 7:1–8; Revelation 11). Then Christ returns with His saints (Revelation 19:11–16; note the armies clothed in fine linen, the same linen of the Bride in Revelation 19:8). Then the Millennium (Revelation 20:1–6), the White Throne (Revelation 20:11–15), and the New Heavens and New Earth (Revelation 21–22).
3) Simple clarifying logic
- Now notice the steps in 1 Thessalonians 4: the shout is the call by the Word that awakens and gathers a ready people; the voice raises the sleeping saints; the trumpet changes the living; then comes the catching up to meet the Lord in the air. You see, the meeting is in the air, not on the earth—that’s the catching away of the Bride.
- While the Bride is with the Lord at the Marriage Supper, the earth faces the tribulation. God then deals with Israel, sealing the 144,000 and sending His two witnesses. After that season, the Lord returns with all His saints to reign, and the rest of the prophecy flows into the Millennium, the final judgment, and the eternal order.
4) Reinforcing statement
It’s the same Lord doing it all—He calls, He raises, He changes, He catches away, and He returns with His redeemed. The Bible lays the line, and we simply walk in it.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
The Rapture
65-1204 §74
Now, I want you to notice a great thing taken place here now. Don't miss this. See? Now notice, the Word says here in II Thessalonians that there's three things... Notice, from the 13th to the 16th verse there's three things that has to happen before the Lord Himself appears. (Quickly now so we can close. See?) The first thing happens, notice: a shout, a voice, a trumpet. Let's read it now and see if that's right. See? For the Lord himself [16th verse] shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with a voice of the...
How can I overcome?
63-0825M §42
And now, at the coming of the Lord Jesus, those who are really loving His coming, that's living for it, when He appears in the sky, the church that's dead in Christ shall rise and those will be changed in a moment. The rest of them know nothing about it. Remember, appeared to those in the city. See, the rapture will be like that. We'll see each other, and we'll see them. The rest of the world won't see them. It will be caught away as a secret going, waiting for that time, then returning back to the earth for that g...
The Seven Church Ages
54-0512 §36
Now, let me stop here just a moment. "Clouds," doesn't mean that He's coming on a big thunderhead. As mama, bless her heart, she's sitting here somewhere. When I was a little boy, she used to sit and tell me, said, "He is coming on great big clouds; going to raise someday, and God is going to come. Now, the "clouds" that He is coming in... If we just had the time to get all this back, and get the real background of the whole thing! Now, the "cloud" He's coming in, is not a cloud like a thunderhead. But it's "a clou...
The Rapture
65-1204 §96
One rapture is passed. Three has happened in the Old Testament of them prepared who the Word of the Lord came to. See? The Word of the Lord came to Enoch. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah. He was a prophet. See? The Word of the Lord was Jesus. See? Watch in the Old Testament, them Old Testament saints now when this rapture first taken place. Notice verse 50: His loud voice awakened the Old Testament saints just exactly like the loud voice wakened Jesus---or wakened Lazarus. See? The loud voice awakened him. And...
Church Ages, part 1: Revelation Chapter 1
60-1204M §140
Remember, in the days of Lot, as Jesus said, before one speck of fire ever hit the earth, that angel said, "Hasten, hurry. Get out of here, for I can't do nothing until thou has come hence." Before any fire hit, Lot and his family was out and gone. So the rapture will come before the tribulation sets in. The tribulation, many people get that mixed up, but we'll get it straightened this week, the Lord willing, by the help of the Lord. Remember, you're looking for a great tribulation period. That was ... if you'll ty...