In II Thessalonians 2:11, we find that when Satan appears in the holy temple, pretending to be the messiah, we read "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie".
The word "rapture" is not written anywhere in the Bible. The word rapture was coined sometime after the year 1830 in western Scotland when a young girl named Margaret MacDonald claimed to have had visions and visitations from God. Margaret MacDonald later gained the attention of two men named Edward Irving and John Darby and told them of her visions.

Ezekiel - Chapter 13
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!" (Ezekiel 13:3)

"They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word." (Ezekiel 13:7)

"Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly." (Ezekiel 13:20)

Many Christians believe this "Rapture" which declares that Jesus Christ will return before> "the period of tribulation" mentioned in the book of Revelation. In other words, God's children are spared from the tribulation but the Bible does not say this.

You can learn more about this particular subject in a book titled, "The Incredible Cover-up" by Dave MacPherson. You may be able to find a copy of this book at a public library. Let's examine this a little more closely. The words "caught up together with them in the clouds" in I Thessalonians is where this idea of "The Rapture" actually comes from.

I Thessalonians 4:17
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

Paul used the word "cloud" to mean a mass gathering of people (congregation) in the above verse just as he did in Hebrews 12:1 The word air means breath of life that God breathed through the nostrils of man that gave us a living soul.

Revelation 9:1-10
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." 5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

How then could these "locusts" hurt the believers in Jesus Christ during this "great tribulation" period unless the believers in Christ Jesus were going to be here on Earth during this time? Further, the word locusts is not referring to insects. The reference here is to a great number of beings, who appear in great numbers, whose intention is destroy the souls of mankind who do not have the "seal of God" in their foreheads. It may not be a visible mark because you cannot see what is inside a person's forehead. So, don't be deceived into believing what any person or false teacher has said. We need to know exactly what is written in the Bible. Believers and unbelievers alike could actually all be here on the earth during the "great tribulation". Only, those who do have the seal of God in their foreheads will be under the protection of God during the tribulation period.

A fellow Christian wrote to me with the following observation:
"I am writing you because I have a problem with one of your studies. In your study on the rapture, you used the following words to say that the "locusts" of Revelation are not insects. However, if you look back at the original Greek word used, "akris", it means "locust (in some cultures distinguished from a grasshopper and used as food source)." This cannot be speaking of a large number of people."

This fellow Chriatian writer is absolutely right. This cannot be speaking of a large number of people. He is also right about the Greek word “akris” and its literal translation (insects). However, I believe what John has written here refers to a great number of beings whose description is clearly neither human [reference: Joel 2] or insects. Humans don't have "tails like scorpions" and locusts don't have "faces like men" or the "teeth of lions". I think what John is describing in the book of Revelation are demonic supernatural beings with the evil intention to control the minds and actions of the people on earth who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads.

Rev. 9:11
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is A-bad'-don, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon (Satan).

These same creatures are given power by Satan to "hurt men" on Earth for a period of five months… but John does not say that these creatures would necessarily be physically visible to those of us on Earth. Remember that John was in a spiritual state when these visions were revealed to him. Also, remember what is written in Mark 5 about unclean spirits.

Mark 5:1-13
1 “And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes'. 2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. 10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.”

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