16. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17. 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.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NASB
51. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52. 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 all be changed.
2 Corinthians 25:51-52 NASB
These passages speak of the resurrection of the righteous dead, and then the catching away or what is often referred to as the rapture of the saints who are alive at the second coming of Christ.
A common belief is that this event occurs prior to the great tribulation, about seven years before Jesus returns in glory. But it doesn't say that in these texts.
What we do see is that this event occurs at a trumpet blast, in fact it is the last trumpet, with a shout, as Jesus descends in the clouds. I could make the argument that this is the second coming, and there are not two second comings, or a "two staged" second coming, but I want to look at this from the standpoint of the resurrection of the dead.
4. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgement was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
6. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:4-6 NASB
Dispensationalism has a problem that they cannot adequately explain. What to do with the "tribulation saints." If the Church has already been raptured and celebrated the marriage supper of the Lamb what about those who missed out but were saved during the tribulation? I have heard it awkwardly explained that somehow they make it to heaven but do not have the same "status" there as those who had been previously raptured. The term "second class citizens" has been used in feeble attempts to reconcile this issue.
But look at this passage. These are definitely individuals who have gone through the great tribulation. They were martyrs, they refused the mark of the beast and did not worship him. They are most definitely elect from the foundation of the earth (see Rev 13:8). They do not appear to be "second class" citizens as they reign with Christ for a thousand years. And the thing that stands out is the fact that this is the first resurrection!
If this is the first resurrection then it is the same resurrection that Paul writes about as well. The dead in Christ rise followed by those who are alive and remain to meet the Lord in the air. Those who are alive and remain are alive and remain at the close of the tribulation, at the return of Jesus Christ.
Dispensationalism teaches two second comings, two first resurrections, two peoples of God, and two gospels (one of grace for this age, and one of law for the Jews during the tribulation). All this to protect the pre-trib doctrine. We must be Bereans, in the word of God, testing every teaching and doctrine that we are presented with. If not, we set ourselves up for disaster.
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