Will the Rapture be Pre Trib or Post Trib?

If you have read the Left Behind series you know that they told the story from a pre-tribulation perspective.  In other words the rapture occurs before the tribulation.  In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus seems to say just the opposite.  Let's take a look.

 

Matthew 24:4-14(NKJV)

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 

For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 

All these are the beginning of sorrows.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 

And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 

Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 

But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

 

So here you have Jesus telling us of the Tribulation starting and what will happen to us.  Those who believe in the rapture being pre tribulation think that we Christians will miss all the pain and suffering of the tribulation because we will already be gone.  The verses above seem to indicate otherwise.

Let's continue.

 

Matthew 24:29-44(NKJV)

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 

So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! 

Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 

For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 

and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 

Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 

But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 

Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

 

As you can see, Jesus says "immediately after the tribulation" and goes on to explain what happens next.  Then further down in the passage Jesus goes on to describe what will happen in the rapture.  But all of this comes after Jesus said "immediately after the rapture" which is why I conclude that the rapture happens after the tribulation; not before.  Make sense?