Most denominations of the Christian Church hold to the tradition of a pre-tribulation rapture.  I did too, until I recently found some verses that indicated otherwise.  Traditions can be good, but when they go against Scripture, we should believe the Bible.

“Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:  For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”  1 Corinthians 15:51-52

“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”  Revelation 10:7

So the mystery is finished at the seventh trumpet.  Interesting, but it gets better.  The last time a trumpet is mentioned in the Bible is when the seventh trumpet sounds in Revelation 11:15:

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Some people put the seven trumpets in a class by themselves, and say they don’t count as far as the “last trumpet” is concerned.  Well, that may be true, except for a passage in Matthew 24:29-31:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:  and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Some say this refers to the gathering of the 144,000 and “tribulation saints” after the tribulation.  Obviously, this can’t be the case, because they are gathered with a trumpet.  This could only be referring to the rapture, since believers are gathered with the last trumpet in the rapture.  If Matthew 24 is referring to the “tribulation saints”, then the believers raptured before the tribulation wouldn’t be gathered at the last trumpet like 1 Cor. 15:52 says they will.
So the rapture occurs after the sun and moon are darkened, and stars fall from heaven.  When in Revelation does this happen?  Interestingly enough, in the first four trumpets!

“And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven…”  Revelation 8:10

“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.”  Revelation 8:12

So the rapture can’t occur until at least after the fourth trumpet.

One common objection to a mid-tribulation rapture is that the rapture is supposed to be as “a thief in the night”, taking us by surprise.  Since the seventh trumpet is about the middle of the seven years of tribulation, they say it would be inconsistent with Jesus’ teaching.  They commonly cite 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3:

“For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”

Unfortunately, many times the quotation stops here.  But if you read the next verse, it solves the difficulty of the “thief in the night” problem:

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”  1 Thessalonians 5:4

So we see from the whole passage, that the rapture comes as a thief in the night to unbelievers, but not to believers.  We will know the season, just not the day and hour.

“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”  Matthew 24:33,36

Another consideration is this:  How long does it take in our time for one of the seven trumpets to sound?  How long in between trumpets?  Are the times all the same, or do they vary from trumpet to trumpet?  I think part of the answer may be back in Revelation 10:7.

“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound…”

So apparently, it takes more than one day for the seventh angel to sound, and the rapture occurs near the beginning.  We will know the season, but not the day or hour.

I may very well be wrong in my conclusion of a mid-tribulation rapture, and I certainly wouldn’t mind missing the 3 ½ years of tribulation.  But I think we need to be careful before we assume it couldn’t possibly be that God would let us go through part of the tribulation.  Remember 1 Peter 4:17.

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God…”

This passage in 1 Peter 4 talks about how we should rejoice in fiery trials, because we are partakers of Christ’s sufferings.  We are not to think it strange (1 Peter 4:12-13.)  Tribulation often purifies the church, weeding out the seeds planted on the stony ground, exposing their hypocrisy.

If you think God would never let his people today go through trials, look at the Christians in China, much more dedicated to God than many of us in the United States, who can’t believe that a church in the United States could actually have the honor of possessing a complete Bible.  Many of their churches only have a few pages, which are carefully passed around among the believers so they can all have a turn to read God’s Word. What about the Christian boy in Sudan that saw his whole family murdered by Islamic extremists, and then afterwards was thrown into a fire for refusing to convert to Islam?  What about the Christian girl in Pakistan that was imprisoned, raped, and tortured for leading her friend to Christ? Why do we think God needs to exempt us from suffering?
Someone made an extremely good point once about God’s judgment on Israel in the Old Testament.  When God allowed Israel to go into captivity in Babylon for their wickedness, the Godly people like Daniel and his friends went, too.  When God judges a nation, He does not always deliver His people from the consequences.

So, although we cannot be absolutely certain, I think it is most likely that the rapture will occur at the seventh trumpet.