Some think that before the Rapture can take place certain criteria must be met. First, there must be specific calamities of Biblically apocalyptic proportions. Now, since the beginning of time there have been mega disasters, plagues, famine, and so on. A certain earthquake does not need to shake the world before God takes His church. A virulent strain of death wielding sicknesses does not need to encompass the globe before the Rapture. A tsunami of unparalleled damage-causing waves and currents doesn’t need to suck out to sea millions of homes and people before God vacuums His body toward the skies. It could have happened last week before the Japanese earthquake and tsunami; it could have transpired before the terrible tsunami of 2004 that killed a quarter of a million people. And it could happen now, or in the next few hours or days before the next tragedy comes. The triumph and trump of the Rapture needs no calamity for its cue.

Next, some think its predicated on certain characters. The Antichrist. The False Prophet. The Dragon. The ten kings of the ten horns represented by the beast seen in Revelation 13:1. The harlot. Yet, none of these characters have to be known before the church has flown.

Thirdly, some think certain concepts have to be in place. False doctrines. Seducing spirits. Atheistic digression. Humanistic ideas, jargons, ads, and counsel. Gay agendas. Religious inventions. Perverse intentions. Again, most of these things have been around since the Garden of Eden. And they will get increasingly worse, but that is not holding back the sound of the trumpet.

Fourthly, some feel there certain conditions that need to be met. The church of the Lord has to be at a certain number. Dispensations have to be fulfilled. Seasons of progress finished. Knowledge at a certain level. These are all things that certainly describe the second advent of Christ, when he comes to set up His earthly one thousand year kingdom; but it is not necessary for the coming together of bride and bridegroom.

Next, some feel that there will be certain conflicts going on in the world. Again, this is true concerning the rise of the last day Antichrist, who will come to power on a platform of peace as the seeming prince of wisdom and diplomacy; and there will be great battles and possibly a third world war that may see untold carnage and nuclear fallout; but wars and rumors of wars are not barricading the Messiah from descending with a shout. The rapture doesn’t need the world to rupture; it will take place without warning, signal, or need of filled appointments.

And finally, some think there will be certain connections in place. Globalism. One world religion, government, and economy. The seven headed ten horned kingdom will have emerged from the swirling seas of the end time. The legendary four horsemen of Revelation 6 will have ridden across the globe in sequence, destruction, and demonic orchestration. Free masons, the illuminati, and  other secret societies. Again, all of these things point to event during the time of Jacob’s trouble, the seven year tribulation; but they do not dictate the terms of the trumpet. The Rapture needs no accompaniment. It is a solo act of Sovereign prerogative. It will happen merely when He wants it to happen.