The "Left Behind" series of pastor Dr. Tim Lahaye and Christian writer Jerry B. Jenkins have found their way to an audience of millions. The "rapture" has taken the front seat in these novels. With over 40,000,000 products sold in the series, "Left Behind" has become an international phenomenon and the excitement is growing every day. On the one hand reading these novels can have a positive effect; people get more aware that the last days may come to an end (the last days started with Pentecost according to the Bible) and as a result take their believe in Christ more seriously and prepare themselves to meet Him. On the other hand, if the novel is taken over the true story, it is not at all positive. That may result in a thinking that leaves us unprepared for what really is ahead and many may loose their faith all together. Because of this extraordinary popularity it is easy to start to believe that the fictive story is the real one. Not so! The real one is to be found in the best seller of all times; the Bible.

Although in the Bible the event is not called "rapture", two places describe the event like this:
1 Thes. 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [17] After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
1 Cor. 15:51-52 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- [52] in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

These verses do not only deal with "what it is" but give the reader also some information about "when it will happen". The moment that Jesus will come down from heaven is announced "with the trumpet call of God", and the dead will be raised imperishable and the living will be changed "at the last trumpet". Is it coincidence that the event described and a trumpet sound go together?

With the help of an Interlinear Bible (a Bible translation that word by word is taken from the Greek authentic text and does not bother with the English grammar) the Greek word can be found that is translated as "trumpet". With an Analytical Concordance we can find the places where else in the Bible that specific word is used. By reading all the verses an excellent understanding of the word and its context can be obtained.

Salpigx Greek Strong's NR. 4536; a trumpet:— bugle(1), trumpet(8), trumpets(2).
In the whole NT this word is used in 11 places: Matthew 24:31; 1 Cor. 14:8; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16; Hebrews 12:19; Rev. 1:10; Rev. 4:1; Rev. 8:2; Rev. 8:6; Rev. 8:13; and in Rev. 9:14)
Salpizo Greek Strong's NR. 4537; to trumpet, i.e. sound a blast
In the whole NT this word is used in 10 places Matthew 6:2; 1 Cor. 15:52; Rev. 8:6-8; Rev. 8:10; Rev. 8:12 - 9:1; Rev. 9:13; Rev. 10:7 and in Rev.11:15)

Both Greek words found in the two "rapture" - descriptions that give us information about "when it will happen" are used in twenty-one NT-verses. Nineteen of these deal with end times and refer to "the seven trumpets", a series of plagues well into the period of distress that will come over our planet earth. The "seven trumpets" are part of the description of the Lamb opening the last (seventh) seal of the book (scroll). Rapture seems to be well into or at the very end of a period of global disaster, in Jesus' words ". . . a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will." from Matthew 24:21 Is it just coincidence that we find the trumpet mentioned again just a few verses later in an event that describes how the elect are gathered from all over the world? "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. [30] "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. [31] "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." Matthew 24:29-31

This of course is not an extensive study but a start to make you think. Believers I urge you to read more in the best-seller of all times, to learn how to really become prepared for the "Wedding of the Lamb". Many more places in the book of books will show you that a believe in an early "rapture" may leave you unprepared. Wishful thinking is not a good way to become prepared for a turbulent time. Make sure you don't miss the Wedding of the Lamb because of a disappointed wake-up to the awareness that things didn't happen as you expected. Do not swap the real story for a novel-idea.