I have read of a post-Trib believer stating that the idea of a secret Rapture is self-refuting, because the verse widely used to support the idea of the Rapture, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, clearly describes a very loud event– shouts, trumpets, people getting out of graves… and according to the author of this article, this noise will be heard by everyone across the world. So this must be describing the Second Coming of Christ, which is seen by everyone across the world “like lightning from the east of the sky to the west.” Is it possible that the Rapture will be loud?
In 1 Thes. 4:16 there is a shout and a trumpet blast. No where is the Rapture described as a silent event. It’s secret in the sense that it comes without warning. Even if there was no sound at all, the sudden disappearance of millions of people would be sufficient to inform people of its occurrence. The sounds will come no more than a split second earlier. And when people came out of their tombs in Matt. 27:52-53 does the Scripture say it caused any kind of an uproar at the time, or only that they went into Jerusalem later and appeared to many?
Comparing the Rapture to lightning which is seen by everyone doesn’t make any sense either. The writer’s point was how loud the Rapture will be. Lightning is light, not sound. But the second Coming will be a spectacularly visible event that will follow an unspecified period of total darkness during which neither the Sun nor the Moon will shine. (Matt. 24:29-30)
Suddenly the Lord swill appear in the clouds with power and great glory, and will light up the entire sky, like lightning does. And when He does He’ll be coming to Earth to establish His Kingdom here, not to take us to Heaven so we can be with Him there, as in the Rapture. The two events cannot possibly be the same.