The one point that you make in your writing on which I have not been able to agree is that the Rapture will be a number specific event. For it to be so would require that it be up to the church (man) to determine the time of the Rapture, taking the ultimate decision away from God. I always felt that this explanation does not accurately reflect the way God’s mind works, knowing that He is a very specific time keeper. I would be so pleased to hear your thoughts on this topic because it has been one of the sticking points for me in understanding the full picture regarding the rapture.
When the Bible says God makes known the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), I believe it means He knew every detail about how things will turn out before He started anything. He knew the full number of the Church, when that number will be reached, and how it will coincide perfectly with every other detail in His grand plan for mankind. The fact that we don’t know these details simply means He decided not to tell us.
God is not waiting around for the Church to evangelize the world. He knew we wouldn’t do that from the beginning. That’s why He’ll send an angel to do it after the Church is gone (Rev. 14:6).