Noah and the flood\Shadrach Meshach and Abednego:
We get the English word rapture from the Latin word rapiēmur, which is a translation of the Greek word harpazo which means to catch up, take by force, catch away, pluck, catch, pull. The premise of the pre-trib rapture is built on the foundation that the righteous are always spared God's Judgement\tribulation. The story of Noah illustrates this point. Note there is a distinction between tribulation that comes from the world, and tribulation that comes from God.
The Lord called Noah a righteous man (Gen 7:1) and found "grace" in His eyes. He was also a gentile, keep this in mind for later. Noah is a "type" of a believer. Before God brought judgement upon the world He had Noah build an Ark to escape the flood waters. The Ark can be seen as a type of rapture. The righteous were sparred God's judgement and kept "high above the earth" and not on it.
Seven's are also repeated often in the story of Noah. Noah took seven of every clean animal, Noah waited in the Ark for seven days, The Ark rested on Ararat in the seventh month. Could it be God is drawing attention to the number seven? What other period of seven takes place in the New Testament? "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. (Luk 17:26)
Let's parallel Noah with the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego. Remember these were Hebrew men who were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to the golden statue, yet they came out the fires unscathed. The fires are a type of tribulation. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego can be seen as a "type" of Jewish remnant. The golden statute is a type of anti-christ. If you put the story of Noah and the story of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego together you see a picture of the tribulation. The gentile church escapes the tribulation just as Noah (a gentile) escaped the flood, while the Jewish remnant, who refuse to worship the antichrist, comes out of the fires of the tribulation unscathed. Just as Shadrach Meshach and Abednego came out of the fiery furnace unscathed.
