The Order of Things in the Bible

In Thessalonians Paul indicates that Jesus is coming in the clouds.

1 Thes 4: 16. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Notice he explicitly says, "The Lord", "meet" but it is "in the air."

While Jesus is in the air, the gathering of the elect is carried out by angels, per Matthew.
Matt 24:31. "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

If the gathering "in the air" coincides with Jesus return so that:
a. Dead & alive are gathered
b. Jesus then immediately guides the saints to return to earth with Him (Zech 14:5) such that these events are orchestrated the same day, then in natural time this is happening in One Day.
 

If the gathering "in the air" is to take the saints away from the earth to not experience the tribulation, then there is a delay between Jesus in the clouds and Jesus on the earth.
 

When Jesus returns and sets foot on the earth, He begins His 1000 year reign:
Zech 14:9. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth.
Zech 14:16. And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

So these are earthly events that must happen in the Day (as 1000 years) that Christ will reign. Scripture has the earth pass away after the millennial reign:

Rev 20: 5. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

This first resurrection coincides with "meeting Jesus in the air." Then when He touches His foot to Mt Olives, the saints are with Him. What the word says about these saints is:

Rev 20: 6. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

The saints (virgins who had oil) are with Jesus ruling and reigning as priests. I am thinking "Halleluiah" right now!

The dead who were not caught up in the clouds (they were not the elect) are part of the second resurrection:

Rev 20: 12. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
15. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Having put away death, Hades and all who are not in the Lamb's Book of Life, we turn the page to Chapter 21:
Rev 21: 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.

I love you guys for this opportunity to share. May we all be blessed by just taking the time to say, "The Lord Jesus is King and His kingdom is coming."