End Times
The End Times, also called the Last Days, refers to the period of time in Christian theology just before and during the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This period of time is foretold in the books of Daniel and Revelation in the Bible, as well as in I Thessalonians and in the teachings of Jesus in the four Gospels.
There are differing views of the End Times. A common view is that the believers in Christ and those who died in Christ will be removed from the Earth in an event called the Rapture, just before the start of a seven-year Great Tribulation which will see the rise of a world government headed by the Antichrist. The Tribulation will be a time of plagues and disasters. Some Christians however believe the Rapture will happen in the middle of the Tribulation, and some believe the Rapture will happen at the end of the Tribulation. All three of these views are part of the premillennial view of the End Times, because in all three scenarios Jesus comes back before the 1000-year reign of Christ on Earth.
Another view is known as postmillennialism. According to postmillennialism, Jesus will only return after Christians set up the government of God on Earth, and the Rapture will not happen until after the 1000-year reign of Christ.
Yet another view is praeterism, which is the view that the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation have already come to pass. The most common interpretation in praeterism is the Great Tribulation and other events prophesied for the End Times happened during the first or second century, usually in the context of the Roman government persecution of Christians.
The term "Rapture" is not found anywhere in the Bible, but is a common term used to refer to the prophecies in I Thessalonians 4:16-17.