Thanks brother Orthonut for the links.
Saint Ephraem the Syrian is following the book of Revelation and the Holy Scriptures at large. With that in mind, these two portions must be understood to describe the same events.
Chapter 1
\\"Woe to those who desire to see the day of the Lord!\\" For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.\\"
End of Chapter 8
\\"But those who wander through the deserts, fleeing from the face of the serpent, bend their knees to God, just as lambs to the adders of their mothers, being sustained by the salvation of the Lord, and while wandering in states of desertion, they eat herbs.\\"
One also cannot ignore the didactic reason why the Saint is sharing these thoughts with his readers, to encourage them to persevere in godliness and to confirm them in the faith of Jesus Christ.
Orthodoxy confirms the rapture, but denies a secret coming of the Lord/rapture of the Saints prior to a great tribulation. Orthodoxy confesses one public impossible-to-miss Second coming of the Lord, rapture of the living Saints, one resurrection of the dead both righteous and unrighteous and final judgment of all.
In Christ,
Promise
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