Tag / hope

by The Monahans

Apocalypse

The rapture of the church is coming. The Bible is very clear about that and, while it is very true that no one knows the day or the hour, there are sure signs of its approaching. Looking around us at events of the last 75 or so years, such as the rebirth of the nation of Israel, as well as more current events in the last 12 months, and there are indications that the rapture is closer than ever before. I’ve written about this previously, and if you’d like a refresher, please check out the link below:

In The Blink of An Eye

Today I am not focusing on the coming rapture itself but, rather, I want to draw a picture of what the events immediately following the rapture might look like. The Bible speaks of the horribleness of this time: “For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.” (Matthew 24:21-22) That is a grim outlook for sure, but since the Bible doesn’t give explicit details, drawing a picture of this future time requires a bit of the imagination. None-the-less, I think simple logic allows us to formulate a pretty good idea. So let’s dive in.

Zero hour: the rapture has just happened. Somewhere around 1.5 – 2 billion people, who were genuine Christ followers, just disappeared. Along with them, all children under the age of accountability are also missing. Gone in an instant. Among the missing are local and world leaders, doctors, pastors, pilots, taxi cab drivers, truck drivers, ship captains, military personnel, business leaders, police and emergency responders, and more. Since many of the people who just disappeared were actively driving trucks, cars, planes, and ships, we can be sure that in the seconds following the rapture there are massive automobile crashes, plane crashes, train wrecks, ships aimlessly adrift without their captains. Further, planes that haven’t yet crashed may be flying without a pilot in control, destined to crash when the fuel runs out. As you can imagine, these events happen all around the world, in copious numbers, almost simultaneously.

And there aren’t enough emergency responders, hospitals, doctors, nurses, etc. to handle the sudden influx of injured and dying. The chaos at this moment on a worldwide scale will be unimaginable. And not even an hour has passed since the rapture! With so many local and world leaders suddenly missing, confusion and chaos will reign to even the highest ranks of governments around the world. Countries will blame each other, they will not trust each other, and they will almost certainly go into the highest states of war readiness. Within just a few hours, certainly within 24 hours, the world will stand on the brink.

Meanwhile, theories about what really happened will swirl with a voracity never seen before. There will be those with some religious or Biblical knowledge who will possibly recognize the events as the rapture and subsequent beginning of the great tribulation, but many of them will deny it because they can’t imagine they were left behind. Governments will offer explanations in an effort to suppress the looming chaos. And as those explanations start to multiply, the world economy is already coming to a standstill as financial markets the world over crash, manufacturing all but ceases, prices skyrocket, and rationing is implemented. Massive, worldwide unemployment may be just a few days away.

In the coming days and weeks immediately following the rapture, the supply of food dwindles rapidly, and with dwindling resources among those now out of work; large scale, worldwide looting will erupt, overwhelming emergency responders already taxed to their limit. With military personnel throughout the world already on high alert, there will be few resources available to quell local tensions and tumult. Hungry people desperate for crucial supplies will begin to attack each other and many tens of thousands are likely to die in the ensuing civil unrest, that quickly reaches fever pitch, with riots and violence becoming the norm. 

As local governments around the world are increasingly unable to handle the burgeoning crisis, mob rule starts to take root in some areas, whereas martial law may be the norm in others. Brutality will be increasingly common as the struggle to assume control facilitates the rise of competing factions. It hasn’t been 3 weeks since the rapture occurred, and already the world is a completely different place. Hostile and unyielding. The weaker begin to die off, either from lack of sustenance, or having been killed trying to fight for what they need. With all Christians gone, the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is absent, so the lawlessness has reached levels never before seen on earth.

Over the next several months, the world becomes more and more merciless. Wives are raped in front of their husbands, husbands are tortured and killed in front of their wives. Governments impose ever more restrictive levels of control; consequences for disobedience become ever more dire. Corruption takes hold and new allegiances form. War has likely broken out in many parts of the world, with some nuclear weapons possibly already detonated. World power shifts occur rapidly, but with no real leadership, genocide may become commonplace. Chemical & germ warfare may very well be occurring. Suffering among people has reached inconceivable levels never seen or imagined before.

If you have ever watched the movie “Left Behind”, I can tell you that it in no way captured the true horror of this period in time. It will be far more ghastly than anything I can write here or any movie can portray. Mankind simply hasn’t experienced this level of utter upheaval in all of history. It is far, far beyond what we can truly imagine or communicate. This is why, if the Lord does not cut the time short, all mankind will simply die out. And it is in the midst of this anarchy that the antichrist will rise to power. People will be so desperate for a man with a plan that they will eagerly follow this power figure who emerges with such charisma and seeming peaceful intent.

Time and space do not allow me to dig into this much deeper, but hopefully I have fired your imagination to a degree with which you can see the agonizing reality that will be the great tribulation. While God will still be saving people during the tribulation period, I can assure you, this cruel and ghastly period in history is something you do not want to experience. And you are most likely not equipped to survive it, either. And even if you think you are, you may want to consider if your wife, brothers, sisters, friends, coworkers are. Because even if you do survive, you will almost certainly see many of those you know die. Quite possibly in brutal, violent, horrifying ways. As I stated, it will be a time of incomprehensible horror.

But for those who choose Christ now, it will be much different. We will not face God’s wrath. We will be raptured into perfect fellowship with our Savior. We will know peace and joy such as we cannot yet imagine here on Earth. And it is not too late for anyone to choose Christ. No one has sunk too low, or fallen too far, to be beyond the reach of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even in the great tribulation people will still be getting saved, but so much better to make that decision now. Just admit you are a sinner, accept his forgiveness, and follow him. God wants everyone to be saved and to know the truth (see 1 Timothy 2:3-4), his desire is for you!

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

To learn more about becoming a Christian, or if you just have questions, please check out KnowGod.org. Do it today, before it is too late. For the hour is getting late.

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
by The Monahans

In the Blink of an Eye

Rapture 4  Many people wonder about the rapture. Is it real? When will it happen? Perhaps you’ve heard someone say that the word “rapture” isn’t even in the Bible, so why does it get talked about? Or maybe your pastor hasn’t talked about the rapture at all, and you’re wondering what I am on about here. Well, the rapture of the church is a big deal and it’s probably closer than we think so it seems worth exploring a bit. So the goal of this blog is a cursory discussion on the topic.

In a nutshell, the rapture is when Jesus comes for his church. The Apostle Paul described it this way: “It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52) No one knows the exact date or hour this will happen, but it will happen suddenly, in a moment, and it will happen quickly, in the blink of an eye. First the Christians who have died are raised, then we Christians still living are transformed.

As I mentioned, we do not know exactly when this happens, but we are correct to surmise that it occurs just before the seven year tribulation period. We can confidently come to this conclusion when we analyze the Biblical text as a whole and, in so doing, we see a promise that believers will be protected from the “time of testing” as in Revelation 3:10: “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.” Further, verses such as John 14:3 and Thessalonians 4:16-18 clearly do not include judgement as is found in other verses (ie: Matthew 13:34-50 and Revelation 19:11-21) about Christ’s second coming. From this we conclude the rapture is “pre-tribulation”.

But is the word “rapture” even in the Bible? Well, the word “Bible” isn’t even in the Bible, so maybe this question is more of a distraction than a legitimate inquiry. Still, the word we find in Scripture is “harpazō” which is a Greek word meaning “to snatch or catch away”. According to Vine’s expository dictionary this word conveys the idea of force suddenly exercised. It is used in several places, including Acts 8:39 in reference to Philip being “snatched away” by the Spirit of the Lord and in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 in reference to Paul being “caught up” to the third heaven. So we can dispel the argument that “rapture” is not in the Bible, for it is simply our modern word for harpazō.

The Bible tells us that “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16) so because the rapture is clearly mentioned in the Bible we know it is real. Philip was raptured to God in Acts 8:39; the Apostle Paul was raptured to the third heaven, and Christians fortunate enough to be living at the right time will one day be raptured to God without ever experiencing death. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, should find this very exciting! Paul wrote to those on Thessalonica: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

So we should find the coming rapture very encouraging and we can encourage one another by discussing and acknowledging the coming rapture as our blessed hope. Space does not allow me to discuss in great depth the reasons we have to believe the rapture is closer than ever, perhaps even likely in our lifetimes (depending on how old you are now), but one “super sign” happened when Israel became a nation again in 1948. As Jesus shared in Matthew 24:32-34: “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place.”

Mark 13:32 tells us “…no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” So we do not set dates or make specific predictions, but when we do see the signs we have every reason to be hopeful, and if you watch closely, you will see the signs!

For further reading on the subject, I’m happy to recommend these resources:

Don Stewart: Educating Our World

Behold Israel

Olive Tree Ministries

Dr. Mark Hitchcock

Let us now eagerly await our blessed hope: “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.” (Philippians 3:20-21)

Here at Reign Drops, we’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment or drop us an email at: ReignDropsBlog@gmail.com

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.