The Rapture - Beginning of the End!

Welcome Believers and Non-Believers!  I am thrilled that you are here.  Since you did come, I trust this topic has some interest for you...I hope that is the case.

This is the first hub of several that I am writing or have written about prophecy, specifically the prophecy written by the Apostle John.  The entire last book of the Bible, Revelation is what God showed John concerning the last days and the Judgment to come. 

All the information is taken from God's Holy Word.  I am not here to argue, debate, etc. with anyone.  My purpose in writing these is to share the Truth of God's Word with you and to show that these events will take place and are not some imaginary tale thought up to scare people.  This book and the entire Bible were written to reveal God's nature and character to us as much as we can understand.  His love and care for us are unequaled and all He wants is to have a close, personal relationship with us, His Creation and to spend eternity with Him when we leave our earthly bodies. 

Many theories about the Rapture are out there, but the only reliable true source about this awesome event is God's Word. As you know, our world is deteriorating rapidly right before our eyes. The economy, crime, horrendous acts like abortion, same sex marriages,  and genocide are running like wildfire over our planet. Even the United States is turning from God, and this nation was founded on Christian principles.  The founding fathers must be rolling in their graves at how their Constitution has been perverted and misused!!!  Just look at how society has changed in the last 50-60 years! Nudity on TV, profanity, immoral lifestyles, homosexuality, war and conflict everywhere, etc. are easily seen. The family unit is all but gone..divorce, drugs, violence, and so much more. Even our grade schools aren't safe.  God is taken out of everything...can't pray in school, remove the Ten Commandments, don't bring a Bible to school...what nonsense!!  Our leaders and judicial system are so corrupt I pity anyone that has to deal with them!   Nature is going crazy too..huge storms, earthquakes, tornadoes are all increasing. This is not by chance, but clear evidence that God is sending us to prepare us for the end of our world as we know it.  We better listen to Him!!

All of these 'signs' and others have been prophesied in the Bible. Many have come to pass, others yet to occur. Most Bible followers believe God will soon come and pour His wrath upon this sinful, wicked world. He is coming, we just don't know when.  God, is the only one who knows the exact date and time...even Jesus doesn't know.  The terrible events aren't going to be done out of hate, though God does hate sin, but is reaching out for the last time to get people to turn from sin and believe, follow, and worship Him.

The event that starts this massive series of events in motion will be the Rapture. This event will be for God's Children only. Believers, those that are already gone from this earth and the ones still alive will be callled by our Savior and leave this earth before the terrible Judgments begin. It will happen in the twinkling of an eye, which means it will be an instantaneous event with multitudes of people just vanishing literally into thin air! Those that are not raptured will be totally confused as to what has happened when all of these other people disappear. The resulting chaos and fear will begin, but it is just a prelude to what will occur, especially during the 7 year Tribulation!  Those left behind have rejected God and are now going to pay the price for their disobedience and sin. 

Many others and I believe this earth is about out of time. Events stated in the Bible signaling the nearing of the ‘last days’ are happening right before our very eyes. Prophecies are being fulfilled that were given thousand of years ago. Although all of these occurrences tell us that time is running out, the one event that will mark the exact beginning of it all, hasn’t occurred…YET. I am speaking of what we Christians call The Rapture, or The Rapture of the Church.

This event will truly be the most startling and shocking event in human history! Before God begins to Judge the earth’s inhabitants for their sinful, evil, and wicked ways, those that are called, God’s Children will be spared the suffering and misery that are to follow. (The seven year Tribulation). How is this going to happen ?

The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus is going to come, and in the ‘twinkling of an eye’, meaning instantaneously, millions and millions of people are simply going to vanish from the face of the earth into thin air! It can happen anytime, so we are to be prepared for this miracle at any time. It could happen when we are driving to work, eating dinner with our families, playing in the backyard with our kids…anytime! When this massive amount of people disappear, the resulting chaos, fear, and confusion will be monumental! Imagine driving down the freeway and ‘bam’, Jesus takes His people home. Cars will be without drivers and accidents will be global on the roads! Airplanes will crash and other catastrophes will happen.  Most people will have no clue as to what is happening.  Of course, those left on earth will try to give a ‘scientific explanation’ to this phenomenon, theories will run wild trying to explain it, but nobody will know. What exactly happened to these people?  But the Bible tells us exactly what happened, but most won't accept it.

In the Bible, God tells us that when Jesus comes back, He is going to take His church, meaning all believers, out of this wicked world. People who have died will rise first and then those that are still alive on earth. Only those that have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and are born-again, ‘saved’ will be involved. They will fly up to meet Jesus in the clouds, where He will take them to Heaven and the Judgment Seat of Christ. There will be great joy in this event, for the believers will see loved ones that have gone before them, but also, the greatest reunion of all…seeing Jesus, our Lord face to face! I can’t even imagine what that will be like, but know I don’t want to miss it….do you? Jesus will appear physically to these believers only, so nobody on earth will see anything...just that people are gone.   Also,  those that are Raptured will have their physical bodies changed in some way, but we will still be able to recognize each other. Our bodies will not be flesh and blood anymore, but like the angels. It states we will neither marry or be given in marriage. (Matthew 22:29-30). Our new bodies are described in I Corinthians 15:35-50. Some people are confused about these 2 Truth, but the Bible tells it clearly.  EVERYONE will see Jesus when He comes back for the Battle of Armageddon, but not the Rapture. When he comes back after Armageddon, all will know He is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords! When Jesus comes back this time, He will bringing His church and the Heavenly forces with Him to defeat Satan’s forces.

As I just said, after meeting the Lord Jesus in the air, all will follow Him and appear before God. These people, again, are followers of Jesus, so the Judgment Seat of Christ doesn’t mean they will be punished for any sin. All sin has been dealt with at the Cross, so these people are not guilty! This meeting will be only for receiving our rewards; what a believer has done on earth to bring glory and honor to God. Christians call these ‘works’. This will be a great joy to many as they are praised by Jesus Himself for the job they did on earth in His name. All of us long to hear Him say, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:41). No words ever said to us will be as sweet as those! But for some believers, they will experience shame and regret. (I John 2:28). They are saved and will be in Heaven, but they will suffer loss for not doing as much as they had the chance to do for God's glory. I am not sure exactly what these rewards will be, but the Bible does mention receiving various ‘crowns’. Whatever the rewards are, they will pale in comparison knowing that we will spend eternity in Heaven with God and have perfect bodies, peace, joy, love, no sickness, no pain, etc. What a gift!!

After the Rapture, at some point, we don’t know how long, the 7 year Tribulation period will begin as God begins to release His wrath on an evil, disobedient, and sinful world. All the people left one earth, the unbelievers, will have to endure this mighty display of God’s wrath and also experience Satan’s forces ravaging the earth at the same time. The seven year Tribulation is going to be literally, “Hell on Earth!.” It will begin slowly and progressively get worse as Satan’s evil spreads across the entire planet, while God’s wrath becomes stronger with each Judgment. Demons will be everywhere tormenting those left behind.  God’s anger and Satan’s deception will be clearly evident to all people on earth. People will still refuse and defy God even though they eventually learn the truth and Satan’s lies.

Some people have a problem with this 'wrath of God', but it is plain and simple. God is angry, yes, and cannot tolerate sin. In fact, God HATES sin. Our world has been sinning and grieving God’s heart for thousands of years and He has tolerated it until now. When Adam and Eve committed the first sin and were cast out of Heaven, God has patiently been trying to convince people to turn back to Him, follow Him, and most of all, have a personal, close relationship with Him, like He had with Adam and Eve at the beginning. God loves us so much and wants us to be with Him…we NEED Him and he WANTS us! He made us, so knows exactly what we need to have joy, peace and security. Only God can supply that…nobody else can even come close.

Those that say, “How can a God that loves us, send this death and destruction?” Well, the answer has already been given. He LOVES us and is going to take the most harmful thing in our lives and get rid of it...SIN!  These destructive attacks by God are His way of getting our attention! We have ignored Him up to this point, hence the reason so many people are on earth going through the Tribulation, and had to do something drastic to get us to wake up! Even though people do realize this eventually, most will not turn to God and will follow Satan to their doom. But God, in His infinite mercy will keep trying, even up the the final battle at Armageddon! After that battle, it will be finished. The doors to Heaven will be closed and those left alive that refused God, will face eternal death and suffering!

After this, if interested, I suggest reading the 3 articles I published on the Tribulation Period. These articles will explain the events that begin sometime after the Rapture. Now the world faces God’s wrath and Judgement for seven long years. The first will be the Seal Judgments, followed by the Trumpet, and finally the Bowl Judgments!

God Bless all of you!