This week’s post isn’t geared so much toward my regular readers as it is the people that have just witnessed an astonishing event, and who are absolutely freaking out right now. If a sizable portion of the human race has just flat out disappeared without a trace, and you’re still here, this post is meant for you.
Right off the bat, I can offer you hope, but it’s going to come with a hard dose of reality. I’m breaking this into two sections: what happened, and what you need to do now. You’re going to think what I’m saying is crazy, but crazy just became your new norm, friend, and the things I touch on can help you start to understand this new reality.
So what happened? I can’t put a number on it, but a ton of people around the whole world just up and disappeared, right in the middle of everyday life. Cars driving down the road suddenly had no drivers, and airplanes lost their pilots, which caused additional chaos, I’m sure. Despite what’s being reported, it wasn’t aliens and it wasn’t some weird new disease. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the people that disappeared are Christians. That is, they believed and trusted in Jesus Christ. Sure, there are still some church-goers and religious people that didn’t disappear. Ask them why others are gone but they’re still here. If they can’t seem to articulate their thoughts, ask them about their relationship with Jesus Christ. Not their head knowledge, as in their knowledge of or about God, or the money they give or the things they do for the church; ask them about their relational/experiential knowledge…the relationship they have with God. Odds are that they didn’t have a meaningful one.
Here’s the quick and dirty: after Jesus left, the Church (capital “C”) started. Throughout the Bible’s New Testament, the Church is described as the thing preserving the world (the “salt and light”). The Church is what perpetuates society’s collective morality. Yeah, things progressively get less and less like the way God wanted humanity to act. Churches give in, get “woke,” and endorse things that God himself would not endorse. Morality becomes less black and white and becomes increasingly gray. There are some churches and some folks that stand up and try to point the way back to Biblical morality, but over time those voices get drowned out, silenced, or labeled “hateful.”
Eventually (this is the part you’ve witnessed), God says “That’s enough; the evil is too much. I don’t want it to corrupt my people any further, so I’m pulling them out of there.” I don’t know when He’s going to do it, but I know that none of the people who disappeared are perfect; they just chose to love Jesus and trust Him as their savior and are now with Him in Heaven.
So where does that leave you? Well, you’re heading for some very rough waters. As it turns out, the Church was the speed bump that slowed down the moral degeneration of the human race. Now that it’s gone, there’s nothing holding back society’s decay. It’s like defunding the police and trusting that everyone will just get along and live happily together without problems. Things are about to get more insane and deadly than you imagined could ever happen.
If it hasn’t already happened, there’s a guy about to come on the scene that’s the most articulate politician/leader you’ve ever seen. He’s going to seem like he’s got all the answers and people will thrust him to global leadership. It’s a meteoric rise. The Bible calls this man the Antichrist. Circumstances will be such that you are encouraged (and maybe in some cases forced) to worship him. He’s empowered by satanic forces and will be able to do amazing supernatural things, and will perform counterfeit versions of the actual miracles Jesus performed.
Very quickly, here are some other things that will happen: Crazy, unexplainable signs in the sky…sun, moon, sky, and stars will all act strangely (Revelation chapter 6, verses 12-14, along with Rev 8:12). Imagine peace in the Middle East. This guy will orchestrate a 7-year treaty with Israel that brings peace to the region. Halfway through, though, he’s going to break it for his own benefit, desecrating Jewish holy sites in the process (Daniel 9:27, although there’s a lot more reading to do in order to grasp this meaning). Also, you’ll be unable to buy or sell or otherwise conduct normal business without receiving a mark on your hand or forehead. I don’t know if it’s going to look like a bar code, a QR code, or something else, but odds are it will somehow have the number “666” associated with it. (Rev. 13:16-18) Additionally, even aside from the disappearances, there’s going to be widespread death on a massive scale (Rev 6:7-8). Interestingly, there are going to be two guys that show up in Jerusalem that, for three and a half years speak out against the way folks are living and the way the world is conducting itself, pointing the way to Jesus Christ. People are going to hate hearing the truths these two guys are spreading, and will even try to kill them in order to silence them. During this time, these two will be invincible, but at the end the Antichrist himself will kill them both and their bodies will be left in the street as people celebrate their death by giving gifts to one another. Three and a half days later, however, both men will come back to life in full view of everyone. God then calls them to Heaven, and the two men will leave after that. (Rev. 11:3-12)
Look there’s a whole lot that happens, and I just don’t have the space to go into it all. Here’s what you need to do:
- Accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. You’re not perfect, but you don’t have to be. I realize that “accepting Christ as your Savior” sounds kind of wonky for someone who’s not accustomed to “churchy” language, so I’ll say it differently. Talk to God; pray this prayer: “Dear God, I need you. I’m humbly calling out to you. I’m tired of doing things my way; help me to start doing things your way. I invite you into my life to be my Lord and Savior; fill the emptiness in me with your Holy Spirit and make me whole. Lord help me to trust you, help me to love you, help me to live for you. Help me to understand your grace, your mercy, and your peace. Help me have the strength for what lies ahead. Thank you Lord, Amen.”
- If it hasn’t already, it’s probably about to become illegal to possess a Bible. You’re going to need one, though, along with a place to stash it. The Bible is a very complex book, with lots of stuff that you’re probably not going to care about (so many lineages!), and you’ll need help understanding it. There are lots of different translations of the Bible, but the most important thing for you is to get one that you can follow and that is an actual translation (not paraphrased). If it says that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man, you’re probably on the right track. If you’ve never read the Bible before, start out in the New Testament. If you’re new to this, start with Matthew. (The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are in the same group of books, and they cover a lot of the same material. Don’t read all four and wonder why they killed Jesus four times!) Some of the books of the Bible that will pertain the most to you (Revelation, Daniel, Ezekiel) are also some of the most difficult to understand, so it’s best to get either a study bible (with notes) or separate commentaries that can help provide explanations of what the text is saying. At this point you’re living in a time that’s past civility, so I’ll say this and you take it however you’d like: the homes and bookshelves of the people who disappeared are your best shot at obtaining the biblical resources that can help you the most, and those folks sure don’t need those resources anymore.
- The Bible is your single best source for learning what you need to learn, but it can be very hard to understand. For a lot of people, sermons from pastors/priests or additional Bible study materials will help increase understanding of biblical scripture’s application. If you can obtain those resources, do it.
- Find others like you. God empowers His followers with special talents called “spiritual gifts.” They could be things like teaching, faith, leadership, administration, or the gift of helps (this isn’t an exhaustive list). If you accept Christ, you’ll gain something that you can use to help other Christ-followers, and others will likewise be able to help you. The Bible says that wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He’s there (Matthew 18:20). Take comfort in that, help each other learn about Christ, and help each other survive. You would not believe what God can do when He wants to get something done, and you may very well see it up close.
There are very hard times ahead. You will personally understand desperation in a way I can only vaguely imagine in April of 2021. My hope is that this post will float around online long enough to reach the people that need it, starting to orient you in a time of unprecedented chaos.
I’m not out to con you. I can guarantee that I have nothing to gain by passing this information along. In fact, if I’m right about all this, I’m already gone. You, on the other hand, have everything to gain!
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:17-18