The world is generally out of control right now. We’ve got wars in Ukraine and Israel, mass looting in cities, economic uncertainty in lots of countries, the breakdown of law and order, dissolution of America’s southern border, and general unrest all over the place. It’s natural to wonder if we’re in the period the Bible refers to as the Tribulation.
Well, the short answer is that unless a ton of people have already up and vanished without a trace, the answer is “no.” If you’re not one to do a lot of Bible reading, or even to connect certain parts of the Bible, it’s easy to jumble together a lot of the events related to the natural end of time (the part where God decides He’s had enough and shows up in a big way).
There are two major cataclysmic events at the end that will stop people in their tracks. The first is the Rapture. This is where Christ comes back from Heaven to pull His people (the Church) out of the world. This is a removal of the faithful, sparing them from the turmoil that’s about to take place. If some major fraction of humanity has up and vanished and that fraction doesn’t include you…no matter what sort of explanation is provided (I’m guessing aliens and UFOs), take a closer look at who’s disappeared. There’s sure to be a lot of confusion initially, but when the dust starts to settle and a clearer picture emerges, you’ll see that they’re all Christians. I’d guess that this linkage will try to be hidden, so you may have to go looking for evidence to connect the dots on your own. Yes, there will be church-going people, even clergy members, that did not disappear, and they’ll be hit with a hard truth: they did not have a saving relationship with Christ as Lord of their lives. People of other religions, along with other people of fine morals, good people, will also remain. The Christians’ disappearance will hasten the downward spiral of humanity. The churchgoers are the ones slowing humanity’s decay right now (October 2023), but once they’re gone, it’s a whole new chapter in the progression of unspeakable evil. It’s as though God says “I’ve been telling you for millennia how to live, and you rejected me this whole time. You know what? Fine. Have it your way. See how that goes for you.” The good news here is that there’s still time to embrace Christ.
The second event is Christ’s Second Coming. Moments after the Rapture all the Christians will have disappeared, but by the time of the Second Coming, seven years after the Rapture, more people will have become Christians. They’ll still have to endure some very difficult circumstances, but they’ll have the hope of Christ. For everyone else still on the planet, they’ll face a reckoning. At this point everybody starts to realize the jig is up, that there’s no getting out of this one, and that they should have paid more attention to what they heard earlier about Christ forgiving sins. Now it’s too late to change their minds.
There’s no question that these two events are easy to get blended together, but here’s a list put together by the late Dr. Norman Geisler to help separate them out. They give the reader a better picture of some of history’s final events. I have to warn you that some of these are a little tricky and don’t say much at first glance, but a study bible helps see beyond the face value, the deeper meaning, of the verse in question.
If the rapture hasn’t happened yet, study these verses and the ones near them so you can better understand what’s happening as events unfold. If the rapture already took place and you’re still around to read this, it’s even more important to get your hands on a bible (preferably a study bible that has additional notes and context on what the verses mean). If you believe the entire bible, you believe that Satan and his fallen angels exist. Well, they can read it too, and they know what’s coming. In my mind, I believe that’s why UFO activity has been ramping up in the past few years. These fallen angels are setting the stage to have a plausible explanation for the mass disappearance of a significant percentage of humanity. “They were abducted! They had to have been abducted, there’s simply no other explanation!” It’ll be quite the coincidence that a lot of those abducted people loved Jesus. Once that common thread gets out, don’t be surprised if you also hear things like “see what happens to people that follow Jesus? Let’s round up all the bibles and other commentaries about it and destroy them before this happens again!”
Anyway, we’re not in the Tribulation yet, but it increasingly seems like it’s not too far away. Think of this as an opportunity to focus your studies of God’s word on what’s coming.
Lord, if this blog is still around after the Rapture has occurred, I pray for those reading this. They’re dealing with mass fear, confusion, and many types of hardship that are turning or will turn their lives upside down. I pray that this post will help point them to You and the truth, that they would embrace You as Lord. As they approach the end of history, may You be glorified, God. I pray these things in Your name, Amen.