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Like so many other Christians in recent times, I have been thinking more about the end times. Wading through nearly two years of this stuff has been exhausting, and there are days when I just want Jesus to come back right now and sort everything out. But when I sought comfort in the idea of being raptured out of this mess before it gets even more terrible, there was always some random internet pal to rain on my one last hope. "Nope," They'd say, "We're going to be here for all of it."
Gee, thanks.
It's one thing for me to envision the great tribulation as a lone, healthy adult. But I'm married, we have young kids, and I am dependent on prescription medicine in order to stay alive. So.....yeah. I can't exactly just live off the land.
But I'm also a lover of truth. Whatever gets me closer to Jesus is what I ultimately want. So is there a way for me to hope in a rescue from this world before it goes down in [even more] flames? Do we get pulled out before the Great Tribulation, during it, or afterwards?
In my Bible's introduction to the book of Revelation it says, "Revelation is written in 'apocalyptic' form - a type of Jewish literature that uses symbolic imagery to communicate hope (in the ultimate triumph of God) to those in the midst of persecution. The events are ordered according to literary, rather than strictly chronological, patterns."
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But even this didn't fully answer my question. What is God's heart towards his people - what does his character throughout history reflect? It was here that I began to find answers.
First, I think "rapture" may be too strong of a word. What I found were words like deliverance, refuge, stronghold, etc. It could be that we'll be scooped up, but I just wanted to see what the Bible had to say in its own words...
(hyperlinks go to the full chapter so you can easily see the broader context)
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Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.
It is time for the Lord’s vengeance;
he will repay her what she deserves.
Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand;
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
God specifically warns his people to get out of dodge before destruction came on Babylon. He didn't want his people to be destroyed in her punishments.
Daniel 12:1,2
“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered."
Daniel is told that in the end times, there would be great trouble, but that "at that time" every believer would be delivered. What exactly does "at that time" mean? What kind of deliverance is he talking about? I don't know, but I've never heard of God partially delivering his people. He specializes in complete deliverance.
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"And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,
as the Lord has said,
among the survivors
whom the Lord calls."
My bible notes say, "The 'day of the Lord' is used here as God's appointed time to judge the nations...Joel had said that if the people repented, the Lord would save them from judgment (2:12-14) In this day of judgment and catastrophe, therefore, some will be saved. God's intention is not to destroy but to heal and save. However, we must accept his salvation or we will certainly perish with the unrepentant."
Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.
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Nahum 1:7
The Lord is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him,
8 but with an overwhelming flood
he will make an end of Nineveh;
he will pursue his foes into the realm of darkness.
When it's time for judgment to be carried out on a large group of people, God does not leave his children helpless.
Nahum 2:13 (maybe)
“I am against you,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will burn up your chariots in smoke,
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will leave you no prey on the earth.
This prophecy was against Nineveh. The last line caught my attention: "I will leave you no prey on the earth." What did God mean by that? Does it stand to reason that God would somehow remove his people from their powerful grasp (a relocation, rescue, or miracles, etc)? All of chapter two is helpful for understanding it in context, which is why it stood out to me in the first place.
Zephaniah 2:3
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the Lord’s anger.
Here we see no guarantee of shelter, but we are encouraged to pray, and prodded to appeal to God because of who he is, and what he's able to do.
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Zephaniah 3:8-13
8 Therefore wait for me,
declares the Lord,
“for the day I will stand up to testify.
I have decided to assemble the nations,
to gather the kingdoms
and to pour out my wrath on them—
all my fierce anger.
The whole world will be consumed
by the fire of my jealous anger,
9 “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples,
that all of them may call on the name of the Lord
and serve him shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of Cush
my worshipers, my scattered people,
will bring me offerings.
11 On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame
for all the wrongs you have done to me,
because I will remove from you
your arrogant boasters.
Never again will you be haughty
on my holy hill.
12 But I will leave within you
the meek and humble,
who trust in the name of the Lord.
13 They will do no wrong;
they will tell no lies.
A deceitful tongue
will not be found in their mouths.
They will eat and lie down
and no one will make them afraid.”
This is another end times passage. At the end of verse 8 God says that, "The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger." Then skip down to verse 12 where God says, "But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the Lord." So we can assume that when his 'fire' consumes the whole world, it will somehow pass over the meek and the humble who trust in his name. I checked several different translations and the word "leave" is present in each one. These are people who were there already - not saints who had died and are then inserted after evil is defeated. Somehow, God will see his remnant through. Meekness, humility, and trust hardly seem like a sufficient arsenal to survive the apocalypse, but here we see that they are the only ones who will be left. The meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5)
Zechariah 14:5-7
"And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light."
Yet another prophecy concerning end time judgment and Christ's eternal reign. My notes section says, "Only God's people will escape God's punishment (Matthew 24:16-20). In this time of confusion, God will clearly know who his people are." God is providing a path of escape for his people. Fleeing hardly sounds peaceful, but hey, I'll take it.
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"And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."
Part of the prayer that Jesus gave us was a petition for deliverance from evil. If Jesus teaches us to pray this way, then there's hope that his answer will be one of deliverance.
Luke 21:36
"But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Jesus had just finished telling the disciples how to escape when they noticed Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem (v. 20-24). Because they listened to his warnings, they escaped the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. Did you know that not one single Christian was killed when Jerusalem was ransacked? Jesus showed them the signs to look for, and they paid attention and escaped. After he told them what to look for to escape the judgment coming to Jerusalem, he told them what to look for to escape the judgment of the end times. Clearly, he wants us to pay attention and not miss the signs, because escape is possible!
Here's a link to an article about the Christians who escaped destruction at Jesus' warning.
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“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Even Jesus himself asked his heavenly Father to spare him the suffering that was coming, but he ended with, "not my will, but yours, be done." So in that same spirit of hope, humility, and obedience we are encouraged to ask for deliverance and accept God's will, whatever that may be.
Hebrews 11:7
"It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith."
Noah was given warnings so he and his family would be completely preserved through the judgment, as was Lot and his family.
This is my takeaway: While we are not guaranteed that we will be spared end times craziness, we are definitely encouraged to ask, seek, and pray for deliverance, to watch for the signs of Christ's return, and to be ready to act on what God tells us to do. Throughout Old Testament prophecies about the end times - and I may have missed a few - we are shown time and again that God has prepared a path through it (or out of it) for his remnant, and that his heart is to save and deliver his people.
That's good news, my friends.
