Should You Worry About Being Left Behind? What the Bible Says About the Rapture
Listen to the podcast episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6xurFe4r1ObhV9whggxazx?si=GkN_dEKMSVukfX5sGdiQLw
You shouldn't worry about being left behind if you have put your faith in Jesus. Jesus never said, "Spend your time arguing on the internet about the End Times." Instead, He gave us enough to have hope when it comes and told us to focus on being ready for His return.
This is the first message in Side Quests, a short series where we step away from preaching through a book of the Bible to cover topics Christians talk about that don't fit neatly into a verse-by-verse study. The rapture is the first one. To know where it might fall, we start with the whole seven-year tribulation, then look at what the rapture is and the three main views on when it happens: pre-trib, mid-trib, and post-trib. This is a VERY brief overview, not an in-depth study or an exact timeline. It's just enough to help you understand where the rapture might fall.
How Does the Tribulation Start?
It starts when the Antichrist signs a seven-year peace treaty with Israel. A war, a rumor of a war, or high gas prices are not the sign. Jesus said wars and rumors of wars will be there the whole time.
The Seven-Year Treaty
And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.
Daniel 9:27
The one who makes desolate is the Antichrist. Daniel 9 is all about Israel, so the "many" is Israel, and in Old Testament prophecy a "week" is seven years. Halfway through, he ends the sacrifices in the temple. That's the abomination of desolation.
The temple was destroyed in 70 AD, and Israel wasn't even a nation for about 1,900 years, so this was hard to picture until the middle of the 20th century. Israel was reestablished in 1948, and now there are groups preparing to rebuild the temple. A seven-year treaty with Israel and a rebuilt temple is what would make my ears perk up, and I'd recommend you pay attention, too.
The First Half: Disasters, War, and a Rescuer
The first three and a half years are not the mark of the beast and martyrdom. They are devastating wars, natural disasters, and a rescuer rising up to save us, while two guys say, "That ain't him."
The seven seals begin it. The first four are the horsemen of Revelation 6:8: conquering, war, famine, and death. Then come martyrs, earthquakes, a dark sun and a red moon, and silence in Heaven. The first four trumpets seem to land here, too: fire and blood, a falling mountain, a third of the sea turned to blood, bitter water, and long stretches of darkness.
While that happens, political leaders rise to rescue the world, and one of them gets preeminence. He looks like the greatest guy in the world, all about taking care of everybody, and he consolidates power for the good of mankind. That's the Antichrist, and nobody knows it unless they're paying attention to prophecy.
God also sets aside 144,000 Jewish people, 12,000 from each tribe (there's actually some controversy here, but that's not today), who are protected. And two witnesses preach for 42 months, call a drought like Elijah did, kill with fire, and tell the world, "You should not be listening to this guy."
The Midpoint: Everything Flips
At the midpoint, the abomination of desolation happens. The Antichrist goes from political leader to god.
The Man of Lawlessness
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
He walks into the temple where he isn't allowed to be and sets up the worship of himself. Revelation 13 says it this way.
The Beast and His War
And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
Revelation 13:5-8
He goes from a leader who loves everybody to someone specifically anti-Jesus. God allows him to rule and persecute, and he makes war on everyone who follows Jesus. That's the last three and a half years of the tribulation.
About then, the two witnesses are killed. The world celebrates, and then they rise and ascend to Heaven. The Antichrist is wounded in the head, everyone thinks he's dead, and he comes back to life, which is why everybody worships him. He also raises up a man known as the prophet, who does miracles and preaches the Antichrist. That's when the mark of the beast is set up.
The Mark of the Beast Is Not an Accident
The mark of the beast is a sign of allegiance to the Antichrist. You will not get it by accident.
Nobody is going to say, "Here's a new credit card thing, just put a chip in your skin" and Bam, you've now got the mark of the beast. The mark comes with a decision: will you pledge your loyalty to the Antichrist or not? We know it will be on the forehead or the hand, but we have no idea what it will look like.
So the next time you see something on Facebook about how a vaccine is the mark of the beast, there's a button next to that video. Click it and hit unfollow. If you don't want a vaccine, don't get it. I don't care. But don't skip it because somebody on Facebook told you it's the mark of the beast. That's a prime sign they don't know what they're talking about or want to make money off of you.
The Second Half: Wrath, Armageddon, and the Return of Jesus
This is the part most people picture when they think of the tribulation: the mark of the beast, the persecution of Christians, and the wrath of God. All of it happens in the last three and a half years.
The last three trumpets bring locusts that torment only those with the mark, a third of the people on earth killed, and a celebration in Heaven. Then the bowl judgments of Revelation 15 and 16, the ten-plagues-of-Egypt kind of stuff: sores, water turned to blood, scorching heat, darkness, and an earthquake that splits the great city in three. My speculation is that the city is Babylon, though it could be Jerusalem, too.
The three and a half years end at Armageddon, in the valley of Megiddo, a real place in Israel you can look up on Google Maps. Then the sky goes dark and the sign of Jesus appears. I don't know what it is. I'm going to assume it's a cross. Whatever it is, everybody will know they picked a side, and they picked the wrong one.
Jesus comes on a white horse with an army and defeats the Antichrist and the prophet, who are thrown into the lake of fire. Hell isn't a great word here, because the Bible talks about a couple of different places. The lake of fire is what you think of as Hell: forever death and punishment. The pit, or the abyss if you're reading the King James, is a temporary Hell, and that's where Satan is thrown.
Jesus then reigns on earth for a thousand years. This is known as the Millennial Reign. Some say that isn't meant to be read literally. I just read the Bible, and it sure looks literal to me. At the end, Satan is released, leads a rebellion, and is thrown into the lake of fire forever. Heaven and earth are recreated.
Our destination is not Heaven. That's the temporary thing we do when we die. The destination is the new earth, with God dwelling with us in New Jerusalem. It's not harps and a constant worship service. It looks like Genesis 1 and 2: earth as it was intended, except without sin.
So, What Is the Rapture?
The rapture is the moment Jesus returns, the saved dead rise to meet Him, and the saved who are alive go with them.
What the Rapture Is
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
We're with Jesus, and we're done with all this nonsense. The question is when.
When Does the Rapture Happen?
There are three main views.
Pre-tribulation: before the seven years. If you grew up Baptist and read Left Behind, this is probably you. The reasons are that Daniel talks about Israel and not the church, the church isn't mentioned once the tribulation starts in Revelation, and Jesus' return is supposed to be imminent. The final and strongest reason is this verse.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:9
The argument is that the tribulation is God's wrath, so we won't be in it. I have a problem with that. The tribulation has two distinct periods: natural disaster and war, then the wrath of God. The bowls of wrath don't come until after the halfway point. Maybe "wrath" means the second half of the tribulation. Maybe it means judgment and Hell. Just because we're not "destined for wrath" doesn't mean that we're not destined for the first or even second half of the tribulation.
Mid-tribulation: at the halfway point. This is the one I lean toward. There's Scripture for it, but for me it's more logic and an understanding how God works. Lots of people come to know Jesus during the tribulation, and lots reject Him. Who shares the gospel with them if the believers are gone? Evangelism was given to us, not to old recordings people happen to look up once the church is gone. Why would God pull out all the evangelists right before He forces people to choose? And if we're all gone, who is being persecuted?
I think we see the treaty and the temple, realize something's going on, get on the ball, and a lot of people are saved. Many accept and many don't, but after the rapture, those that were on the fence trust in Jesus and accept.
Pre-trib believers will say that this same thing could happen at the beginning, and it could, but I'm not convinced that many people are locked and loaded now, given how well most Christians share the gospel right now. I think there will be a surge of evangelism once the two witnesses begin to preach and we will be prepared for many to accept once the rapture happens.
Another point is found in 1 Corinthians.
The Last Trumpet
but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
Revelation 10:7
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Something happens at the seventh trumpet, and a mystery is fulfilled. Paul says "Behold, I tell you a mystery," and puts the rapture at the last trumpet. If it's the same trumpet, the rapture is at the midpoint.
The objection to this is that Jesus says that we won't know the day or hour. But, not knowing the day or hour is different from not knowing the seven-year window. Jesus may be saying we won't know the day the tribulation starts, so be ready.
Post-tribulation: when Jesus comes back. We stay all the way through, some protected and some martyred, and we're raised when Jesus returns. People hold this view because Matthew 24 is hard to read as a rapture before the tribulation, and because of the questions about the first and final resurrections. A rapture separate from Jesus' return also wasn't a popular theory until about 1830, which makes you ask how everybody was wrong for 1,800 years. A view being rare doesn't make it wrong, though, so this is still very possible.
If you don't believe in a rapture at all, I'm not mad. If you're pre-trib, I think you're wrong, but I'm not mad at you for being wrong. If you're mid-trib, I'm right there with you.
Why Your View of the Rapture Doesn't Matter
It doesn't matter what you think. Other than Revelation, the Bible doesn't spend much time on this, and whenever Jesus brought it up, His point was always, "Whenever I come back, be ready."
Be Ready
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Matthew 24:36
So if you try to figure this out, you're probably going to get it wrong. Jesus compares His return to the days of Noah.
For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:37-39
Then He says this.
Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Matthew 24:40-44
This is what Jesus says to be concerned about. Stay awake. Be ready. Over and over He said, stop worrying about the details and be ready.
You can't impact the rapture with what you think or believe. So don't lose friends over this, don't argue about it online, and don't divide churches over something you can't be perfectly right about and can't do anything about.
Are Your Shoes On?
When my kids were young, we had a six-hour drive to their grandparents, and the whole way it was a constant refrain of "Are we there yet? How much longer?" When we finally reached the bottom of the last hill, I would say, "Put your shoes on." Then, we would pull into the driveway, I would slide the van door open, and nobody had their shoes on.
They annoyed me for six hours because they wanted to get there so badly. But when I opened the door so they could enter into joy, they didn't even have their shoes on. That's most of us. We want the details about when and where and how, but do we have our shoes on?
If Jesus came back this afternoon, how would you feel about what He finds you doing? Who have you been waiting to share the gospel with until the right moment? Who have you been waiting until the right moment to share with... for years? How have you raised your kids, and will they be going with you? How have you served your community and your church?
Maybe You're Not Going at All
For some of you, that's not even a question. If Jesus came back tomorrow, you would not be going. You haven't placed your faith in Jesus. You're trusting in going to church, or giving money, or being a good person. You'd say, "I'm ready to go. Let's fly," and He'd say, "Hang on. I don't know you."
You thought you had time. You don't. You don't need the rapture to run out of time. You can be hit by a bus tomorrow, have an aneurysm on the way home, or choke on a piece of potato at lunch.
Regardless of when Jesus comes back, whether the millennium is literal, or whether the seven years are literal, do you have your shoes on?
Study It All You Want, but Put Your Shoes On
This topic is a lot of fun for some of you, and that's cool. Study it, and have friendly arguments on Facebook as long as you aren't driving people away from Jesus. Do whatever you want, as long as you have your shoes on.
I'm not going to ask what you believe about the rapture. It is not a matter of doctrine. I preach through books and focus on application because this stuff is good to know, but it doesn't help us put our shoes on, and that's what I want for you.
Are You Ready?
If your shoes aren't on, stop worrying about when the rapture is and start obeying Jesus. When you've got the work done, then you can play.
I don't want you lying in bed at night worrying about being left behind. I want you to know Jesus and follow Him every day. If you'll do that, you don't have anything to worry about.
So, what do you need to do today? Do you need to trust in Jesus? Do you need to repent of the ways you've not been ready? If God has convicted you about something, deal with it. This is what this moment is for.
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