So Close?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

The second video is up in our “A Walk thru Revelation” where we look at the seven Churches of Revelation 2-3. We did not get to finish covering them so in the next video we will finish Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea then move into the events leading up to the Tribulation period. The notes based on the PowerPoint used can also be viewed and downloaded at the above link.

I keep hearing pastors and prophecy teachers saying we are “so close” to the Rapture. As longtime readers to this page know, I also hold to a PreTrib Rapture. My problem though is when we start to hear things like we are “so close,” there’s really nothing to base this on. Yes, things in society are concerning, aren’t they? But while the problems in society certainly can create a sense in which Christians believe the start of the Tribulation is “right around the corner” (and the PreTrib Rapture belief excludes Christians from going through the Tribulation), the fact remains that we do not know the day or hour the Tribulation will actually start, do we?

The actual event that starts the coming Tribulation is noted in Scripture but not the actual day/hour that it is scheduled to begin. In fact, Jesus makes this very clear in His Olivet Discourse, that the actual times of certain upcoming events is not for us to know until they actually happen. There’s a very good reason for this too.

If God had specifically told us when, for instance, the Tribulation would actually begin (and again, we know the event that kicks it off, but not the date), then He would have also been telling Satan. There are many things that God has kept and does keep close to His chest throughout Scripture. This He does for several reasons. First, His desire is to strengthen our faith first and foremost. If we knew everything, what need would be there to exercise faith at all? Second, anything God tells us He also indirectly tells Satan.

If Satan knew when the Tribulation was going to start, he would not worry about having someone ready to go as the Antichrist in every generation. He would simply focus the bulk of his attention on when he knew the Tribulation would begin and work accordingly. The fact that Satan has not known and does not know when the Tribulation formally begins has meant that he has had to have someone he could tap in every generation since the time Jesus walked this earth.

By the same token, if Satan knew when the Rapture was going to occur, he would be prepared to attempt to thwart it. He certainly would not be successful, but by keeping the timing/date/day/hour of the coming Rapture secret from us, God has also kept it secret from Satan.

In essence, we do not need to know when the Rapture will occur; the exact date or the hour, do we? Sure, we think we’d like to know and we even argue that it would be great to know. But in the short or long run, it should not make any difference to believers. Here’s why: our relationship with Jesus is built on faith, correct? “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). By faith, we have salvation to begin with and by that same faith, we live our lives in such a way as to want to please Him in all we do, say and think. Living our lives without the needed faith not only accomplishes anything good but in essence, we start going backwards.

If we take the time to consider all the hardships that believers of old to today have had and continue to go through, it makes it a bit disingenuous for us to believe that we would want to avoid the hardships that come into our lives. We will avoid God’s wrath and my understanding is that the entirety of the Tribulation is God pouring out His wrath on this earth.

But think of Joseph, David, Elijah, Hosea, Daniel and many others like Stephen, the first martyr, Paul, Peter, John and the like who suffered and ultimately died terrible deaths for their Lord and Savior. If we could ask them now if they would want a do-over and avoid what they suffered, I cannot imagine them saying, “YES!” No, they considered it a privilege to suffer for their Lord and ultimately, so should we.

But let’s admit that living in this modern world has made many believers soft and I include myself in that description as well. We naturally tend to shy away from any sort of persecution that may occur because we are Christians. This is especially true of Christians living in America because we have the one and only Constitution that guarantees our rights, that should not be voided by governmental whims.

I think Christians who are expecting to be zapped out of here any second may not be approaching this whole thing correctly. Since we do not know when the actual start date/day/time of the coming Tribulation is set for, then how can we actually say with certainty that the Rapture is “so close”? I’m really not sure how anyone can say that with any accuracy. A better approach is I am preparing for the worst and waiting for redemption.

My wife and I approach life now in preparation. There is no excuse to not know that the future does not look great. In fact, it has the potential to be horrible. In many ways, the CV pandemic is drastically losing steam in many countries throughout the world (at least 12 are dropping all mandates), and it appears that the whole of the pandemic is going away. By and large, people have had it. They don’t want to play the game anymore. They tried being good citizens and wore masks, kept their distance from others and did their best to obey the mandate “laws,” but there is so much critical information coming out on a weekly basis that tends to prove that the CV jab is possibly harmful and simply does not provide the promised immunity. Beyond this, more information proves that masks do not work, yet school districts and businesses continue to demand that young children and adults wear these worthless masks but it amounts to looking “safe.”

Military personnel are experiencing debilitating injuries from the CV vax, as reported to DMED (the military version of VAERS), where only military doctors can make reports. If this is true and it appears to be the case, why does the vax continue to be pushed, with those in the military who object to taking it being shown the door?

Because of all these things and the truckers’ Freedom Convoy that began in Canada and is now occurring in other parts of the world, it seems clear enough that more and more people are fed up with all the mandated constraints they live under and want their lives back. Unless the world experiences something very catastrophic that will affect people’s health, the push against the CV mandates may prove successful in shutting the whole thing down.

But do we think Satan will give up? I seriously doubt it because through the people who have dedicated their lives to doing what he wants them to do to help usher in the final coming world order, he has made tremendous gains. In order to keep those gains, something else must occur to keep pitching this world forward toward its date with judgment. What will it be? Another pandemic? A climate change “emergency”? Financial collapse? World War III? I have no idea but I do not believe for a moment that we are going to be allowed to go back to the days of pre-CV19. It’s inconceivable. Something is going to happen and it will likely happen this side of the start of the Tribulation.

Moreover, there appears to be at least some evidence that at least some of the vaccines used against CV may actually be causing new viral strains and quite possibly a new strain of HIV. This requires more serious consideration and research. Maybe it’s nothing but maybe it’s not.

But all of this aside, as I noted, my wife and I are in preparation mode, just like the people of Joseph’s day when told a huge famine was on its way. We are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. In other words, we are doing all that we can to ensure that we will have food and other essentials so that if a huge financial collapse occurs, we will still be able to carry on at least for a bit. We are also trusting the Lord to provide the things we cannot see but may need. We live as though the Rapture is not going to happen and if/when it does, that’s simply a huge plus. In reality, I may be dead prior to the Rapture, though I will still participate it it.

Traditionally, the PreTrib Rapture view occurs at a point prior to the start of the Tribulation. I think that is still the case, however, since we do not know when the coming Tribulation will actually begin (or how far off into the future it is), continuing to conclude that we are “so close” is problematic, in my opinion. On one hand, yes, of course, we are drawing closer because each new day puts us closer to the start of the Tribulation. But it also puts us closer to our own death and so many other things. I’m all for looking for and even expecting that one day I will be called into His Presence, but for me, I tend to think it’ll be with my physical death before the Rapture occurs. I may well be wrong, but because I think this way, I do what the people of Egypt did under Joseph’s guidance as they prepared for the coming seven year famine.

Jesus says that the coming Tribulation will be the worst time on this earth that the world will have ever seen. I do not for one moment believe this coming Tribulation will simply appear one day out of thin air. I believe the world will (and is), incrementally inching toward it. I also believe Christians may actually start to see one particular guy who rises to the top and who starts hobnobbing with Arab nations and Israel working to broker a peace plan. Remember, the Tribulation according to Daniel 9:24-27 does not begin until that covenant/agreement is signed by Israel and surrounding nations. I don’t see that happening. It doesn’t even appear to be in the works yet.

I would encourage believers to live as though we are going to enter the Tribulation and if the Rapture occurs during the remainder of our lives at some point, wonderful. If not, that’s okay too because God still has it fully under control and He asks us to trust Him. Are you willing to do that?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective