11 - The Rapture and The Tribulation

Introduction

We say that the world has become a small place. The world’s media organisations have contributed to this impression by their ability to transmit the ‘big stories’ from current affairs across the world in just minutes.

There is a big story that will hit the headlines in a coming day, truth be known, it could be any day now. We call it The Rapture. This event will shake the world’s governments to the core.

In a moment of time, Jesus Christ will appear in the sky. All Christians who have died in the past 2000 years will rise from the dead. Believers who perished at sea or whose bodies were incinerated or vaporised in acts of war will instantaneously reappear and together with all the Christians still alive on earth we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

This innumerable multitude of saints from the past 2000 years will be transformed from mortality into immortal beings with new glorified, indestructible bodies, and we will be with Christ forever.

The actual date of the Rapture is already set, the clock is ticking, but the date is hidden from mankind; only God the Father knows it.

Nothing like this has ever happened before; this will affect every single country on earth, the scale is staggering. In just a few moments, countless millions of people will simply vanish from this earth.

The Tribulation will follow the Rapture - seven years of judgement are unleashed on the earth and its inhabitants. We will outline the death toll during the seven years, it is breathtaking. News reporters will reel at the scale of this story. For the record; this is not an alien abduction!

For families where every member is a born again Christian; property, business, houses and cars will be left behind for others to seize, legally or otherwise. The world system will have a major crisis on its hands as unprecedented mayhem will ensue.

Christians who are driving cars, heavy goods vehicles and buses, or operating machinery and flying airplanes, will suddenly disappear; this will cause many accidents and the subsequent death toll will be staggering.

Insurance companies, banks, finance providers and building societies will be baffled as to how they will account for this new phenomenon.

How will governments explain these events? Crisis management will take on a new dimension as governments from every country on earth respond to the sudden disappearance of millions of people. How will the crisis be managed in terms of missing persons, empty work stations, empty houses, abandoned cars, mobile phones and property of all kinds?

The Rapture and the Tribulation are two separate events; the Rapture precedes the Tribulation and effectively announces the most dreadful period of time in human history – The Day of the Lord.

Seven years of Tribulation will follow. The apocalypse will unfold and bring untold terror for those who are left behind! This will be the end of the world - as we know it - but not actually the end of life on earth.

The End of the World

Many people assume that when we refer to the Rapture and the Tribulation that we are referring to the end of the world. Strictly speaking that is not true.

At the end of the Tribulation, Christ will return to this earth on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. He will set up his Millennial Kingdom for one thousand years. Earth will be a very different place but the world will not actually end until the thousand years are over.

You can read about this fascinating period in more detail on the Millennial Reign of Christ page.

Regarding the Rapture and the Tribulation...

This timeline covers circa 6000 + years of human history and delves into a wide spectrum of subjects, some of which have proved to be controversial over many years. You might not agree with every detail.

It is my hope that you will be challenged to consider this subject and how it impacts your life both now and in the future. I hope that you will learn something new about 'The Rapture and the Tribulation' and perhaps be inspired to read the bible for yourself in order to shape your views on this interesting subject.

On this page we will discuss the following topics; The Rapture and how it is likely to affect earth's governments. The Tribulation as it unfolds in three successive stages of judgment outlined in the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls of wrath. We will have a brief look at 'parenthesis' in the book of Revelation. We will look at Daniel's 'seventy sevens'.