What a year 2020 has been.
Fires, locus, plagues, lockdowns, civil unrest, in the USA it's an election year and now their is a spot to be filled with the SCOTUS with the death of RBG. I saw the following meme yesterday and had to laugh, because, well in 2020 we all need to laugh more.
I keep trying to figure out what this all means, reading scriptures, listening to sermons. I'm not saying I have the answer, but I am saying I believe the return of Jesus Christ to call the church home is imminent. I have come to love that word, imminent. Pastor Farag does too, and he says when he hears the word imminent he thinks "any minute." Oh I believe he is right. The return is imminent, the return is any minute!
Maranatha!!
Right now it feels like we are living on the cusp. But of what? I feel that there is a fork in the road for all of humanity:
- One direction is the LORD's return, the rapture of the church, and then the Wrath of God poured out on the nations to get the attention of the Jewish people that their Messiah came 2000(ish) years ago.
- The second, a spiritual revival in the world. The rapture and tribulation are held off, because, "if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. -2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB
That is where I see us at. And honestly, I am not sure #2 is truly viable anymore. With all the prophetic events concerning Israel that have occurred, Article: Israel and Prophecy, I strongly believe option 1 is where we are at. "But God..."
- Genesis 8:1 - But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.
- Genesis 31:42 - If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.
- Genesis 31:7 - Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me.
- Genesis 50:20 - You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives... (This is a new favorite verse of mine).
As I have stated before (here, here, and here), I see humanity as it was in the days of Noah. Noah. Such an example for us. Do you know, that prior to the Flood, it had never rained on earth? Everyone thought him crazy because what he was talking about was something none of them had ever heard/experienced. But he believed God was going to do what He said He was going to do, so he built an ark, and gathered two of every kind of animal, and prepared his family.
I believe God is allowing all that has happened in 2020 (fires, locust, plagues, unrest, etc.) because it is setting the stage for the Time of Jacob's Trouble. While we see life falling apart, I believe God is allowing all the events, people, and ideas to fall into place for the Tribulation. And this is what I want to focus on with this post. If you are a Christian, take comfort in the fact that everything that is happening is indicative of the end times, meaning we are so close to the Rapture.
Call me different, strange, odd...I have been labeled all three and more for how I view humanity and scripture. Having studied the Book of Joel, I have learned that we are to take current world events, and lay the scriptures over them, and if we do, we will see God's hand at work. That is what Joel the prophet did. He read the scriptures, looked at the world around Him and saw God at work and did what God called him to do.
Anyhoo, I do spend time thinking of what will happen at the Rapture, and what the world will be like during the Tribulation. I play the scenarios through my head, and basically merge the movies from Hollywood, and you get what will happen. I came across this video (link) a few days ago, and this jives with what I imagine will happen at the point of the Rapture. Think about our world. 1/2 slumbers while 1/2 is awake, theoretically. In this modern life, it seems like life never sleeps.
- a person(saved) is in surgery, doctor (unsaved) is operating - BLINK - there is no one to operate on
- a plane is flying across the Atlantic/across the country - pilot and 1/4 of the passengers are believers - BLINK - plane take a nose dive, people are freaking out because people are missing, plane is falling - major disaster ensues -if over water, people drown if unable to get out, or stuck in life rafts waiting for rescue unaware that the world is in chaos, and who knows when they will be rescued. If over land, mass destruction, fire, great harm to person and property.
- mom(unsaved) is going about life (at the park pushing a stroller, driving in a car, sitting in the rocking chair) with her newborn - BLINK - baby is gone - mom goes crazy trying to understand where here precious baby has gone, literally right out of her arms.
- woman(unsaved) is 9 months pregnant, in delivery, pushing, doctor and nurse are directing her (both saved) - BLINK - she is alone, stomach flat - No baby. No doctor. No nurse.
- an assistant pastor is at his desk meeting with the head pastor of his church - talking how he questions if he is saved, he isn't sure - BLINK - the pastor, and ministry assistants are gone. The assistant pastor knows what happened, that he was a fraud for years, and he knows what is about to occur.
Folks, the 7 year tribulation is going to horrible. The literal WRATH of God is poured out on the earth. But the seconds, minutes, moments immediately following the Rapture - there is going to be so much anguish, heartache, regret, remorse, pain, chaos, and destruction.
I think of what is currently going on in our country. Elections are looming. Seats are up for grabs. The President is up for re-election, and now President Trump has selected his nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG). His suggested replacement is Amy Coney Barrett. From my stand point, she seems amazing, a champion for life, a defender of faith and family. But those are Christian positives, and many on the extreme left reject all those qualities. So now we get to see the circus show of her confirmation - I pray that it is nothing like Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's hearings. I agree with many political pundits, we cannot have an eight seat court with this election. There must be 9 Justices on the bench before the election on November 3.
But God...He is in control, and if there is not, well while that looks like America falling apart even more, maybe its the set up of something bigger falling into place.
Let's talk about the children. I work in education, at the private school level.
We are in week 8 of our school year, the end of the first quarter is next week. We have taken precautions, there is extra cleaning, plenty of hand sanitizer, people are masked up, and so far, we are doing good. Our school nurses are working double time it seems, evaluating students, making calls to homes. This school year has been unlike any other. I have had conversations with individuals who have worked in education 26 years, 35 years, and they all say the same thing - they have never experienced anything like this.
Thankfully, only 13% of our students are doing distance/virtual learning. We started out with closer to 20%, and for a small school, that is huge. We are so grateful that we are able to be open, our students can be at school to learn, and while things are different, there is a comfort in the sense of normalcy of coming to school Monday through Friday. But not every student is having this opportunity. Every state, city, county is doing things differently. Many school districts, especially public, are doing only virtual learning. The date to return to in-person is looming for many, but the vibe many public school teachers feel is that their districts are going to push for longer time at home with the virtual learning.
This is a major disservice to our students. There are school districts that are fighting back and recalling all students back to campus link. So many students are failing, or the ability to do their work at home is restricted (lack of internet, family/home distractions, not enough tech devices). But then I think of Louisiana. Six weeks ago Hurricane Laura struck and brought complete devastation to the state. There is still no power or internet in many parishes. link And in the next 24 hours, Hurricane Delta (yes we went from the standard alphabet to the Greek alphabet in naming our hurricanes) is going to make landfall on a very similar tract as Laura did. We have gotten calls (south of the city of Houston) from families in Louisiana inquiring if we have spots available. Many are saying their students have been out of school since March, never started this school year, and now with the devastation and lack of internet, they have no clue when their kids will be back in school for an education.
Like I said, every state, city, county, district is doing things differently. But the end result is this - kids are suffering. Their education especially, and mental health even (but that is a topic for another conversation on another day). Now let's look at this through the lens of the Rapture and the Tribulation. Saved children and children who have yet to reach the age of accountability will be caught up in the Rapture. So when the Church is called home, for the most part, there will be no children on earth. Maybe pre-teens and for sure teens, and anyone who has the mental mindset to know what sin is will be left. But babies, toddlers, young children - they will be in Glory with all the saints who realized they were sinners in need of a Savior, and that Jesus is that person. This is going to effect two industries in particular, in two different ways, but essentially put both out of business, for a while at least:
- the abortion industry
- early childhood education
I firmly believe that pregnant women, if not saved at the time of the Rapture, will have empty wombs in that twinkling of an eye. And in the chaos that will follow, it is going to be some time before couples get "busy" and pregnancies' happen again. But eventually they will - but in the tween time, Planned Parenthood will be shut down. What a ironical tragedy that it will take the complete removal of children to accomplish this. But know this, they will return during the Tribulation, and will probably go right back to their barbaric practices.
Any unsaved teachers in daycares, preschools, and early child grades will find themselves without employment following the Rapture. All services will be in chaos, but without students they will have no one to teach. Those in early childhood education, who are left behind, will probably never go back to their profession. School districts that are sticking to virtual learning are realizing they need less people, and I think this is giving many public schools (which are leftist indoctrination centers) a trial run for the Tribulation. Not that they know this is what they are getting. Secondary school teachers (JH and HS and collegiate) those will have students to teach. But with the chaos of millions of missing people, the destruction from falling planes, unnamed trains and cars, etc - it will be a while before class time is thought about. But the Anti-Christ is to strengthen a "peace" treaty that will already be known, as the Tribulation does not start the minute the Rapture has happened. There will be a break, but how long is not known. So a sense of "normal" will be brought about, and I can assume schooling will continue - but what it will look like, well I think education in a COVID-19 era gives us an idea. Kids are going to be glued to technology to learn, and with the Church gone, the most extreme curriculums will be used. (some examples link, link, link). But folks, this won't even last all that long - once the seals, trumpets and bowls are poured out, people will be focused on survival.
I want you to consider John 3:18 (NASB), "18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
My boss broke this scripture down in our monthly staff meeting and helped us to realize that in this world there truly are 2 types of people - and its not based on gender, sex, race, nationality or any other description you can think of. God qualifies people in these 2 categories only - those who believe, and those who do not.
Believe what you ask?
Read the last part of verse 18 again, "in the name of the only begotten Son of God" - JESUS!
And folks, once the Tribulation starts, it will still be those two categories. People will come to faith in Jesus during the Tribulation, but it is going to be hard, in fact it could be even deadly for someone to accept Jesus. Believers in the Tribulation period will be hunted, persecuted, beheaded even. Many will have to go into hiding to try and survive. Many will survive until the Second Coming of our LORD Jesus Christ and they will go into the Millennial Kingdom. But many will die:
Revelation 6:9 NASB
The Fifth Seal—Martyrs
9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;
Revelation 14:13 NASB
13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
Revelation 20:4 NASB
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of [a]their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
And then their will be the unbelievers:
Revelation 6:12-17 NASB
The Sixth Seal—Terror
12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Revelation 19:17-18 NASB
17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.”
Revelation 21:8 NASB
8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
That is a lot to process. So though it looks like everything is falling apart right now, maybe consider that everything is falling into place, in God's perfect timing, and in His perfect plan.
