After the Rapture – Part 16
Tribulation Period Happiness
So far in this series we’ve discussed at length what a lousy time the 7-year tribulation period will be for those left behind. At this time I need to clarify and correct that generalization.
There will be many happy people worldwide who weren’t taken upward in the rapture. But those who now remember the words of their crazy uncles and are now taking those words to heart won’t be happy at all. They missed the boat and many of them will know it. Now they are heading for the hills to try to avoid and escape the evil plans of antichrist’s gestapo. They are now digging caves and drinking tepid, lukewarm pond water.
There will be a host of people left behind who will have steak and lobster along with fine wine to feast on. They will sleep in soft, warm beds with air conditioning, have 200 channels of trashy TV channels to entertain them and have many of the luxuries they used to dream about before the Christians were raptured and, thus, left it all behind.
There will be many religious and nonreligious people left behind. Most won’t have the foggiest idea of what the rapture is and what salvation through Jesus Christ ONLY is. Some fell for the lie that there are many paths to heaven. Somehow, they got lost along their chosen wide and crooked path.
Here’s a very short list of those who were “religious” but fell for Satan’s lies, trickery and deceptions: Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Satanists, witchcraft followers, artificial intelligence churches (AI), socialists, snake worshippers, sun god worshipers, moon god worshipers, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Catholics, Scientologists, all cults, New Age Movement followers, one-world religion believers, etc.
In the Protestant denominations you have the prosperity gospel churches, religious country clubs, homosexual churches, those that are backsliders but just don’t know it, those who believe a person is saved by their many good works, those who proudly boast that they are “Christian” but hardly ever pray to God (and when they did pray, they prayed amiss), etc.
Then you have the died-in-the-wool non-believers such as atheists, agnostics, and secular humanists. The fictional zombie craze is now a religion to many.
You have those who love life on earth so much that they don’t want to leave it. They picture life in heaven as sitting on a cloud with their little wings and playing a harp. Whether it’s business, finance, social popularity, excelling in sports, music and other activities, etc., this is where they want to be. “Ask and ye shall receive.”
The point I’m trying to make with this brief list is that everyone on it can become a tribulation saint (except for antichrist and the false prophet). But everyone on that same list can also spend eternity in hell (with antichrist and the false prophet). It is their choice during this last time around.
Let’s take a look at some of these happy people who will surely be content to be left behind.
Here in America, the largest group of “happy and content” people will be those whom I referred to in #9 as the “evil big three.” They are (1) Hollywood and its related industries, (2) mainstream media, and (3) the liberal, progressive elected and appointed political powers that be. Before you flood my inbox with mail telling me of the true Christians you know of in Hollywood, let me remind you that after the rapture those true Christians will no longer be in Hollywood. They will be somewhere else. The ones left behind will be the present assortment of mindless, spiritually-bankrupt big mouths.
Actually, the left-behind souls now hiding in the wilderness and refusing the 666 mark are the lucky souls. They may die because of their new Christian beliefs but will become new tribulation saints and spend eternity in a sin-free, perfect environment where there is no anger, conflicts, or hard and sweaty labor. They will enjoy for all of eternity injury-free and perfect health, continuous fellowship and harmony among all the angels and saints, and forever be in the presence of God the Father and Our Lord.
But the “happy and content” on earth will quickly find out that there is no steak and lobster in hell. They will dream of a banquet from dumpster diving, but there are no dumpsters in hell. If only they could get some tepid, lukewarm, pond water and some dandelion greens?
I know many of you are quite discouraged at being a crazy uncle who feels they are talking to a brick wall anytime they try to bring “The Good News” to those who really need it. And the mocking, scoffing and rejections can break one’s spirit and heart to where it would be easy to just give up and keep quiet.
Satan knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12) so he is piling up the discouraging feelings and the urge to give up on both saved and unsaved souls. And if you do become discouraged and give up, you are obeying Satan and rejecting God’s Commandment to take the Saving Gospel to the world (Matthew 28: 19-20; Acts 1: 8-9). Satan will influence your heart and mind, placing weak, lazy and slothful ideas for you to follow him and give up your service to Jesus. But you’ve planted seed in the lukewarm, etc., that someone else might come along and cultivate.
These lukewarm and unsaved people won’t do it on their own. They are too busy with the NFL, the stock market, planning family vacations, etc. You have to push them, lead them, drive them, herd them, and not worry about the negative reactions. The rapture can come at any time. After that, it is too late for you to do anything at all. You want them to go in the rapture and not have to use that “left-behind box” and Bug-Out bag.
These people will reject you and refuse to accept your words from scripture. Some won’t pay any attention to you at all.
It reminds me of my sixteen years of coaching summer baseball and softball where my three kids all became all-star players with many high school and college post-season honors. I coached my son starting at age 6, and when his high school freshman year came nine years later, he made the varsity team. After his first week under the high school coach, he came home after practice, and I asked him how practices were going. He rattled off a list of drills he had taken part in and then stated, “Hey Dad, why didn’t you ever tell me any of that stuff?”
Pray before you witness, and then witness. It might appear that they aren’t paying any attention to you, or they are offended by your efforts, or they reject what you say and really don’t have time for “that Jesus stuff.” Then pray again for God to put another witness in their pathway to pick-up where you left off.
Some of that stuff might surely stick to the wall. And later on, someone else will come along and witness to that same person. BINGO! “One man soweth, another man reapeth” (John 4:37).
With that, I’d like to leave you with these verses:
“For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh which is more needful for you… But unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1: 23-24, 29).
“Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repenteth” (Luke 15: 10).
Some More Hope for the Left Behind
I don’t see in the Bible where it is clear that all infants and children who haven’t reached the age of reason will be taken up in the rapture. I know I want to believe that, as do many other pre-tribulation rapture believers. And I hope it is not just some wishful thinking. We know that Jesus loves the little children (Matthew 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16), but that doesn’t mean they will be raptured. Jesus also loved Hitler. Some believe they will go into the millennium and grow into adults to make eternal decisions. And all of those millions of aborted babies may be in either event.
But if these same babies and children “disappear” at the rapture, what kind of an effect will that have on parents, grandparents, older siblings, etc., who rejected all of that crazy uncle talk all of those years? They will be shocked, in hysteria, and the tears will be flowing as they scream and franticly search for the lost children.
After things settle down and the left behind are calmed down somewhat, it might dawn on them that the little children have gone to be with Jesus. Will this act as a motivator to lead the left behind to open a Bible and study what they missed out on all of those years? Will they want to be reunited with the little children so badly that they do reject the 666 mark and come to the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ?
Another habit those of us who will be raptured need to start now while we are still on earth is additions to our prayer life. I mentioned both of these prayer requests in #14’s “prayer kit” for the left behind and the crazy uncles.
During the tribulation period, God will release 144,000 witnesses (Revelation 14:1-5) to reach out to all nations and tongues who are left behind on earth. I believe they will be super beings, as Satan or antichrist or anything else will not be able to harm them. I personally don’t believe a witness will have to hop a plane in Jerusalem and take a 15-hour flight to some cave in Indiana in order to witness. God has His own way of doing things (Isaiah 55:8), so it wouldn’t surprise me if all 144,000 witnesses can be in Jerusalem one second and then all of them show up at 144,000 different locations throughout the world in the blink of an eye.
God doesn’t wish that any person should perish (2 Peter 3:9), so add to your prayers that God will place at least one of the 144,000 witnesses with your family, friends, neighbors and total strangers, and that the Holy Spirit will guide and encourage those left behind onto the Lord’s Saving Grace.
And I wonder if the 144,000 will ask these questions to those left behind: “Did you know anyone who just disappeared along with millions of others around the world? Do you know where they are now and why they are there? Do you have any questions of me?”
A Once Great Christian Nation
When Barack Hussein Obama said in a televised speech that “America is no longer a Christian nation,” he did so with a grin or smirk on his face. I hate to say Obama was correct about anything, but in this case he most surely was.
As President of the United States, he bragged about having “visited all 57 states,” but maybe he thought Cuba, Iran, Kenya, etc., were U.S. states? He sure sent them plenty of U.S. taxpayer’s dollars! Was that state aid and grants?
But the one that really irked me the most was when he, as Commander-in-Chief of all our military branches, referred to the United States Marine Corps, and pronounced “Corps” as “corpse!” But maybe there are a lot of anti-American, Shiite Muslims who also can’t pronounce it properly either.
And then there was his classic bash aimed at all of us deplorables who were “clinging to our Bibles and guns.”
But his statement that America is no longer a Christian nation is true, and it is our own fault this has happened. This once large, proud, true Christian population has dwindled from within to where there is only a small remnant church remaining. I’ve mentioned before about the empty seats at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and that is how it will be unless those of us in that remnant church get off of our duffs and put more effort into countering Satan’s lies and deceptions. We need to build the membership numbers in the remnant church.
Those lost souls in this world are living in darkness. We need to turn on some lights.
More Left-Behind Tips
Here are some more items that will surely be of use in the wilderness. These items will fit in your Bug-Out bag, as they are small and don’t weigh a lot. Plastic zip ties have a lot of uses. Even the police use them as a cheap substitute for handcuffs. A Mylar blanket or thermo blankets would be especially useful in cold weather. Get several as they are very light and fit easily into a Bug-Out bag. Also, lightweight rain gear like pocket-size poncho packs.
This won’t fit in your Bug-Out bag, but a roll or two of plastic sheeting would come in mighty handy in many situations like a shelter from the elements, collecting rainwater, etc. If you have an area picked out, you might want to stash a few rolls there before you move in.
Frank Bates has the info on a thermos-sized solar furnace that works in both hot and cold weather as long as there is sunlight. Naturally, if you need hot, boiling water or to purify skunky, tepid, pond water, it works fine for that. He even tells how campers stick a couple of hotdogs in the thermos, leave it in the sun, and PRESTO – instant lunch.
In our left-behind box needs, we probably won’t have any hotdogs, but it will have plenty of uses for the left behind. You can get information at: frank@patriotheaderquarters.com
Reader Feedback
I received three email responses to my commentary in issue #15 concerning CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) blasts from the sun. To clear up a point, all of my articles should be classified as “private commentary” and not “a study.” Scholars and theologians put together “studies,” and I’m not smart enough or qualified to do that.
The first is from Kieran Roberts, and he asks if I’ve read about “the Carrington event?” He states he thinks it was in the 19th century and then asks what a CME event would do to the modern world. “It would be chaos – exactly what the elites and other shadowy elements within the USA and the world would want. It would be perfect for them.”
Being taken in the rapture solves future CME disasters for Christ’s Church.
James Griffin emailed me the following:
“There is note in your recent study about China being involved in events (the trumpet seals), and this leaves a lot to be desired.
“Scripture is clear that this judgment is demonic, not human. Chinese or otherwise. The kings of the east are in a bowl judgment, so these two cannot be combined, no matter what connection the east has with Chinese nationality, if it exists at the time.
“Attached is a wonderful study by Arnold Fruchtenbaum (Campaign of Armageddon) and is also on Rapture Ready (www.raptureready.com).”
I responded by saying China constructed their so-called highway, but who will use it isn’t clear. It could be a combination of Chinese, North Koreans, Pakistanis, etc. I don’t believe spirits and demons need manmade highways, buildings, weapons, etc., and they don’t bleed blood up to the horse’s bridle. I believe they might be demonic humans, and there are plenty of them in this evil world. We can just do a roll call of America’s “evil big three” to verify that.
But the Arnold Fruchtenbaum study is well done and informative. I haven’t finished reading it all yet. Thanks for your feedback.
An email from ‘dawmast’ points out what Revelation 16:8 says, “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.” He continues to say this is a giant CME that will hit the whole planet. Such a massive CME during the final 7 years and before Christ’s Second Coming will render the whole Internet and TV networks (satellite and terrestrial) useless, and nobody will be able to witness His Second Coming on TV.
He says that when our Lord Jesus Christ comes back, everyone on the planet will see it. But when TV and ICT have been demolished by the judgments of the Great Tribulation, it could be that Jesus Christ could orbit the earth several times so that everyone will see Him land on the Mount of Olives.
He adds that since the world will be plunged into the Stone Age after the judgments of Revelation, maybe the mark of the beast is merely a tattoo with an occult symbol instead of an implanted chip which needs electronic scanners to verify and control people.
I responded that I don’t believe Jesus would need to orbit the earth several times to be seen by all, as He is omnipresent and can appear to everyone all at once. As far as the 666 mark is concerned, we have to remember that Satan and antichrist will be able to perform miracles during those seven years; so if they need electricity, they’ll get electricity. The left behind in their caves won’t have that luxury though.
Thanks for the good input.
Dick Ainsworth
FOCUS ON JESUS Ministry
PO Box 156
New Franklin, MO 65274