Numbers :: By Jeff Patty

I’ve gotten a couple of emails recently from people who have been reading my articles here on Rapture Ready, and the subject of the Rapture has come up. I’ve also talked with a good friend from time to time over the years about the Rapture. Now, I don’t consider myself an expert on the subject of the Rapture, or on prophecy, those aren’t my areas of expertise, but one thing I firmly believe based on what is going on in the world around me in these last days, I don’t believe the number of people that will be raptured will be nearly as big as many people and scholars seem to believe.

Over the years, I’ve read various theories that indicate that a fourth or a third or more of the world’s population will be taken away in the Rapture, leaving the world in massive chaos. I know many believe that at least half the population of the United States will be raptured because around two-thirds of the country claims to be Christian. I personally believe those numbers of people to be raptured are way too high, and that the actual number of people caught up in the Rapture will be significantly less. As a matter of fact, I believe the number will be so low, that it won’t disrupt “life as usual” in the world to a great degree. I think the actual number of people raptured will be more along the lines of 10-15% of the world’s population. And I believe the majority of those people will be from third would countries, persecuted, underground churches, etc, whose disappearance will have virtually no impact on the industrialized world. I believe that even though around two-thirds of the U.S. population claims to be Christian, most of them have no idea what being a Christian even means, and that the number of raptured will probably be 10-25%. And I think 25% is pushing it. In other words, I don’t believe the number of people raptured in this country will be more than 30-40 million.

Now I’m talking true born-again believers when I mention percentages and numbers. But I personally believe that the unborn and children that haven’t reached the age of accountability (which is different for each child) will be included in the Rapture. I’m sure I will have those who disagree with me on that, and that’s fine. I may be wrong, but I believe God will remove them from the evil to come. Also, and this is just my very own personal opinion and belief, it will be God’s way of showing the wicked, murderous, baby killing world, that if they don’t want their babies, and believe that they are only “blobs of tissue,” He’ll just take them off their hands. But, all of that said, the babies and young children won’t have a huge impact on society either since they aren’t in the workforce (for the most part anyway) and providing critical services.

Again, this isn’t my area of expertise, it’s just something that I’ve thought about a lot lately and have had on my heart. Maybe over the last several years a lot of the author’s and speakers on prophecy have revised their numbers downwards.

But altogether, I don’t believe the number of people taken away in the Rapture will be more than 1 billion people. And I personally think that number is high. I believe most of that number will be people from persecuted parts of the world, not “free countries” of the world.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me and think the numbers are too low and I’m just being negative. But I don’t believe so. I just don’t believe there are that many saved people, especially in this country. I mean, when you have apostasy taking over all denominations of Christian churches, and new “Seeker Driven Churches” springing up all over the country, then people aren’t getting the Word. They aren’t being told the plan of salvation. They are just having their ears tickled, which in today’s world, seems to be all most people really want. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” (2 Tim 4:3)

When you have “churches” like, Faith Church in St. Louis performing a skit to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” to demonstrate the power of positive thinking, or the “Sexy and I know it,” so-called “praise and worship” song from Ignite Church in Joplin, MO, along with their “sex talk” segment, then people are in trouble. Or how about NewSpring, Perry Noble’s “church”, and the praise and worship team performing the song, “I Want To Rock & Roll All Night”, with concert footage of KISS, the band who wrote and performed the song? Are you kidding me? Pure blasphemy! People aren’t being lead to the Lord with this trash. It’s pure garbage that is being fed to people in place of solid Biblical teaching. These Emergent, Religious Left churches do not preach the Word or lead people to salvation. These “churches” are leading people down the broad path to the wide gate. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matt 7:13-14)

These Religious Left teachers are eaten up with narcissism. And I believe most of them know exactly what they are doing. They are the wolves in sheep’s clothing that the Bible warns us about. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matt 7:15) The videos mentioned above, and many more nauseating videos, can be found at, www.alittleleaven.com/. It’s a great website for exposing the apostasy taking over this country at a frightening pace.

It’s very hard to find a church anywhere in the country that truly teaches the Word and talks about Jesus, His blood, and His sacrifice. And for this reason, I don’t believe that there will be a huge number of people included in the Rapture. And the further away the Rapture is, the fewer people that will be taken away.

I pray for His soon return.