Rapture Trends :: By Daniel Payne

Most folks here at RR are already well aware that interest in Bible prophecy as a whole has been trending down over the last decade—at least. It’s no wonder; with so many churches abandoning the faith, it was inevitable that Bible prophecy would be shown the door along with so many other established biblical principles and teachings.

What used to be “in vogue” is now something to be ashamed of. The apostle Peter accurately foretold that this very trend would occur just before the Day of the Lord:

“Knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:3-4, 10).

It’s also no wonder then that the Rapture is also trending out of the hearts and minds of many in the church. What used to be acceptable to teach to a wide audience has now become unacceptable and even “shameful.”

It was much easier to teach a series on Bible prophecy a generation ago, when very few in your church would mock you for such “superstitious” teachings. Now however—too many people condemn those who teach and preach Bible prophecy from a “futuristic” point of view—as being “apocalyptic” or even “hateful.”

“How dare you advocate for widespread death and mass destruction! You should be working to make this world a better place—not going around advocating violence and voting for bigots!”—they may say.

How little they know of the love that God has for those who are only willing to trust in Him for their salvation during these last and difficult days. They’re so consumed with finding fault—they may never find faith.

“Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8b).

You can see for yourself just how fast Bible prophecy and the Rapture are fading from interest. A free and powerful tool is available online (from Google) to see and compare the trends for anything searched for on the internet over the past 14 years (as of 2018).

A link to the tool is provided at the end of this article with the search term “rapture” already preloaded and with the timespan set for the past five years.

Interest in the Rapture is fading fast. It’s remarkable to note the peaks of interest in Bible Prophecy and the Rapture that occurred simultaneously with various tragedies that also took place over the same timespan.

It’s also fascinating to see just what parts of the world have the most interest in the Rapture and Bible prophecy. Some areas may have increased interest over other areas due to recent Christian missionary work—such as in remote regions of Africa, Australia, Papua New Guinea, etc.

These same areas—and others—may also have increased interest due to domestic troubles. Still though—very tragically—overall interest in the Rapture is trending down worldwide just before the blessed event is about to occur.

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).

(Link to the eye opening tool to view worldwide trends of interest in Bible prophecy and the Rapture—or any subject at all. You can change the search terms or add more search terms to compare with each other—etc., people, places, things… the sky’s the limit. For example—if you change “rapture” to “Bible prophecy”—you will see that interest in Bible prophecy has fallen roughly in half since 2004).

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=rapture