A disturbing attitude is surfacing among those who adhere to a post-Tribulation Rapture. One of the things I’ve tried to point out previously is that the mindset one has in the contrasting worldviews of pre-Tribulation Rapture belief versus post-Trib is quite different. Many of us in the pre-Trib camp are simply weary and ready to give this world to the people who want it so much. We know this is not our home and have come to grips with giving it up.
Nothing could please us more than for Jesus to appear in the clouds with that trumpet shout and to call us to Himself.
How glorious and wonderful! What a magnificent hope we have in the promise of our Lord to snatch us away like the Bride we are and take us to His Father’s house, where He has prepared a place for us.
In contrast are those – Christian and secular – who are digging into this world with all they’ve got.
You know the Christians who are doing this because they inevitably speak of the generations to come. They have no understanding of God’s prophetic Word, which details what will soon occur, nor do they realize the extent of the horrors facing people during the Tribulation. Rather, they prep and gird up and think that somehow God will protect them through all the plagues that He lets loose upon the earth in His wrath upon this unbelieving world, not to mention Satan’s wrath as he does what he can to destroy all that God has called good.
In a previous Commentary, I discussed the Christian prepping phenomenon in relation to God’s character – for what I believe an impossibility of God requiring us to endure the Tribulation’s atrocities based on how we know Him from Scripture.
Here, I want to look at another angle of Christian prepping.
We know that God has called His children to be radically different from the world. He has shown us that we must keep our eyes on Him and our hearts soft in order to receive the goodness of the blessings He has for us. The wisdom Jesus imparted in His Sermon on the Mount reflects these truths. Critically, He said in Matthew 6:19:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal…”
Given this, do you think that prepping for the Tribulation might fit that description?
I think it does. But it also leads to something worse.
As I’ve said in the past, there are many whom I believe to be good and true Christians who do not adhere to a pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine. Rather, they think Jesus will come only at the conclusion of the seven years; thus, they are post-Trib Rapture believers. As such, they are storing up food, ammo, and whatever else they deem necessary to endure this most horrific time in the history of our planet.
What has come to my attention is a most disturbing aspect of this prepping mentality. When confronted with the challenge of potentially sharing what they’ve squirreled away with others who might not have been so prudent – Christian or secular – for their time of need in the Tribulation, there seems to be an attitude among at least a few of these folks something along the lines of: “Tough luck. You didn’t prepare, and I have no intention of sharing any of my stuff with you.”
Shocking, isn’t it? But does it surprise you? If someone’s heart is aligned with their treasure on earth, and he isn’t keeping his eyes on Jesus above, what kind of response would we expect?
This is a worldly perspective that comes from our sin nature. Remember, we don’t have to teach little children to say, “Mine!” and snatch the rattle away from another child.
This non-sharing attitude also runs counter to what we learn about the early church in Acts 4:32-35:
“Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”
I guess I would say this: If our post-Trib prepping brothers and sisters want to picture themselves as the chosen of God insulated from His wrath raining down all around them, and in so doing, pretend like they represent a sort of early church movement during that time, then they need a heart transplant.
Short and sweet: This is one more reason why post-Trib belief is erroneous. It tends to center one’s focus on the wrong place. We are to look up and expectantly wait for the deliverance of our Lord coming in the clouds. Keeping our eyes on this world and our hearts on staying alive in the midst of utter destruction simply doesn’t align with what God wants from us.
Even so, Come, Lord Jesus!
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The transcript for this audio commentary is available at my website blog under the post with the same title: https://garyritter.com/biblical-audio-commentary-a-disturbing-post-trib-attitude/
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