Heaven’s Death Statistics
As I began writing this, Dolly Parton had just died. According to one of her nephews who headed her security for years, Dolly was a believer in Jesus Christ. She was at the moment of her death “resting in the arms of Jesus,” the nephew said. We can certainly hope that is true, of course. But that’s between her and God, as believers know.
Neither fame, celebrity, riches, nor anything else of this world can assure salvation. There is but one way to salvation and eternity with God. Jesus explained that He is that Way, as recorded in John 14:6:
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
The famed singer/songwriter/actress apparently died after a short struggle with cancer of some sort, according to news reports. This sparked another report that interested me. It was a list they gave from the Center for Disease Control.
The list gave the numbers of the leading causes of death for the year 2025, I think. They were the following (cdc.gov, Faststats Leading Causes of Death-Centers.)
Top 10 Leading Causes of Death
- Heart disease
- Cancer (malignant neoplasms)
- Accidents (unintentional injuries, including drug overdoses and motor vehicle crashes)
- Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases)
- Chronic lower respiratory diseases
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Diabetes
- Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis (kidney disease)
- Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
- Suicide.
The top three numbers of deaths in the US were:
- Heart disease: 683,491
- Cancer: 619,876
- Accidents (unintentional injuries): 197,449
These are the statistics given by our government about the causes of death for one year. The Center for Disease Control keeps as careful records as possible. They (government officials) desire to do so in order to prevent future deaths from these dreaded causes as much as possible.
They cannot prevent these deaths. Death is inevitable. Each and every one of us alive at this moment will die—except, of course, if and when the Rapture occurs in our lifetimes.
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27).
So there is great concern among American government officials and politicians for these statistics. Any significant increase somehow, they believe, will reflect badly on their ability to reduce or maintain the status quo about these numbers and the causes of the numbers. To fail in at least maintaining the status quo might mean loss of power and control in the political/governmental world.
But God’s heavenly accounting system is far different, we must consider. And the one way it is infinitely different is that there is a statistic left out of the US and other governmental accountings.
All the statistics listed for last year are skewed by the deaths of 1.1 million not accounted for by the CDC. That is the number of babies aborted last year, if I am hearing the correct statistic. Some 1.1 million human beings are murdered in the wombs of their mothers –mostly for the cause of choice, as reported.
Staggeringly, seventy-three million children were killed in such a way worldwide in the year just past.
Heaven’s accounting system of such yearly deaths must surely ring loudly in the throne room while those deaths register.
What a disheartening matter it is to hear and consider such statistics. Defenseless little ones, innocent of any sin overtly committed, executed, in almost every case, for the sake of convenience.
However, there is tremendous truth that can salve the understanding of those who abhor this murderous tendency of humankind to destroy their own children for convenience of choice.
Each and every one of these little ones so killed in the abortion evil are instantaneously in the presence of God and will enjoy the blessings of eternal life.
We understand this because of God’s very character, which we have looked at a number of times in considering children and the Rapture.
The most dramatic case to prove that babies go to be with the Lord upon death is, of course, the child produced from David’s illicit affair with Bathsheba. David said that the baby couldn’t come to him, but that he, David, would go to the baby one day upon death.
Every baby that dies, even those that are but fetuses, even those just conceived, will go to be with the Lord if they die in the womb or before the age of accountability –the age or cognitive level achieved to be able to decide to accept or reject God’s offer of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Now that is a reason to praise such an accounting system, as opposed to our governmental accounting systems that completely ignore the deaths of these innocent little ones.
And, again, I can’t mention the matter of abortion without offering this comfort for those who have aborted a child. There is no sin that is unforgivable but that of unbelief. That is refusing to accept Christ for forgiveness.
God offers His grace—His forgiveness—even for the terrible sin of abortion.
Again, I want to emphasize that this is a most significant matter in our consideration of what we are charged with by Heaven to accomplish through our website Raptureready.com.
Although even some among conservative seminaries who teach the pre-Trib Rapture say I’m wrong, I believe that every baby, every child below that age of accountability, will go to Christ when He calls the Church to Himself. I believe with all that is within my spiritual understanding that God is going to make a statement that no one can miss when that shout, “Come up here!” (Revelation 4:1), is made by Jesus. The world will suddenly be absent of all babies and small children—and all others who never came to the cognitive ability to make a decision for Christ. The God of Heaven will at that moment let this rebellious world know exactly what He thinks of the sin of abortion, and exactly when life begins.
“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
—Terry
Wtjames1@swbell.net
The Clarity of Bible Prophecy
The general assumption in many Bible-believing churches is that Bible prophecy is far too controversial and divisive for it to be taught. A few churches in my area openly state on their websites that the subject is “tertiary,” or less important than other matters of our faith.
Sadly, most pastors and believers agree that Bible prophecy is tertiary, which Merriam-Webster defines as “of third rank, importance, or value.” The underlying assumption is that Scripture is less clear on this topic than other matters of the faith. Although most Christians accept this assertion as fact, it’s blatantly false.
Beliefs about the Rapture, the seven-year Tribulation, Israel’s restoration, and the Millennium rest on how one interprets God’s Word rather than on the words of the Bible. This is not only true in matters related to eschatology, the study of future things, but also in all matters of our faith.
For example, we readily accept the unmistakable clarity of the Lord’s words in John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” Yet I know of many professing Christians who read this verse and yet claim that Jesus is not the only path to salvation. In some circles, the words of John 14:6 are far more contentious than our belief in the pre-Tribulation Rapture. Even when it comes to the gospel, many Christians do not accept the face-value meaning of the words.
The Unbiblical Basis of Replacement Theology
As for Israel’s place in Bible prophecy, what one believes is shaped by assumptions formed apart from the biblical text.
For example, Augustine, an early church theologian, popularized Replacement Theology in the early fifth century AD. His belief that the church had replaced Israel in God’s prophetic program didn’t arise from the words of Scripture, but rather from his deep-seated antisemitism and acceptance of Platonism. He adhered to many of the beliefs of the ancient philosopher Plato, who taught that all matter was evil and only the unseen spiritual world was good. Hence, there could be no Millennium despite the clarity of Revelation 20:1-10.
To make God’s Word fit his errant beliefs, Augustine allegorized texts in which the Lord promised to restore a kingdom to Israel. He reinterpreted future Bible prophecy as allegory, a story with deeper hidden meanings whereby the characters, events, and settings in such narratives symbolize truths without stating them directly.
Augustine’s approach to prophetic texts directly contradicts what God said long ago.
“I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, “My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isaiah 46:9C-10).
Do those words sound like Someone who would reveal the future in allegories, which by their nature depend on human wisdom to understand?
When we allow the words of Scripture to signify what they meant when the authors recorded them, it confirms that the Lord will restore a kingdom to Israel, just as He repeatedly promised throughout His Word. It verifies that the church is not the fulfillment of God’s kingdom promises.
The Bible Is Clear About Israel’s Restoration
As for Israel’s future, Jeremiah 33:14-16 is just one example of well over a hundred Old Testament references that clearly and unmistakably prophesy Israel’s still-future restoration:
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”
If these words mean what they did when the Lord spoke them, and they do, they must refer to a future time of restoration for the nation of Israel. We know that since the days of Jeremiah to today, there has never been a time when they were true. The only other alternative to that of regarding the above passage as prophetic of Israel’s future is to reinterpret it as part of a grand narrative in which God was actually talking about the church (which did not even exist at the time), not Israel. Or, possibly ignore that such texts exist.
The Bible Is Clear About the Rapture
God’s Word is also remarkably clear about the Rapture. Consider the following verses also from John 14, where Jesus said this about His return to take us home:
“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3).
Based on all we know about the meaning of the above words and the Galilean marriage customs of the first century AD, of which the disciples were well aware, it’s clear that Jesus was prophesying of a time when He would come and take us to an actual physical location in His “Father’s house.” Paul later wrote that when Jesus appears, we go to glory (Colossians 3:4). Why do so many believers assign clarity to Jesus’ words in John 14:6 while denying His clear intent in 14:2-3?
Although widely ridiculed and dismissed as far too controversial to discuss in church, the New Testament says much about the event we call the “Rapture.” It is a sound biblical doctrine.
Sadly, the assertion that Bible prophecy is tertiary has caused considerable damage within the body of Christ. Among other things, it has blinded believers to the abundance of signs signifying that we live in the last moments of the last days. Silence about all eternal realities in churches today has shifted many believers’ focus to temporary, earthbound aspirations that offer no hope for the perilous times in which we now live and no comfort for the tribulations of life in this vale of tears.
-Jonathan
jonathanbrentner@yahoo.com
