Over the years in my discussions defending the doctrine of the pre-Tribulation Rapture of Christ’s true church, there have inevitably been those who pushed back, saying believers must endure the indignities of the 7-year Tribulation.

The amount of Scripture that contradicts their position, and the logic against it, never seems to deter these people.

I have no doubt that many are good and true Christians, but I also believe they are deceived – something the Bible explicitly warns us about in these last days.

One of my major arguments has to do with the character of God. He went to all this trouble to redeem us by sending His Son to be tortured and killed on our behalf. Jesus took ALL of our sins upon Himself by His grace and mercy. Ephesians 2:8-9 famously tells us it’s solely by God’s grace that He’s done this, and we have no works, nor effectively anything to prove given Christ’s sacrifice. Because of God’s character – His love – He has given His all to us who were held in the grip of sin and could do nothing. There isn’t anything more we can add to our deliverance. Yet, for some reason, many of our brothers and sisters in Christ think we have to join in with unbelievers during the Tribulation to suffer God’s wrath.

Of course, a significant problem with this position is that it refocuses people’s eyes on the world rather than on Jesus. Instead of watching and waiting for Him with breathless anticipation, far too many of God’s people are worried about having prepared enough to make it through these seven years. Christian prepping is probably as big of an industry as secular prepping. Both groups know something big and bad is coming; it’s just that the spiritual aspects of each differ quite a bit – or they should, at any rate.

I’ve asked the question any number of times: Do Christians taking this prepping approach truly understand the horrors to come in the Tribulation? I keep coming back to the conclusion that they seemingly don’t. For the sake of brevity, I won’t insert all of Isaiah 24 into this commentary, but I recommend you read it. However, here are several verses pulled from this passage that give us a sense of how awful those seven years will be:

Isaiah 24:1

“Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.”

Isaiah 24:6

“Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.”

Isaiah 24:17

“Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth!”

Isaiah 24:19-20

“The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.”

Now, I don’t know about you, but this description by Isaiah is one that makes me want to stay as far from this world as possible when all this comes about.

I’m very happy to be an escapist, given what is soon to befall this earth.

This is not “normal” tribulation, as we read about it in the Bible. This is far more than that. It is the wrath and judgment of God for a very specific purpose – namely, to bring punishment upon this Christ-rejecting world. How do you prep for that?

Interestingly, God addresses the Israelites in Isaiah 22:8-11 for their prepping in the past that was to no avail:

“He has taken away the covering of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago.”

It’s the age-old problem: Man can do all he wants to prepare for what is to come, but if he doesn’t consult God, it’s all for naught.

Jesus teaches us this in the Beatitudes 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…”

He expands this idea in Luke 12:13-21:

“Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’ And he told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

It doesn’t matter what we do to prep for any coming situation in this world, God is in charge. As The Preacher – King Solomon – says in Ecclesiastes, all that we do in this world is vain – it’s folly – unless we turn to God as our source and hope of life.

It’s for this reason that Jesus told the parable in Luke 12:35-40:

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

The only prepping we have to do is to be ready for Christ’s imminent return.

This is our job – our purpose, i.e., to occupy until He comes by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the salvation of souls. The virtuous servants in this parable watched the horizon and kept the fires burning for their master who might return at any time. The dishonorable servants had no clue and apparently didn’t care. Who was faithful?

There’s nothing wrong with prudently preparing for a short-term emergency. In fact, we should, given the instability in the world.

I don’t expect my feeble arguments to change the minds of our prepping friends, but I do hope that they will reconsider who God is and His promises to His church – His Bride – His friends – His children – His Beloved. God will not allow those of us who are called by these names – His Name! – to suffer alongside the unbelieving world in the days soon to come.

How thankful I am for what he has in store for those of us He loves – we who have loved Him in return.

—

The transcript for this audio commentary is available at my website blog under the post with the same title:

Gary Ritter website: books & blog

http://garyritter.com/

Kindle Vella story: Tribulation Rising

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Jeremiah 32:26-27; “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ‘Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?'” Matthew 19:24-26; Jesus said, “Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man, this is impossible; but with God, all things are possible.'” (ESV – all emphasis mine)

One of the biggest issues many humans face is trying to put God into a category that fits human understanding. For example, we know the Trinity is three entities that really are one – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We can believe they exist, yet we can never fully understand how this is possible through our meager human mentality.

One part of this Trinity, the Son Jesus, allowed Himself to become lower than the angels that He created, to become a human for a time on this earth that He also created (Hebrews 2:9). He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit love the humans that were created so much that there was only one way we sinful beings could be with them forever. A perfect, sinless blood sacrifice had to be provided in order to satisfy the Father’s need for acceptance. No animal, bird, fish, or any other human could ever fill this requirement, so the Father had to supply a part of Himself to cover our sins – My Sins!

John 1:1-2; 14; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

One of the hardest issues we humans have at times is to look past this earth and our present lives here. What we are experiencing is less than just a blink of an eye compared to the eternity that lies ahead. Where we spend that eternity depends on what we choose as most important here and whether we follow Jesus or we follow Satan. There is no third option.

In the opening of this message, it was stated how difficult it is for a “rich person” to enter heaven. It’s not about their wealth but how important they perceive their earthly riches to be over having the Son of God as their eternal Savior. To many, their wealth is their god, and they cannot see beyond that.

Ephesians 2:4-9 may seem like a lengthy read, but consider the message in those verses. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

The best part of it all, we have a Father who never changes. His words have been true from the beginning, and they will stay true throughout the life cycle of this earth and all throughout eternity. What’s difficult for earth-bound humans is believing in something they can’t see.

All that Satan throws at us is up front and personal, and he does his best to make it as alluring as possible. He does everything to draw our souls away from the Lord. Jesus knows this, and as He said to Thomas, “…have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

Prayer is a tool the Savior taught us how to use to talk to the Father and make our petitions known. We hear the saying, “Strength in numbers,” and we realize that believers praying for each other and together gives us a powerful tool against evil.

In 2014, Mark Bishop released a song called “Pray On The Little Days.” It contains a valuable lesson that tells us we can have our faith increased by talking to the Father.

1.) I’m just like you in so many ways. I’ve had my share of tears, had my share of rainy days. Yeah, there were ups and downs, and the seasons turn. But through it all, the greatest lesson I have learned is to just let God be God on those little days, and He’ll be God there on the bigger days.

Ref.) Why do we wait until things go wrong, when we could have Him by our side all along? Let God be God in the best of times, and He’ll be God when you’re going through the worst of times. When you need God to move in mighty ways, when you need God to be there in the bigger days, pray on the little days.

2.) It’s more than a book sitting on a table. God can change your life; He’s willing, and He’s able. Oh, but we keep Him small, and then we stay the same; but we could change the world by calling on His name. Let God be God on the little days, and He’ll be God on the bigger days.

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:9-13 gives the steps to Salvation that are only difficult if someone is looking for hidden messages. It’s actually plain as “A – B – C”; Admit we’re sinners and cannot find forgiveness and eternal Salvation on our own (Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23); have faith and Believe that Jesus is the only way (John 14:6), and Call out to Him to forgive you and to be your Savior forever.

Take the time to read from God’s Love Letter to us – the Bible – every day. For anyone just starting out, the Book of John is a good place to start, followed by Romans. Reading just a chapter or two a day will help keep us focused on the Savior and all He has done for us.

For anyone who has never asked Jesus into their heart and for Him to be their Savior, now would be a very good time to do so. The events of this world are pointing more and more toward the end of this age, and we don’t want anyone left behind when Jesus calls all believers up to meet Him in the air to avoid the coming Tribulation/Wrath. No one knows the exact day or hour, but the condition of this world is totally in the prophecies of the last days of this age.

He is waiting for anyone who truly asks for forgiveness and would be happy to add all to His precious flock. God will force no one to call out to receive and accept the gift, but at the same time doesn’t want anyone to fail (2 Peter 3:9). He will, however, allow each and every person to make their own choice as to where they will spend eternity. Jesus paid dearly for that gift, and the only unforgivable sin is to not receive and accept Him as our Lord and Redeemer when their last breath is taken on this earth. That would result in an appointment at the Great White Throne of Revelation 20:11-15.

No one has sinned so greatly that the Blood of Jesus cannot reach them. There are no works we can do to earn our Heavenly Home, as given in Ephesians 8-9, and no special “price” we can ever pay for that gift. Today would not be too late to call, yet tomorrow could just be too late to avoid the Wrath.

Hope to see you at the Rapture and at the feet of Jesus!

Come, Lord Jesus!

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