I am a Rapture watcher, and many of you are as well! We have been eagerly awaiting a trumpet and a shout (I Thess. 4) for years and even decades. We have grown tired of wars and rumors of wars; of stories in the news that are heartbreakers; of personal betrayal; of relationships that primarily hurt or fail.

Imminent Means Any Minute!

For years I have believed that the Rapture of believers is imminent. The Rapture is signless and will be unannounced, and the Bible suggests it could happen at any minute or imminently. No clearly prophesied event must transpire prior to the Rapture.

If the return of Christ for His Church is imminent, then obviously it will be before the coming period of Tribulation with its predicted signs and judgments. In theological language, the Rapture of the Church must be pretribulational.

A Billion Souls to be Saved Soon?

And yet I hear a dozen evangelists stating that we are on the verge of a great revival. One self-proclaimed prophet says that a billion souls will come to faith in the coming weeks and months. If my Rapture is imminent, how can there be an imminent revival?

Which is it?

A gentleman wrote me recently stating, “Jan, you should be hearing the prophetic words for today about a period of coming peace and a worldwide revival. It is about to dawn. The end is not yet! Instead, prepare for your part in the glorious coming revival, not the Rapture.”

Yes, A Revival Is Coming!

The Bible does talk about a coming revival. The question concerns its timing. Is it in the coming days, or is it after the Rapture when the “left behind” world realizes they should have listened to believers like you and me, get a second chance, and multitudes come to faith?

Once the church is gone, God employs supernatural efforts to proclaim the gospel one final time through the 144,000 evangelists. These 144,000 Jews (Rev. 7:4) are “sealed,” which means they have the special protection of God. They are kept safe from the divine judgments and from the wrath of the Antichrist. They can freely perform their mission during the seven-year Tribulation, or “time of Jacob’s trouble.”

As a result of their ministry, “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation 7:9)—will come to faith in Christ. That, my friends, is a true revival. But it is post-Rapture and not in the believer’s lifetime.

On top of that, there are Two Witnesses in Revelation who will have miraculous powers to accompany their message (Revelation 11:6), and no one will be able to stop them in their work of evangelization! These men will be true prophets, unlike so many of today’s self-proclaimed prophets, speaking by divine revelation (Revelation 11). Their witness will be so effective that the Antichrist will have them killed, but they will be resurrected.

Additionally, according to Revelation 14:6-7, an angel during the Tribulation will proclaim an “everlasting gospel” to every nation, tribe, language, and people. This message urges humanity to fear, glorify, and worship God because the hour of His judgment has arrived.

All of these supernatural happenings result in the greatest revival in history, but it is not in the Church Age! It is post-Rapture.

Then What Is the Falling Away?

So, what does the Bible say about the spiritual temperature in the last days? It’s not a pretty picture. It describes a great “falling away” (II Thess. 2:3), not a revival.

In Luke 18:8 we read that when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on the earth?

In the classic passage written to the church—II Timothy 3—we read that there will only be a “form of godliness” (II Timothy 3:5) that will be prominent in the last days.

The Bible warns about a departure from the faith in I Timothy 4:1-5. Again, that is not the language of a revival. And I don’t think the wolves among the flock (Acts 20:29), spoken of by Paul, are spreading revival.

It says in II Timothy 4 that in the last days, people won’t even endure sound doctrine. You can’t have a genuine revival with false doctrine raging.

God Will Pour Out His Spirit in the Church Age

And yet it says in Acts 2:15-18 that in the last days, God will pour out his spirit on all flesh. There will be gospel-preaching churches and evangelists in these last days. Many of them will be effective. The new media will spread this gospel to the ends of the earth in the Church Age, and many will respond—but nothing like the outpouring of the gospel during the Tribulation.

Could we say there is a genuine outpouring of God’s spirit in the last days, but the predicted revival happens when believers are gone, and God does it supernaturally? And the Bible talks more about end-time persecution in our day than it does revival.

Perhaps Today!

But don’t lose heart, and please share the gospel while there is still time so those you love can escape the coming Tribulation. And remember, the biblical theme for the coming Rapture is “perhaps today.” Any minute or imminent. Nothing must precede it.

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Is Israel’s Spiritual Blindness a Reason for Christians to Reject Them?

Many believers are shocked that God’s land will be defiled once again in June with a gala LGBTQ event at the Dead Sea. In fact, at Sodom and Gomorrah.

In Romans 9–11, Paul argues that God remains faithful to the Jewish people despite their widespread unbelief in Jesus and worldly pursuits, as his promises are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). God maintains a “remnant” by grace, uses Israel’s partial, temporary hardening to bring salvation to the Gentiles, and promises a future restoration where “all Israel will be saved” at the Second Coming (Romans 11:26).

God is a Covenant Keeper!

God has two sets of covenant people: The Jews and believers. He cannot and will not break a covenant with either. That would make him a covenant breaker, not a covenant keeper. We get back to that pesky word irrevocable.

Beyond that, the Bible says that “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). They are a special people to him. But that makes the June event all the more grievous.

Enter “Pride Land”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry promoted the upcoming four-day event, called “Pride Land,” as the “biggest LGBTQ+ festival ever in the Middle East.” Scheduled for early June, the celebration is expected to transform the desert landscape near the Dead Sea into a temporary city featuring hotels, entertainment venues, and round-the-clock programming.

It is the biggest event of its kind in the Middle East because all other Middle East countries throw homosexuals off of buildings or otherwise kill and torment them!

There is obviously symbolic weight in hosting such an event in a region tied so closely to one of the Bible’s most sobering accounts of judgment, but a secular society does not give judgment much thought.

The Dry Bones Lack Breath!

Ezekiel 36 emphasizes that when the Jews return to the land, they will do so in unbelief. There will be spiritual regeneration much later! The dry bones of Ezekiel 37 reflect a lack of breath or spiritual life. God states he is gathering them back “not for your sake but for my holy name’s sake,” because their presence among the nations caused his name to be profaned. Ezekiel 36 promises that once back in the land, God will cleanse them, give them a new spirit, and cause them to walk in his statutes. But much later.

Eventually, there will be spiritual revival, and the land will be as the Garden of Eden (Ezekiel 36:35-36).

How Can You as a Ministry Support This?

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah has long served as a warning about moral decline and the consequences of turning away from God. Thus, I am bombarded with questions as to how many ministries could possibly remain on Israel’s side. What was once remembered as a place of reckoning is now being re-branded as a place of celebration. And for many believers, that is a bridge too far. They are abandoning the ship. They have given up on God’s land and people.

Prophecy News Watch says it well: “There is a long and deeply rooted love for Israel within the Christian community. Many see the nation not just as a geopolitical ally, but as a central thread in God’s redemptive story. They pray for its peace. They defend its existence. They celebrate its resilience. So, when something like this emerges, the reaction is not rejection—it is lament.”

Like other secular societies, Israel needs Jesus. Uniting with Israel does not mean we are aligned with everything the nation and people do. Most are in spiritual blindness. Their leaders are spiritually blind. Most of their military is as well. There is a remnant who are regenerated now. That will change someday.

God’s covenant with Abraham is everlasting (Genesis 12:2-3), the Jewish people are God’s chosen people, and Christianity owes a theological debt to its Jewish roots. Israel’s modern establishment is seen by many as the fulfillment of biblical prophecies.

How Odd of God to Choose the Jews

Let’s remember the words out of Deuteronomy 7:6-8: “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

God’s eternal purpose is to bless the world through Israel. Our Bible is a Jewish book, and our Savior is a Jewish Savior. Many Jews are coming to faith in the Jewish Messiah more rapidly than at any time in history.

Everyone reading this article was at one time in spiritual darkness. Someone didn’t give up on you, and we must not give up on the Jewish people or the nation of Israel.

https://olivetreeviews.org