While indicators abound that the Tribulation (Daniel’s seventieth week) is approaching upon the prophetic horizon of the near future, one area of forewarning is somewhat neglected.

We’ve gone over ad infinitum matters involving the stage being set for that last seven years of unprecedented trouble. Things such as developments involving societal and cultural degradation. Things like political, governmental, and economic evil. Developments such as those produced through satanically manipulated science, to the detriment of mankind. Things like cumulative, anti-Christian corruption among churches. All are signals that God’s inevitable judgment approaches America and the world.

But more rarely addressed is one very important sector of forewarning that Jesus, Himself, gave—the prophecy as recorded in the book of Luke.

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. (Luke 21:25–26)

The Lord was telling of a progressive series of end-times signals and, just two verses later, He tells us what we are to do when we see these things “begin” to come to pass.

Keep starkly in your thinking this word “begin.” It’s significant in thinking on our rescue from that terrible time of trouble—the seven-year Tribulation.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)

Now, I realize that many—particularly perhaps a majority of seminary students and their professors—interpret this to mean that those enduring the Tribulation are to “look up” because Christ is coming for them. I agree. But I’m convinced that it is a dual audience the Lord has in mind. I believe He is talking not only to saints of the Tribulation era, but also to Christians of the Age of Grace (Church Age).

Jesus is referring to the answer He gave His disciples that day when they asked when would be the time and sign of His coming (Luke 21:25–26 as given above). He is including the signs that will mark the era (the Age of Grace or Church Age) that will usher in the time of Tribulation. He is saying that when these signs “begin” to come to pass, saints of the Church Age are to “look up” and “lift up [their] heads.” He’s also saying to Tribulation Saints (those saved during that terrible era) that when they see these things happening, they, too, are to “look up,” because He is on the way to rescue them.

The first time  His people (Church Age saints) are to look up for their redemption is at the Rapture. The second time his people (the Tribulation saints) are to look up is at the Second Advent when He returns with those Church Age saints.  

So we consider whether we are now seeing prophetic signs in the sun, moon, and stars as well as all of the other signals mentioned above. Also, Jesus, the Living Word (John 1:1), gave dramatic things to look for upon and in the earth itself as prophecy begins to be fulfilled for the wind-up of history leading to His Second Coming. He gave these through the writer of the book of Acts, who quoted the Old Testament prophet Joel.

And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come. (Acts 2: 19–20)

Reports of increased stellar activity are beginning to light up the hourly newsfeeds. One report says the following.

New observations with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) indicate that the rogue comet 2I/Borisov, which is only the second and most recently detected interstellar visitor to our Solar System, is one of the most pristine ever observed. Astronomers suspect that the comet most likely never passed close to a star, making it an undisturbed relic of the cloud of gas and dust it formed from.

2I/Borisov was discovered by amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov in August 2019 and was confirmed to have come from beyond the Solar System a few weeks later. “2I/Borisov could represent the first truly pristine comet ever observed,” says Stefano Bagnulo of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, Northern Ireland, UK, who led the new study published today in Nature Communications. The team believes that the comet had never passed close to any star before it flew by the Sun in 2019. (“First interstellar comet may be the most pristine ever found,” ESO, March 30, 2021, RR News April 2, 2021)

Other strange things in space are making themselves known in a stellar show that fascinates scientists who watch with critical eyes. A couple of other of these displays are turning eyes and telescopes upward.

Uranus is belching X-rays and is weirder than we ever thought. The more scientists study it, the weirder Uranus gets. The newest mystery to add to the planet’s repertoire? Astronomers have detected X-rays from the strange world—and while some of the signal may be reflected emissions from the sun, some appear to be coming from the planet itself, according to a NASA statement.

My good friend, Dr. Thomas Horn of SkyWatch TV, has done extensive research on a heavenly visitor that portends possible and prodigious prophetic possibilities—if you will forgive the alliteration.

It’s a matter of concern to scientists that most media won’t report because, we presume, of possibly panicking the public.

The space rock, an asteroid, is huge and might be on a trajectory that will bring it near earth. As a matter of fact, those who study such things say that if it comes as close as suspected, it can’t do anything but strike the planet.

While some claim it will come close enough to knock out orbiting satellites, they say it isn’t likely to actually hit the planet.

Tom Horn and others, including top scientists devoted to study of interstellar space, say it’s ludicrous to think such a huge mass could come close enough to knock out orbiting satellites and not plunge into the planet itself.

The asteroid, named Apophis after a god of ancient mythology, is headed earth’s way, according to those carefully tracking it.

You may have seen this week where NASA is calling an “all clear” on the impact possibility of Apophis in 2029. But just one of many scientists is warning that NASA’s trajectory calculation of Apophis is off by as much as 600,000 miles, which Harry Lear implies could send Apophis crashing into earth eight years from now on April 13, 2029. Lear sent an open letter to the President and U.S. Government scientists begging them to cross-check these calculations immediately, even though he ends his dispatch with an ominous admonition that we may already be out of time.…

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson admits that on April 13, 2029: “Apophis will come so close to Earth that it will dip below our orbiting communication satellites. It will be the largest closest thing we have ever observed to come by earth… the orbit we now have for it is uncertain…because these things are hard to measure and hard to get an exact distance for—we cannot tell you exactly where that trajectory will be.” (“When Prophets and Scientists Agree: Nasa “Deceptively” Clouding Truth about 2029 Asteroid Impact Odds,” 3/30/21, SkyWatch Editor)

Tom Horn, in his books The Messenger and The Wormwood Prophecy, goes into great detail, including prophetic possibilities regarding this massive space rock.

He believes that it’s possible that it might have something to do with the catastrophic object from space given in the following Scripture.

The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” (Revelation 8: 7–11)

Jesus’ foretelling that there would be a great many earthquakes and violent upheavals in the earth also seems to becoming more in view with each news cycle. Here are just a few that are occurring simultaneously.

• 5.2 magnitude earthquake hits near Georgetown, Saint Helena
• 5.2 magnitude earthquake hits near Merizo Village, Guam
• 5.1 magnitude earthquake hits the Owen Fracture Zone region
• Elevated unrest continues at Taal volcano with 212 earthquakes in 24 hours, Philippines
• Mt. Etna volcano in Italy erupts to 30,000 ft
• Sabancaya volcano in Peru erupts to 24,000 ft
• Popocateptl volcano in Mexico erupts to 19,000 ft
• Sangay volcano in Ecuador erupts to 19,000 ft
• Reventador volcano in Ecuador erupts to 15,000 ft
• Fuego volano in Guatemala erupts to 14,000 ft
• Pacaya volcano in Guatemala erupts to 11,000 ft
• Lava flow at Pacaya volcano heads toward inhabited areas, Guatemala
• Iceland volcano: photographer runs away as lava flows towards him

The Lord’s admonition to be looking up when these things begin to come to pass must not be ignored. His Word must be embraced and spread so others will escape that horrific seven years soon to break upon an unsuspecting world. These are not signals of doom for the believer in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Here’s what He promises regarding this time of Tribulation that will be His judgment and wrath (called “the hour of temptation” in KJV):

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)

Even so, come Lord Jesus!  

During this troubling movement into ever-increasing evil, those among Bible teachers, writers, broadcasters, et al., who proclaim there is to be no pre-Tribulation Rapture are having a field day. They feed the business of prepping for a dystopian world. They stoke the fears of those who agree that life as it’s been known here in America will collapse into a Mad Max-type struggle for existence any day now.

And, in a way, they can’t be blamed. Everything points to a profound loss of sense of reality. End-times insanity certainly seems unstoppable while mankind moves farther and farther from God and toward that time John described in the book of Revelation.

Hearing podcasts today that talk of the horrors to come is disturbing. Not hearing anything about what is coming from the pulpits of most churches is even more disturbing. What disturbs most is that nothing is being told of the truth that Jesus Himself promises: the glorious calling of the Church into His presence at a time of enveloping darkness, like what’s taking place now.    

I recently began listening to a particular podcast because I wanted to hear the host’s take on the stealing of the 2020 presidential election. After I heard that, I continued to listen as much out of daily habit as for any other reason.

The blog’s host paints—correctly, for the most part—a bleak future just ahead for the nation and the world. He points out the globalist minions who want to bring the rest of us under their domination. He includes that he believes the vaccines are all part of the control they intend to establish. They are, he offers, designed to do physical harm to recipients in order to bring the world’s population down dramatically over the ensuing months and years—i.e., he insists the vaccines will interact with immune systems in deleterious ways to cause people to die from the vaccines’ effects.

He believes the world—and the US, in particular—is in for some of the darkest times in human history. Only a few will survive.

And this is where he loses my attention. He says only those who prepare properly will survive—that is, those who are true patriots with a godly or morality-based belief system.

The globalists elite and others of the would-be rulers will submerge into their extravagant underground bunkers and even fully-equipped-for-survival cities.

Folks without these resources will still be able to survive if they follow the prepper rules for survival, including buying survival products such as those offered in his store.

When the blog host began talking in terms of his belief in God—even in Jesus Christ—and his acceptance that the book of Revelation speaks of exactly the time of coming unprecedented trouble he is talking about, my interest was piqued.

He is apparently friends with a couple of well-known writers who delve into the subject of the hard times ahead for the nation and world. These are known to come against any notion of the Rapture of the Church. They’ve even on occasion scoffed at the idea of a pre-Trib movement of God’s people out of harm’s way. Christians will go through the Tribulation, but if properly prepared, will be kept more or less safe by God, they insist. Therefore, they must stock up and brace for the great hardships to come in order to survive.

I perceive that the blog host is, if he is a true believer—and I believe he is—he is a very immature one. That is, he has no understanding of Truth found in God’s Word in regard to prophecy yet future. I gather this opinion based upon several months now of listening.

When he began talking about the judgment and wrath in Revelation, earnestly imploring people to prepare to go through those times, I could do no other than find his email through a close friend who knows one of the men I mentioned earlier—one who is not a pre-Tribber. I emailed the blog host an offer to send him several of my books dealing with exactly the time of terrible trouble to come he’d been talking about. I also told him that his friends who teach against the Rapture are wrong, and, since he says he wants to consider all sides of matters, I wanted to present him with the truth about Christians not going through that coming time of horror.

I haven’t heard back from him. To even consider an alternate possibility to the position his anti-Rapture associates teach would go against his—and their—business models, as well as against their belief system regarding Bible prophecy.

I sensed, however, that I should make the effort to provide truth on that most glorious promise of our Lord that we will be delivered from the time of evil the likes of which mankind has never before seen.

Things going on in every facet of life at this moment, to the observant Bible prophecy student, point to very dark times ahead. The blog host I mention sees a moment coming when things will suddenly and catastrophically change. He thinks it will be brought about by the sudden fall of the US dollar as prime currency for the world, or because of some other financial disaster. Everything will collapse around the people of the nation and the world, and only those who are prepared—by having essentials of life stored, etc.—will survive. Billions will eventually die, he proclaims.

He is right about the coming calamity, except for being able to store enough gold, silver, and food to survive, and the cause of the catastrophic crash and movement into that world that will make the fictional era of Mad Max seem tame and rational by comparison.

That great, catastrophic time of unprecedented trouble will take place when millions of believers are called to be with their Lord in the heavenly clouds above this wrath-bound planet. That moment is drawing near. We can be sure of this because the Lord Jesus Himself said that when believers see the things that are now beginning to take place, we’re to “look up” because He (our Redeemer) is drawing near (Luke 21:28).  

My friend Pete Garcia and I are just completing a book on all of this, to be released in a few months, titled THE DISAPPEARING: Future Shocks That Will Rock the World.

The Apostle Paul says the following to what looks to be this generation:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18)