By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #65 ~
I picture a huge, cosmic stop sign, and it’s just a little way down the road. When we get to that stop sign, it means this age is over, that this world as we know it has come to a sudden end, to a screeching halt. When we get to that stop sign (“the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light” – Matthew 24:29), we know God has put on the brakes, and that everyone will be stopped in their tracks! But then what? To Christians on earth it means the rapture and going to heaven. To non-Christians, it means God’s wrath and “hell” on earth. For many Jews, it’s a sign that their promised redemption is right around the corner.
The first thing to take place at the end of this age is the coming of Christ and the rapture of the church. All Christians living on earth will be caught up and gathered together with all the other believers, and meet Jesus, their Savior, in the air. For these raptured saints, this will be their most exciting moment ever, for they will immediately be rescued from the wrath to come, given relief from great tribulation, redeemed from this wicked world, glorified by God, reunited with friends and loved ones, rewarded for their labors, and most importantly, received by Jesus Christ. To His disciples, Jesus said, “I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3, 1 Thessalonians 4:17
Shortly after the rapture, God’s wrath will be poured out upon the non-Christians. This wrath is the Day of the Lord, that “hell” on earth I just mentioned. All over the world, unbelievers will be “fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world” (Luke 21:26). They will be running and trying to hide, but it’s no use, for they won’t get away from God. Revelation 8-9, 16 speaks about this wrath, summarizing the catastrophic and deadly consequences for all the unrepentant unbelievers still on earth. These godless sinners deserve this judgment, for they persecuted Christians, and repeatedly rejected God and His offer of mercy. There will be unrelenting fire, scorching heat, tormenting locusts, utter darkness, billions of people killed, and the utter devastation of this planet. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty… who is to come.” Revelation 4:8
Then there’s the salvation of a remnant of Jews, which God promised thousands of years ago, and will bring to pass. Ezekiel 36-37 describes the gathering of the Jews from the nations, how these dry bones of Israel are physically coming to life, which we have been seeing for the past 130 years. But they will spiritually come to life, for we read that “they will be My people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 37:23). Luke 21:24 tells us the timing of God’s miraculous redemption of His chosen people for “Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” This great number of Jews will be saved at the end of Daniel’s 70th week (Daniel 9:24). Romans 11:25-26 says it this way, “A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved.”
In the near future, there will be three major events, the rapture of the Christians, the wrath of God upon the unbelievers, and the redemption of the Jews. These will all occur after the end of this age, but before the start of the next age. Then Christ will begin His reign on earth, a reign which will last exactly one-thousand years. All the believers who have lived during this present age will be glorified at the time of the rapture, and will be joyfully reigning with Christ during this next age, this millennial kingdom age. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Revelation 5:10
The rapture, wrath, and redemption are major prophesied events which will take place, and will dramatically, wonderfully and eternally affect you and this whole world. Let me also say:
– These God-ordained events, the rapture, the wrath and the redemption will take place, transitioning us from this present age to the next age.
– The book of Revelation focuses on this transition, with the main events being the rapture, the wrath and the redemption. Revelation 2-19 covers the end-times (2-6, 12-13), the rapture (7), God’s wrath (8-9, 15-18), the redemption of the Jews (7, 10-12), all leading to Christ’s millennial kingdom (20). Many details about this short transition time are given in these chapters, and will be looked at later; but for now, remember the big picture, God’s glorious working with the Christians, the Jews and the unbelievers.
– The total time for the rapture, wrath and redemption will be only a year or two or three (we don’t know the exact time). Therefore, all raptured Christians will only be in heaven a short time, and then return to earth with the other believers, to begin reigning with Jesus Christ over this world. Revelation 19:11-19, 20:4
Right now, we are all traveling down this road of life, heading straight to the end of this age, and soon we will see that huge stop sign in the sky. Be thankful that God is faithfully moving you along, that He is sovereignly working all things after the counsel of His will, “with a view to an administration suitable to the fulness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens, and things upon the earth… to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:9-12). Amen!
P.S. There have been many posts and articles about Jesus Christ coming back to earth. But specifically, why is He coming back? I encourage you to read this article, Why is Jesus Coming Back to Earth?, for it gives many Biblical reasons why Christ is returning, and needs to return.
