Tag: rapture

Wars and Rumors of Wars

When politicians, activists, and the media try to scare people with theories of the end of the world caused by climate change, you should ignore them.  There are many reasons why.  For one, they have been consistently wrong.  Fifty years ago, they said that global cooling would cause a new ice age.  When that didn’t happen, they said that global warming would flood the planet and drown us all.  When that didn’t happen, they started to blame any bad weather on the very broad label of climate change.  If it snows; climate change.  If it’s hot; climate change.  If there’s a hurricane; climate change.  At least they learned not to go out on a limb. 

Another reason is that, like with Covid, their solutions are far more likely to make people want to die than to stop anybody from actually dying.  Their fix for Covid was lockdowns and mandates, which did not work.  The results were to make people lonely, depressed, fat, suicidal, alcoholic, and jobless.  They also destroyed people’s businesses that they had worked a lifetime to build and ruined a booming economy.  Similarly, their ideas to combat climate change are to take away more liberty and force regulations on us that will destroy our economy and raise energy costs for families everywhere.

If the first two are not good enough for you, the most important reason to ignore these alarmists is that we already know what will eventually happen.  Global warming flooding the planet is guaranteed not to happen because God literally made a promise not to do exactly that.  Genesis 9:11 says, “Thus I establish My covenant with you:  Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”  What’s more, God gives us some details of how the end will happen.  Parts of it are vague or hard to interpret prophecies, but some are pretty specific.  We know, for example, that Jesus will take up His church in the Rapture and this event will lead to a seven-year tribulation period where God will pour out His wrath on the earth for rejecting Him.  This period will include famine, pestilence, disease, death, and other supernatural events, culminating with the Battle of Armageddon.  If you are truly concerned about the end of the world there is only one way to delay it.  Turn to Jesus and repent from sin.

Wars and Rumors of Wars

As the situation in Ukraine heated up, my mind kept turning to a phrase from the Bible; “wars and rumors of wars,” which are supposed to run wild as we near the return of Jesus and the tribulation period.  Could this be a part of that prophecy?  I decided to look into it and was astonished at how so many of the signs of the end match what is happening in the world today.  The passage is found in Matthew 24:3-12.  Listen to this:

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 

I am starting to think there is a very good chance I will not die of natural causes and will instead make it to the Rapture.  If those verses don’t describe our time, I don’t know what does.  “Wars and rumors of wars” is not just seen with Russia and Ukraine, but with China and Taiwan, North Korea and South Korea, and Iran and Israel among others.  Joe Biden’s weak response and the current lack of American leadership on the world stage only makes global instability and conflict more likely.  Verse 9 talks about Christians being persecuted and hated for being Christians, which is happening as we speak.  “Many will be offended.” (Verse 10) What better describes our culture right now than that?  “Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” (Verse 11) Could that be talking about the media?  How many people does CNN deceive?  “Lawlessness will abound.” (Verse 12) Crime is on the rise in many of our cities, and some district attorneys like George Gascon in Los Angeles, allow it to go unchecked.  It’s almost as if Jesus knew what was going to happen. 

Ezekiel 38 and 39 provide more insight into the events leading up to the end, and we can see everything lining up in ways that could start the dominos falling.  There we find out that Israel will eventually be attacked “from the far north.” (Ezek. 39:2) Russia surely could fit that bill.  We also know that this attack will involve a coalition of enemies that includes Persia (modern day Iran), Ethiopia, and Libya.  (Ezek. 38:5) These countries are already in the camp that shouts “Death to Israel!”  The pieces are in position on the chess board.

The last two years have also changed the way our world is run.  Using the guise of Covid, the United States allowed around 70 million unverified mail-in ballots to decide who our president is instead of the people of our country.  Even some of my more naïve conservative friends have called me a conspiracy theorist because “Covid is worldwide so this can’t just be about stealing the U.S. election.”  They are right, of course, that this is bigger than just power in the United States (although that is part of it).  This is a worldwide power grab.  Worldwide problems need to be created to take away sovereignty from individual countries and consolidate power into a global system.  This is the same reason for the climate change alarmism, and is all part of what is being called The Great Reset.  It is an attempt to centralize power into a one world government.  That might sound familiar to you if you grew up in church.  Prophecies in the books of Daniel and Revelation suggest that in the end times, power will be consolidated under the antichrist and a one world government. 

Speaking of prophecies from Revelation, almost everybody has heard of the mark of the beast.  “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Rev. 13:16-17) Three years ago that would have sounded highly unlikely.  However, for the last two years many of us have been barred from working certain jobs, entering stores and restaurants, traveling on planes or trains, or attending concerts, movies, or sporting events without wearing a mask or showing proof of vaccination.  They are not the actual mark of the beast because they are easy to get around, and the true mark of the beast will not be easily circumvented.  They are also not on our hands or foreheads.  So, while I do not believe that the current mask or vaccine requirements are the mark of the beast, I 100% believe that they are test runs for it and that people are being conditioned to go along with it.  Declining to wear a mask or show proof of vaccination is our moral duty and should help people to decline the mark of the beast in the near future.

Another end times prophecy that I see gaining steam comes early in the tribulation period and is found in Revelation 6:5-6.  It talks about the price of a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley being the equivalent of a full day’s wages.  That sounds to me like out-of-control inflation.  Sound familiar?  With governments creating massive inflation by handing out trillions of dollars and artificially raising minimum wages, our money is now worth less and less.  I won’t be around for the final fulfillment of this prophecy, but our currency is definitely going in the wrong direction.

Some of you might feel anxious and stressed out to be living at this time in world events, but personally, I think it is exciting!  Fortunately, Jesus gives some good news in Matthew 24:14-15. “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”  We are here at this time for a reason; to be a witness to all nations.  We should not be silent.  We should not conform.  Now is the time to courageously stand up to the world and tell the truth.  In fact, I have noticed that people are more receptive to hearing about Jesus right now.  Non-religious friends who I have known for years have started to see the light and turn to God.  Others are asking questions.  Through the events of the last few years, wise people are realizing that something is off and that the Bible has the answers.  If you haven’t yet, now is the time to get your ducks in a row and turn to Jesus.  It may not be long before His return, and you do not want to be on the wrong side at the end.

My Rapture Will

“The world is getting really bad.  I think the rapture will happen within the next 12 years.”  I was dating a girl who made that prediction to me, and that was about 10 years ago.  For those of you who are not familiar, the rapture is the term used to describe when the Lord takes believers out of the world before the seven-year tribulation period prophesied about in the Bible. 

At the time she said that I was pretty skeptical for two reasons.  First, the Bible is clear “that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) and “…that day and hour no one knows.” (Mark 13:32)  That guarantees that the only time we can rule out for the rapture is any specific time when somebody says it will happen.  In her defense, though, she was not predicting a specific day and hour.  She was just guessing a general time frame. 

The other reason was that I looked back at the other times in history where God gave up on us turning it around and realized that He is very patient.  Think about it.  The first time he brought large-scale judgment down on people was the flood.  He waited until Noah and his family were the only ones left worth saving in the entire world.  That is patience!  The other example is when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  In that instance, He told Abraham that He was going to destroy those cities and Abraham negotiated with him.  Abraham asked if God would destroy the city if there were 50 good people there.  God said no.  Then he lowered it to 45.  God said no.  Abraham kept haggling all the way down to 10 good people and God said He would spare the cities for the sake of 10.  In the end, as we know, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because 10 could not be found, and Lot and his daughters were the only ones who survived.  Again, God is patient!

All this being said, I am starting to think that she might not be as far off as I assumed at the time.  It is hard to deny that end-time prophesies are starting to line up so well that it’s hard to believe that anybody can doubt the Bible anymore.  There are even groups who are trying to push for the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, which we know will be there during the tribulation.  With dominos falling like they are it would not surprise me if her 12-year guess was close.  Then again, it could be 100 years away still.  The only certainty is that it’s closer now than ever before, and we should be prepared.

This is what gave me the idea for a rapture will.  I’ve thought about writing a normal will before but put it off because I’m still young, healthy, and extremely attractive. I also think it is a big decision who to leave my money to.  I’m single and have no kids so at this point I do not have a responsibility to take care of anybody.  I used to think about who would have the most fun with it.  As shallow as that sounds, it still matters to me.  I would not want it to be wasted on somebody who follows the lockdown rules and sits inside hiding.  I want it to be enjoyed.  On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to leave it all to someone who would blow through it all on frivolous stuff like caviar and spider monkeys.  One spider monkey, fine, but definitely not plural.  Ultimately, what I really want is to leave my money to people who will use it for the most important purpose there is, to bring people to God so that they end up in Heaven.  This makes the obvious heirs to my inheritance have one necessary quality.  They must be good Christians. 

This works when deciding on my normal will, but a big problem arises when it comes to a rapture will.  All of the other good Christians will have been whooshed away with me.  I can’t leave it to my parents because they will also be gone.  Any Christian friends will have also disappeared.  It would be pointless to leave it to my church because any true believers there will be with me.  Unfortunately, I do have family members who may not believe and will still be around, but I do not want to give my money to someone who will not use it to spread the truth about what is going on and how to be saved.  It sounds like I may as well just burn the money, doesn’t it?  Wrong!  I figured out a way to at least make an educated guess as to who to leave my inheritance to. 

To do this we have to look at what we do know about the seven-year tribulation period after the rapture.  We know that although Christians will have been removed from the world and the antichrist will be ruling, many people will realize that they missed the boat and will turn to God.  Further, Revelation 7:1-8 tells us that 144,000 people will be sealed as servants of God during that time; 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel.  So, we know for a fact that 144,000 Jews will realize that Jesus is the Messiah and will become witnesses who bring others to Him during this time. 

Now that we have this information to go on, I can narrow down who to set as my beneficiary.  Since it has to be somebody who will be left behind, and I want the biggest probability that my inheritance is used to further the Kingdom of God, I will leave my money to a Jewish person who is both smart and preferably someone who has influence.  My mind instantly went to my favorite radio personality and founder of Prager University, Dennis Prager, and another great mind and founder of The Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro. 

I have to admit, this was supposed to be the end of the article.  Then I noticed Revelation 14:4, which says of the 144,000, “These are the ones who were not defiled by women, for they are virgins.”  That throws off my plan since both Prager and Shapiro have children.  They will not be part of the “sealed” group mentioned in Revelation.  Fortunately, this does not mean they will not be saved.  Revelation 14:9-17 tells us that a “great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,” will be saved during the tribulation. 

Knowing all of this, here is what I have decided for my rapture will.  If at any time I go missing, and so do many other Christians including my parents, my sister Amber, and some Christian public figures like Pastor Jack Hibbs, Vice President Mike Pence, and Tim Tebow, then my money should be split evenly between Dennis Prager and Ben Shapiro.  Since I have no way of knowing who are virgins, I have to take a chance that Prager and Shapiro will be part of the “great multitude” of converts.  I know that they are both wise men who study the Torah (the Old Testament to Christians) and I think that makes them a better bet than most.  However, if you see Ben Shapiro at the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem with a spider monkey on each shoulder, you know I made an incorrect choice.