Have you ever thought about what the moments after the rapture will look like?
NOTE: If you’re doctrine of “it’s not for us to know” just kicked in, then please allow me to do you a favor – stop here and move on to something else – otherwise this is going to seem very strange and unfathomable for you ( but I do pray that you would give the facts a chance – truly…)
For those of you who a) believe that the bible is the inerrant word of God, and b) have opened your thinking to actually believe that God is really coming for his Bride, and is literally pelting us with signs all around that He is coming very soon, then please think along with me.
Back to the original question – have you thought about what the condition of the world will be moments after the rapture (harpazo, ‘snatching-up’) of the church will be like? I was giving it some thought today – and if you think about it, the ugly condition of the world described as the tribulation is a little bit easier to imagine. And I think it some of that “ugly” is something that happens a lot more suddenly.
Think with me on this…
Let’s do something difficult, and lets try to figure out how many Christians that fall into the classification of being those that Christ claims are “His own,” and not those that he will say as in Matthew 7:23: “ …I never knew you. Depart you from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Wait.. What?
Oh sorry, yeah, I don’t think the 75% of the American Population that writes “Christian” in the “Religion” blank on government forms meet the qualification of being someone that Jesus “knows.” And that is the great debate – that we’re not going to go into here – but “claiming” the name of Jesus seems to be a lot different in Jesus’ eyes than “knowing” Him – in fact, simply claiming His name (acknowledging He exists) is more like “knowing OF Him” than actually “knowing Him.” Knowing tends to imply relationship, and relationship requires time, effort, and risk. Bottom line, if you are not sure if He “knows” you – now would be an excellent time to call out to Him now for clarification.”
Now we have another very difficult task. We have to “ball park” how many people we think will actually be a part of the snatching away event. Let’s focus on the US. With some exceptions, the US will likely have a higher percentage of “rapture candidates” than many european countries – where the falling away from God has progressed even further than our own since the founding of this country. We are going to have to do some “guesstimation” and we will probably be way off one way or another, but the point should still illustrate.
Gallup says (as of 2015) that 75% of Americans “identify with a Christian religion.”
Wikipedia says the current population of the US ( November 2017) is about 326 Million
Keep in mind that 77 Million (Pew Research) identify with Catholicism Pew Research 2014) and there may be a significant portion of that number that are not known by Jesus.
Please don’t throw tomatoes at me, Im just the messenger! But do know that Catholicism teaches a works-based faith with deification of many other players than Christ – and the bible warns us against that type of thing, so some percentage of this number may not “qualify” for the rapture. In truth, it is similar to those that go to church every Sunday at a protestant church, and don’t personally know Jesus – so please don’t shoot the messenger! Again check with Jesus to confirm your qualifications!
Only God knows these numbers, but for our little illustration, lets take a shot at some math. I realize your math may be significantly different than mine, please feel free to substitute your own – the illustration will work either way.
Let’s consider the following numbers (rounded off.)
US Population: 326 Million
75% “Identify” with Christ 245 Million
Self-Identified with Catholicism 76.7 Million
Church attendance (2013) 37% of Americans, or 121 Million
Simply for illustration purposes, lets “low ball” the number at 25 Million people that “”Know” Christ as in Matthew 7:23 and Romans 10:9. Again for illustration purposes only – the actually number may be much less, and the problem lessens somewhat (it could also be much more, and the problem worsens significantly.) In either case, I think you will see that the world will become a VERY different place after that moment that the Church is snatched away.
Here are just a few of the innumerable issues that will immediately become apparent.
Immediate issues:
- Roads will immediately be gridlocked with driver-less cars and trucks resulting in tens of thousands of crashes within moments. There may be cars with Christian drivers – and non-christian passengers that are about to be in for quite the ride. Imagine having to navigate around cars crashing all around you, from the passenger seat of a driverless car. Unfortunately, there will be deaths.
- Airplanes – a broad estimate is that 500,000 passengers are in the air at any one time. If we go with 200 passengers per flight, that leaves 2500 aircraft in the air at any one time. Some percentage of those aircraft will have both a captain and first officer as Christ-followers. That airplane (and it’s 200 passengers) will immediately become pilotless. If that happens at altitude, survivability will be somewhat higher, but if it happens on approach (or even shortly after takeoff) the results could be disastrous.
- Utilities like water and sewage treatment plants will immediately become short-handed – and any real-time decisions that are not automated will become un-monitored for a time. Power plants will be in the same position, and the rather active electrical power trading grid will be at huge risk for load imbalance. Imagine unmonitored (or under-monitored) nuclear power plants?
- Panic will ensue, and pandemonium will follow as people disappear. The world will be without 25 million watchdogs, so crimes like looting will immediately occur (unlocked unmonitored facilities, wallets left behind, homes left open, etc.)
- Factories that have flame or chemical processes that are human controlled & monitored will suddenly become un-monitored, resulting in some cases in disaster.
Issues over time:
- The world will have lost 25 Million people. That’s 13% of the population. That’s over 1 in every 10 people. This will have a detrimental effect on manufacturing, industry, and business. I believe that it could be significant enough to crash the US markets – as the US will have lost 13% of it’s output capability, without the ability to “backfill” for quite some time.
- The US will have also lost 13% of it’s consumer base – which is a much larger percentage than the profit margin that many corporations operate with. This could also further markets to crash. Corporations would cease to exist, and where several in the same industry were to fold, there would be shortages especially in commodity items.
If we take this thought to the world population, it gets even worse. Countries that depend on US exports will experience supply-chain shortages shortly after the Rapture. Also US exports will drop significantly, as a large percentage of the workforce will have disappeared.
This is just the first layer. You can take a similar thought process to just about any area that you come into contact with on a daily basis, and you will see a similar crisis. Add to this that the bible says “the restrainer” leaves the earth as well during the rapture. Many believe The Restrainer is the Holy Spirit that dwells within each and every Christian – and that spirit is what repels evil in the world at the level we experience today. Once that force leaves, Satan is free to run wild and do his thing. I would expect martial law and one-world government forces to swing into high gear, and with that bring their one-world religion which will have a fertile ground to grow in after the mysterious and miraculous disappearance of almost 10% of the population.
Please don’t stall out on my estimates of the Christian population – whether it’s 5 million or 100 million, this illustration still works – it just gets even worse the more Christians that are actually raptured away.
This will not be a fun time for sure. My purpose was not to scare anyone, but to take time to consider what a world with and without Christians will look like – both the immediate effect and the long term effect. I also want to remind everyone that each and every one of us has a choice. We can choose to accept Jesus and his work on the cross for us immediately. Once we do that, we now do not have to experience the post-rapture horrors – as we will be in another place. If you’ve fallen away from Jesus, or don’t know Him at all, won’t you consider asking Him to come into your life? You have absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
Please consider choosing to not be left behind…
Much love,
~Bryan
p.s. If this kind of supernatural talk bothers the scientific types that struggle with miraculous signs and wonders, consider this: we are made up of energy. Energy does not “go away” it just changes form. We are energy for eternity. In that light, “eternal” life can take on a new meaning. So can eternal damnation. Choose wisely dear friends!