The whole idea that God will simply pull HIS people and leave everyone else on Earth is weird. I do not think God is going to abandon Earth.
Ultimately, God won’t abandon earth. But between now and the resolution of certain difficulties . . . . . .
No offence, but maybe it’s weird for anyone who doesn’t believe in The Bible.
But for those who do, there’s I Thessalonians 4:16-17,
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we EVER be with the Lord.
Again, may sound weird to those who choose not to believe, but it IS what the Book says. There’s no refuting that.
The idea is that He is not abandoning Earth. He is pulling his people out of harm’s way before unleashing judgement... sort of like He did for Lot and Noah.
[I do not think God is going to abandon Earth.]
The Bible says “As in the days of Noah” “As in the days of Lot”
Noah and Lot both escaped the wrath of God. We’re down to the end of the Book.
He isn’t going to. The Church will be taken away, allowing the anti-Christ to be revealed. Anti-Christ will not be revealed until the church has been removed and is no longer stopping the evil.
I do not think God is going to abandon Earth.
“The whole idea that God will simply pull HIS people and leave everyone else on Earth is weird. I do not think God is going to abandon Earth.”
Christ’s return for his bride precedes the tribulation judgement on those who remain.
God’s judgement is not hard to believe. It was foretold.
If you read the Bible, you would not be surprised that God discriminates. He’s not politically correct at all. He discriminates more than Born Agains think, too. I figure He’ll do what he wants...
First, I don’t believe God takes Christians off the earth before the time of wrath and the return of the Messiah. The “bond-servants of our God” who are to survive the time of wrath are sealed on their foreheads after the seven seals are opened (Rev 6). They are not to be tormented by the evil locusts but they do experience the other traumatic events of Rev 8. As stated in ch 7, they hunger, thirst, experience extreme heat from the sun and cry a lot.
The servants of God are never abandoned and those who die during the tribulation are those who are resurrected at the return of Jesus and rule with Him. The rest of the dead (before and after the tribulation) are resurrected at the end of the reign of Jesus. (Rev 20:4-6)
Those servants who “come out of” the tribulation serve Him in His temple for eternity (Rev 7). The rest of the Children of God serve Him outside the temple in the Great City. It is so much fun thinking about when heaven and earth are finally one place. Living with God. What a place of peace and love and joy.
He is pretty much going to destroy the earth as we know it...The destruction will be worse than anything ever experienced before, beyond our imagination...Yet, millions will survive...
And yes, God pulls his church off the earth while this devastation takes place...The church then returns to the earth with Jesus...
Very good article. I have always thought there was something wrong with the teaching that God would pull his people out of the Earth before things got hinky. It just isn’t a pattern that scripture supports. Am not a Catholic, but virtually agree with the writer on every point he made.