In the book of Genesis, we learn about a righteous servant of the Lord named Enoch. The Bible tells us that “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). In other words, Enoch obeyed the word of the Lord while living his physical life on earth, and then the Lord decided that rather than requiring Enoch to die physically before going to heaven, he would simply snatch Enoch away while he was still physically alive. The book of Hebrews confirms this interpretation. “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God” (Hebrews 11:5). Think about that for a moment. The Lord was so pleased with Enoch that he made him the first example of a person raptured from the earth. Enoch, however, was not the last.
In the book of 2 Kings, we read about the Hebrew prophet Elijah. The Lord was so pleased with Elijah that he sent a chariot of fire to whisk the prophet away to heaven while he was still alive and walking alongside his young protégé, Elisha. “As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, ‘My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan” (2 Kings 2:11-13). The text goes on to tell us that fifty Israelites then proceeded to search for the living Elijah—or at least his dead body—for three full days, but they were unable to find him. Why? Because Elijah had not simply been moved to another location by the Lord. Elijah had not physically died. He had become the second person in the Bible to be raptured.
The Lord Jesus himself gives us the picture of another type of rapture. While the circumstances are not precisely the same as what the apostle Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians, they do shed some light on what the Rapture will be like. Christ, of course, was crucified, killed, and buried. Then he was raised from the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures. After that, he spent time with the believers on earth. During that time, he had a real body, but it was a body that had been dramatically changed. For example, the Lord Jesus spoke, walked, ate, cooked, and traveled with those he loved. He had real flesh and blood, as he demonstrated to Doubting Thomas in John chapter 20. But he also appeared, disappeared, and walked through walls.
In Acts 1, Christ beautifully and amazingly demonstrated this type of rapture:
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
ACTS 1:9-11
Can you imagine that? One moment Jesus was talking to his disciples on the Mount of Olives. The next moment he was floating up to heaven through the clouds. Someday soon, believers will experience something very similar.
Not every Christian has studied these Scriptures about the Rapture, or understands them, or believes them. Nevertheless, the Bible teaches that every single person who has received the free gift of forgiveness and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ—and who is physically alive when the Lord decides the moment has come—will be caught up from the earth to meet Jesus in the air. What a glorious thing that will be. I hope it happens in my lifetime. I am really looking forward to it, as are my wife and children. We are eager to see the Lord Jesus face-to-face. We are excited about his return and amazed by these promises he has made us.
If the Lord had called the church to go through the Tribulation, then we would endure it willingly and for his glory. We would do so knowing that the Holy Spirit would give each of us the strength, the courage, the boldness, and the words to witness for Jesus Christ in the darkest hours of human history. After all, the Lord Jesus tells us what he told the apostle Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). At the end of Matthew 28, Christ said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Then He commanded us, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” And he promised, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (vv. 18-20). So we may be assured of his grace, mercy, love, and presence through all circumstances.
But the Lord didn’t call believers to endure the Tribulation. Instead, he promised to remove the church before the wrath comes. For this we are grateful, and we want more believers to know and understand and be encouraged by these powerful promises.
The Rapture will be a great blessing for believers in the last days. But there will be serious implications for all countries, including the United States.
What Will Happen to America after the Rapture?
As we have seen, when the Rapture occurs, every single American who is a born-again believer in Jesus Christ will suddenly disappear. This will cause enormous disorientation and disruption for all the unbelievers who are left behind as their lives suddenly change and they are forced to handle the aftermath and adapt to the new and rapidly shifting conditions.
Think of how dramatically life in the United States changed after we lost some three thousand Americans on September 11, 2001. First and foremost, the emotional impact was devastating. Then the way we travel changed. The way we conduct foreign policy changed. Our economy changed. Our government institutions changed. So many areas of life changed that it is difficult to adequately categorize them, much less catalog them.
Now try to imagine the U.S. losing a million people in the blink of an eye. Or 5 million people. Or 25 million people. Or more.
If you’re riding in a car driven by a believer who suddenly disappears, that car very well could crash. If you’re on a plane flown by believers who suddenly disappear, that plane also could crash. Highly valuable and experienced military commanders and business leaders and medical professionals will disappear, perhaps in the middle of critical projects or medical procedures. The impact will be catastrophic.
Consider, too, the emotional devastation for people who suddenly and irretrievably lose a spouse, children, parents, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and other loved ones. There will be no long illnesses during which one can get prepared, no dead bodies to identify, no human way to find closure. Consider the horror that will be experienced by millions of people who long described themselves as Christians but suddenly realize that they were not included in the Rapture, people who realize that they never actually received for themselves the free gift of forgiveness and salvation offered by Jesus Christ. Consider how sickened they will feel when they realize that despite having gone to church and perhaps having occasionally read the Bible and done good works and been “religious” in some way, they never really understood or accepted God’s simple plan of salvation.
Consider, too, the terror felt by atheists and agnostics and people of other religions when they see their country and their world imploding and realize that their family members and friends who had been followers of Jesus Christ were right, and thus are gone, but that they themselves were left to face the wrath to come. Can such people fall on their knees the minute after the Rapture and receive Christ’s free gift of salvation for themselves? Absolutely, and they should. If they do, the Bible teaches that their sins will be instantly forgiven and their souls saved forever. They can know without the shadow of a doubt that they are going to heaven when they die and will spend eternity with Christ Jesus, not in the lake of fire with no way of escape. But as wonderful and real and true as all that redemption will be, such people who receive Christ as their Savior and Lord after the Rapture will
also be struck by the daunting realization that they and their remaining family members and friends and neighbors will have to endure previously unimaginable suffering in a country that will neither be nor seem like anything they have ever known, a country that has neither the strength nor the will to oppose the Antichrist or the persecution that is coming.
Imagine, too, the economic implications of the Rapture. If you think U.S. banks have a foreclosure problem now as millions of Americans cannot afford to pay their mortgages, imagine what will happen when millions of American homeowners suddenly disappear, never to make another mortgage payment again. What will happen when millions of business owners are suddenly no longer around to pay their bills? Or pay their employees? Or continue delivering vital goods and services? What will happen to the federal government when millions of taxpayers are no longer providing Washington much-needed revenues? What will happen to state governments? What will happen when nonprofit agencies and medical clinics and hospitals that care for the poor and needy here in the United States and are run by and funded by believers suddenly stop operating? What will happen when humanitarian relief organizations and adoption agencies and other charitable organizations that are run by and funded by believers in Jesus Christ stand empty? Those who sneer at Christianity and mock the do-gooders and the missionaries will suddenly realize how much of a blessing believers actually have been in the U.S. and around the world.
All of this traumatic change in the United States will be compounded by the fact that hundreds of millions of believers around the world—possibly a billion people or more—will have suddenly disappeared at the exact same moment. They will stop returning phone calls and e-mails. They will stop paying their bills and compensating their employees. They will stop being a force for good and hope in the world. They will simply be gone.
The foreign-policy implications for the U.S. must also be considered. With such an immediate, enormous, and unprecedented shock to American society and economy from the loss of millions of people, it is difficult to imagine how the U.S. could remain a superpower. How could we quickly replace all our Christian intelligence and foreign-policy officials who would suddenly be gone? How could we quickly replace all the officers and NCOs throughout the ranks of our military who are born-again believers? With all the resulting chaos and dislocation caused by the Rapture, how could the U.S. move rapidly and effectively to defend a threatened or invaded ally or defend our vital interests around the world? How could we defend our own homeland?
Are You Ready?
The question is not whether the Rapture will occur. The question is whether you will be spiritually ready to meet Jesus Christ face-to-face when it happens and be caught up in the air with him and all believers, or whether you will not be ready and have to remain on earth to face the wrath of the Tribulation.
If you’re not 100 percent certain at this point in your life that your sins are forgiven, that your soul is saved, and that you will go to heaven whether you face natural death or the Rapture, then may I encourage you to read the following verses and receive Jesus Christ right now as your personal Savior and Lord?
• In John 3:3, the Lord Jesus told a religious leader who came to him seeking spiritual guidance, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” One’s physical birth into a religious family, Jesus was saying, is not enough. Nor is being a very religious person. Nor even a religious leader. Something else has to happen on the inside. Thus, as you read the New Testament, it becomes clear that born again is a biblical term referring to a person who 1) is fully convinced that faith in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead is the only way to be forgiven of his sins and adopted into God’s family; and 2) has consciously, willfully, and purposefully asked God through prayer to wash his sins away and save him through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• In John 1:12, we learn that “as many as received Him [Jesus Christ], to them He gave the right to become children of God.”
• Jesus said in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
• In Romans 10:9-10, the apostle Paul explains how to be born again: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
• Then, in 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, Paul tells us the result of being born again: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
• In Revelation 3:20, Christ encourages you to make this decision immediately and not to refuse him or shut him out of your life any longer. “Behold, I [Jesus] stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”
Would you like to make that decision? You can receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord right now. Here is a suggested prayer that has been helpful to many people all over the world—including my father and me—in becoming followers of Christ and in sharing the gospel with others. The key is not so much the precise words as the attitude of your heart.
Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me. Thank you for having a wonderful plan and purpose for my life. I need you today—I need you to forgive me for all of my sins. Thank you for dying on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins. Thank you for rising again from the dead and proving that you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life and the only way to get to heaven. I open the door of my heart and my life right now. I receive you as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Please change my life. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. Please take control of my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be so I can serve you and please you forever. Thank you so much. I love you, and I want to follow you. Amen.
If you just prayed with sincere faith in Christ’s death and resurrection, then congratulations! You’ve just been adopted into God’s family. Welcome! Let me give you a quick snapshot of seven wonderful things that have just happened.
1. You have a new spiritual life. The apostle Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
2. You have made everyone in heaven happy. According to the words of Jesus in Luke 15:10, there is great rejoicing in heaven because you have become a follower of the living God. “I tell you,” Jesus said, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
3. You are going to heaven when you die or when the Rapture happens. According to the words of Jesus in John 3:16, you now have eternal life. You will not go to hell and perish eternally when you die physically. Rather, you will go to heaven and live forever with God and with all those who have been adopted into his family through faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, the New Testament was written precisely to show people how to find eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. As we read in 1 John 5:13, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” God wants you to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are now forever safe in his family. Take confidence in his promises.
4. You have the Holy Spirit living within you. According to the words of the apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:13-14, your salvation has been sealed and secured forever by God’s Holy Spirit, who now lives within you. “In Him [Jesus Christ], you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
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5. You have access to a supernatural source of peace. According to Philippians 4:7, you now have access to a supernatural peace with God and internal peace of mind, regardless of whatever external circumstances come your way. “The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
6. You have access to a supernatural source of hope. According to the words of Hebrews 6:18-19, all followers of Jesus Christ are encouraged to “take hold of the hope set before us” and to view “this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast.”
7. You have access to God’s supernatural wisdom. According to James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Now, I strongly encourage you to find some people who also love Jesus and are his faithful followers and tell them what you have just done. Allow them to rejoice with you, and ask them to help you find a good, solid, Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church congregation where you can begin attending. Start asking the Lord for an older, wiser follower of Christ to begin discipling you—that is, to begin teaching you the Scriptures, answering your questions, praying with you, and encouraging you to actually put into practice in your life all that the Lord teaches us in the Bible.
I would also encourage you to choose three people who are not born again and tell them what you’ve just discovered about God’s love and forgiveness and why you chose to receive Christ into your life and become his follower. Answer their questions as best you can. Perhaps give them a copy of this book to help them understand why you’ve made this decision. Better yet, find out if they have a Bible, and if they don’t, offer to go to a bookstore and help them pick one out to begin studying and reading on their own. Now is not the time to keep the miracle that has just happened in your life to yourself—go tell people! And don’t stop at three. Tell as many as will listen. Tell them lovingly and gently. Don’t force it down their throats, of course. But don’t be shy, either. They need to know these truths and make a choice one way or the other, just like you did.