In The Aftermath Of The Rapture
Pastor Leslie Chua
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
The rapture of the church is perhaps one of the most exciting and fascinating topics in the Bible. Admittedly, it is also somewhat controversial. But it should not be because the New Testament Scripture mentions it specifically (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55).
Rapture is the catching away of the saints to the clouds and then immediately afterward, they will be taken to heaven. The rapture will take place stealthily and suddenly without warning. It will take the saints, including the world, by surprise.
Whenever, we discuss the subject of the rapture, the focus is mostly on its timing relative to the 7-year Tribulation. Will it occur before, sometime in the middle, or at the end of the Tribulation? But hardly has anyone thought about what will happen in the aftermath of the rapture.
So, why don’t we imagine together what will take place in the aftermath of the rapture?
The World is Stunned
Millions of Christians will disappear suddenly without any warning. They will vanish mysteriously in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-52) leaving no trace behind. It is as if they just vaporise into the thin air. Nothing like that has ever happened before.
It is a colossal understatement to say that the world will be left stunned. From the cable television networks to the newspapers and the social media, everybody will be asking, “What in the world happened?”
Some people will see their spouses, parents, children, colleagues, and friends vanish before their eyes. One moment they are chatting away happily with them, and the next moment, they are gone. It will be that surreal. As Jesus said, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be griding at the mill; one will be taken and one left” (Matthew 24:40-41).
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Millions of Christians will disappear suddenly without any warning. They will vanish mysteriously in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-52) leaving no trace behind. It is as if they just vaporise into the thin air. Nothing like that has ever happened before.
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Others may be sleeping only to wake up to find their loved ones missing. Still others will find out the shocking truth from the news, social media, and text messages.
Everyone will be visibly shaken, confused, and frightened. Nobody has the slightest clue what happens.
Chaos & Pandemonium
Before anyone can catch their breath, news of widespread disasters will begin to flood the airwaves. Reports of countless traffic accidents, plane crashes, communication jams, and so on will come in fast and furious from all over the world. Every city and every country in the world will be similarly affected.
The curious findings on the scenes of accidents and breakdowns will reveal the same cause: missing drivers, missing pilots, missing air traffic controllers, and missing personnel.
Police and hospital hotlines will be inundated with frantic calls for help. Sirens will blare on the roads and highways throughout the day and night. Hospitals and all emergency assistance centres will not be able to cope with the quickly escalating crises. Part of the capacity problems has to do with missing doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers.
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Before anyone can catch their breath, news of widespread disasters will begin to flood the airwaves. Reports of countless traffic accidents, plane crashes, communication jams, and so on will come in fast and furious from all over the world. Every city and every country in the world will be similarly affected.
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The crises will worsen as manpower shortages hit every industry and facility. Soon, all manufacturing activities, food supplies, transportation, supply chains, and the like will be affected. The service sector will also be severely crippled. The sudden massive loss of personnel, especially mission-critical ones, will cripple systems and operations.
Trade, business activities, and the economy will grind quickly to a near halt. It will take months before some semblance of normality will return.
As is always the case, when deep crises of this nature hit, the social order will be badly affected. Crime rates will soar. There will be looting of shops, robbery in the streets, and protests outside government offices. Chaos, pandemonium, and anarchy will break out in many cities around the world.
Besides having to deal with grief and shock over the loss of their loved ones, people will be overcome with fear and anxiety. What is going to happen next? Some will go berserk, Never before in human history has the world witnessed such a level of desperation and hysteria. No word can adequately describe the sense of despair and hopelessness.
Seeking for Answers
People will be asking questions. Governments and political leaders will be scrambling for answers. News networks and social media giants will feature interviews with government officials, military leaders, expert panels, and pundits to provide answers. However, there will be no satisfactory answers but only speculations.
Some people will recall their Christian friends telling them about the mysterious event of the rapture. They had previously dismissed the rapture idea as laughable but now it appears to be the most plausible explanation. These people will begin to seriously consider the gospel message and the claims of Jesus.
Many professing Christians instinctively know what has happened. They have missed the rapture. It will be a rude awakening for them. “Why are we left behind?” they will ask.
They will recall biblical passages such as Jesus’ warning - “Not everybody who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven…’” (Matthew 7:21-23) - and Paul’s admonitions – ‘Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith’ (2 Corinthians 13:5) and ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling’ (Philippians 2:12).
They professed Christ, but they did not have a meaningful relationship with Him. They attended church, but they were never serious with God. They were spiritually indifferent and at best lukewarm in their faith.
Fear grips these believers who are left behind. Some of them will feel remorseful while some will be puzzled. They will ask, “Didn’t I receive Jesus as my Lord and Saviour? Didn’t my pastor say that all I needed to do was to say the sinner’s prayer and I would be saved?”
Well, while they have missed the boat, it is still not too late to be saved if they will genuinely repent and follow Christ. It will be extremely tough going for Christians during the Tribulation. They will have to endure suffering and persevere till the end.
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They will likely say that the phenomenon is a case of alien abduction. This will be the mainstream narrative. With one voice, the governments, military establishments, and space agencies with the help of the media and Big Tech will sing the same tune.
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Soon, the national governments and the Antichrist’s one-world government will come up with the official explanation for the mass disappearance of Christians worldwide.
Of course, they will never say that it is the rapture of the church as predicted in the Bible. Instead, they will frame it as a paranormal event. They will likely say that the phenomenon is a case of alien abduction. This will be the mainstream narrative. With one voice, the governments, military establishments, and space agencies with the help of the media and Big Tech will sing the same tune.
Many people will buy into the lie because the ground would have already been prepared.
Consider the slew of disclosures concerning UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) and UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) made recently by the U.S. government. Recently. the U.S. Congress has also conducted a hearing into the claims by whistleblowers that the U.S. government was in possession of alien bodies and vehicles.
Back to the mainstream narrative, they will also warn people to anticipate more alien activities, including devastating attacks, going forward. These assaults will come in the form of natural catastrophes, unusual astronomical and weather events, destruction of farmlands and water and food supplies, pandemics, and even overt alien manifestations and strikes.
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In this scenario, many people will treat God as a wicked alien force that is destroying the earth and its inhabitants. Divine judgements will be framed as extraterrestrial attacks.
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Consider the events occurring during the 7-year Tribulations (Revelation 6-18). All these events will happen causing the people to further believe in the lies and sink deeper into deception.
In this scenario, many people will treat God as a wicked alien force that is destroying the earth and its inhabitants. Divine judgements will be framed as extraterrestrial attacks. This is a reason many people will refuse to repent during the Tribulation despite knowing that God is the One who inflicts the terrifying judgements (Revelation 6:15-17; 9:20-21; 16:10-11, 21).
Bearing Witness
While the church has been raptured, God will not leave the world to be without any witness. He will raise 144,000 evangelists of Jewish origins to go around the world to bear witness for Him (Revelation 7:2-8; 13:1-5). These anointed witnesses will preach the good news and counter the deceptive mainstream narrative of alien abduction. They will explain the rationale behind the terrifying divine judgements.
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So, my dear friends, start talking about the rapture and the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with your unbelieving loved ones and friends. You never know if it will come in useful someday.
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Christians should also be playing our part in bearing witness to the full gospel now. Not just talking about the cross and Christ’s death and resurrection but also proclaiming that Jesus is coming back to rapture the church and then, to judge and rule over the world.
Even if our loved ones and friends do not accept the gospel message now, it will serve as a witness to them in the aftermath of the rapture. They will remember what we had said about the rapture event, and it will convince them that God is real and our testimony of the gospel is true.
So, my dear friends, start talking about the rapture and the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with your unbelieving loved ones and friends. You never know if it will come in useful someday.