Have you ever wondered during the past few months if the seven-year tribulation has already begun? I know that it hasn’t yet started because Scripture says that we will be with the Lord before the antichrist establishes a covenant with Israel that starts the clock ticking for this time of God’s wrath (Dan. 9:27; 2 Thess. 2:3-8).
Perhaps the strongest indicator of the season is this: many events the Bible describes as happening in the last days seem to be right on the brink of coming to full fruition. It’s as if the stage is all set and we are just waiting for the curtain to rise and the actors to appear. If it were a musical production, we would already hear the orchestra playing the overture.
The world is abuzz with the news that President Trump ordered a deadly and successful strike on Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian military general who was directly responsible for the killing of hundreds of American soldiers in the past couple decades. Iran had charged Soleimani with the task of annihilating Israel and attacking the United States bases in Iraq.
I could not have written this article several months ago. Although I had no doubts about the biblical truth of premillennialism, I did not fully comprehend the perils of denying Jesus’ thousand year’ reign over the nations of the world as described in Revelation 20:1-10 and Zechariah 14. The denial of Jesus’ rule over a restored Israel is known as amillennialism.
Because Jesus hadn’t come, many Christians began to openly doubt whether He ever would. Why? I believe there are at least two reasons. First, we live in a culture that demands instant gratification. We don’t like to wait as little as two minutes for a microwave to cook a meal it took our grandparents half a day to prepare. We’re impatient, and we’re used to getting what we want when we want.
Some believers serve to glorify Jesus, and they will be rewarded for honoring Him (gold, silver and precious stones); but others serve to glorify themselves, and their works will be worthless and destroyed (burned up like wood, hay and stubble).
We can’t know the exact date, but the date the Son of God hung on a cross, died, was buried and rose again has touched the world like no date before or after. The date the King of kings and Lord of lords returns will have no equal, and this is another date we cannot pinpoint at this time. Yet, there is a third date that falls between the cross and the return of Jesus Christ at the end of the seven year period commonly known as the Tribulation. This date is known as the Rapture.
One of Satan’s greatest weapons against a child of God is to inflict them with doubt. Sometimes we are either ashamed or afraid to admit that we have doubts, but we all have them. (Some will say they never have any doubts, but I find that hard to believe. We are all human.)
I have often said (and heard people say), “I think the Rapture is close,” “We are SOOO close,” “I don’t see how the Rapture could not be close,” and more.