Remember the story of Esther? She was the Queen of Persia during the time when the King had been talked into issuing a decree that all the Jews were to be murdered on a certain day. She was Jewish and her Uncle Mordecai told her she needed to go to the King and get him to issue a counter decree against it. Esther was not willing to do so because the law of the land was such that if someone went to see the King without him having sent for you, you could be put to death. Her Uncle’s response to her was basically, “How do you know that you weren’t made for a time such as this?”
We have all been deliberately been put here on earth by God for such a time as this.
The End Times.
As Mordecai said to Esther in her reluctance to approach the king, “Do not think that if you do nothing that you alone will escape.”
I fear that there is a complacent mind set among the majority of Christians that we alone will escape the just-around-the-corner seven year Tribulation because we’ll be raptured out of here.
Don’t bet on it.
I say that for two primary reasons:
1) Yes, there are a number of Bible passages that point in the direction of a pre-tribulation rapture, and I hope it’s true, but the evidence isn’t as strong as many would like to believe it to be.
2) Even if the Rapture does occur prior to the start of the Tribulation, we will not be immune to the painful global conditions leading up to it. They have already started.
This blog has had nothing new added to it for a number of weeks. That isn’t because there’s nothing to talk about, the fact is that there is sooooo much to talk about. The reason for the silence is that I have had a most insanely busy fall. My apologies.
In preparation for God’s nudge to get back to the blog, I re-read the purpose statement for ringingthebell.org
“The purpose for this blog is to wake up The Church. Jesus is coming back. Soon. It’s time for The Church to get serious about God’s prophetic word regarding His Second Coming. This blog will try to explain – at an overview level – what the Bible says about the times leading up to His Second Coming”
Two and a half years ago, at the beginning of Covid, when this blog started it was easy for me to see how most Christians would be unaware of how very, very close we are to the beginning of the Tribulation. Overwhelmingly, prophecy scholars agree that Covid was the tipping event that sent us into the full blown End Times. Not the Tribulation, but the five or ten years leading up to the Tribulation. Today I find myself dumbfounded that Christians are still not seeing that we have moved into the End Times.
How can people not see it? Is it because of not paying attention to what’s going on in the world? Is it because Christians tend not to study the Biblical prophecies? Is it because of willful ignorance? Is it because they are betting their livres and the lives of their families and friends on a pre-Trib rapture?
The pastor at the church I attend has been teaching on the Book of Revelation for many months. He told me that some people say to him, “Isn’t it great that we will not be going through any of these judgements because of the pre-Trib Rapture?” His response? “Maybe.”
At the time I am writing this the mid-term elections are just over but it is not yet known what the balance of power in Congress is going to look like. Frankly, I don’t think it matters. God has a plan; it is outlined in the Bible. It is a perfect, albeit sometimes painful, plan that is not in the least dependent on man’s election choices. The prophecies of the coming judgements will roll out exactly as He said they would.
We are in for a rough ride in the coming months and years. Food is going to become more and more scarce and therefore more and more expensive. The cost of fuel for both heating and transportation is going to continue to climb. Access to our money – if we even have some – will be severely restricted and probably more and more worthless. Want to know what we’re in for? Look at Europe this winter because that’s our 2023-2024 winter on steroids.
So pre-Trib Rapture or not, it’s time to get our heads in the game. We should feel privileged that He trusts us to get the job done – spreading the gospel.
God put you and me here on earth for such a time as this.
Act accordingly.
Please, neither offhandedly accept nor reject what is said in this blog. Check it out. Look it up for yourself in the Bible. If you are a child of God, you are in good hands and there is the most wonderful eternity waiting for you. If you are not a Christ follower, now is a really good time to honestly explore the truth claims of the Bible.
Ringing the Bell 