The Day of the Rapture (A Short Story)

 

To the world, it was a day like any other day.  The news headlines all around the globe contained the same things they always did; suicide bombings in Iraq killed 60 people; stock markets in eastern Asia tumbled;  the US may be headed for recession.  All things we had seen time and again over the past 5, 10, even 30 years. 

 

In Florida, where I lived, the same was true.  The news, as usual, talked about local politics and the numerous auto accidents that took 5 lives. And there was once again, the new overnight murders that had become too expected every day. It was just another day.

 

And every day at work for what seemed like the past 5 years, had turned into a need for sales.  It didn't matter what business you were in, it seemed it was all about sales.  Everybody was trying to figure out where the next commission was coming from; and how they could create the largest commission possible, with the least amount of resistance from the client to still get the sale.  It was getting very tiresome.

 

More and more though, between the news headlines and the daily grind at work, I found myself asking the  same questions over and over in the past few years:

 

What is it about this world that I still find worthwhile?

Why is it that with each passing year, this world sinks deeper into a cesspool of immorality and a quagmire of international politics;  not to mention the wars and rumors of wars; the weird weather in the US; the earthquakes and sunamis all around the world.  What's going on!!

 

And, the really big question: When will Jesus Christ return for His church?  How much longer will we have to wait?  Finding good and comforting answers was a fleeting exercise.

 

But the day of the Rapture was truly a beautiful day.  The sky was so blue.  Not a single cloud.  The temperature was comfortable and the  humidity was still low, just before the hot humid months that would follow the Easter season here in Florida.  As a matter of fact, spring that year seemed like it came early.  I swear the azaleas were blooming over a month earlier than normal.  It's as if nature was trying to put on it's best appearance because something special was about to happen.  That idea had crossed my mind more than once during the late winter period. 

 

I was certain that all around Orlando, throughout the United States, and all over the world, very few people were actively waiting for the return of Jesus Christ to Rapture His church;  to take His elect to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb of God. Very few.

 

But God's plans will come to pass no matter how few people are ready, or waiting, or even know about the subject of the Rapture.  I was always amazed how many professing Christians knew so little, if anything, about it.  Where have they been' over the past 10 years to not have read, or heard about, the Left Behind books; or the movies and TV shows about it all?   Even if they knew about it, they certainly didn't expect it to happen during their lifetime.  That was the typical answer I received, even from strong Christian friends.  Usually, if a discussion arose, everybody just thought I was a little bit out there.'  I had gotten used to being the only knowledgeable person on the subject no matter what group I was with. .

 

As I said, though, God's plans will happen right on time. Do you remember when Jesus said He had to go up to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover at the end of His ministry?  And on the day of his entry, the crowds were huge and they welcomed Him as their King. 

 

Have you ever wondered, why Jesus arrived on that specific day?  Well, it had been foretold by Daniel in the Torah (our Old Testament of the Bible) hundreds of years before down TO THE EXACT DAY!  And, if you were living in Jesus' day and you were really paying attention to God's prophecies and the dates, you would have known this was the exact date Jesus was to enter Jerusalem; the date we now call Palm Sunday.

 

And, I love this part:  that was the day the Jewish high priest selected the unblemished lamb, the perfect lamb, for their sacrifice later that week during Passover.  And so, we have Jesus, the perfect Son of God arriving in Jerusalem on that date, to be the Sacrifice once and for all, for the sins of the all mankind!  WOW!

 

Even after 400 years without God speaking to the people of Israel, (a period known as the Intertestamentary Period ' the time lapse between the Old and New Testament in the Bible) there were people who knew they should be looking for the birth of the Messiah.  Do you remember who they were?

 

Well, the first people were not even Jews.  These men were the Wise Men from the east.  They knew the scriptures well enough that once they saw the bright star in the sky, it was time to travel forth to see the birth of the King of the Universe.  Had anyone else been watching?

 

Yes. There was Simeon. (Luke 2:25) It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And there was Anna. (Luke 2:36) 

 

Were a lot of people watching?   Hardly.  But did Jesus have anything to say about this?  Yes He did.  In speaking to the Pharisees, those who should have known this was their Messiah from all the prophecies in the Old Testament-their Torah,  Jesus had reprimanded them  saying:  When it is evening you say 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red;' and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.'  (Matthew 16:2) 

 

Jesus was born right on time, exactly as the Bible had prophecied!

 

So there I was on this beautiful spring day in Orlando and all around, people really didn't have a clue about what was about to happen.  An event unlike any other.   Something that would rock the world like the flood in Noah's day; or the scattering of the people at the Tower of Babel.  This was to be the event that would usher in the last 7 years of the Tribulation for those left behind. 

 

And if it wasn't going to happen today, at least as I saw the signs, it was going to happen one day soon .certainly sometime yet in my lifetime.  I was sure of it.

 

You may be wondering why was I so firm in my belief about all this?  Well, like Simeon and the Wise Men, I too had been watching the signs of these times.  The end of the age as Jesus and His disciples had called it.  Something Jesus talked with them about just before His crucifixion in Mathew 24, and Luke 21.  And over the past 10 years of my life, I had become a believer that this generation, my generation, was the chosen one that would see it all come to pass.  But I wasn't alone in my belief.  For over 8 years, I had learned about these signs' in my readings in the Bible and other books; and on two invaluable sites on the internet.  It was from these two websites (www.fivedoves.com and www.raptureready.com) I found out I wasn't alone in my belief that this was that final generation. 

 

THE CRITICAL SIGN:

But the most compelling reason that it was this generation was because of what happened on May 14, 1948. That was the date Israel, after almost 2000 years of being scattered as a people, came together again as a nation; back once again in the land God had given them according to His promises.  The Jewish people ARE, and always have been, God's chosen people.  And His Promises to restore them to their land had never been forgotten.  Incredibly, it took the horrendous period of the Holocaust during WW2 to bring this about.  But it was foretold in the Old Testament many, many years before: 

 

Many places in the Bible speak of God's promises to Israel for the return to their land after being disbursed  after the demise of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36. And in Isaiah 66:8, the Bible asks, Can a country be born in a day, or a nation brought forth in a moment?'  The state of Israel was established as a homeland for the Jewish people, as voted by other people ' the United Nations ' of all parties! For almost 2000 years these people had been scattered throughout the world, without a government, without a military or currency or a common language.  It was truly a miracle. 

 

And Jesus, too, foretold how near His return would be once this happened in the future.  In Mathew 24, the greatest prophetic chapter in the Bible, Jesus says (Matthew 24:32)  Now learn this parable from the fig tree. (The fig tree is always a reference to the nation of Israel) When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. (The rebirth of Israel) So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near ' at the doors.  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.' 

 

But why 2007 you ask?  How can you determine this?  Because even Jesus said He didn't know the day and hour, but My Father only.' (Matthew 24:36)   Well, there was the historical consistency of 40 years, in 2 different times for the Jewish people, when they had not done what God had wanted them to do.  And these 2 stories just stayed in my mind.  And they made so very much sense to me ..and a lot of other people who were watching, too.

 

First, was when the Israelites came out of Egypt and were on the verge of entering the Promised Land.  They sent in 12 spies, for 40 days, to scout out the land and its current inhabitants.  After they returned do you remember how many said the land could not be overtaken?   Ten said no.  And 2 said yes.  And all of the Israelites chose not to go into the Promised Land.  To which God replied, How long shall I bear with this evil generation who complain against me?'  God said all who were 20 years of age and older would die, except for Joshua and Caleb ' the 2 spies who said the land could be taken.  (Numbers 14:26-30)  So, because they would NOT go into the land God had promised, He made them wander in the desert for 40 years.  (Verse 33)

 

Second, depending on how you set the date for Christ's crucifixion, you come up with 40 years later that Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jewish people were disbursed.  ( I know there is a lot of speculation about the exact date of Jesus' birth and death). But here again, you have a second time when the Jewish people do not have enough faith.  First, to go into the Promised Land and now, to accept Christ as their Messiah ' exactly as He had been foretold, prophecy by prophecy, in their Torah.  So, 40 years later, Jerusalem was destroyed, just as their Torah has prophesied as well. 

 

And now third, in 1967 the Israelis won a stunning battle against their arab neighbors in 6 days. (The Six Day War)  They took back land that included Jerusalem AND the Temple Mount.  A great victory ..after almost 2000 years, the Jewish people now controlled Jerusalem!!   But, to keep peace' with the arabs, they chose to give back the Temple Mount to keep peace with the Muslim world.  I believe God gave them this victory, yet they would not enter this land of the Temple Mount.'   Sounds just like when they wouldn't enter the Promised Land, doesn't it? 

 

So, has Israel had' peace with its neighbors these past 40 years?  Of course not.  And in 1993 the Oslo Accords were signed with one of the biggest terrorists of this generation, Yassar Arafat.  And did that bring peace? No. And 7 years later in 2000, when Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount, all heck broke loose again.  That brings us to 2007 .and the 40^th anniversary of the Six Day War.  

 

I know, I know.  Does 1 plus 1 equal 2?   Or did I .did many of us ..add 1 plus 1 and get 7?  I will go back to my earlier statement:  All of God's plans will happen RIGHT ON TIME.  Time would tell .

 

About 13 years ago I decided to fully accept the Bible as God's Holy word, given to man through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and written men chosen of God.  How else could you end up with one book, 66 chapters, written over a period of 2000 years by 40 different writers that would have a consistent theme and tell the same message?  How else would that happen?

 

And what is that message?  It is God's story.  His-story .history.  His message to His chosen people ' the Jewish people of Israel.  From olden days all through time up to today .6000 years of these people's time on earth.  And it's about the people grafted in'- the gentiles ' who would hear and accept God's Son, Jesus Christ for these past 2000 years.  And it is all about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  From the first sentence in Genesis to the last one in Revelation. 

 

I didn't see this until one day when all of my reading, and all of the radio Bible teaching, and all of the sermons I had heard all my life finally hit me one day, with the help of the Holy Spirit.  And then I knew, it was all about Jesus Christ.  Up until then, I had never understood how many times Christ had been present in the events in the Old Testament.  Now, I knew His life had been foretold there, but I hadn't seen Him actively involved in those events.  There was much I had  never understood when I first read the Bible all the way through when I was 30; some 22 years ago.  Even now, there is much I don't fully understand.  But a book by Tony Evans on Bible prophecy, The Best is Yet to Come, really helped open my eyes. 

 

The Bible doesn't get into the history of everybody and everything over the past 6000 years.  As I said, it's about Jesus Christ, God's chosen people the Jews, and the gentiles who would become the believers in Christ.  That's why we don't hear much about the eastern Asian countries; or about many other lands and peoples.  They are not the key players in God's story of the earth.  This isn't their book.  It is ours.

 

 

But shortly before the day the Rapture happened, it had come over me that this prophetic event would happen just like Christ's first coming at birth.  And most of the world would not be watching, or waiting and they would not understand.

 

It was always about Jesus Christ ..God's Son the Jewish Messiah.  And God was taking His church out of the way, so he could bring His chosen people ' the Jewish people ' to truly know their Messiah during the seven difficult years that would come upon the earth. 

 

By the end of that day the day of the Rapture ..it was certainly a day unlike any other.