Tag: tribulation

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2 Thessalonians

Hope through tribulation

Hope in the cross

I’ve mentioned before that I do believe that most Christians will live to see the Antichrist and that the rapture will not happen until Jesus comes to destroy him. This passage is one reason why I think so.

One argument that people come up with for the rapture coming before Antichrist appears is that if there are certain other signs that must happen before Christ comes, then Jesus couldn’t come any day and that there is no reason to be ready for his return until those signs are fulfilled.

For that, I have two answers.

One, as I’ve mentioned before, while it’s true that I believe certain things must happen before Christ comes for his church, that is not true when it comes to Christ coming for you.

In other words, tomorrow is not promised you, and Jesus may call you home this very night. And if that happens, will you be ready, or will you be like the man in Jesus’ parable (Luke 12:13-21) who was not prepared to meet God when God suddenly summoned him to judgment?

Second, this argument goes square against what Paul says here. Paul himself says, “No, Christ hasn’t come yet. There are certain things that must happen first.”

And if what Paul said held true then, what really has changed? Nothing. Jesus still hasn’t returned. We still don’t know when he will return.

And I believe that if people argued (like the Jehovah’s Witnesses do) that Jesus has already come back, Paul would tell us the same thing that he told the Thessalonians. “Jesus hasn’t come back. Certain things must happen first.”

Admittedly, this is disconcerting, particularly to those who believe that we will avoid the Antichrist altogether.

But there is hope. First, Paul told us in I Thessalonians that we won’t suffer the wrath of God that the rest of the world will in the tribulation (I Thessalonians 5:9).

Peter also tells us that God knows how to preserve the righteous, while punishing the unrighteous. (II Peter 2:9)

More, Paul told the Thessalonians,

From the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)

In short, though you may go through trials, still God has chosen you to be saved…and he will save you. He called you and you will share in Christ’s glory someday.

And so he concludes,

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. (15-17)

No matter what we go through then, even if it’s the great tribulation, Paul admonishes us to hold on to the truth that we have received.

And more, hold on to Jesus. For it is he who will give us encouragement, hope, and strength to do what is right even in the darkest of times.

As I’ve said before, I hope I’m wrong. I hope Jesus does take us to heaven before Antichrist comes. But if I’m right and we do see him, hold on to Jesus. He will see you through.

Categories
1 Thessalonians

The hope that we have

Gravestone of hope

“Hopes are for the living; the dead have no hope.”

Those were the words of an ancient Greek poet, and it epitomizes how many people in Paul’s time saw death.

For that matter, I talk to many Japanese today that have that same outlook. They have no hope beyond the grave. For them, this life is all there is. For some reason, many of the Thessalonians had a similar outlook.

Perhaps in seeing their own people die for their faith, they wondered, “What will happen to them when Jesus comes? Will they miss out on the hope and joy of his coming?”

To this, Paul gives a clear no.

He told them,

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.

We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Therefore encourage each other with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Why do we have hope beyond the grave? Because Jesus himself experienced death and was raised again. And Jesus told us, “Because I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19)

Paul tells us more, that when Jesus comes back, those who have already died will be raised to meet him.

Paul teaches in Philippians that when we die, we immediately go to be with the Lord (Philippians 1:23), and Jesus’ own words to the thief on the cross were that the thief would join him in paradise that very day. (Luke 23:43)

So the picture seems to be that whatever remains of all those who have died in Christ, bones, dust, or whatever, will be raised and joined to their spirits which are in heaven now.

And after that, we Christians who are still alive will also be caught up to meet Jesus and we ourselves will be changed, given new bodies that are imperishable and incorruptible. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)

I do believe, by the way, Christians will be around for the tribulation period when Antichrist shows up. I really hope I’m wrong, but that’s how scripture looks to me.

It also shows in the word that Paul uses for “meeting” the Lord in the air. The word is has the idea of meeting a VIP outside a town and escorting him back to their town.

So the picture seems to be that we Christians will meet the Lord in the air and escort him back to earth where he will begin his thousand year reign.

And Paul says from that point on, even though there is much to happen after that, including a final rebellion by Satan, we will always be with the Lord, never to face death ourselves again.

That’s the hope we have. It’s the hope we are to share with those around us who have no hope. And it’s the hope we are to encourage our brothers and sisters with when life becomes a struggle and they feel they can’t go on.

Our troubles will not last forever. Jesus will come back, and all will be made right.

So though all that we go through in life, let us rest in this hope that we have.

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Luke Luke 21 Mark Mark 13 Matthew Matthew 24

Being ready whenever

The gospels

There are a lot of people concerned about when Jesus will return. And over the years, many people have predicted when he will come back.

I remember back in my high school days, a book came out called, “88 reasons why the rapture will happen in 1988.”

Needless to say, it never happened. Not that it stopped the author from making more futile predictions.

For some reason, such people seem to ignore the words of Jesus who said,

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Mark 13:32)

God has his plans, and he hasn’t chosen to reveal to us when Jesus will return. What he has given us is signs to look for, which we’ve already talked about.

And he’s given us an admonition that too few Christians follow today: watch, and be ready.

Jesus said,

Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.

If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.

What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ (Mark 13:33-37)

I know I mentioned this yesterday, but considering that Jesus repeats the same admonition 4 times in the same passage, I figure it can’t hurt to repeat it again.

A lot of Christians argue about when Jesus will rapture the church. Will it be before the great tribulation? Will it be in the middle? Will it be after?

I’m not saying these things aren’t important. What I am saying is that it’s not so important when Jesus is coming, but to be ready whenever he comes. And if you are ready whenever he comes, you’ll never be caught by surprise.

That is the whole point of what Jesus is saying here.

So before you start arguing about pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib, or premillenial, postmillenial, or amillenial, ask yourself one question: If Jesus were to come today, am I ready?

Am I doing the things that he has asked me to do? If he were to come today, what would he say to me?

And if you have that question settled, everything else will work itself out.

So…are you ready?

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Daniel 3

Those who are wise

Daniel

I suppose that for those who are skeptics, these chapters take the cake in terms of prophecy, so detailed and accurate as they are.

Here, Daniel talks first about what was to come in the Persian and Greek Empires, and then what is yet to come in the future.

First, he talks about the three kings to come in Persia after Cyrus. These were Cambyses, Gaumata, and Darius (mentioned in Ezra).

Following Darius was the fourth king, his son, Xerxes (the king mentioned in Ezra as well as in Esther).

Xerxes was the richest of all the other Persian kings because of the taxes he collected, as well as his conquests.

He then attacked Greece, but after some victories, his navy was defeated, and later, his army that he had left behind in Greece was crushed at the battle of Plataea. (Daniel 11:2)

Then, a great king (Alexander) arose in Greece, but after he died, his empire was divided among his four generals, not his children. (Daniel 11:3–4)

Daniel then goes into great detail about what would happen to the Greek Empire from the time of Ptolemy I and Antiochus II all the way down through Ptolemy VII and Antiochus IV.

There are numerous study Bibles and commentaries that go into detail about how these prophecies were fulfilled, and it’s fairly lengthy, so I won’t go over it here.

Even if you don’t have either, you could find a good history book and see how all of this was fulfilled just as Daniel wrote.

From chapter 11, verse 36 to the end of the book, however, we seem to move to the end times and the coming of Antichrist.

He will not worship any gods but set himself up as God.

The other god he will worship is the “god of fortresses,” that is, the god of power or war. And he will conquer and rule, until the time that Christ comes.

During those days, there will be great times of trouble.

But God will deliver his people, and at the final resurrection, those who love and follow him will rise to eternal life, while those who hate and oppose him will go to “shame and everlasting contempt.” (Daniel 12:1–3)

What can we get from all this?

Several passages strike me from these chapters.

First Daniel 11:33–35, which talks about the times of Antiochus IV and that period of persecution during the time of the Maccabean revolt.

Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered.

When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them.

Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. (Daniel 11:33–35)

It strikes me here that God doesn’t promise that he would spare his people trouble. That though they were wise and would instruct many in the ways of God, yet many would be captured, burned, killed, and plundered.

But God had a purpose for all the things they went through. That they would be refined, purified, and made spotless before him.

He says later of those who come out of the tribulation and are resurrected in chapter 12,

Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)

And at the end of the book, he writes,

Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked.

None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. (Daniel 12:10)

Finally, the angel says to Daniel,

As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance. (Daniel 12:13)

I take from all of this a sense of hope.

There will be wars. There will be trials and troubles in the future.

But God will use them to purify us, and to make us spotless and refined.

And come the resurrection day, we will shine like the stars before him who saved us.

So let us be wise. Let us be people that seek after God daily. Let us be people that lead others to do the same.

And like Daniel, in the end, we will rest and then rise to receive our allotted inheritance.