between two Ages (part 3)

WHAT THE WORLD IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE, AFTER THE RAPTURE

"[T]here hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them."  Joel 2:2b-3

"Them...them...them."   Who is "them?"  When are "they" coming to earth?  And what are "they" going to do when they appear?  According to the above quoted passage of Scripture, there is coming an event which has never happened before in the history of the world~and which is never going to happen again.  It's going to be a once-in-eternity event.

If we take that passage literally (and we must), in the context in which it appears (Joel chapter 2), it speaks of the soon-coming judgment of the world, during the "day of the Lord."  The "day of the Lord" is not a 24-hour day.  Rather, the day of the Lord involves an extended period of time spanning at least seven years or more (some suggest that the day of the Lord encompasses the entire Millennial Kingdom Age).  That "day" shall begin shortly (immediately?) after the Rapture.

The Rapture is very little understood, even by most Christians themselves.  In the context of mainstream teaching (amongst those who still believe in something called "the Rapture;" an apparently small minority of professing Christians), the Rapture really amounts to nothing else but the sudden disappearance from the world, of a substantial number of "Christians."  That teaching has little else to say about what shall happen as the direct result of the Rapture~either to those who shall be Raptured, or to those who shall remain on the earth.  Mainstream teaching does insist, however, that a worldwide, soul-saving Revival shall occur soon after the Rapture.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

"They" are coming.  And when "they" come, it is going to be unspeakably, unimaginably horrifying for earth's inhabitants.  The above-quoted passage of Scripture continues thus:

"The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.  They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining" (Joel 2:4-10).

A "fire devoureth before them."  "Behind them a flame burneth."  "And nothing shall escape them."  "They" are coming to earth, to search out and to destroy.  Who or what are "they" going to destroy?  The enemies of God.  That is to say, those who were not taken in the Rapture.  But who are those fierce warriors "in battle array?"

"They" are the saints of God, who, at the time of the Rapture, shall be granted immortality together with divine authority and power.  "They" are the glorified "saints [which] shall judge the world" (1 Corinthians 6:2).  "They" are the Raptured (together with the Resurrected) saints, which shall "execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;" who (the glorified saints) shall also "bind" with chains and fetters of iron the "kings" and "nobles" of the people [the demon overlords], and "execute upon them the judgment written" (Psalm 149).

That is the "once-in-eternity event," above mentioned.  That event~the judgment of the world by fire (Isaiah 66:16; 2 Peter 3:7), is going to happen in conjunction with, or very soon after, the Rapture.  How do we know that?  Because, of the identification of those events which are described in Joel 2, with the characteristic set of events associated with the opening of the Sixth Seal, in the book of the Revelation.  That portion of Joel 2 which appears in yellow highlight, above, is the key to identifying the timeframe of those events.

But I don't want to dwell on the particulars of the Rapture, in this essay.  I want instead to focus on the relationship of the Rapture, to the present time period, which I have termed, the "Great Transition."  I have also said that I believe we are now entering an early phase of the coming of the Millennial Kingdom Age; although, I have not yet perceived much of what that may entail.  But of this I am certain, that is, that spiritual preparation for the Rapture is well underway.  And that preparation has much to do with our present experience.

Let us suppose that the Rapture shall occur, say, six months from now (I used a similar example in part 2 of this series, though to different ends.)  Let us further suppose that you, dear Reader, will then be Raptured.  You will then be one of "them" who shall "run like mighty men;" who shall "climb the wall like men of war."  Fire shall "devour" everything in front of you, as you run, and leap, and climb, searching out "the heathen" to punish them; in so much that, in your wake (behind you), it will look like a "desolate wilderness."

Where, do you suppose, shall that "fire" come from?  Not from out of the sky.  And not from a flamethrower.  Not even from some super-advanced technology from heaven.  But that fire shall proceed from out of your own being.  Yet, its source is deeper still.  For, that fire will be the manifestation of the long-pent up anger of the Lord, his righteous indignation, flowing out from His Spirit through yours.  Here are a couple of Scriptures which indicate that is what is meant:

"Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings." (Jeremiah 4:4) 

"The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.  Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire" (Nahum 1:5-6)

Try as best you can, if you will, to imagine the state of mind which those invincible warriors, described in Joel 2, must then possess.  If the Spirit of God within those saints is furious, then, are those glorified saints not also then furious~and, for the same reasons and toward the same persons, as God is angry?  Truly, the glorified saints shall not be robots or humanoids; but their will shall be holy, to do God's will always.

Question: Shall the experience of the Rapture suddenly invest the spirit of man (those who shall be Raptured) with the burning of God's wrath towards sin?  Is it reasonable to assume that "Christians" who live more or less like everyone else in the world (meaning, the unsaved), and who thus are preoccupied with their own needs and desires, shall nevertheless all at once be consumed with righteous indignation~at the moment of the Rapture?  I think, not.

I'm talking about the relationship of the Rapture, to this present time.  If we truly believe that the Rapture is imminent (about to occur at any moment); and, if we also believe that "the saints shall judge the world," during the Tribulation~and in such manner as Scripture plainly teaches: then, are we in any measure ready, spiritually, to receive such a weighty and consequential responsibility, as the Rapture entails?  

Or, are we still foolishly preoccupied with this world-system, with an aim toward maximizing our own comforts, pleasures, conveniences, and desires?  Are we wasting time trying to "reform" one or more of the "Seven Mountains," which I briefly mentioned in part 2 of this series?

We are much deeper into the period of the "Great Transition" than what most have yet perceived.  In fact, this perspective is really a new revelation to me.  I have long understood a great deal concerning how near we are unto the Rapture.  But I have not before seen, in as clear a light as I now see, the many important implications of the fact, that we are living in a special, a unique time period, literally "between two Ages."

This series (which I may continue?) is a work in progress, wherein I am striving to lay hold of the mind of Christ, for TODAY, and (if we are still here) for tomorrow.

Things are different, now.  Much different.  And we must discern the way forward, according to the leading of Christ through the Holy Ghost.  John the baptist had no road map to follow as he struck out on a radically new course; but he was "filled with the Holy Ghost."  We shall never cast aside the Word of God; in fact, we cling to that more closely ~ that it may thus illuminate our every, careful step.

So, where (and when) do we hope to obtain such "fire" within our spirit?  We had better be eating some "live coals" from the altar of God. . . .