29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ~ Matthew 24:29-31
Today is the first day of the Feast of Trumpets. A day that foreshadows the promise referred to by the first Church as the Blessed Hope, the Second Coming of Christ. Jesus said that everyone on the earth will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Meaning, He will not be doing this thing in secret.
And… did you also notice how Jesus started off the statement…? He said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days…” indicating that the Church will be going through the Great Tribulation. The block of offense that causes theologians to stumble over is “definitions.” They don’t truly define the churchy terms and words that they tote.
For instance, tribulation is vastly different from judgment: Tribulation is the wrath of man and The Seven Bowls of Wrath is the wrath of God. You’ve heard it said that God loves us too much to let us suffer His judgment. Just look at Noah and the great flood, or Sodom and Gomorrah. God removed His people before His judgment fell.
And yes, that is indeed the truth, but the great tribulation is not God’s wrath, but the wrath of man on God’s Church. So, while it is true that God loves us, He does not necessarily take us out of tribulation, and the biggest reason is that the Church grows best under tribulation or persecution.
Did God take Peter, who was crucified upside down, out before that tragedy befell him? Or Paul, who was beheaded. Or James, who was run through with a sword. Or Isaiah, who was sawn in two. Or the Christians who are being imprisoned and tortured, suffering unimaginable persecution right now, today, in Muslim and communist countries… Does He somehow love them less… those who are being locked in cages and set on fire, or chopped up with machetes, or beheaded with dull knives? Does He for some reason love them less? Or those who are beaten to death? Or those who are beaten and left for dead but survive and are disfigured and maimed for life.
What about those? Does God love them less? Those Christians living in Places like North Korea, where Christianity is viewed as a direct threat to the authority of the ruling Kim family. Christians are arrested there, tortured, and even executed. The entire family can be sent to labor camps if even one member is found with a Bible. Or Somalia which is a strongly Islamic society where extremists consider conversions to Christianity a betrayal of Islam. These converts are hunted down by radical Muslim groups like al-Shabaab and murdered for their faith
Yemen is plagued by civil war and radical Islamic extremism, Christians are regarded as traitors and face severe punishment, including death, especially for converts from Islam. Eritrea is an authoritarian government and religious nationalist state is often considered the North Korea of Africa. Christians are arrested and imprisoned in shipping containers where extreme temperatures reach deadly highs in the day and unbearable lows at night, with no bathrooms to relieve themselves. Or they are imprisoned in underground cells with terrible, inhumane conditions that are almost intolerable. Libya is a country beset with anarchy and Islamic extremism and an unstable government, Christians, especially foreign workers and converts, are abducted, tortured, and killed because of their Christian faith.
So, again, I ask you what about those…? Does God somehow love them less because they believe to the point of shedding their own blood and gladly give their lives for the sake of Jesus and His Gospel? Does God so callously care less for those who are suffering, while we here in the West hide our Christian faith because we are afraid to rock the boat, or that we might offend someone? And not just someone, but those same ones who hate us, and would love to see what is happening to Christians in those countries, to happen to us here in the West.
Today truly put your beliefs to the test. Search the Scriptures and ask yourself, can I find my beliefs in the Word of God or do they favor your own ideas and desires instead. The time of Jesus’ return is truly upon us. It’s getting closer and closer each and every day. Are you ready for His return? Are you ready for all that comes with it?
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Prepare To Be Ready.