Gone in Sixty Seconds (or Less)

Can you imagine the entire world being in total chaos all at once? Automobiles and airplanes are crashing because the operators are gone. Millions of Christians (as well as babies and children) all over Can you imagine the entire world being in total chaos all at once? Automobiles and airplanes are crashing because the operators are gone. Millions of Christians (as well as babies and children) all over the world have vanished. Without the influence of God on the Earth, things like stealing and violence become the norm. (For the visual of this, please view the 2014 version of Left Behind starring Nicholas Cage, Cassi Thomson, and Chad Michael Murray.)

The vanishing described above is known as the “rapture.” The dictionary defines it as “transporting of a person from one place to another.” This definition reminds me a lot of the Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home, and that familiar phrase, “Scotty, beam me up.”

Though the term “rapture” is not specifically used in scripture, the process and after effect are. When Jesus comes back to collect His children, it will be quickly and unexpected. The rapture is more fully explained in Matthew 24:26-44, Mark 13:32-36, and Luke 17:34-37.

To find out what happens after the rapture for those left behind, you can refer to the book of Revelation. The disclaimer to that would be this book is not the easiest to understand with all its symbolic language.  

To better understand this turbulent period of time in a more understandable way, I highly recommend the prequel, kids, and adult books of the Left Behind series by New York Times best selling authors, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It is important to remember these books are not the scripture, but are fiction based on the Bible. To find out how a person gets to Heaven thereby avoiding the Tribulation, see the post Salvation by the Book. Check out what you’ve read. It’s important that you understand it. This is a matter of life and death.