January 19                                    Job 11 - 13

RAPTURE BEFORE TRIBULATION

MEMORISE: ‘The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.’
READ: 2 Peter 2:4-9

Most Christians are united in their belief in the Rapture of the church. They however disagree on the timing of this Last Days event. Some believe the Rapture will come before the Great Tribulation. Others argue that it will take place in the middle of the tribulation. Still another school of thought says it will come after the great Tribulation.

The scripture is clear on this mater. Considering God’s past dealings with man in Bible days, one can correctly take a standpoint. The Rapture, which is the catching of the believers in Christ both dead and alive, will take place before the Great Tribulation, which will be a time when God will unleash his wrath upon man for sins committed throughout the ages.

God is a God of Justice and by nature he must punish the sinner, but acquit or justify the righteous. It is not in his nature to destroy the righteous along with the wicked, as that would compromise his justice. Looking at the Scriptures, we find that in the luciferic rebellion, the angels who sinned were cast out of God’s presence and reserved for judgement, together with their leader. Even those angels who left their original state and began to mate with woman and give birth to giants are reserved in chains of darkness, awaiting the final judgement (Jude 6). If all the angels were punished for what some did, then God would have been left with no angels.

Similarly, according to our text, in the deluge, God saved Noah and his family from destruction. At the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God spared righteous Lot and his family. The children of Israel were in Goshen, Egypt, yet unaffected by the plagues in Egypt. The coming Great Tribulation is the height of judgements; all others look like child’s play compared to it.

Isaiah 26:20-21 reveals how God protects his own while judging the wicked, just as verse 9 of our text confirms. Before the Great Tribulation, I will be with my Saviour. Are you prepared for the Rapture? God will not leave you behind to go through Jacob’s trouble if you are living daily for him. He loves you too much.

ACTION POINT
Which sins are prevalent in your life and hinder you from going at the Rapture? List and pray about them now or meet with His fire.