The Rapture The Blessed Hope or Blessed Nope

Week 8

The Day After The Rapture

Missing Persons

When someone goes missing it’s a big deal. We have amber alerts for children who can’t be found for a variety of reasons unfortunately most are taken by bad people for very bad things. And we have silver alerts for older people who wander off predominantly due to a medical condition like dementia or Alzheimer’s. We put their pictures on billboards, milk cartons, mailers, and get as much airtime for them in the news. All of these efforts matter especially to the immediate families of those who’ve gone missing. And there is actually a higher percentage of solved cases as we read in an article from worldpopulationreview.com:

According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons (NamUS) database, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 600,000 people go missing annually. Approximately 4,400 unidentified bodies are recovered each year. Nationwide, there are roughly 6.5 missing persons for every 100,000 people. Luckily, the vast majority of missing persons cases are quickly resolved. For example, in 2021, 521,705 missing person cases were reported, more than 485,000 of which were resolved within the year. The number of missing person cases has steadily declined since 1997 when nearly a million people were reported missing. In the past few two decades, communication has made it easier to keep in touch with and track persons, allowing missing person reports to fall by over 40%. Still, more than 20,000 missing person cases and 14,000 unidentified body cases remain open.

Technology is helping lower the number of people that go missing and are never found which is good news. But there is an event in Bible prophecy that will dwarf all these stats when billions of people will suddenly go missing in a single moment.

The Great Snatch

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (1 Thess 5:1-2, NKJV)

Behold, I am telling you a [a]mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised [b]imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Cor 15:51-52, NASB)

 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a [a]shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, [b]comfort one another with these words.

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess 4:16-18, NASB)

All of these verses are talking about one of the biggest prophetic events in all of human history since the worldwide flood wiped out all but 8 people. It is called the Rapture and will remove all Christians in a single moment, in the blink of an eye. According to an article from Lifeway.com about a third of the population will suddenly go missing:

Regardless of what you may expect, Christianity continues to grow around the world. Currently, there are more than 2.64 billion Christians. Christianity crossed the 2 billion mark this century but will top 3 billion before 2050. The world’s population, at just over 8 billion, has a 0.88% annual growth rate, but Christianity is growing at a rate of 0.98%. Around one-third of the world’s population is Christian.

A Huge Impact

Many people really can’t comprehend such a sudden loss. To be certain, it’s never happened before but we can try and build a scenario of what life will be like when the Rapture occurs. About 27% of agriculture workers would be gone and a staggering 22% in industry and about 51% in services would be gone. Those shares matter because most critical systems (healthcare, logistics, finance, IT) live inside “services” or “industry,” while food production is mostly “agriculture.” There are currently 17.2 physicians per 10,000 people right now. It is estimated that about 2.5 core health workers (doctors + nurses + midwives) per 1,000 people are needed as a minimum for basic care. After the Rapture that percentage drops to 1.6 per person of people already in hospitals. That’s before we add extra patients from crashes, fires, and acute medical emergencies. So, from a health care perspective alone elective procedures stop immediately. Many hospitals run “disaster mode,” triaging ruthlessly. Mortality from otherwise treatable conditions (heart attacks, infections, trauma) rises sharply. In just the first 7 days many cities still have some power, water, and food, but service is patchy. Some regions already see local outages and boil-water advisories; poorer or conflict-prone areas slide into crisis much faster. Now the “second wave” kicks in: people who didn’t vanish but die because the systems around them broke. For each region, if critical capacity (doctors, nurses, power, water, food imports) drops below a certain point, a fraction of the remaining population dies over the next 1–2 months. Based on how fast people died in previous disasters we can expect that in high-income, resilient regions: 1–3% of survivors die in the next 2 months from cascading failures. Then the middle-income regions would see 3–8% of survivors die. And in fragile / conflict regions there would be 10–20% or more of survivors die. Globally, that might add another 100–600 million deaths over a couple of months in the simulation, depending on how harsh our parameters are. And I’m only getting started.

The Overall Shock

Facts and figures can only approximate so much, but as I alluded to at the start, losing a family member is an emotional and even spiritual punch to the gut all by itself. The first 24 hours after the sudden loss of a loved one are often marked by intense shock, numbness, and disbelief as the mind struggles to grasp what happened. People commonly feel detached from reality, move in a daze, or experience a “fog” that makes it hard to think clearly, remember details, or make decisions. This shock response triggers a surge of stress hormones, which can cause trembling, rapid heartbeat, nausea, chest tightness, or difficulty breathing - sometimes resembling panic or even the early stages of “broken heart syndrome.” Many experience intrusive images, overwhelming waves of emotion, or moments of complete emotional shutdown. Sleep is often disrupted the first night, with insomnia, nightmares, or fear of being alone. Because the loss is sudden and unexpected, the brain has had no time to prepare, so the first day is usually a period of raw emotional overload, physical stress, and profound disorientation as reality begins to sink in. As you can see, just the missing of people can turn the world upside down. It is easy to imagine the world’s population becoming emotional and even physical zombies, overloaded by what just happened and even desperate for someone, anyone to help. And that sounds like the perfect environment for the rise of the Antichrist doesn’t it?

Immediate Panic

In days past I wondered how people would know the rapture took place. Yes, it would get out, but it would be scattered and eventually word of mouth would wake up those left behind that something happened with people disappearing while driving cars, flying planes, and running the engines of trains. But that was before the internet and cell phones became all the rage so now it will be instant news with cell phones all over the world heralding the event. Now, they will not necessarily know what happened, but not everyone will be in the dark as religious “experts” will note the Rapture theory. It will be all the talk in workplaces, homes, stores, and other venues. While it will be like a thief in the night, it won’t be hidden for long.

Something this major will have short term ramifications as police, firemen and paramedics will be inundated with emergency calls that they can’t possibly handle. Car crashes will be all over streets and freeways with so much collateral damage that it will be impossible to help everyone. Political leaders will rush to assuage the public that while they don’t know exactly what happened that order will be restored as quickly as possible. They will set up committees to come up with theories and assure them that they will investigate all missing persons concerns, even stating that they have leads on where these loved ones have gone.

Ironically, Churches Will Be Filled

As in past times when a national and even international disaster or attack has occurred, people will rush to places of worship in hopes of finding answers from God. But this time, there will be no pastors to meet them. Well, some will find pastors who were never saved and will have to admit they were frauds, but other religious leaders left behind will start spinning tales of how the wicked were taken out the world instead of the righteous in the biggest “cover yourself” logic ever conceived. Many people will see through the deceit, while others will cling onto any explanation that brings even a modicum of hope.

Bibles Will Sell Out

The hottest books will be those that scratch the itch of information about the Rapture and many who lost Christian loved ones or friends will pull unread Bibles off their bookshelves and even snap them up wherever they are sold. DVDs on Bible prophecy will be viewed as the keyword “Rapture” will trend on every social site and internet search. While many that were actually posted to tell the truth will be viewed, many will pan the Rapture theory as bunk even with all the obvious evidence all around them. And supposed Christian experts left behind will be on all media outlets to assure people that this was anything other than the Rapture or that it was even an alien abduction of such a mass level that the Bible is useless to explain it. False prophets will abound and be so popular that it will be like a cottage industry.

A Leadership Vacuum

While many have always looked to America for help, these calls will fall to the ground as this country will be the hardest hit by losing so many leaders in all fields and millions upon millions of key workers gone. The military will be hit as well and will not be able to train or recruit enough replacements to meet the demands all over the land. Militias will form to fill the gaps, but not all of them will be looking out for the good of the people. Those who have weapons will become the law and lawlessness will overwhelm even the most organized police forces. Looting and stealing will be the order of the day for months on end with many crying out for leadership from anywhere if it will calm things down. They will sacrifice anything for safety even their lives if it will spare their loved ones.

I Don’t Want To Depress You

To those who aren’t Christians this scenario can and should greatly concern you, even depress you. In just a few short paragraphs I’ve laid out the massive upheaval that will happen when almost 3 billion people, people who are vital to the workings of society, suddenly disappear. And then briefly add to it all the disasters of planes crashing, cars and trucks crashing. And I really haven’t broached all the judgments detailed in the book of Revelation that will only compound what I laid out for us here. In short, if I were you I would seriously consider becoming a Christian so you can avoid all of this. It isn’t a matter of mere escapism as some call the Rapture, but a matter of eternity as well. This world offers pain, suffering, and hardship just the way it is without adding the devastating effects of the Rapture to it. I encourage you to do something that is very easy to do and that is to take a moment and ask God to speak to you. Trust me, He will hear you. Ask Him to prove Himself to you this week. You can lay out what it will take for Him to do that. Then get a Bible or find one online and read the Gospel of John for a week as well. Pray every day as well. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, just take five minutes to talk with Him. If you are intellectually honest as you do both of these things I truly believe that it will make a difference in your life. And it will also mean you will join billions of other believers in the world who will be part of that twinkling of the eye experience the Apostle Paul describes.

Wake Up Christians!

I[must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. (John 9:4, NKJV)

In context, Jesus spoke these words right after He healed a man who was blind all his life. I like how an article from gotquestions.org explains this:

The man in John 9 had lived in darkness all his life, being blind, but then Jesus came, bringing sight and light to this man’s life. In that same way, the world was in darkness to that point, but Jesus had come, and “in Him was life and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). John adds that Jesus “was the true Light, which, coming into the world, enlightens every man” (John 1:9, NASB95). It seems that Jesus, by bringing sight to this individual, was illustrating how He provides light to all humanity. At the same time, He tells His listeners that we are to work while it is day (John 9:4).
And when talking about what kind of work we’re told to do it is exactly what He did for the blind man: opening his eyes so that he could clearly see Jesus. And that is what we need to be doing before the Rapture. The major criticism of the Blessed Hope is that people are just looking for a way to escape the Tribulation and they simply hunker down until it happens. That is not Biblical at all and represents bad teaching on the subject. Those who say that should rethink their view and repent of it. From my perspective, the people who are looking for Jesus to meet us in the air are doing their level best to make sure they’re not alone on the way up. They are taking stock of how they live their lives, spend their money, and how they spend their time and making sure that more of those things are being used to spread the Gospel. There will be some dark days ahead prophetically, so bad that Jesus tells us that if they weren’t shortened no one would survive them. Let’s do our level best to get as many people as possible in the ark of grace while the door is open.