Assuming a believer misses the Rapture when it occurs in the interlude between the end of the sixth seal and the breaking of the seventh seal(Inter-tribulational Period or Inter-wrath Period; The Prewrath Rapture View), can he/she still be saved? The affirmative view seems plausible on the surface, but when we examine the scriptures and the reality of the situation on Earth after the Rapture, I have great difficulty in understanding how a true believer who has not taken the mark of allegiance to the antiChrist(aC) during the Great Tribulation will be “left behind” when the Rapture takes place after the killing spree of the aC has been terminated by the cosmic and celestial disturbances(the darkening of the Sun, Moon, and Stars) which is the sign of the End Of The Ages[Matt.24:22]. What will be the reason? We propound this theory not fully comprehending the condition on Earth under which the Rapture will take place.
When the Sun, Moon, and Stars are darkened, what will the Earth look like? It will be very dark and cold; infact frozen. The warmth we feel and the light we see on Earth come from the Sun. The Sun is one of the smallest stars. It is approximately 189 million kilometres away from the Earth. If the Sun gets closer to the Earth, the Earth will be vaporized. If it gets farther away from the Earth, the Earth, its inhabitants and appurtenances will be frozen into one solid mass. What am trying to show is that whatever keeps out the Sun’s energy from the Earth will make the Earth very dark and cold. This event will be preceded by massive universal earthquake or series of massive earthquakes. The unbelievers, especially those with the mark of the Beast will run helter-skelter like chickens with the heads cut off trying to hide under the rocks and the mountains, invoking these to fall upon them and bury them out of sight from the wrath of the Lamb which is about to be poured out on them.
“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall m ton us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”(Rev.6:15-17).
Why? Because they know instinctively that God is about to punish them for their evils. He is about to pour out His wrath upon them for their evils. Because being crushed to death by the mountains and rocks is a far less horrible experience than facing the wrath of the Lamb which is about to begin. For example, during the fifth trumpet judgment, any inhabitant of the Earth without the seal of God on his/her forehead shall be repeatedly tormented by demonic locusts with the sting of scorpions for five months. I have been stung by a scorpion once, and I know better. It will be very horrible experience to be repeatedly stung by ordinary scorpions let alone demonized ones. Scorpions cannot fly, but locusts can. So, a locust with the sting of a scorpion is more deadly creature than an ordinary scorpion that cannot fly. Who shall be able to stand?(17). There will be utter chaotic confusion(Rev.9:12). When this happens the aC’s organized system is in disarray; telecommunications and electric power supply are disrupted by the EMP from asteroids, comets, and meteorites hauled to the Earth by the Sun when it turns into a black hole. Radio and TV stations will be out of service. Folks will not be able to make calls. This alone is enough to make some people run berserk. The massive snow from thunderstorm, and earthquakes and tsunamis, volcanic eruptions spewing out lava and ash blanketing the heavens will cut off roads, bury houses, cars, zero visibility, rendering mobility very difficult if not altogether impossible.
Emergency services will be zeroed. No one will be thinking of rescuing anybody; it will be every man for himself, and no one for his neighbor. This cosmic phenomena will literally stop the aC’s killing spree. Obviously no one on Earth at this time will have the bravado to go about enforcing some legislation at the risk of his own life. Some will be trapped in their houses, offices, cars, public buildings, unable to get out. Fortunately, these cosmic phenomena and celestial disturbances will be very brief. The darkness and the cold will be dispelled by the appearance of the Shekinah in the heavens.
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”(Matt.24:30-31, cp Rev.1:7).
Why are they mourning? Because it has suddenly dawned on them that atheistic evolution is a scientific sham, that the antiChrist is a false man-made god; and that the one and only true God of Israel and the whole Earth is about to take over His world and banish the infidels to Hell for eternity. That there is no remedy for them who had bowed to the image of the Beast, they will be consigned to fire and brimstone in the Lake of fire for eternity. It will take some time before the antiChrist recovers and gathers his forces to face Christ at Armageddon some years ahead(Rev.19:19).
How do believers react to this state of affairs?
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”(Luke 21:25-28).
The interval between the end of the sixth seal and the breaking of the seventh seal is an interim period of unknown duration, though very brief. It is a grace period within which erring believers and nonbelievers who have not taken the mark of allegiance to the Beast up to this time in the eschatological timeline may repent. What is the meaning of “then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” The phrases, “look up,” and “lift up your heads,” connote supplications, intercession and prayers, and expectation of deliverance, and evacuation from the Earth, the Scene Of The Great Tribulation. For it is written:
“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the the Lord shall be saved”(delivered, rescued by evacuation from the Earth)[Rom.10:13; cf Isa.45:22].
How can any true believer who had rejected the mark of the beast and endured the horrors of the aC’s persecution up to this time fail to invoke Devine Mercy, and call upon the name of the Lord? And for any so called believer who failed to call upon the name of the Lord, it shall be:
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”(Jere.8:20).
Christ was addressing His disciples who were here then, and by extension the members of His Body who shall be alive during the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist. It is obvious that these predictions were not fulfilled in the days of the Apostles of the Lamb. Certainly they will be fulfilled in the future. The Olivet prophecy relates to both Israel and the Church. The twelve disciples were representatives of both Israel and the Church. Therefore, to relegate the Olivet discourse to the Jewish wastepaper basket is theological gimmickry.
The Rapture is about to occur; it is overhanging. Believers are looking up and lifting their heads in anticipation of their evacuation from the Earth when the Lord descends from Heaven with voice of the archangel and the trump of God(1 Cor.15:50-52; 1 Thess.4:13-18; cp Matt.24:29-31; Mk.13:24-27).
Every believer should be unassuming at this time. Every believer should repent and make supplications to God. Every disciple should repent, and make an appeal to God’s mercy. Why? Because once the trumpet sounds and Rapture takes place, anyone “left behind,” with the exemption of the 144,000, will face the wrath of God. What follows the Rapture is the wrath of God. And no true believer will face the wrath of God because God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus the Christ(1 Thess.1:10, 5:9). Anyone who calls himself/herself a believer, who does not take the mark of the Beast, and is “left behind” after the Rapture has been a false disciple all along. (What every true disciple will do at this time is to repent in sackcloth and ashes, and appeal to God for mercy and deliverance). The only way left open for that person to obtain salvation after the Rapture if he is a Jew is to go through the first six trumpet judgments in order to be purged, purified, and cleansed, and if a Gentile to go through all the trumpet and the bowl judgments, and to appear and be justified in Jerusalem at the Sheep And Goat Juddgment of the Gentile Survivors of the wrath of God in the Day Of The Lord which occurs during the 45-day Restoration Period Of The Kingdom(Matt.25:31-46).
If any believer is left behind after the Rapture, such a person is no longer a believer. He or she is not part of the body of Christ. The church was instituted at Pentecost and ends at the Rapture. Yes, he can be saved to enter the Millennium and repopulate the Earth. He will live a thousand years in this natural mortal body of ours. He will not receive glorified eternal immortal resurrection body till after the final resurrection after the White Throne Judgment(Rev.20:11-15). What if he/she is killed by the antiChrist and his acolytes? He/she died after the close of the Church Age. He/she will have to await final resurrection after the White Throne Judgment.
My dearly beloved brethren, I hope God will open ours eyes to see the absurdity and enormity of teaching that some believers will still be saved after the Rapture. It sounds pious, but not biblically realistic. It is an enormous uphill task. It is better to urge everyone to get raptured with the Church and not hope for redemption after the Rapture.
NB: Comments, opinions, and views will be entertained. For alternative and differing view(s), please present scriptural bases for your view(s), and lucid analyses of the situation on Earth at that time which validate your alternative and divergent view(s).
Avraham Shallom.
Mt Zion Heritage Ministries 