Shadows of the Tribulation
The rapture is the very next event in the sequence of end-time occurrences. The “Church Age” or the “Age of Grace” in which we now live, will suddenly and without warning come to an end with the rapture of believers. At this time, Jesus will descend not fully to earth, but will come into the stratosphere, and take us up to Himself in the air. (John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15: 51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Immediately following the rapture of believers, the age of grace ends, and the time of tribulation begins. During the first half of the seven-year tribulation, the antichrist will deceive the nations (including Israel) into believing that he is a peacemaker. He will make a treaty with the nation of Israel and allow the restoration of their sacrificial system.
However, he is a filled with the power of Satan, who is the “father of lies.” The antichrist will suddenly break his treaty with Israel after three and one-half years, and then he will unleash his evil regime, demanding that the world worship him, and he will desecrate the temple in Jerusalem.
These events will mark the beginning of the “Great Tribulation,” of which Jesus said, “then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be” (Matthew 24:21). During this period, God Himself will unleash a kind of trouble that we have never seen. It will be His direct wrath upon godlessness, as Revelation reveals that Jesus Himself opens the seven seals of the deed to the universe in order that these horrors may begin. (Revelation 5:1-5; 6:1-17) God at this time, is still attempting to reach hardened hearts.
I am forever grateful that I will not be on earth to endure this wrath, because the wrath of God for my sin has already been poured out on Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary two thousand years ago. (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)
Please know that the horror of this time, plagues will occur that exceed anything that we can imagine (such as one hundred pound hailstones, rains of sulfur and blood, locust-like demons with the power to torment with scorpion-like stings for five months, myriad public calamities, an earthquake accompanied by a “sky quake,” horrible sores breaking out on bodies, etc.)
Make no mistake, COVID-19 is nothing compared to what is to come. The economic disaster is nothing compared to what will come when the antichrist allows no one to buy or sell without his mark, the mark of the beast. Right now, the earth and humanity are groaning and heaving under the weight of the sin curse GENERALLY. In that time, humans and the earth will be suffering the wrath of God SPECIFICALLY.
The horrors of the tribulation – though we are not experiencing them yet – CAST THEIR SHADOWS into our day. (Note the graphic attached.) The events are so grave, and so unlike anything we have ever seen, that they cast the shadow of horror to us now, as a warning or precursor.
You still have time to repent. You still have time to yield your heart to God by admitting that you are a sinner in need of Jesus to cover your sin with His blood. You still have time to let the wrath of God that you deserve for your sin to be placed onto the shoulders of Jesus, who bore that sin on the cross so long ago. If Jesus took that hit for you, and you claim it in reality, then God will never again punish that sin – not now, and not in the time of tribulation, for you will be gone with Jesus! (Romans 6:23; John 3:36)
– Shelli Prindle
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” (Jesus, in Matthew 24:21)