Copyright
© 2024 Michael A. Brown
‘So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come
at a time when you do not expect him.’ (Matt. 24:44)
‘…they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood
came and took them all away.’ (Matt. 24:39)
I am sure we all know what it feels like when an unexpected event suddenly takes
place, or when we receive some unexpected news ‘out of the blue’ that hits us
and rocks us to the core. It may be a serious
medical diagnosis, an event in the life of a friend or relative, the sudden
death of someone we know, a sudden earthquake that strikes terror and a feeling
of panic in our heart, or whatever.
These kinds of things render us bewildered or in a state of shock and
unbelief for a while, until we slowly recover our equilibrium and adjust
ourselves to the new reality present in our life.
There are many people in the Scriptures
who were not ready and prepared to enter into eternity when their time came. Amongst others, we could mention the rich man
of Luke 16:19-31 or the rich fool of Luke 12:14-21.
The problem this latter man had lay in his
spiritual blindness, and in his covetousness and self-centred greed. He had given his life to growing wealthier
and wealthier. He lived for money,
seeking security solely in material success and dreaming of a
life of carefree self-indulgence, but he was not ‘rich towards God,’ as
Jesus put it. He ignored spiritual truth
and considered the things of God to be an irrelevance to his life, so he was
completely oblivious to the fact that his day of reckoning was approaching, and
he was not ready for it when it came.
He went to bed that night thinking and
planning to build bigger and better barns to contain his abundant harvest, evidently
intending to begin implementing his plans the very next day. However, he died
unexpectedly during the night, probably in his sleep. So, not only were his plans never realised,
and his material possessions passed on to someone else, his own soul was also
lost eternally. He went to sleep, and his soul left his body. It passed through the veil of death into eternity, into a state of being utterly devoid of
the presence of God, in a very dark place where he had none of his material
comforts whatsoever, and from where it was impossible to escape (cf. Luke
16:23-31). Becoming consciously aware of
this awful eternal reality all around him as he entered it, would have come as
a complete, sudden, and unexpected shock to him. The tragedy, of course, was that he was
not ready or prepared for it at all when it happened, but it was then too late
for him to do anything about it.
Assuming he had a wife and children, these
would have been deeply shocked by his sudden passing. They would have been immediately jolted out
of any smug satisfaction they felt over their plentiful harvest, and they were plunged
unexpectedly into a time of heart grief, bereavement and mourning. The sudden shock and emotional stress of
having to face the reality of dealing with his death and the funeral
arrangements which followed, and then adjusting their lives to the fact that he
was no longer around to provide, came upon them at a time when they least
expected it.
The simple but unpalatable truth is that
physical death can come knocking on the door of our life at any time. Although we would all wish it to be
different, there is always a significant number of people who do not live out
the average span of human life. Many
pass away earlier in adult life, and unfortunately some pass away even earlier,
in infancy, childhood or adolescence.
Furthermore, the process of death can be slower or more prolonged, or it
can be sudden. There is no way of
knowing when or how it will happen.
So the best thing we can do for ourselves, is
to accept this reality and to live our life in the light of it, rather than clinging onto the deceptive assumption that we and those we love will necessarily live
out a full average life span or more.
This means living a life which is surrendered to Christ in every way,
which is focused on the things of God’s kingdom, and which is lived in the light of
eternal realities. Then we will be ready
and prepared in our heart to meet our Maker at any time, and, if death does happen
to come suddenly to someone we know, then we won’t be anywhere near as shocked
and shaken as we otherwise would have been. We can live in thankfulness for the time that we did get to spend with them.
Business as usual?
When Jesus spoke of how people generally
will not be ready and prepared for his coming at the resurrection-rapture
event, he illustrated his point by referring to the time of the Flood in Noah’s
day and to the destruction of Sodom in the time of Lot (Matt. 24:37-39, Luke 17:26-30).
We are given several similar descriptions
of daily life leading up to these two judgements.
Let’s gather them together: we are told that people were ‘eating and
drinking,’ ‘marrying and giving in marriage,’ ‘buying and selling,’ and
‘building and planting’ (Matt. 24:38, Luke 17:28).
These are all general descriptions of
normal daily life. They are certainly
not the moving causes of these two judgements.
The causes are given elsewhere in Scripture. Jesus used these general descriptions to underline
the simple fact that people were not ready and prepared for what was going to
happen, in both cases. Daily life was
going on pretty much as it always had.
It was ‘business as usual.’
People’s time and energy were absorbed and consumed by their daily
activities, much as they are today, and they gave no thought or heed to the
things of God. They made no space for
him in their life, so they knew nothing and had no idea of what was soon going to
happen to them.
Those people who did hear the preaching of
Noah, ignored it in their unbelief and considered it an irrelevance to their
life (2 Peter 2:5). They simply
dismissed it from their mind.
Undoubtedly, they all thought that Noah and his family were just a bunch
of religious fanatics who were going around preaching ‘the end is nigh' at every street corner. Life just seemed to carry on as normal every
day without any visible signs happening which would indicate that judgement was
coming, so they didn’t believe it. And
no doubt they all mocked Noah and his family to scorn as they were building the
ark: Why on earth were these crazy people wasting their lives doing that?! So they simply and blindly carried on much as
they always had done.
That is until the door of the ark was shut,
and the first drops of rain started to fall.
God’s time for judgement had finally come, and it could not be
averted. As the rain continued falling
and didn’t stop at all, and as rivers of water gushed up from the great deep,
people’s unbelief and mockery would have been suddenly and rudely jolted into
the realisation of what was happening all around them. But by then it was too late! Their panic and screams for help were in vain
and went unheard. Before long they had
all drowned and were wiped off the face of the earth (Gen. ch.7).
In the time of Lot, the sexual sin of the
people of the cities of the plain knew no bounds. They had given themselves over utterly and shamelessly to the
hardcore practice of open, flagrant and wilful sexual sin, and piled it up so
high that it became a stench in the nostrils of God (Gen. 18:20-21). Lot’s righteous vexation with their sin meant
nothing to them, and they simply carried on wilfully and blindly sowing the
wind without any thought that they would at some stage reap the whirlwind (2
Peter 2:7-8, Hos. 8:7).
And so it was. In their spiritual blindness, these people
sinned themselves into judgement, and they walked straight into it big time
without deviating from their sin by even a single step! So anyone who got up before dawn and started
to go about their normal daily activities, on the morning when Lot and his
family were being escorted out of Sodom by the angels, would have had no clue
as to what was going to hit them in just a few minutes' time. They had absolutely no idea! The catastrophe hit them suddenly, right ‘out
of the blue,’ seemingly from nowhere, and it hit them very hard and without
mercy. These cities were completely
obliterated, along with everything and everyone in them. By the following day, there was nothing left
of them but charred and smouldering remains (Gen. ch.19).
Just as suddenly
The community of the believing body of
Christ came into being unexpectedly when the Holy Spirit was poured out
suddenly on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:2). This sudden and very powerful event left those
who observed it bewildered and perplexed as to what was going on, until Peter
got up to preach and explained it to them.
Some of them openly mocked what was happening (Acts 2:6-13).
Similarly, the presence on this earth of
the believing body of Christ will be removed in the end-times event of the
rapture which will happen just as suddenly and unexpectedly. As suddenly as the body of Christ came into
being on the day of Pentecost, just as suddenly will it be removed in the
rapture. As suddenly as the Lord came to
his temple, just as suddenly will the Bridegroom return for his bride (Mal.
3:1, Matt. 25:6). The dead in Christ
will rise, and living believers will be instantly transformed into their
glorified spiritual body and then visibly caught up into the air to meet
Christ. They will depart from this
world, protected from the worldwide judgements which will follow, just as Noah
and his family were kept safe in the ark, and just as Lot and his family were
removed away from Sodom before it was destroyed.
The coming of the Lord in the rapture
will be a sudden event that will happen at a specific time that the Father has
appointed for it, but we ourselves do not know when that will be. So Jesus exhorted us to watch, pray and be
ready for it. He said it will happen at
an hour when we do not expect it:
‘Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day
your Lord will come… So you also must be
ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time when you do not expect him.’ (Matt. 24:42,44)
‘Be on guard! Be alert
and pray! You do not know when that time
will come… If he comes suddenly, do not
let him find you sleeping. What I say to
you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’ (Mark 13:36-37)
These verses render vain any attempt
to fix a date when we think or hope that the rapture will happen. In fact, they imply that it’s actually far
more likely that the rapture will not happen at such a time. It will happen at a time when we don’t
expect it.
The problem with the myriad distractions
of daily life, is that they shift the focus of our heart, mind and desires away
from the Lord and onto other things. If
we are not careful, we can become so taken up with other things that we lose
the sharpness and focus of our spiritual life.
Our heart grows cold towards the Lord, and we may even stray away from
him altogether. And for the most part,
daily life around us just seems to carry on pretty much as normal anyway, so we too simply
carry on as we are. If the Lord should then
come suddenly, this would break into our life unexpectedly. Unexpectedly, because we were not ready for
it since the focus of our life was elsewhere.
Living in the light of the prophetic purpose of God
The common themes running through the
three illustrations which Jesus used in relation to the rapture are expectation
and readiness. The man of the house knew
that the thief would come sometime during the night, so he waited up to catch
him. The faithful steward waited
expectantly for his master’s return, so he continued to work to his master’s
expected standards and did not slack off or behave irresponsibly. The five wise virgins prepared themselves for
the nighttime wedding festivities by furnishing themselves with the necessary
oil, so that they were ready and prepared when the bridegroom finally came at
midnight (Matt. 24:42 – 25:13).
So we need to be ready, much as Noah and
Abraham were. In his generation, Noah
had been clearly warned about the coming flood.
He knew therefore that it was coming, so he and his family prepared for
it by building the ark as they were instructed.
He lived in the revelation of the prophetic purpose of God, and he adjusted
the whole of his life to engage and flow with this purpose (Gen. 6:8 –
7:24). Similarly, God did not hide from
Abraham what he intended to do in relation to the cities of the plain. So Abraham knew what was going to transpire,
and Lot and his family were rescued from Sodom by the angels in response to his
intercession (Gen. 18:16-33). For both Noah
and Abraham, the destruction, when it came, did not come suddenly and
unexpectedly. They were living in the
light of what they knew was going to happen, so, for them, it did not happen
suddenly.
It is the same with the rapture. For those who are living in the light of this
end-times prophetic purpose of God, and who are therefore ready and prepared
for it, the rapture will not happen suddenly or unexpectedly. We are waiting for it with anticipation and
joy-filled hearts! It will be a sudden
and unexpected shock only for those who are not ready.
By contrast, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in his own day
for their spiritual blindness and inability to discern the times they were
living in, in terms of his messianic ministry.
Tragically, along with many other Jewish people of their generation,
they did not recognise him for who he was. It was hidden from their eyes. When the Lord came to them, they were not ready. They rejected him, and therefore they missed
the day of their visitation. This rejection
of Christ led later to the tragic events of AD 70 when the city of Jerusalem
and the temple were razed to the ground by the Romans, and many of that
generation lost their lives unexpectedly (Matt. 16:2-3, Luke 19:41-44).
When it comes, the resurrection-rapture
event will happen suddenly. It will be
an unexpected event that breaks into the life of this world at an unknown time
right ‘out of the blue.’ There will be
no prior warning, nor a worldwide alarm that sounds loudly five minutes
beforehand to tell people to repent and quickly get ready for it. Unless they know Christ for themselves,
people will not be ready for the rapture when it happens. While they are in the midst of going about
their daily activities just as they always have, whether doing the washing up,
peeling some potatoes, or working at their pc screen, suddenly one will be taken
and the other left. For believers, the
washing-up sponge, the peeling knife or the pc mouse, will simply fall out of
their hands as they are instantly transformed into their glorified spiritual
body and then rise up to meet Christ:
‘Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the
other left. Two women will be grinding
with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.’ (Matt. 24:40-41)
Furthermore, this end-times event of the
rapture is the trigger which will signal the beginning of the sunteleia,
the end-period of this age in which the wrath of God will be poured out on the
world in judgement. It will mark the
shift into sudden and widespread destruction in this world:
‘While
people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly,
as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.’ (1 Thess. 5:3)
Both the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul
used the metaphor of the beginning of labour pains to describe this transition
from ‘peace and safety’ into the tribulation of the day of the Lord (Matt.
24:8, 1 Thess. 5:2-3). This transition
in pregnancy marks an irreversible shift into the final stage which culminates
in the birth of the baby. In terms of
the tribulation, Paul said that those who are not raptured and who remain, will
not be able to escape from this time of tribulation with everything that it
involves. In a similar way, Jesus
likened it to an encroaching trap which will come upon the whole world, a trap
from which people will evidently be unable to escape (Luke 21:35-36).
This is the tragic end-times consequence
of not being ready. Perhaps the saddest
words which Jesus spoke in relation to the rapture, were addressed to the five
foolish virgins. Having finally gone out
at midnight to purchase some oil, upon returning they found that the door into
the wedding celebration had been shut, just as the Lord shut the door of Noah’s
ark. Although they pleaded with the bridegroom
to be allowed in, the door remained shut on them. They were too late, and the bridegroom
told them he did not know them (Matt. 25:10-13, cf. Gen. 7:16).
The tragedy of not knowing the truth, or
of wilfully ignoring it, is that people will be completely unprepared for what
is coming. I have no doubt at all myself
that for those who observe the rapture when it happens, but who are left behind, the suddenness and the power of this visible event will leave them
not only dumbstruck and bewildered, but also panicked and terrified when they
realise that so many people have been suddenly removed, including some of their
loved ones in many cases. The majority of
them will have no idea what on earth is happening or what it means! This sudden disappearance of believers will
cause immediate and widespread temporary chaos in many parts of the world, until
those who remain have adjusted to their new reality (cf. Rev. 6:15-17).
We are exhorted to be ready and
prepared now, before our Bridegroom comes. But this is the sad fact: that people don’t
want to know, and they blindly continue on in their unbelief, with a contemptuous
or lackadaisical attitude towards the things of God. Some may even attend church regularly and
profess to be believers, but actually in their hearts they are not yet born
again. When the truth finally hits
home, either at or just after the time of the rapture, it will be too late then
to expect to be taken by Christ, if they were not ready beforehand. The rapture is for those who are ready and
have prepared themselves beforehand for the coming of the Lord.
Unbelief and a dismissive heart attitude
simply condemn people to having to go through the time of tribulation. They will be left on earth to face the dark
time of the rise and reign of Antichrist, the mark of the Beast, the judgements
of God in the seven trumpets and seven bowls of wrath, and the widespread
destruction and depopulation which will take place on planet earth during that time. Jesus said that it will be the worst time of
distress that there has ever been in this world (Matt. 24:21). And for as long as people survive during the
tribulation, if they still do not repent then they will also face a lost
eternity after their death.
So we need to be ready! We need to repent before God of any sin of
which we are consciously aware in our life.
We need to accept Jesus as our Saviour and the Lord of our life. We need to follow him and learn to practise
the principles of his word in our life, living in the light of eternal
realities, rather than for sinful pleasures and the deceptive values of this
world. We need to study and understand
the prophetic purposes of God in these end-times, that we might discern and
understand the season in which we live, and to live our life in the light of
this.
When Abraham understood what was going to
happen to Sodom, he was burdened in his heart to pray to God over this
situation. God answered his prayers by
saving Lot and his family out of Sodom before it was destroyed. As the truth of what I have written in this blog sinks into our heart, we too will be burdened to pray, groan and
intercede before God for all those people we know who do not yet know Christ. They are still blind towards the gospel and
the things of God, and we need to ask the Holy Spirit to open their eyes, so
that they can repent and get right with God before it is too late.
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