Post Rapture Survival

For what ever reason you find yourself left behind after the Rapture. Bad enough. But now you realise all what you have heard will become true, upto 3.5 years of trouble and unrest, when the Anti-Christ will emerge and take control, followed by 3.5 years of hell on earth, a time of unprecedented horror and destruction culminating in Armageddon and the Second Coming.

What do you do?
What are your options?

There are only two options, and YOU WILL have to choose one if you want to stand any chance of escaping eternal damnation in the lake of fire.

It will be one of the hardest decisions you will ever make.

1. Die for Christ - as Christ died for you.

If you wish to take this path you must resign yourself to the fact that you WILL die and probably in not a very nice manner. As Christ suffered before He died so too will you. In a way you will be making up for your faults in not following Christ or attaining the standard required. Only you can be sure why you were not called up in the Rapture. But as Christ died so too must you, and then and only then can you inherit the promise of eternal life.

The Bible tells us that during the tribulation there will be people who having realised what has happened will continue to preach and testify about Christ. Knowing now the Second Coming is closing, they will side with Christ and spread the word even unto death. Revelation 20:4 gives us a glorious site of those who take this path.

24. ..and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Here we see the promise of eternal life and not only that but following this path will grant you the right as with those Raptured to have an administering position during the millennial reign of Christ.

This period of tribulation will be a time when you WILL have to make your mind up and it will take great will and determination to stick to this path knowing that you will at some point be killed for your belief. In Revelation 13:7-8 we can see that the Anti-Christ, portrayed as the beast will be GIVEN power over the nations and Jews. He will be able to control them if they are not 100% behind God. This is the key point here, if you really believe and do exactly what is required of you by God, then He will give to you the promise of eternal life and protect your mind from the persuasive influence of Satan and the Anti-Christ.

7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

As we have seen the death you will encounter will be that of beheading, and more than likely it will be public so as to put fear into others who may want to follow. The timing of this is shown in Revelation 13:15 and is sometime around the middle of the 7 years, just entering the second half of real tribulation and terror.

15. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

You may for some time, depending on where you are, escape real torment and death but as soon as Christianity and any mention of God is outlawed then you will be hunted by even your friends. Family members too if not entirely on your side will turn you in for a reward or through fear. And don't forget if you are a member of a Church now then they will have all the records of Church membership's and any subscription information, to Christian type literature.

Computers already store this information when a church becomes a registered charity, in order to get tax benefits. Once signed your church is in the hands of the authorities and if they disagree with the teachings of that church, under the agreement signed they can remove the leader and demand all monies to be returned to the charities commission.

So are you willing to sacrifice your life as Christ did or do you think you will bottle out at the last minute, when you are standing before the guillotine, heckled by onlookers and being told to renounce God and your belief. It will be at that point that eternity will hang in the balance.

This is not to say of course that you don't die by the hands of the public when they drag you from the corner of the street where you are preaching and beat you to death. Don't think you can choose the way in which you die or commit suicide to escape any pain. The scriptures are quite specific about the terms of death.

beheaded for the witness of Jesus
had not worshipped the beast, neither his image,
neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands.

If you choose this path then I pray God will grant you the strength and courage you need to continue, even unto death.

2. Endure to the End

You have chosen the hardest option. By taking this path you are saying you will not, or could not face death, and you will not be alone. To die accidentally or suddenly is easy, basically you haven't got a choice, but to have to wait to die knowing it could be painful and frightening to say the least takes a lot of determination courage and faith.

To survive the tribulation is not an easy task but throughout the Bible Jesus told the Jews that if they did they would be saved (Mark 13:13). That is to say if they endured the hardship, persecution, possible imprisonment and possible death, God would reward them. Although this verse is specifically for the Jew God will also reward the non-Jew accordingly for enduring if they have done so as the Bible dictates.

13. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Yes even endure to death. The phrase; to endure to the end could mean to the return of Christ or the end of your life. But we are interested in keeping alive. How long do you have to endure or survive is something of debate. The period of tribulation as a whole is 7 years and definitely from the time of the abomination of desolation (Mark 13:14), which is at the mid-point you will be able to work out to within a day or so the Second Coming.

14. But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea

We know from this point that the Anti-Christ will reign for another 3.5 years at the end of which Christ will return. Two verses talk about this 3.5 years, the first relates to the Anti-Christ's reign and the second to the time the devout Jews will be looked after when they flee in the above verse. The two verses can be found in Revelation 13:5 and Revelation 12:14

5. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Given you have between 3.5 to 7 years to survive, (I would say realistically 6-7 years, if you look at the study on the Rapture you will see it must take place before the mid-point), you will have to endure hardship like never before. We know that you will not be able to buy anything unless you have the mark of the beast on you hand or forehead, Revelation 13:16-17.

16. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

This means more than just going to the local shop for your newspaper, it will be joined to everything you need, water, electricity, food, medical provisions. Don't forget Satan wants you to take this mark because he knows as soon as you do you are doomed, no questions or changing your mind afterward. It will be hard to last 3 months let alone 3 years without food or water, and if you want to scavenge, don't forget the plagues that are to come which will wipe out harvests and water supplies.

How then can you survive and what will it cost?

The answer is to look at the Second Coming and to the Judgement of the living nations, when Christ returns and judges those who are still alive on the earth. This can be found in Mathew 25:31-32.

31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32. And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

From this we do know people will survive, but from previous verses we know if any have taken the mark of the beast or fought against Christ in the battle of Armageddon then their future lies securely in the lake of fire.

What then must you do to enter the millennium reign of Christ?

At this point it is important to note that this is all you will do, enter the millennium reign of Christ, to live a thousand years under His iron rule. You will not be able to reign with Him, and administer authority you will be purely inhabitants. But then that is all you want to be, seeing as you didn't want to die for Him. We are also talking about gentiles the non-Jews, and more specifically concerning Jews the non-devout Jews.

From the following verses in Mathew 25 we learn how to be counted worthy to enter His millennial kingdom inverses 34-36.

34. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35. For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36. Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

You see from these verses that you have to not only be good but to live as Jesus did, doing good deeds and having compassion for even the lowliest of humanity. This also means helping your enemy when he falls or the person who wishes to do you harm.

In verses 37-40 we hear the people who thought they were good trying to tell Christ that if they had seen someone they would have helped, but they did not see that it meant ANYONE and not just those who they thought deserved it.

37. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38. When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39. Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Also we must realise that this time of tribulation is the time for the Jew, the continuation of their promise so everything that happens is leading and testing the Jew for their acceptance into the Kingdom. This means as a non-Jew you will be expected to fight the Jew and all that they stand for. Satan via the Anti-Christ will not accept any allegiance with people he considers an enemy. Again if you make a stand you will be killed.

The best option and it is fraught with dangers is to travel to Israel and fight on the side of the Jew. Protect the Jews and their religion against the powers of darkness. More than this it would be wise to find the devout Jews, the ones which God takes to a prepared place for 3.5 years. (Revelation 12:14) And if you get killed in your attempt to protect God's chosen? Well only God knows what will happen to you at the final judgement seat of God.

As I said at the beginning you have chosen the hardest option, because most of the ways you will probably get you killed. This is not taking into account any of the plagues and judgements which will befall the earth during these times which could equally get you killed.

Even if you do survive to the end how can you be sure you have done your best, or what God expects. I would think before you get half way through the tribulation you will have had to make a choice as to whether you will take the mark or not, and suffer the consequences accordingly for your choice.