One day soon the Lord Jesus Christ will come. He
will gather all those millions who know Him into
the clouds in the rapture. Because so many will
disappear, cars will be without drivers, planes
will be without pilots, and infrastructure will
come to a standstill. So many people will be
missing that the world will be forced to unite.
How many of us have been taught something like
this? How many of us have been told that the
only thing that will bring Planet Earth together
under a world government will be the rapture?
In recent days, especially during the late
1990’s, speculation about world government among
Believers has been at an all time high.
Following World War II and with the inauguration
of the Cold War, it seemed unlikely that world
government could occur. The Cold War polarized
the world between the power centers of
Washington and Moscow. The United Nations was
nothing less than a debating chamber for the two
superpowers and their proxy states. Western
European integration might have been occurring
at the same time, but this was largely due to
post-World War II devastation and an effort to
revitalize Europe’s economies through
integration. Suffice it to say, world government
was the last thing on anyone’s minds.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union,
nation-states of the world are now in a more
viable position to seek greater unity. The prime
element behind globalization and the global
community is a drive to see greater exchange of
goods and an expanse of trade. With global
communications and the Internet people all over
the world are able to share information and
ideas. With the initiation of the euro, there is
now a single currency for the world’s largest
market, the European Union. We are definitely
moving toward greater world integration. One
day, as the Scriptures tell us, there will be
world government and a single world leader:
“Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a
fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be
different from all the other kingdoms and
will devour the whole earth and tread it down
and crush it. As for the ten horns, out of this
kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will
arise after them, and he will be different from
the previous ones and will subdue three kings.
He will speak out against the Most High and wear
down the saints of the Highest One, and he will
intend to make alterations in times and in law;
and they will be given into his hand for a time,
times, and half a time’” (Daniel 7:23-25).
The question that is being asked by many
prophecy teachers right now is not necessarily
“Will the world come together?” This much should
be obvious if you read the Bible and believe in
the literal fulfillment of prophecy. The
question being asked is “How will the world come
together?” Suffice it to say, everyone has their
own theory or opinion about how the world will
come together.
The predominant view in evangelical Christianity
right now is that the rapture will happen,
millions of people will suddenly disappear,
societal anarchy will ensue, thus causing the
world to unite under the antimessiah/antichrist.
Is there a problem with this scenario? Other
than the fact that Yeshua the Messiah plainly
tells us that He returns “after the tribulation”
(Matthew 24:29-31) and Paul says He returns at
“the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)—yes,
there is a serious problem. Other than the fact
that the pre-tribulation rapture is not
supported by Scripture, how do we know that
in the event that a pre-trib rapture were to
occur that there would be enough people missing
for it to even matter? This is not a trick
question. How many people in Christianity are
even “saved” so that they would be taken up into
the clouds to meet Yeshua? If you were thinking
billions, then we believe you are mistaken. Many
Christians today are unwilling to experience
the Tribulation or hard times, which speaks
volumes as to their salvation experience and if
they truly have faith in God.
Many popular pre-tribulationists have done a
good job at making people think that the pre-trib
rapture is what is needed to cause societal
anarchy and thus the rise of the antimessiah.
But must it be the rapture that causes problems
that lead to world unity? I do not believe so. I
believe that there can be something much worse
happen than the rapture that leads to chaos:
“For this reason in one day her plagues will
come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and
she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord
God who judges her is strong. And the kings of
the earth, who committed acts of
immorality and lived sensuously with her, will
weep and lament over her when they see the smoke
of her burning, standing at a distance because
of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe,
the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in
one hour your judgment has come’” (Revelation
18:8-10).
There are many
prophecy teachers who believe that the end-time
Babylonian phenomenon is more than just a
world-wide system. There are those who believe
that Revelation 18 speaks of a literal city, in
fact, they believe that it speaks of New York
City. The implication among some prophecy
teachers is that the city that is destroyed in
one hour is New York, a city that is a center of
world trade, industry, and diplomacy.
If September 11, 2001 has proven anything, it
has proven that the world has new threats—like
global terrorism. Terrorists want to do more
than fly airplanes into buildings, because the
more people they kill, the more people they
scare, and the more they scare, the more they
get an audience and a platform for their
beliefs. Terrorists, be they Islamic terrorists
or otherwise, want weapons of mass destruction.
Consider an even worse scenario than the rapture
taking millions of people to Heaven prior to the
Tribulation period:
Leaders from all the United Nations member
states were assembled in New York. They sat down
at the conference, ready to discuss the issues
at hand. Every one of them was prepared. And
then it happened. We did not think it would
happen, but it did. Terrorists exploded a
nuclear bomb in the city of New York killing
millions—including the world leaders,
presidents, prime ministers, chancellors,
executives, at the United Nations. The world is
in a total state of shock and disarray as the
leaders of the United States, Britain, France,
Germany, Japan, Russia, India, China, and other
countries were all slaughtered in a blink
instant. The world will move on, but can there
be a tragedy that tops this? Who was
responsible? Whomever they are we will be a
united world around ________ and we will make
them pay.
Considering our times, this is a plausible
possibility on how the world will come together.
More anarchy will be caused if world leaders are
slaughtered all at once in a nuclear blast then
if people just disappear via the pre-trib
rapture.
