At an appointed hour, the church is going to be raptured out of this world, caught up to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. That is the rapture (1 Th. 4:17). But what happens in the aftermath of the rapture is not strictly dealt with in the New Testament. God doesn’t tell us everything. Chaos will take place. When millions are gone suddenly and without explanation, worldwide fear will grip the hearts of those that remain. Antichrist will appear with a plausible explanation, a lie, of course, and millions will believe the lie (2 Th. 2:9-12). I recently sent forth a study on that subject. But what about those that remain? What about our unsaved family and friends? Will any of them have a chance to be saved? Will ANY be saved? Yes. John was not shown nor given all the details as to what will happen in the early days of the tribulation, but he was shown that an innumerable host of people will not accept the lie of Antichrist, buy into his propaganda, and will turn to the Lord God somehow, be saved, but will be martyred for their faith. God has always had a people. He will have a people during the dark and heavy days of the Great Tribulation.
To make this simple for everyone, three things stand out to me about this season of time.
1) It will be a season of unprecedented grief.
2) It will be a season of unparalleled grace when a great multitude will be saved.
3) There will be a season of unprompted glory. These are clear truths that John was shown by the Lord in Revelation 6 and 7.
The early days following the rapture will be marked by a time of troubles. Jesus described these days as unnerving deception, international conflicts, famines and pestilences, the likes of which haven’t happened before, and earthquakes that will kill thousands. He called these “the beginning of sorrows” (Mt. 24:5-8). If this is the beginning of sorrows that means the worst is yet to come! It will be a season of unprecedented grief. But in His discourse that He shared only with the disciples, Jesus continued to foretell what those days would be like and concluded saying, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Mt. 24:24). How long will this period be? Seven years. Those seven years will be hell on earth. A living nightmare where thousands upon thousands will die literally of fear. False teachers and false prophets will arise leading thousands more into greater deception and damnation. Geographical eruptions in the sea and land will occur killing more.
Celestial changes in the heavens will take place affecting the earth. The sun will be darkened and the moon won’t shine and “the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken” (24:29). The seal judgments that John was shown in Revelation 6-8, and the trumpet judgments later, unveil this period of unprecedented grief in greater detail. Antichrist will have no answer for the judgments of God on the earth. Man, who vainly wished to exclude the living God from their lives, who “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, God gave them up (Ro. 1:24-26). “The times of the Gentiles” is now fulfilled (Lk. 21:24). It ends in grief.
To use a common expression, it will be “hell on earth” after the Bridegroom comes for His bride and millions suddenly are missing and unaccounted for. On the heels of that event, the world will begin to groan from the unexpected grief of God’s judgments that rain upon the earth. Will there be no end to these judgments? Masses of people will die from the pestilences, earthquakes, and horrors. Where is God’s lovingkindness and mercy when they need it?
Today is the day of grace, the church age, when God is building the church of both Gentiles and Jews. With the rapture of the church, the day of grace, the church age concludes, however. Then begins the tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble as mentioned by Jeremiah (Jer. 30:7). What the world will need in that coming hour of judgment is an outpouring of the mercy and grace of God, and there will be unparalleled grace displayed and experienced by an innumerable host of people. Salvation has always been offered and experienced by the grace of God (Eph. 2:8-10), and His grace will shine brighter in that hour than the star that guided the wise men to the Christ child and be displayed in the rescue and conversion of a “great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Rv. 7:9).
The church will be saved ‘from’ the coming judgment of tribulation, never to experience those horrors. However, a great multitude will be saved during those days, many of which will make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. These are they that John saw under the brazen altar with the opening of the fifth seal (Rv. 6:1-9). Slain because they dared to believe in Christ for the salvation of their souls. Slain because they did believe in the word of God. Slain because they declared their faith personally and publicly.
The details of God’s unparalleled grace are not known. But people will turn to the Lord en masse. Some will understand the significance of the chaotic and confused days and call out to the Lord for salvation. Others will remember a Bible verse, something said in a Sunday school lesson, a sermon, a witness from a Christian friend, a truth from a tract handed to them. They didn’t deny what was said or that they read. They merely dismissed it from their minds, went unsaved, and were left behind sadly. Still others, will hear the gospel call and respond in faith to it through the 144,000 Jewish witnesses that God will call, seal, and send out into the world. Whatever the means are this untold number is saved through, it will be by the unparalleled grace of God, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8; Ro. 3:24).
Finally, John witnessed unprompted glorifying of God by this great multitude. Who are they? These are they that will be saved in the fires of the tribulation and are persecuted and martyred for their testimony to Christ. These are they that John saw under the altar crying out to God to avenge them (Rv. 6:10). “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14). These, John said, “stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.” (Rv. 7:9-12).
In the midst of God’s wrath in judgment upon Egypt because Pharaoh defied the command of the Lord, he was forced to declare that “this the finger of God” (Ex. 8:19). The finger of God will ultimately be seen again in the greatest grief that God will ever bring upon His creation and creatures and in His unspeakable grace that will be exhibited and experienced by the great multitude in those heavy dark days of the great tribulation. If you’re saved today, rejoice, O Christian, in the blood of your redemption and that your name is in the Lamb’s book of life.
