Yesterday I finished reading my favorite book I have yet read, besides the Bible; the Left Behind series. Now I knew it would take a long time to read, so I got the audiobook version for each book. I played the audiobook version for my parents during my trip up to visit my grandparents and fish. I was hooked on the first day and after 2 months I finished the last book (sixteenth book). These books are around 400 pages each and would have taken a lot longer for me to have completed without the audio version.
The books follow specific characters and events leading up to and through the Rapture, Great Tribulation and the very last words of the Book of Revelation. They are intermixed with fictional characters and events as well as real biblical events which shall take place.
There is a great movie trilogy called the Left Behind series, which is based off of the first two books that were written. If nothing else, it enlightens you greatly about Christianity through the books and focuses mostly on the most disturbing 7 years of all human history; the Great tribulation and those who are left behind after the Rapture. Before I go any further, I just want to state that eschatology or End-Times theology (the study of the last things and the second coming of Christ), is the most disputed part in the entire Bible and that there are many interpretations about what it will be like. The Left Behind Series is purely a Futurism interpretation. Which is that all the events which relate or may relate to the second coming of Christ are going to be fulfilled, i.e. they have not happened yet in history and will happen. I personally don't know, nor is it that big of a concern... what interpretation is likely to actually occur but i tend to lean more towards futurism. Nevertheless, we as follows of Christ are told to occupy the time until all things are fulfilled and not to worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
I could tell virtually the whole story but I’ll try to condense it. The story begins with Rayford Steele as a child and a woman named Marilena Carpathia. Rayford grows up with parents who go to a "cool" church, that is, a church which talks a lot about spiritual matters and gives you a nice story but doesn't actually "Save you". They don't open the Bible and they don't talk about anything which might make people uncomfortable. Marilena Carpathia is an older woman who suddenly is overcome with a huge urge to have a baby. Her husband and her are extremely intellectual atheist's and their relationship is more about gaining more knowledge or insight though--so she tries to seek out distraction from a group of people who meet and do spiritual things and it turns out that the leader of the group is a Luciferian (she is a follower of Lucifer/Satan). Needless to say, Marilena knowingly becomes a Luciferian herself and gives birth through genetic engineering to Nicolae Carpathia--the Anti-Christ. Nicolae Carpathia becomes a successful businessman and later becomes president of his country Romania.
Rayford Steele becomes an airline pilot and is married to Irene Steele. When his wife gets "saved" and then later his son, only his daughter and he remain without Christ. His wife tries to tell him about Christ but he doesn't want to believe. After Israel is invaded by Russia--Gog is the former name of modern day Moscow (the army takes the form of a seemingly endless barrage of planes), God destroys all the army with fire from the sky and they land everywhere but do not hit anyone around Israeli citizens as they fall to the ground.
"You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you. Thus says the Lord God: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme... In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes... declares the Lord God, my wrath will be roused in my anger... on that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel... the mountains shall be thrown down... I will summon a sword against Gog... I will rain upon him and his hordes... torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur... You shall fall on the mountains of Israel... I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beast of the field to be devoured." Ezekiel 38--39.
In the Left Behind series, 1 year after the Russian invasion is destroyed, the rapture takes place and all those who are dead shall be raised to life to life and those who are still live are caught up in a cloud--so Irene and her son are with Jesus and all those who did not trust in him, are left behind and many people after the Rapture do not know what happened to those who disappeared in an instant.
"But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father only" Matthew 24:36 *No one knows when these things will come to pass, only God.
"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Nicolae quickly becomes the leader of the entire world, after he signs the peace treaty with Israel for 7 years. The Great Tribulation then begins at the signing of the peace treaty. The wrath of God is sent upon the earth with great judgments--so that those who are still alive may repent and seek Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The first round of judgments are the seven seal judgments, the second round is the trumpet judgments and the last judgments, are the bowl judgments.
"Now I watched when the lamb opened the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder Come! And I looked, and behold a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer" Revelations 6:1-2
The four horses represent: the Anti-Christ coming to deceive the nations and take them over through peaceful means, the second one represents a global war, the third is to bring famine and the last to bring death. Those are the first four seal judgments of God. There is much other judgment, each becoming getting worse, and during the half way point of the tribulation, Anti-Christ is then indwelt by Satan and the mark of the beast is given to those who agree to take it. Those who take the mark of the beast shall be tormented with fire and sulfur by God, in the presence of Jesus and his angels
"and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." Revelations 14:11
At the battle of Armageddon, after the 7 years has passed, Jesus then came and destroyed the great armies of Satan and the Anti-Christ in three battles. He then threw the Anti-Christ and false prophet into the lake of fire and bound Satan for 1000 years in the bottomless pit. Satan was unleashed briefly to deceive the nations after 1000 years and gathered his armies from around the world around Israel again but his armies were burned with fire from heaven and the devil was thrown into the lake of fire.
"Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelations 20:14-15
After this, the final book in the Left Behind series ended with Rayford and all the believers, who saw a new heaven and a new earth coming and dwelt with Jesus forever.
"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying "Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelations 21:3-4
"The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen." Revelations 22:21
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