Believing and expecting the return of Jesus Christ is something most Christians can agree on, but the question that rankles the hearts and minds of many believers – and sometimes even divides Christians into separate camps and denominations – is the issue of whether believers will have to experience some or all of the rough times described in the book of Revelation and other prophetic Scriptures.

Basing their beliefs on information found in the Old Testament book of Daniel and the New Testament book of Revelation, conservative Bible scholars generally concur on the fact that the Great Tribulation will last a total of seven years. During that time the earth will undergo a horrendous time of chaos, including unparalleled earthquakes, floods, famines, pestilences, meteor strikes, and wars. Out of the chaos, rising on a platform of peace and security, will be the Antichrist, a powerful world leader under the direct control of Satan himself. The question is this: will Christians who are alive at that time (which I believe is coming upon us in the near future) escape the Tribulation, or will we have to go through part or all of it? Sincere Christians and intelligent Bible scholars can be found on both sides of the issue, holding to radically different opinions of just when Christ will come and when His church, the body of true believers, will be removed from Earth.

For many years I believed and preached adamantly that Christians would not be here to see the horrors of the Tribulation period. Admittedly, most of my thoughts on the matter were not original; nor were my views arrived at by years of studying the Scriptures and coming to biblically based conclusions. For the most part I simply believed what my mentors had taught, naively accepting their positions as absolute truth. When I continued to teach the things I had heard other sincere men and women of God proclaim – namely, that Jesus was coming back before the seven-year Tribulation, in an event we called the Rapture.

(To Be Continued)

Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 1
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 2
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 4
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 5
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 6
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 7
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 8
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 9
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 10
Will We Go Through the Tribulation? – Part 11

Excerpt from Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse

Published in 1998