Who Will Be Able to Stand?

The Day of the Lord begins at night, just like every Hebrew day: “the evening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:5). This is the terrifying day, yet future, when judgment begins on the earth.

In the first century, someone passed around a bogus letter among the Thessalonians that was supposedly from Paul, Timothy, and Silas that said “the Day of the Lord has come, and we’re already in it.”

“Don’t let anyone deceive you about this,” Paul says. “Two specific things will happen first, and neither one has taken place yet.”

First, there will be a falling away. Many interpret this as leaving true Bible teaching. Two kinds of removing will take place. The organized church will depart from the faith (that’s what we call apostasy today), but then there will be total apostasy when the true church is removed and the organized church left down here will totally depart from the faith.

From the Christian’s perspective, we will be raptured, “snatched up or caught up.” From the people on earth’s viewpoint, the removal of believers is a departure. It’s hard to know what people on earth will think or the story that will be concocted to explain our disappearance. Most likely they’ll be glad we’re gone. They think they’ll be entering into the blessing of the Millennium, not realizing they are actually entering into a time of trouble like the world has never seen.

The second thing that must happen to indicate the Day of the Lord has begun, is the Antichrist will be revealed. This “man of sin” has about 30 different titles in the Bible. He’ll be Satan’s man who will put the Roman Empire back together again, will become a world dictator, and will actually publicly proclaim himself to be God. Nobody, no power on earth, can stop him. As God’s people in Egypt were helpless and hopeless until God delivered them, so the believers during the Tribulation will be helpless under the power of the Antichrist until the Lord Jesus comes to the earth to establish His Kingdom.

In our age, the Holy Spirit restrains Satan and his evil henchmen. But when the Holy Spirit takes His hands off, it will be like taking the stopper out of the bottle—the liquid of lawlessness will pour out all over the world.

When will that happen? When the church is raptured, the Holy Spirit’s role on earth will change. He’ll be in the world during the Tribulation, but on a different mission. Just as He was present in the days of the Old Testament, He will be present on the earth. Today, the Spirit of God is sealing us until the day of redemption when He will present us and deliver us to the Lord Jesus at the Rapture. If He didn’t do that, we would never make it.

When you think of the coming prophetic events, think of it in two episodes. First the Lord calls for His church to meet Him in the air, and then He comes to the earth to establish His Kingdom. At that time, the Antichrist will be destroyed with the brightness of His coming.

But until then, God lets the world believe a lie. After they hear and refuse to believe the Word of God, they will believe the Antichrist’s claim to be the real Jesus Christ. He’ll tell them how smart they are for not believing in the “other” Jesus.

Since they’re so obsessed with evil, God gives them what they want. And since they refuse to trust God’s Word, they’re now living in a world of illusions. But at least they’re doing all the unrighteousness their hearts desire.

Next: How do we live now … now that we know what’s coming?