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The greatest mystery in the world today is the patience of God in allowing sin to run ravaging through this world.
There is no village or town without its seething, and there is no human heart without its caliginous, black drop.
There is no life without tears and sorrows.
There is no home that ultimately does not break up, and there is no family that does not see the circle of the home dissolve in the depths of the grave.
There is no life that does not end in the grave.
The pages of history, from the time of the first murder until this present hour, are written in blood, tears, and death.
Why God delays in taking, the kingdom unto Himself. That is the most inexplicable mystery that the mind could dream of, the mystery of the presence of evil. For these thousands of years, God has allowed Satan to wrap his vicious, slimy, filthy, cruel tentacles around human life and around this earth. Does God know it? Is He indifferent to it? Is He not able to cope with it? Oh, the mystery of the delay of God!
That mystery has brought more stumbling to the faith of God’s people than any other experience in all life. The infidel, the atheist, the agnostic and the unbeliever laugh and mock us, and God lets them mock and laugh.
Our missionaries are slain, our churches are burned to the ground, people in this earth by uncounted millions and millions are oppressed, living in despair, and God just looks. He seemingly does not intervene; He does not say anything, and He does not move. Sin just develops. It goes on and on. Oh, the mystery of the delay of the Lord God!
But somewhere beyond the starry sky there stands a herald angel with a trumpet in his hand, and by the decree of the Lord God Almighty, there is a day, there is an hour, there is a moment, there is an elected time when the angel shall sound and the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ.”
Walk with me through the pages of Revelation chapters six, eight, nine, and sixteen. Briefly, may I describe the living hell you can avoid if you are a part of the Rapture. Here are only a few of the dreadful disasters that take place during the Tribulation:
1. One out of every four people will die (see Rev. 6:8), some through the ravages of war, others by starvation, and amazingly many others by the ‘beasts of the earth’. So, whether by death that comes instantly and thus less dreaded or a slow and painful death that is lingering and agonizing-25 percent of all people will die. The world’s population was 7.2 billion in 2019, so that means at least 1.8 billion will die. That amounts to just about five times the current population of the United States-can you imagine that? And remember that the population of the world is doubling every 39.5 years. So every day the number of people who will die becomes larger and larger.
2. One-third of all vegetation will be burned up. All grass, every tree, everything green will be destroyed (see Rev. 8:7).
3. The sun and the moon will be darkened as nature goes into revolt (see Rev. 8:12).
4. The gates of hell will open and hordes of locusts, the size of horses, will come upon the earth. Those locusts will be allowed to sting men like scorpions and the pain will last for five months. The Bible says men will beg God to let them die but they will not die (see Rev. 9:3-6).
5. There will be worldwide famine, unlike anything the world has ever seen (see Rev. 18:8).
6. There will be a world war so bloody that the blood of those killed in battle will flow for two hundred miles up to the bridle of a horse in the valley of Jezreel. This will be the Battle of Armageddon (see Rev. 14:20).
7. All told, during the Great Tribulation, as many as half of all the people on the earth will be killed. Now, do you see why God refers to the Rapture as a ‘blessed hope’? Because the Tribulation to come is so horrible!
But that means we are gone and will escape everything, right? Yes, exactly, we will miss every part of the TRIBULATION, but we will probably go through some of the worst days we have ever seen before it starts.