I have it on very good authority, author, Terry James, that the U.S. economy is not going to crash before the Rapture of the Church. With a national debt of $40 trillion and compounding, financial experts would have sworn on their high-speed calculators and their Excel spreadsheets that it would have crashed $20 trillion ago. But it hasn’t. James, in his book, Nearing Midnight, writes, “The gravitational pull that should at any moment cause a catastrophic crash hasn’t happened.” But it will happen, that’s a guarantee, just not until after the believers have left the planet. And when it does, the fall of this modern-day Babylon will trigger a global catastrophe, perhaps beginning the very day we leave.
Why is James so confident in his claim? Because, as a dean of Bible prophecy, he has it on even higher Authority. Jesus Himself said that when he returns at the Rapture, the world’s economy will be booming: He said, “Just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building …” This language speaks of a vigorous economic activity, a robust, “can do” boldness, where the rich get richer and the comfortable become even more comfortable, and even the common man and the have-nots of the world get in on some of the action.
And such as it is today in this present-day Sodom, enjoying the most powerful economy in the history of the world. Not since the fall of the Roman Empire has a people been more universally blessed with every comfort imaginable, from a $50,000 Black Diamond baby pacifier to a $1.6 million roll of gold toilet paper. The poorest 5% of Americans are richer than 70% of the rest of the world. And in spite of all its massive debt, according to the Stock Market, the Consumer Confidence Index, the Dow, and all the other economic markers, the future outlook appears to be very much the same: “Eat, drink, and be merry,” and tomorrow will be the same. Why this focus on America? Because, prophetically, along with the Middle East, Russia (Gog), and China (Kings of the East), America is a major player in God’s prophetic timeline in these End Times; with the rise and fall of Babylon, so goes the rest of the world.
Not that there aren’t any dark forces that would like to see the world’s financial grid collapse, for there are many. It’s actually their chief goal. Evil knows that if it poisons a culture’s moral fiber long enough, eventually that nation will die from within by suicide. Then, amid the ensuing chaos, they would be able to seize the day and implement their own fantasy of a worldwide Utopia. These forces, inspired by Hell, go by different names: Marxists, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, the 1619 Project, Gay Pride, UN, the EU, Planned Parenthood, Communism, Wokeism. Critical Race Theory, Great Reset, The World Economic Forum, the Deep State, Free Palestine, Jihadists, anti-Semites, climate alarmists, transgender activists, and the liberal media that enables their venom to contaminate a culture. Ironically, for all their bluff and bluster, their efforts to usher in their Brave New World is only laying the groundwork for the reign of the soon-coming Man of Sin and Lawlessness, more familiarly known as the anti-Christ.
What do all these groups have in common? Much, as it turns out. All are religious zealots, though their ideology and strategies vary widely. Some worship power and money, others, the false prophets from Marx to Muhammad. Some worship Eros, some Gaia, others worship Moloch, and all worship anarchy. And all have a demonic hatred for God, Western Civilization, especially America and Israel, and all, unfortunately, are more fanatically dedicated to their cause than most Christians, including myself, but that’s another subject.
This cabal of crusaders is bent on conquering for their gods, which can only happen if the present system of governments and economies are overthrown. But that is not going to happen, I believe, until after the Rapture of the Church. As James explains in his book, the reason the world’s economies won’t collapse before the Rapture is that there just isn’t enough time for an economic collapse and then a rebuilding of it again to match Jesus’ prophecy.
Even now the Evil is being held back by the Holy Spirit. Paul wrote, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; but the One who now holds it back will continue to do so until He is taken out of the way.” What is this “mystery of lawlessness” but the shrouded, progressive power of rebellion against God. After the saints are taken to Glory, the salt and light that have been helping preserve a society from rot and decay will depart with them, and the world will finally get what it wants: A world without God. When the Restrainer is removed, Evil will then unleash the worst series of catastrophes humanity has ever known, easily eclipsing the tens of millions killed in the various Communist revolutions and the holocaust combined. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “… when people claim peace and security, sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
Referring to the political world, which I believe is a mirror image of what is happening in the spiritual, James wrote, “I’m convinced [that Donald J. Trump has been] supernaturally placed in a position to see to it that the economic status prophesied by our Lord Jesus has come to pass and remains in place for the wrap up of the Age. This is my contention that has, at least in my spirit, been wholeheartedly validated,” he wrote.
I get accused of being a MAGA Trumpster, but seriously, I don’t even like NASCAR. This is not because I believe Trump to be a righteous man. Far from it. But like Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, and others before him, sometimes God raises up a man for such a time as He needs to accomplish His purpose. And, ironically, sometimes He uses a rank sinner, perhaps to give them another chance at salvation.
In Daniel 10, and angel is sent to Daniel with a message, but he is thwarted by a demonic being, the prince of Persia. Only when Michael comes to the angel’s aid is this Evil power defeated so Daniel could receive the message from God, You might ask, “What was this message that was so important that a major demonic entity was dispatched to keep Daniel from hearing it?” It was a message about what will happen to the Jews in the latter days. “This vision pertains to the days yet future,” the angel said. More specifically, it was about what was going to happen to the Jewish people after the Rapture of the Church, in the Tribulation Period, where many would accept Jesus as their Messiah, but many more would perish in unbelief.
Jesus said that no one can know the day and hour of His return, but just as we recognize the coming weather by the clouds and wind, He said we should be able to discern the “signs of the times.”
Back to the message given to Daniel; he is later told by God to “shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the End.” It now appears, over 2500 years later, that that message from the angel is finally being unsealed, as those signs have all converged in this generation, including the most significant and last sign that needed to be fulfilled, the 1948 restoration of Israel to their ancestral homeland. That, and the alarming emergence of Artificial Intelligence that would enable the Anti-Christ to control the entire world’s “buying and selling,” marks this generation as the one Jesus spoke of when He said, “[When you see these signs], truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” We are actually living in those times; ominous for the unbeliever, but glorious for the Elect.
Another good reason for teaching on the Rapture is that it provides hope and focus for the believer. Hope in a world where many are just hanging on, and focus, because nothing is better at sanctification then the knowledge of a sudden Rapture. Perhaps this is another reason most preachers won’t teach on the End Times, because it would require them to take off their masks and go deeper in Christ themselves.
For the believer, the End Times is all good news: Jesus said in Luke 21, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Then, the raptured saints, along with all the New Testament saints who have gone before, will be resurrected and invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb as the Bride of Christ.
This could be one of the Church’s finest hours. We are called to be “watchmen,” manning the towers of the Kingdom of God, warning the unconverted world of the soon-coming judgment. But more importantly, inviting them to taste and see that the Lord is good, and that He values each and every soul with the value of his own out-poured Blood. “No greater love has no man than he who will lay down his life for another.”
