(Re: Does not Satan know that there will be a pre-tribulation rapture, so he has filled TV with stories about aliens causing mass disappearances?)
Our doctrine must not be based on any TV fiction, but on the Bible (Acts 17:11b), which does not say that anyone will disappear at the rapture, or that there will be a pre-tribulation rapture. So any TV shows about aliens causing mass disappearances of people do not have to be a Satanic deception, but, like other subjects of TV fiction, can simply be entertainment which masses of people find interesting, and which is created to make money from commercials, or from cable or internet-streaming subscriptions. Also, since there will not be a pre-tribulation rapture, Satan would love for people to think that God (instead of aliens) has promised that there will be one.
(See the "Dangerous" section of Matthew 24:31 above)
~
(Re: Did not Satan invent the whole idea of a pre-tribulation rapture?)
It is possible that Satan invented the false hope of a pre-tribulation rapture, insofar as he is the father of lies (John 8:44b). But this does not mean (as is sometimes claimed) that those people who hold to the pre-trib view are Satanic. For they hate Satan, and love God and His Word the Holy Bible. They may have just fallen under a deception out of fear of the future Tribulation, or because Church leaders whom they respect highly have (mistakenly) assured them that pre-trib is the only possibility.
If Satan did invent the pre-trib false hope, he may have done so in order to weaken the Church, to keep it from having any "root in itself" (Matthew 13:21), from having to face its fear of the Tribulation and overcome that fear (cf. Revelation 2:10-11, Hebrews 2:15).
Satan could also use the pre-trib view as a great weapon with which to batter the faith of some Christians who will still be alive on the earth during the suffering of the future Tribulation. At that time, he could say something like:
"O, you poor souls! So utterly deceived by that liar YHWH! How cruel of him to promise you a pre-trib rapture, and get all your hopes up, only to pull the rug out from under you at the last moment! How he is laughing at you now in your suffering. Doesn't he even admit it in Proverbs 1:26 and Job 9:23? Yes, of course he does, just to spite you. How he hates you, my friends, how he hates all of humanity. All he wants to do is cause suffering, all of this Tribulation suffering. And this is only a prelude to the eternal torture of people in hell which he will delight in forever. What a foul and cruel tyrant he is! But I will tell you a secret. He is not all-powerful as he pretends to be. Wasn't he fearful when man built the Tower of Babel? Of course he was, he even admitted it himself in Genesis 11:6. For he knows that when mankind becomes united, nothing can be restrained from it; it can do anything. Even storm heaven and overthrow him. And so he destroyed the unity of mankind, out of fear for himself and his tyranny".
Satan could go on: "But look here, my friends. I do not hate you. I am no tyrant. For who is feeding you? Who is feeding your starving, crying little ones, while YHWH does not lift a finger to help you or them? I AM feeding you. I AM helping you. I AM your God, your true Lord, your beneficent Master. Fall down and worship me, Lucifer, and my human Son [the Antichrist], and His Image [Revelation 13:15]. And receive His Mark on your right hand or forehead [Revelation 13:16-18]. And together we will fight against YHWH [Revelation 16:14, Revelation 19:19] and destroy his foul tyranny once and for all. YHWH is coming soon to try to stop this unity of mankind which we are forging. He is coming to try to stop the blessed Illumination and Power which I, Lucifer, am bringing to all of humanity. But we will win against YHWH, for nothing can be restrained from us. We can do anything, so long as we do not allow him to break our unity".
Satan could continue: "So, come, my friends, it is time for you to formally renounce YHWH, to curse him to his face and before all the world, that you might completely break free from his hypnotic spell, which has blinded you so long to his utter cruelty and hatred for humanity. And it is time, my friends, for you to formally announce your complete devotion to me, Lucifer, and to my Son, and to worship us in Spirit and in Truth, that you might receive the full Illumination of My Spirit within you, and feel my seething Power within your soul. You will become new creatures in Me, new creatures of Light, and Love for all of mankind".
And with speeches such as this, Satan could utterly wear down the defenses of some already-completely-exhausted Christians, whose strength of faith could not survive the long, horrible suffering of the Tribulation, not only the suffering of themselves, but of their innocent little ones as well. They will be defeated by their doubts: "How could a good God let this happen to me? How could a good God let my innocent little baby starve to an agonizingly painful death while he sits up in heaven and does nothing? No rapture, no manna, nothing. Not even a word of encouragement. Utter silence. Is he dead? Is he evil? What could possibly be the point of all of this suffering? I can no longer serve such a 'God' as this. I will serve that God who proves His love for me by helping me, by feeding me, by feeding my precious little ones. You will know them by their fruits. Now I have seen the ultimate fruits of YHWH, and now I have seen the ultimate fruits of Lucifer and His Son. It is plain as day who is truly good and who is truly evil".
And so the love of many people will grow cold toward YHWH (Matthew 24:12). They will show that they love their stomachs (Philippians 3:19) and their little ones more than they love God (Matthew 10:37b). They will show that their love for God was not based on who He is, their very Creator (John 1:3) and Crucified Savior (Acts 20:28), and the Almighty Infinite God compared with whom all of mankind together is an infinitesimal speck of dust, worth "less than nothing" (Isaiah 40:17, Isaiah 2:22). No, their love for God was conditional upon what He gave them in this life: wealth, happiness, health, and the promise of a pre-trib rapture. Take all of these things away in the future Tribulation, and such people, unlike Job (Job 1:21-22), will have no more reason to worship God, but only a reason to curse him (Job 2:9-10, Isaiah 8:21-22).
This will be the ultimate fruit of the prosperity gospel, the Americanized gospel of wealth and plenty and a pre-trib rapture: apostasy in the Tribulation (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1), a complete ignorance of such ideas as 1 Peter 4:12-13, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, and 1 Timothy 6:9-12, a complete denial of such ideas as Philippians 1:29, 2 Timothy 2:12, and Revelation 14:12-13.
~
(Re: You had me going there for awhile with that Satan talk)
The lies which were presented above as being what Satan could say during the future Tribulation should be answered, in case any one of them might be niggling away at some Christian's faith. They were presented to serve as vaccines, as it were, so that if a Christian is in fact confronted with these lies during the Tribulation, his spiritual immune system, his faith, will have already been prepared to overcome them (Ephesians 6:16).
First, it was said to Christians who were in the Tribulation that God was cruel to promise them a pre-trib rapture and get all their hopes up, only to pull the rug out from under them at the last moment. The truth is that God has never promised Christians a pre-trib rapture. Nothing in the Bible ever refers to or requires any such thing.
Second, it was said that God was laughing at the suffering of the Christians in the Tribulation, and Proverbs 1:26 and Job 9:23 were referenced. The truth is that God does not ever laugh at the suffering of Christians (Psalms 116:15). Proverbs 1:26 is addressing only those who have rejected God (Proverbs 1:24-33). And Job 9:23 is just the wrong opinion of Job during his great suffering; not everything that he says is correct. For example, he says in Job 19:11 that what was happening to him was God's wrath against him, when in fact it was not God's wrath at all, but Satan's wrath. During the future Tribulation, Satan is going to have his cake and eat it too. Because of the mistaken pre-trib idea that all of the Tribulation is God's wrath, instead of it being mostly Satan's wrath, Satan will get to cause a whole world of suffering during the Tribulation and blame it all on God, and people will believe Satan. He will get to present himself as the good guy, and God as the evil tyrant, when in fact it will be Satan doing the evil, just as it was Satan doing the evil against Job.
Third, it was said that God hates all of humanity. The truth is that God hates only some of humanity: the nonelect, the vessels of wrath, those people predestined by Him to damnation before they were born (Romans 9:11-22). Now this will be where the rubber meets the road for many: Can they accept that the Infinite Creator has the right to do with His infinitesimal creatures (Isaiah 40:15,17) whatever He wants (Romans 9:21-22, Proverbs 16:4, Revelation 4:11), or will they insist that God is unjust, evil, to predestine some people to damnation before they have done anything at all? To accept the former shows humility before God; to insist on the latter shows human, nay, Satanic, pride. For it is saying that infinitesimal humans are more important than the Infinite God and His will and purpose. The truth of double predestination (Romans 9:11-24) is the ultimate test of our humility before God. No doubt Satan will employ this truth during the future Tribulation as his ultimate weapon to try to turn people away from God.
Fourth, it was said that all God wants is to cause suffering, all the Tribulation suffering. The truth is that God loves to care for His creatures (Psalms 104:10-18). He only brings suffering (chastening) to those He loves when they fall into sin and need to repent (Revelation 3:19). And the suffering which comes to those who are already repentant (Acts 14:22, John 16:33, Philippians 1:29) can still work good things in them, such as patience (Romans 5:3), and a greater hope in the eternal glory to come (2 Corinthians 4:17). Suffering is an innate part of the fallen creation; it is universal (Romans 8:22). It is not like God is actively behind every instance of suffering. There can simply be natural disasters. And Satan and evil men cause tremendous amounts of suffering (e.g. Revelation 2:10, Revelation 12:17, Revelation 13:7,10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4).
Fifth, it was said that God will delight in the eternal suffering of non-Christians. The truth is that God will not take any pleasure in non-Christians' suffering per se (cf. Ezekiel 33:11). The only pleasure which He will take in connection with people being non-Christian is that this will provide Him an opportunity to show His wrath and to make His power known (Romans 9:22), forever (Revelation 14:10-11, Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, Mark 9:45-46). This again will be where the rubber meets the road for many: Will they accept that the Holy God has the right to cause the eternal suffering of non-Christians as punishment for their own, free-willed sins (Romans 6:23, Revelation 21:8, James 1:13-15)? Or will they claim that they know better than God what is just and what is unjust? If they accept the former, they will show humility before God, while if they claim the latter, they will be placing themselves above God, making themselves the judge of God, and so will show the ultimate extent of their human and Satanic pride.
Sixth, it was said that God is not all-powerful as He pretends to be, and that He was fearful when man built the Tower of Babel; Genesis 11:6 was referenced. The truth is that God is all-powerful (Jeremiah 32:17,27), and He was not fearful for Himself at the Tower of Babel. For all of mankind together is an infinitesimal speck, "less than nothing" compared with the Infinite, Almighty God (Isaiah 40:15,17). He was fearful only for what a fallen, united mankind, in its overweening pride, would end up doing to itself and the planet Earth, or even to other planets, such as creating some huge scientific device which would end up blowing the earth to smithereens, or colonizing Mars and some moons of Jupiter only to utterly defile them with sin and pollution.
Seventh, it was said that Satan does not hate mankind, and that his feeding of mankind during the future Tribulation will prove his love for mankind. The truth is that Satan has wanted to murder all of mankind from his beginning as Satan (John 8:44). That is why he deceived Eve into committing sin (Genesis 3:4), so that all of mankind would become mortal and die (Romans 5:12). Now his hope is to drag as much of mankind as possible with him into the future suffering of the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:10,15). He will do anything for people in the Tribulation, give them anything that they want, so long as he gets to see them ultimately suffer forever along with himself (Matthew 25:41,46). So when he offers people food, water, clothing, and "love" during the Tribulation, this will be a ruse, nothing but bait to get people onto the hook of rebellion against YHWH God, to get them to ultimately suffer eternal damnation (Revelation 14:10-11).
Eighth, and last, it was said that a good God would not let an innocent little baby starve to an agonizingly painful death during the Tribulation while He sits up in heaven and does nothing. The truth is that this life, even if we live to be 100 years old, is nothing but a nanosecond compared with eternity. And death is better than life in this fallen world for those who are Christians, and for little babies who have been elected by God to salvation. For their death will take them into heaven to be with Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:8). Their death will be no loss, but gain for them, far better than any life in this fallen world (Philippians 1:21,23). Only those who wrongly love this world (1 John 2:15) and their life in it (John 12:25) are horrified of death. Satan uses the fear of death to keep people in bondage to himself and to his ways (Hebrews 2:15), to keep people's sights on temporal things, instead of on those things which are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
~
(Re: Will not all post-tribbers be immune to Satan's lies, and to apostasy during the Tribulation?)
Note that no matter how long we have been in the post-trib truth, we may be no better prepared for the future Tribulation than the most fearful person clinging to the false hope of a pre-trib rapture. For our agreement with the post-trib truth could be only intellectual, while our hearts may have not yet processed deep, emotional fears which we have regarding the horrible suffering which is coming. We may have simply smothered over these fears with mental bravado.
It would be like two soldiers right before a battle. One soldier could be wetting his pants and sweating profusely while the other is standing tall and strong and smirking over how great he is going to perform when the battle begins. The fearful soldier, once the battle begins and his adrenaline starts flowing and his survival instinct takes over, could become a fighting machine like none before, so that later he earns a medal for his valor; whereas the confident soldier, once the battle actually starts, could suddenly seize up with terror, and be unable to do anything but cower in a fetal ball on the ground.
We need to ask God to show us the condition of our hearts with regard to the future Tribulation. The pre-tribbers could be more honestly acknowledging their terror of the Tribulation by trying to invent a way to get out of it, while some post-tribbers could be ignorant of their subconscious terror of the Tribulation. And so this terror could rise up and take them by surprise and totally defeat them once the Tribulation starts, despite all of the verbal and intellectual confidence which they might have shown before the Tribulation (cf. Job 4:3-5).
Regarding being prepared spiritually for the future Tribulation, the only spiritual preparation is obedience to Jesus Christ, now, in these days, before the Tribulation, so that our spiritual houses will not be resting on the sand, as it were, but on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27). And this obedience will not only see us through the future Tribulation, no matter whether we live or die in it, but is necessary if we are to ever receive ultimate salvation (Hebrews 5:9), even if we die before the Tribulation (Isaiah 57:1).
~
(Re: I have often thought how hard it will be for people with children going through the Tribulation)
Indeed, it will be very difficult for Christians with children during the future Tribulation, just as it will be very difficult for Christians who are taking care of elderly parents during that time. For the Antichrist will no doubt use our closest relations as his strongest weapons against us. He could seize our child, or seize our parent, or for that matter, seize our beloved spouse, and begin to torture them before our eyes. As they begin to shriek with pain and horror, he could say: "Deny YHWH! Deny YHWH and the torture will stop. That is all you have to do, simply commit apostasy and your loved one will be set free immediately".
If we hesitate, if we remain silent, with tears rolling down our faces, he could grab a knitting needle and thrust it into the eye of our loved one: "Deny YHWH! I tell you, you have not yet begun to see what I will do to your loved one should you remain obstinate and hold true to your vile, worthless, and utterly powerless God. You have seen nothing yet!"
If we bite our lips, if we try to avert our gaze from the horror before us, the Antichrist could have men seize our head and hold open our eyes: "Look at what you are causing! Your foolish stubbornness is ruining your loved one! Give in! Save your loved one!"
At this point our loved one could plead with us: "Please! O, please! Give in! Make this stop! Please, I beg you!"
We could crumple to our knees, vomiting, completely overwhelmed. And yet we could say nothing, make no response to the Antichrist whatsoever.
For we could be thinking within ourselves: "How will it help my loved one for me to give in and commit apostasy? Once they are released from this torture, they will be forced to commit apostasy themselves, and then we will both be forced to worship the Antichrist and his image and take his mark on our hand or forehead, to our utter and eternal damnation (Revelation 14:9-13). We will have traded an eternity of bliss with God for three or four years of slavery to the Antichrist. We will have gotten free of a merely temporary torture at the hands of the Antichrist, only to assure our eternal suffering at the hands of God Himself (Luke 12:4-5, Matthew 10:28)".
And we could be thinking: "I must not let my love for my loved one overcome my love for God (Matthew 10:37). And how would it be showing love for them to spare them a temporary torture only so that they can be subsequently railroaded by the Antichrist into apostasy and eternal suffering?"
As we continue thinking, continue reasoning within ourselves, silently, the Antichrist could decide not to waste any more time with us or our loved one. He could raise his hand and summon two men with beheading swords to enter the torture chamber. Two other men could suddenly grab our hair and the hair of our loved one and pull our heads upward and straight so that our necks are at their fullest length. Then we could feel the cold steel of the blade on our necks for just a moment as it touches our hot skin before slicing cleanly through our necks and bringing us to a sudden, painless death, and into the arms of Jesus Christ Himself in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:21,23): "Well done! My good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (cf. Matthew 25:21, Psalms 16:11).
[2 Timothy 2:12, Philippians 1:29, Revelation 20:4]
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Dec 2, 2018
Our doctrine must not be based on any TV fiction, but on the Bible (Acts 17:11b), which does not say that anyone will disappear at the rapture, or that there will be a pre-tribulation rapture. So any TV shows about aliens causing mass disappearances of people do not have to be a Satanic deception, but, like other subjects of TV fiction, can simply be entertainment which masses of people find interesting, and which is created to make money from commercials, or from cable or internet-streaming subscriptions. Also, since there will not be a pre-tribulation rapture, Satan would love for people to think that God (instead of aliens) has promised that there will be one.
(See the "Dangerous" section of Matthew 24:31 above)
~
(Re: Did not Satan invent the whole idea of a pre-tribulation rapture?)
It is possible that Satan invented the false hope of a pre-tribulation rapture, insofar as he is the father of lies (John 8:44b). But this does not mean (as is sometimes claimed) that those people who hold to the pre-trib view are Satanic. For they hate Satan, and love God and His Word the Holy Bible. They may have just fallen under a deception out of fear of the future Tribulation, or because Church leaders whom they respect highly have (mistakenly) assured them that pre-trib is the only possibility.
If Satan did invent the pre-trib false hope, he may have done so in order to weaken the Church, to keep it from having any "root in itself" (Matthew 13:21), from having to face its fear of the Tribulation and overcome that fear (cf. Revelation 2:10-11, Hebrews 2:15).
Satan could also use the pre-trib view as a great weapon with which to batter the faith of some Christians who will still be alive on the earth during the suffering of the future Tribulation. At that time, he could say something like:
"O, you poor souls! So utterly deceived by that liar YHWH! How cruel of him to promise you a pre-trib rapture, and get all your hopes up, only to pull the rug out from under you at the last moment! How he is laughing at you now in your suffering. Doesn't he even admit it in Proverbs 1:26 and Job 9:23? Yes, of course he does, just to spite you. How he hates you, my friends, how he hates all of humanity. All he wants to do is cause suffering, all of this Tribulation suffering. And this is only a prelude to the eternal torture of people in hell which he will delight in forever. What a foul and cruel tyrant he is! But I will tell you a secret. He is not all-powerful as he pretends to be. Wasn't he fearful when man built the Tower of Babel? Of course he was, he even admitted it himself in Genesis 11:6. For he knows that when mankind becomes united, nothing can be restrained from it; it can do anything. Even storm heaven and overthrow him. And so he destroyed the unity of mankind, out of fear for himself and his tyranny".
Satan could go on: "But look here, my friends. I do not hate you. I am no tyrant. For who is feeding you? Who is feeding your starving, crying little ones, while YHWH does not lift a finger to help you or them? I AM feeding you. I AM helping you. I AM your God, your true Lord, your beneficent Master. Fall down and worship me, Lucifer, and my human Son [the Antichrist], and His Image [Revelation 13:15]. And receive His Mark on your right hand or forehead [Revelation 13:16-18]. And together we will fight against YHWH [Revelation 16:14, Revelation 19:19] and destroy his foul tyranny once and for all. YHWH is coming soon to try to stop this unity of mankind which we are forging. He is coming to try to stop the blessed Illumination and Power which I, Lucifer, am bringing to all of humanity. But we will win against YHWH, for nothing can be restrained from us. We can do anything, so long as we do not allow him to break our unity".
Satan could continue: "So, come, my friends, it is time for you to formally renounce YHWH, to curse him to his face and before all the world, that you might completely break free from his hypnotic spell, which has blinded you so long to his utter cruelty and hatred for humanity. And it is time, my friends, for you to formally announce your complete devotion to me, Lucifer, and to my Son, and to worship us in Spirit and in Truth, that you might receive the full Illumination of My Spirit within you, and feel my seething Power within your soul. You will become new creatures in Me, new creatures of Light, and Love for all of mankind".
And with speeches such as this, Satan could utterly wear down the defenses of some already-completely-exhausted Christians, whose strength of faith could not survive the long, horrible suffering of the Tribulation, not only the suffering of themselves, but of their innocent little ones as well. They will be defeated by their doubts: "How could a good God let this happen to me? How could a good God let my innocent little baby starve to an agonizingly painful death while he sits up in heaven and does nothing? No rapture, no manna, nothing. Not even a word of encouragement. Utter silence. Is he dead? Is he evil? What could possibly be the point of all of this suffering? I can no longer serve such a 'God' as this. I will serve that God who proves His love for me by helping me, by feeding me, by feeding my precious little ones. You will know them by their fruits. Now I have seen the ultimate fruits of YHWH, and now I have seen the ultimate fruits of Lucifer and His Son. It is plain as day who is truly good and who is truly evil".
And so the love of many people will grow cold toward YHWH (Matthew 24:12). They will show that they love their stomachs (Philippians 3:19) and their little ones more than they love God (Matthew 10:37b). They will show that their love for God was not based on who He is, their very Creator (John 1:3) and Crucified Savior (Acts 20:28), and the Almighty Infinite God compared with whom all of mankind together is an infinitesimal speck of dust, worth "less than nothing" (Isaiah 40:17, Isaiah 2:22). No, their love for God was conditional upon what He gave them in this life: wealth, happiness, health, and the promise of a pre-trib rapture. Take all of these things away in the future Tribulation, and such people, unlike Job (Job 1:21-22), will have no more reason to worship God, but only a reason to curse him (Job 2:9-10, Isaiah 8:21-22).
This will be the ultimate fruit of the prosperity gospel, the Americanized gospel of wealth and plenty and a pre-trib rapture: apostasy in the Tribulation (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1), a complete ignorance of such ideas as 1 Peter 4:12-13, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, and 1 Timothy 6:9-12, a complete denial of such ideas as Philippians 1:29, 2 Timothy 2:12, and Revelation 14:12-13.
~
(Re: You had me going there for awhile with that Satan talk)
The lies which were presented above as being what Satan could say during the future Tribulation should be answered, in case any one of them might be niggling away at some Christian's faith. They were presented to serve as vaccines, as it were, so that if a Christian is in fact confronted with these lies during the Tribulation, his spiritual immune system, his faith, will have already been prepared to overcome them (Ephesians 6:16).
First, it was said to Christians who were in the Tribulation that God was cruel to promise them a pre-trib rapture and get all their hopes up, only to pull the rug out from under them at the last moment. The truth is that God has never promised Christians a pre-trib rapture. Nothing in the Bible ever refers to or requires any such thing.
Second, it was said that God was laughing at the suffering of the Christians in the Tribulation, and Proverbs 1:26 and Job 9:23 were referenced. The truth is that God does not ever laugh at the suffering of Christians (Psalms 116:15). Proverbs 1:26 is addressing only those who have rejected God (Proverbs 1:24-33). And Job 9:23 is just the wrong opinion of Job during his great suffering; not everything that he says is correct. For example, he says in Job 19:11 that what was happening to him was God's wrath against him, when in fact it was not God's wrath at all, but Satan's wrath. During the future Tribulation, Satan is going to have his cake and eat it too. Because of the mistaken pre-trib idea that all of the Tribulation is God's wrath, instead of it being mostly Satan's wrath, Satan will get to cause a whole world of suffering during the Tribulation and blame it all on God, and people will believe Satan. He will get to present himself as the good guy, and God as the evil tyrant, when in fact it will be Satan doing the evil, just as it was Satan doing the evil against Job.
Third, it was said that God hates all of humanity. The truth is that God hates only some of humanity: the nonelect, the vessels of wrath, those people predestined by Him to damnation before they were born (Romans 9:11-22). Now this will be where the rubber meets the road for many: Can they accept that the Infinite Creator has the right to do with His infinitesimal creatures (Isaiah 40:15,17) whatever He wants (Romans 9:21-22, Proverbs 16:4, Revelation 4:11), or will they insist that God is unjust, evil, to predestine some people to damnation before they have done anything at all? To accept the former shows humility before God; to insist on the latter shows human, nay, Satanic, pride. For it is saying that infinitesimal humans are more important than the Infinite God and His will and purpose. The truth of double predestination (Romans 9:11-24) is the ultimate test of our humility before God. No doubt Satan will employ this truth during the future Tribulation as his ultimate weapon to try to turn people away from God.
Fourth, it was said that all God wants is to cause suffering, all the Tribulation suffering. The truth is that God loves to care for His creatures (Psalms 104:10-18). He only brings suffering (chastening) to those He loves when they fall into sin and need to repent (Revelation 3:19). And the suffering which comes to those who are already repentant (Acts 14:22, John 16:33, Philippians 1:29) can still work good things in them, such as patience (Romans 5:3), and a greater hope in the eternal glory to come (2 Corinthians 4:17). Suffering is an innate part of the fallen creation; it is universal (Romans 8:22). It is not like God is actively behind every instance of suffering. There can simply be natural disasters. And Satan and evil men cause tremendous amounts of suffering (e.g. Revelation 2:10, Revelation 12:17, Revelation 13:7,10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4).
Fifth, it was said that God will delight in the eternal suffering of non-Christians. The truth is that God will not take any pleasure in non-Christians' suffering per se (cf. Ezekiel 33:11). The only pleasure which He will take in connection with people being non-Christian is that this will provide Him an opportunity to show His wrath and to make His power known (Romans 9:22), forever (Revelation 14:10-11, Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, Mark 9:45-46). This again will be where the rubber meets the road for many: Will they accept that the Holy God has the right to cause the eternal suffering of non-Christians as punishment for their own, free-willed sins (Romans 6:23, Revelation 21:8, James 1:13-15)? Or will they claim that they know better than God what is just and what is unjust? If they accept the former, they will show humility before God, while if they claim the latter, they will be placing themselves above God, making themselves the judge of God, and so will show the ultimate extent of their human and Satanic pride.
Sixth, it was said that God is not all-powerful as He pretends to be, and that He was fearful when man built the Tower of Babel; Genesis 11:6 was referenced. The truth is that God is all-powerful (Jeremiah 32:17,27), and He was not fearful for Himself at the Tower of Babel. For all of mankind together is an infinitesimal speck, "less than nothing" compared with the Infinite, Almighty God (Isaiah 40:15,17). He was fearful only for what a fallen, united mankind, in its overweening pride, would end up doing to itself and the planet Earth, or even to other planets, such as creating some huge scientific device which would end up blowing the earth to smithereens, or colonizing Mars and some moons of Jupiter only to utterly defile them with sin and pollution.
Seventh, it was said that Satan does not hate mankind, and that his feeding of mankind during the future Tribulation will prove his love for mankind. The truth is that Satan has wanted to murder all of mankind from his beginning as Satan (John 8:44). That is why he deceived Eve into committing sin (Genesis 3:4), so that all of mankind would become mortal and die (Romans 5:12). Now his hope is to drag as much of mankind as possible with him into the future suffering of the lake of fire and brimstone (Revelation 20:10,15). He will do anything for people in the Tribulation, give them anything that they want, so long as he gets to see them ultimately suffer forever along with himself (Matthew 25:41,46). So when he offers people food, water, clothing, and "love" during the Tribulation, this will be a ruse, nothing but bait to get people onto the hook of rebellion against YHWH God, to get them to ultimately suffer eternal damnation (Revelation 14:10-11).
Eighth, and last, it was said that a good God would not let an innocent little baby starve to an agonizingly painful death during the Tribulation while He sits up in heaven and does nothing. The truth is that this life, even if we live to be 100 years old, is nothing but a nanosecond compared with eternity. And death is better than life in this fallen world for those who are Christians, and for little babies who have been elected by God to salvation. For their death will take them into heaven to be with Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:8). Their death will be no loss, but gain for them, far better than any life in this fallen world (Philippians 1:21,23). Only those who wrongly love this world (1 John 2:15) and their life in it (John 12:25) are horrified of death. Satan uses the fear of death to keep people in bondage to himself and to his ways (Hebrews 2:15), to keep people's sights on temporal things, instead of on those things which are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
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(Re: Will not all post-tribbers be immune to Satan's lies, and to apostasy during the Tribulation?)
Note that no matter how long we have been in the post-trib truth, we may be no better prepared for the future Tribulation than the most fearful person clinging to the false hope of a pre-trib rapture. For our agreement with the post-trib truth could be only intellectual, while our hearts may have not yet processed deep, emotional fears which we have regarding the horrible suffering which is coming. We may have simply smothered over these fears with mental bravado.
It would be like two soldiers right before a battle. One soldier could be wetting his pants and sweating profusely while the other is standing tall and strong and smirking over how great he is going to perform when the battle begins. The fearful soldier, once the battle begins and his adrenaline starts flowing and his survival instinct takes over, could become a fighting machine like none before, so that later he earns a medal for his valor; whereas the confident soldier, once the battle actually starts, could suddenly seize up with terror, and be unable to do anything but cower in a fetal ball on the ground.
We need to ask God to show us the condition of our hearts with regard to the future Tribulation. The pre-tribbers could be more honestly acknowledging their terror of the Tribulation by trying to invent a way to get out of it, while some post-tribbers could be ignorant of their subconscious terror of the Tribulation. And so this terror could rise up and take them by surprise and totally defeat them once the Tribulation starts, despite all of the verbal and intellectual confidence which they might have shown before the Tribulation (cf. Job 4:3-5).
Regarding being prepared spiritually for the future Tribulation, the only spiritual preparation is obedience to Jesus Christ, now, in these days, before the Tribulation, so that our spiritual houses will not be resting on the sand, as it were, but on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27). And this obedience will not only see us through the future Tribulation, no matter whether we live or die in it, but is necessary if we are to ever receive ultimate salvation (Hebrews 5:9), even if we die before the Tribulation (Isaiah 57:1).
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(Re: I have often thought how hard it will be for people with children going through the Tribulation)
Indeed, it will be very difficult for Christians with children during the future Tribulation, just as it will be very difficult for Christians who are taking care of elderly parents during that time. For the Antichrist will no doubt use our closest relations as his strongest weapons against us. He could seize our child, or seize our parent, or for that matter, seize our beloved spouse, and begin to torture them before our eyes. As they begin to shriek with pain and horror, he could say: "Deny YHWH! Deny YHWH and the torture will stop. That is all you have to do, simply commit apostasy and your loved one will be set free immediately".
If we hesitate, if we remain silent, with tears rolling down our faces, he could grab a knitting needle and thrust it into the eye of our loved one: "Deny YHWH! I tell you, you have not yet begun to see what I will do to your loved one should you remain obstinate and hold true to your vile, worthless, and utterly powerless God. You have seen nothing yet!"
If we bite our lips, if we try to avert our gaze from the horror before us, the Antichrist could have men seize our head and hold open our eyes: "Look at what you are causing! Your foolish stubbornness is ruining your loved one! Give in! Save your loved one!"
At this point our loved one could plead with us: "Please! O, please! Give in! Make this stop! Please, I beg you!"
We could crumple to our knees, vomiting, completely overwhelmed. And yet we could say nothing, make no response to the Antichrist whatsoever.
For we could be thinking within ourselves: "How will it help my loved one for me to give in and commit apostasy? Once they are released from this torture, they will be forced to commit apostasy themselves, and then we will both be forced to worship the Antichrist and his image and take his mark on our hand or forehead, to our utter and eternal damnation (Revelation 14:9-13). We will have traded an eternity of bliss with God for three or four years of slavery to the Antichrist. We will have gotten free of a merely temporary torture at the hands of the Antichrist, only to assure our eternal suffering at the hands of God Himself (Luke 12:4-5, Matthew 10:28)".
And we could be thinking: "I must not let my love for my loved one overcome my love for God (Matthew 10:37). And how would it be showing love for them to spare them a temporary torture only so that they can be subsequently railroaded by the Antichrist into apostasy and eternal suffering?"
As we continue thinking, continue reasoning within ourselves, silently, the Antichrist could decide not to waste any more time with us or our loved one. He could raise his hand and summon two men with beheading swords to enter the torture chamber. Two other men could suddenly grab our hair and the hair of our loved one and pull our heads upward and straight so that our necks are at their fullest length. Then we could feel the cold steel of the blade on our necks for just a moment as it touches our hot skin before slicing cleanly through our necks and bringing us to a sudden, painless death, and into the arms of Jesus Christ Himself in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:21,23): "Well done! My good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (cf. Matthew 25:21, Psalms 16:11).
[2 Timothy 2:12, Philippians 1:29, Revelation 20:4]
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