Will signal the beginning of a very important period in the end times known as the “Tribulation”. Christians within society who are living their lives at what can best be described as “perfectly” imperfect are said to just vanish from the earth, and all in a single day. Interpretation: God wants them protected from events that are about to unfold. This “Rapture” is a sensational-sounding event [in itself] but more importantly it signals the introduction to one of the most important prophecies in the New Testament, the “Tribulation” period all contained within the “Book of Revelation”, a detailed account of the prophesies and visions received by the Apostle John. This the final book of the New Testament describes a tumultuous time lasting exactly seven years wherein a complicated assortment of events, events very difficult to digest [especially for those of us with no formal training in theology], will take place affecting those still dwelling anywhere on planet earth. Numerous cataclysmic events are described to take place during the Tribulation period – all of them tragic and occurring one after another leading to the demise of up to two-thirds of the world’s population. It will be a devastating time for all who rejected Jesus Christ and are now left to suffer through it. This has been my segue way into my latest book review.

Before I go further let me pause here to point out, pictured above you will find a photo of my desk. I’m posting this just in case I shall be lucky enough one day to turn up absent? This is where all my [near-genius] personal ramblings are constructed, born. If this “rapture” event happens within my lifetime and you find my desk empty you’ll know where I’ve gone. Just in case this happens would you be kind enough to turn out the lights and power off my television? Thanks in advance! 🙂

I’ve become an interested student of the gospel in the past few years, but by no means will I master it. My curiosity as to how this present world ends and where each of us ends up [in the end] has always kept my fascination. I found the answers to several questions I had about the end times and even the “intermediate state” inside a book written by author, Ron Rhodes, ThD. titled, “40 Days Through Bible Prophecy”. Ron Rhodes answered many of my curiosities and sometimes his answer was “it depends”. But instead of leaving us hanging the author does a masterful job of qualifying the answer. So the good news is that if and when “it all depends” it will depend only on a few things. The author uses scripture and prophecy to decipher the most logical understandings for what was written long ago. [And remember that all bible prophecy to date continues to be fulfilled.]

Depending on whether or not you accept Jesus Christ as your savior will determine if your soul will be called up once the rapture event occurs. First, there are a couple of details it is helpful to know, 1) there was no date specified for when the rapture will take place, so only the “when”, but not the “if” still remains a mystery, and 2) believers in Christ both those living and those deceased will be called up but also note still not returned to their physical bodies. Jesus said to prepare for this at any time. On the other hand, any mortal living at the time the rapture takes place who denied Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God will be left to live through all the wraths of God that are prophesied to take place during the “tribulation” which will last for seven years. It is written that two-thirds of the world’s population will die [in various ways] during this relatively short period of years.

There are so many interesting parts of this book and the author does a masterful job of stopping and reviewing the key points within each section. Again, the Book of Revelation is a complicated subject matter but Ron Rhodes breaks it down making it much easier to digest and keeping the major themes, his key take-aways interesting. I’m not going to reveal much content here as I want you to read it for your own benefit. The author takes us through the entire end times with God’s eventual plan for salvation and eternity [in that order]. In my humble opinion this book should be required reading whether you claim to be a Christian, Jew, Agnostic and or even Atheist! At least you’ll be aware of the future impact of the decisions you have made for your own salvation. 😉

Addendum: I will post a photo of the book cover below in comments. Once I finished reading “40 Days Through Bible Prophecy” I bought four more copies to give away.