I Want to Be “Left Behind” Cliff Notes

June 7, 2001

I Want to Be “Left Behind”

(All quotes are from the New American Standard Bible)

The “Left Behind” series of books has taken the Christian world by storm. It has been a best seller for months, and even secular outlets have trouble keeping them in stock. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have somehow managed to strike a nerve with their message of end-times trouble and redemption.

The Premise:

40 "Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.
41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Matt 24:40-42

LaHaye and Jenkins take this passage to indicate that at the secret rapture Christ will take his elect to heaven, and the wicked will be “Left Behind” to endure the “Great Tribulation.” Since no good student of scripture will allow such a passage to speak without context, let us consider what Jesus said just before those words.

35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Matt 24:35-36

The Problem:

It is clear that Jesus is speaking of the end of time. While Jesus’ emphasis is on the permanence of his words, he is pointing out the end of the world. That is, the day in question is the day when all life on earth ceases. After that day there will be no one “Left Behind” to endure anything!

37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. Matt 24:37

Jesus now directs his listeners to a well-known story. Then he brings out the details he wishes to emphasize.

38 "For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Matt 24:38-39

During the time of Noah, the world became so wicked that God decided to destroy it with a flood (Gen 6-7). Noah and his family were saved in the ark, while all the other people on the earth died. Jesus’ language is of particular interest to us here. The wicked were those who did not understand Noah’s message and were “taken away.” Jesus then closes his description be re-stressing that the time of his return would be “like the days of Noah.” With this strong emphasis, we may now understand just what Jesus is saying in his next statements.

The Wicked are Taken, not the Saints!

Since the wicked were “taken” in Noah’s day, and Jesus has just emphasized that fact, when he says that “one will be taken, and one will be left,” we should expect that the one taken is the wicked one. This is the exact opposite of what LaHaye and Jenkins speak of. The very premise for the title of the series has it backwards! But just to be certain of our discovery, let us look at one more teaching of our Lord.

The Hebrew Idiom:

18 And John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"
19 And Jesus said to them, "While the bridegroom is with them, the attendants of the bridegroom do not fast, do they? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
20 "But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. Mark 2:18-20

Here Jesus points out the well-known fact that no one fasts at the wedding feast while the bridegroom is present. After all, fasting was part of mourning, and a wedding is a joyous occasion. Then he points out that if the bridegroom is “taken", then the attendants will go into mourning. If he has merely gone away briefly, there would be no cause for mourning. But since the word “taken” is used here as a euphemism for “killed,” the taking of the bridegroom is cause for mourning. We may also note that here Jesus is giving a prophecy of his own death, since he is the bridegroom and was to be killed.

Is This the Only Problem LaHaye and Jenkins Have?

This leaves us with a problem. If LaHaye and Jenkins got the figure of speech backwards, is there any other part of the end-times picture they need for us to fill in? Let’s see what Jesus says. We only need to back up a few more verses.

27 "For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Matt 24:27

The True Hope of the Saints:

Immediately we see the picture. Whatever this return of Christ will be, it will be sudden, and will be visible everywhere at once. John repeats this in his Apocalypse.

7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, Rev 1:7a

Heavenly angels also tell the story at Jesus’ ascension.

9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them;
11 and they also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." Acts 1:9-11

But what is to happen at that coming?

1 "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:1-3

What Else Happens?

This visible coming is to be the time that the saints leave this earth and go to heaven with Christ. They will not be removed in secret, but at a visible event. This leaves us to consider the fate of the wicked. LaHaye and Jenkins would have us believe that after the church is removed in a secret rapture that an “antichrist” will arise who will make a peace treaty with the Jews, break that treaty, and begin a three and a half year “great tribulation.” We have already seen how the secret rapture is false. Let us consider the “antichrist.”

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
8 And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 2 Thess 2:7-8

The antichrist power was already present in Paul’s day! Unless there is someone on earth who is 2,000 years old, the antichrist is not a single person as LaHaye and Jenkins suggest. Further, when Jesus returns, that power will be destroyed. It will not be able to make treaties or oppress peoples since it will no longer exist. Of course, there will not be any people alive to tempt, either.

12 And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.
14 And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;
16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
17 for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand? " Rev 6:12-17

This is the sixth seal of Revelation. The events of verses 12-14 are described in a number of places as happening at the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Mal 4:5 KJV, cf. Matt 24:29-31).

29 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken,
30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
31 "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Matt 24:29-31

In other words, the sixth seal is describing our Lord’s return. In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us that that is the day he will “gather His elect.” We have already seen that the antichrist will be destroyed on that day, and now we see in Revelation that all the wicked will cry out to hide from “the wrath of the Lamb.” But they will not be able to hide. They will be “taken.” Of course, the saints will leave the earth.

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. 1 Thess 4:13-17

What Happens Next?

Our first view must be of Satan. His people are dead, and the saints have been removed from his grasp to heaven. Revelation describes this.

1 And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3 and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Rev 20:1-3

The “abyss” is another word for “pit,” which is used interchangeably with sheol in the OT for the place of the dead. With everyone on the earth dead, the entire earth is now sheol. The “great chain” is a symbolic way of saying that Satan will not be able to leave the earth for the thousand years. And since all the dead are completely unaware (Eccl 9:5, 10), he is unable to tempt them.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. Rev 20:4-6

During this time, the righteous will be reigning with God in heaven. The details of this activity is beyond the scope of this essay, but we should pay close attention to one point. “This is the first resurrection.”

7 And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Rev 20:7-10

After the millennium, Satan will be again able to tempt and deceive the wicked. (“The nations” is a common way of describing wicked peoples.) But he will be thrown into the lake of fire. The wicked have one more part in the drama. In order for Satan to be able to tempt them, they have to be resurrected. This will be the “second resurrection.”

11 And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
14 And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Rev 20:11-15

Once the second resurrection has been completed, the wicked come before the judgment seat of God. The righteous do not need to be judged, since that was completed before the second coming, in the investigative judgment. In that process, Christ presented to the Father all who claimed his blood to cover their sins. The truly repentant and converted saints are declared righteous. These are those who are written in the book of life and were in the first resurrection. Now it is time for the unrepentant to be judged by their wicked deeds which are recoded in the books. Once this is complete, the wicked are destroyed in the lake of fire.

This second judgment shows the on looking universe that God is truly righteous, because we hear these praises recorded.

1 After these things I heard, as it were, a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God;
2 because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her. "
3 And a second time they said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever."
4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!" Rev 19:1-4

The universe passes judgment on God, and the verdict is his righteousness (cf. Rom 3:4).

But Why Should We be Concerned?

The plan for future events proposed by LaHaye and Jenkins tells us of a second chance after the “secret rapture.” Such an event would have very obvious consequences for the earth, with airplanes and cars crashing everywhere pilotless and driverless. Such an alarm could not be missed. It would then set wavering people moving on a path toward security, hoping to avoid the lake of fire.

But the Bible insists that no such second chance will be presented. Jesus will come suddenly, without warning, just like a thief in the night (1 Thess 5:2, 2 Pet 3:10). At that time, all the saints will go with God, and the wicked will be killed. Following the millennium, the resurrection, final judgment, and destruction of the wicked complete the drama of sin.

LaHaye and Jenkins write entertaining fiction, as the sales of their books show. But we should never lose sight of the fact that it is fiction. Not only are the characters fictional, so is their entire dramatic outline. They would like us to believe that their books are a means of drawing sinners to Christ by pointing out the final wages of sin. But I suggest that they are actually drawing people away from the need to repent now by offering them a back-door second chance.

The secret rapture and great tribulation myths allow sinners to carry on without fear, since, if the rapture has not yet occurred, they believe that after the rapture there will be at least seven more years in which to convert. And if the rapture doesn’t occur, then God is really a myth anyway. The Day of the Lord will take these people in their seeming safety.

2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 1 Thess 5:2-3

We cannot allow the world to settle into a sense of false security unwarned. It is our duty to expose this deadly error which has crept into Christianity and will kill many. We all must be ready at all times.

LaHaye and Jenkins may wish to be taken, but I, for one, want to be Left Behind.