What God intends to do during the Tribulation!

 

 

 For those of us who have actually read Revelation and studied End times (So few Christians), the horrific events that are prophesied to occur send a shiver of terror down anyone's back. Some may wonder at the cruelty God allows and the cruelty of His wrath. But recently the Lord has given me a different perspective and I believe it will bring many of us great hope. 

 

Most of us know that the Christian Church is in a high state of apostasy in these last days. Pastors and Teachers and self-proclaimed prophets are twisting the words of the Bible and teaching false doctrines. I've written about this many times here on this blog.  It breaks my heart because thousands, even millions, of Christians have been misled and in danger of losing their salvation. MANY of these people will be left behind when the rapture occurs. 

 

Here's what God has to say to these false shepherds of His people.  

 

“Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.  v 2-4 

 

Notice the 5 types of people these false pastors and shepherds have NOT helped. 

 

The Weak

The Sick

The Broken

The Wayward

The Lost 

 

The Lord goes on to say He is against these false pastors and He will go in search of the sheep who are in need of help. 

 

For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I Myself, will search for My sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his sheep in the day that he is among his flock that are scattered, so will I seek out My sheep; and I will rescue them out of all places where they have been scattered in the day of clouds and thick darkness.  v 11-12

 

Notice the "Day of Clouds and Thick Darkness"  This is a direct reference to the Tribulation period and is used to describe that time in various places throughout Scripture as in the passage from Joel 2 below 

 

For the day of the Lord is coming,
For it is at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness, Joel 2:2

In other words, Jesus is saying that during the Tribulation HE will seek out His people who were left behind because of these false shepherds.!  Look at verse 16 below. 

 

I will seek that which was lost and bring back that which has strayed, and I will bandage the hurt and the crippled and will strengthen the weak and the sick, 

Here we see Jesus Himself is helping ALL those whom the false pastors hurt.

The Lost

The wayward

The Broken

The Weak

The Sick 

 

So cool! 

 

The rest of the Chapter in Ezekiel 34 is good and worth reading, but the point I'm trying to make is this.  I believe the Greatest Harvest of Souls of All Time is going to be during the Tribulation. 

 

Think about this: If the Tribulation doesn't happen, then many people alive today would just live out their lives as they are doing now and then when they died, would end up in hell. BUT with the Tribulation and seeing prophecies coming true, and the outpouring of God's power and love and how He is seeking for people left behind (as you just read in Ezekiel) these same people will get saved!

 

I say this because we ALL have friends and dear loved ones who are subbornly holding out against God. Either they refuse to get saved or they believe in Jesus but are living their lives in a sinful, unrepentant, fleshly way. (The Lukewarm get spit out)  And what about our Christian family and friends who go to an apostate church and believe false doctrines that cause them to walk away from the real Jesus? It's heart breaking. But I'm here to tell you that the Lord is going to move powerfully during the Tribulation and go after these people in a huge way. For some of them, it would be the only way they would truly get saved. So, aside from God's focus returning to Israel during this time, this huge harvest is a really exciting thing and something we should pray for even now. 

 

After this I looked and a vast host appeared which no one could count, gathered out of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. These stood before the throne and before the Lamb; they were attired in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.......
 Then, addressing me, one of the elders said, Who are these people clothed in the long white robes? And from where have they come?
I replied, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they who have come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are now before the very throne of God and serve Him day and night in His sanctuary; and He Who is sitting upon the throne will protect and spread His tabernacle over and shelter them with His presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun smite them, nor any scorching heat.  Revelation 7

 

Notice the number of these saints was so large, no one could count it! These are the Tribulation saints, truly saved After the Rapture and during the Tribulation.  Notice also that they were hungry, thirsty, endured scorching heat and a hot sun (All plagues that occurred during the Tribulation) 

 

So, don't despair at leaving loved ones behind. God has a plan and He knows how much you care for them. Of course, the ultimate decision is there's, but we know the Lord will do ALL He can to get their attention. Still, while we are here, we continue to talk to them as the Lord leads. We keep working while it is still day, for behold, the night comes!