What Will It Be Like To Be Left Behind?

DR. EDWARD HINDSON

Dean, Institute of Biblical Studies

Liberty University


Since 1945, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, mankind has lived with the threat of nuclear annihilation. The “baby-boomers” -- those born in the population boom after World War II -- could just as easily be called the generation of the bomb. Many psychologists believe that people in this generation do not think like any other generation because they have to live with the reality of their own vulnerability every day.

It should not surprise us, therefore, that people today will spare almost no expense for elaborate vacations, expensive trips, and romantic cruises. They are trying to pretend everything is all right, even though they know it isn’t.

While the desire for peace clings to the deepest crevice of the human heart, the prospects for global destruction are far greater than the prospects for global peace. Undoubtedly, men will continue to strive for peaceful solutions. But beyond the attempts at peace is the final holocaust. Those who are left behind after the Rapture will face a terrible future.

The Final Blast

The Bible predicts the final devastation in “one hour” (Revelation 18:10) of the prophetic “Babylon,” the symbolic name for the kingdom of the Antichrist. The Bible says, “All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered” (Revelation 18:14). Even the merchants and sailors will not come near this land, but will “stand far off, terrified at her torment,” and crying out, “In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin” (Revelation 18:15, 17).

The apostle Peter provides an even more vivid description of the final blast that shall devastate this planet when he warns, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Peter 3:10).

The Seven Trumpets

John’s description of the trumpet judgments (Revelation 8:2-11:19) sounds very similar to a global holocaust. The entire planet will be affected by massive destruction, loss of life, and human suffering. The chaos that results will destabilize both the global economy and the world government predicted in chapter 13.

The seventh seal of the scroll is finally opened in Revelation 8:1. The imagery that follows, including the half hour of silence, follows the liturgy of the Jewish temple services. After the sacrificial lamb was slain, the altar of incense was prepared. Two of the priests would go into the holy place and take the burnt coals and ashes from the golden altar and relight the lamps of the golden candlestick. One priest filled the golden censer with incense, while the other placed burning coals from the altar into a golden bowl. Deep silence fell over the temple during this solemn ceremony.

The angel offers the “prayers of the saints (believers)” from the golden censer (8:3). Then he filled the censer with fire from the altar and “cast it into the earth” (8:5). This initiates the conflagration that is about to engulf the planet.

John the revelator paints a picture of global devastation. He sees the vegetation burned up, a mountain of fire falling into the sea, stars falling from heaven and the darkening of the sun by a thickened atmosphere. It is no wonder that he hears an angel flying through heaven shouting, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhibiters of the earth” (8:13).

Trumpet 1: Hail and Fire

The results of this destruction are so vast that one-third of all the trees and all the grass on the planet burn up. John provides no explanation of how this will occur. One gets the impression that he watched this future destruction in utter amazement.

The fact that the Bible predicts a massive global conflagration at the end of human history, coupled with the fact that we live in a time when such a catastrophe is humanly possible, ought to be a wake-up call to everyone!

Trumpet 2: Ocean Fireball

Next, John describes a large fireball (“mountain burning with fire”) falling into the sea, polluting one-third of the oceans and destroying one-third of the ships. The reference to the “ships” seems to imply military targets, but no other details are given. The parallel second bowl judgment is also poured out on the sea but results in the destruction of all sea life (Revelation 16:3).

Again, a destruction of such massive proportions was unknown in the first century. The greatest devastation John could possibly have been familiar with was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. It completely destroyed and buried the city of Pompeii with molten lava and even destroyed a few ships in the Gulf of Naples. But what the revelator describes here goes far beyond that and looks forward to a time of unprecedented catastrophe.

Trumpet 3: Polluted Water

The devastation of the seawaters is followed by the pollution of the fresh waters. The “rivers” and “fountains” (springs) of water are polluted by a falling star called “Wormwood.” Leon Morris notes that “wormwood” was a bitter substance, but was not poisonous. It is most likely that John merely uses this term to describe the bitter pollution of nuclear radioactive fallout.

It is obvious in the passages that describe the trumpet and bowl judgments that John struggles, even though inspired, to find first-century words to describe these future events-the likes of which he has never seen. Terms like “mountain of fire” and “falling star” certainly come close to a description of nuclear fireballs.

Trumpet 4: Polluted Air

The fourth trumpet sounds and the air becomes polluted (perhaps with nuclear fallout). The sun, moon, and stars are “darkened” for one-third of the day. While this may refer to an eclipse, it seems more likely to refer to some cosmic destruction of the atmosphere.

In the judgment of the fourth bowl (16:8-9), the sun “scorched” people as a result of this pollution. The implication is that the ozone layer of the atmosphere has been severely damaged and people are suffering from radiation poisoning. However one interprets this event, it is obvious that it is life-threatening.

Trumpet 5: Demon Invasion

The plagues of locusts described in the Apocalypse represent a demonic invasion of earth. The creatures are depicted as having been imprisoned in the abyss. They are released by divine permission and torment unbelievers -- those who do not have the “seal of God” (9:4). Whether these demonic creatures inhabit human bodies is not fully clear. The reference to the “shapes of the locusts” (9:7) seems to indicate some kind of weaponry.

The locusts are personalized as a military-like force led by one called Abaddon (Hebrew, “destroyer”). To make sure his readers understand, John adds the Greek equivalent: Apollyon. Both names carry the same designation: “one who destroys.” He is symbolically depicted as the leader of fallen angels in the bottomless pit.

Trumpet 6: Deadly Attack

The voice instructs the angel with the sixth trumpet to release the “four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates” (verse 14). Since they are bound, they must be fallen angels or demons. Their release is by divine permission only and is intended to allow them to function as agents of God’s wrath.

While some prefer to view this invading horde as demons, I believe they are an actual army. The battles that follow involve killing men, and the attackers are described as men (verses 16-18). The weapons with “breastplates of fire” could well be modern weapons. The “breastplates of fire” and the “fire and smoke” that shoot out of both ends of these vehicles certainly sound like tanks, airplanes or some modern weaponry.

If John really saw the future, including the great end-time wars, he would have witnessed things he could hardly understand, let alone describe. Tanks, guns, flamethrowers and laser beams all fit these possible designations. While the horde of demons is unleashed to torture and afflict men, the horde of soldiers is unleashed to attack them as well.

Trumpet 7: Final Victory

From this point on, everything follows in rapid succession. These five verses (15-19) are among the most dramatic verses in the Bible. There is no greater statement of triumph in all of Revelation, with the possible exception of 19:11-16, where Christ actually returns to earth to reign and rule.

The typical pattern of the Apocalypse is to show the big picture followed by snapshots. First the panorama, then the close-ups. I believe that is what we have in 11:15-19. We must take seriously the proclamation of final triumph in these verses. They look all the way down the canyon of eternity to the final victory at the end of the tribulation. At the same time, they give us the overview of what it will be like to be left behind.