The Watchman’s Call

Guest (Male): Standing at the intersection of the word and the world, there is a clear sound for uncertain times. Welcome to The Watchman’s Call. Join us as we stand on the ramparts of scripture to examine the intersection of biblical prophecy and modern culture. The headlines are changing, but the blueprint has already been written. Listen as Pastor Andy Woods uncovers the prophetic significance of the world we live in. The Watchman’s Call starts now.

Dr. Andy Woods: And I want to welcome you back to this series that we have begun on The Watchman’s Call entitled One Second After the Rapture. In our prior show together, we had a chance to talk about what the believer will experience one second after the rapture. And it's all very good news when you think about it. Three things, all beginning with the letter R. Number one, the rapture for the believer will be a reunion. Number two, it will be a resurrection, the time in history where the Christian, the church age believer receives their resurrected body. And number three, it'll be a time of reward, as Christians will be rewarded for how they spent their life in Christ post-conversion, pre-rapture.

Well, let's move from that and let's talk about the unbeliever. What will the unbelieving world experience one second after the rapture? Now, I have a list of eight things. I don't think I can get through all eight of these in a single broadcast, but we'll try to make some headway on this, and what we don't finish here, we'll finish in subsequent broadcasts. But what will the unbeliever experience one second after the rapture?

Number one of eight, I believe a very perverted explanation will be offered to explain where all of these missing people went. There has to be some kind of an explanation. And I believe that the New Age movement has been preparing us for that explanation for a very long time. In New Age thought, there are people that we call spirit guides—people from other planets, other universes, other dimensions, ascended masters, as they're called. These are people that supposedly are more evolved than ourselves. And all of this is evolutionary. If evolution happened here, then it happened somewhere else in our universe, and so maybe there are people in distant galaxies that evolved out of nothing as well.

According to this mentality, they're trying to speak into our world to get us to evolve more and become more like them. They're trying to get us to take the next quantum leap, evolutionary quantum leap into the New Age. This is a type of theology that we as Christians reject, and we believe that these spirit guides that people are talking to are none other than demons masquerading as angels. We know from Second Corinthians chapter 11, I believe it's around verse 14, that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. But there are people on this planet that are receiving revelations and communications from these alleged ascended masters, and they're writing entire books about their experiences.

When you look at their literature, it's very interesting that they've already come up with an explanation for the rapture. The explanation will be something like this: the people that were holding up planetary progress have been removed. So, the bad people are gone. Now, the rapture, of course, we believe is the opposite—the Christians are gone. But in the thinking of the New Age, the people that were focused on the Bible, they talked too much about Jesus, they were fundamentalists, they believed that Jesus was the only way to the Father—those people that are standing in the way of the coming Antichrist and his one-world religion have been removed. I believe that that explanation will hit the world in a massive dose one second after the rapture as a plausible explanation as to where all of the Christians went.

I reach this conclusion by just reading some of the literature from these New Age writers allegedly channeling and receiving information from ascended masters. Here's something from the writings of Barbara Marciniak, a New Ager. She writes, "The people who leave the planet during the time of earth changes do not fit here any longer, and they are stopping the harmony of the earth. When the time comes that perhaps 20 million people leave the planet at one time, there will be a tremendous shift in consciousness for those who are remaining."

Here's another statement from somebody else whose first name is also Barbara. This comes from Barbara Marx Hubbard. She wrote a book called The Revelation, and it's not the Revelation you're thinking of, the book of Revelation. It's the revelation from her ascended master or spirit guide. This is what this spirit guide told her: "At the co-creative stage of evolution, one self-centered soul is like a lethal cancer cell in a body, deadly to itself and to the whole. Thus, the surgeon dare leave no cancer in the body when he closes up the wound after a delicate operation. We dare leave no self-centered person on earth after the selection process."

So, there are some people that are holding up planetary one-world, new world order globalism. These are the fundamentalist Christians. They're like a cancer in a body that has to be removed, and that's what just happened, although the Christians are calling this event the rapture.

Here is another statement from Alice Bailey. She is a New Ager who wrote around the late 1940s, I believe. Her book is called The Seventh Ray, Revealer of the New Age. She tells us that what she writes in this book was given to her by an ascended master named Djwhal Khul. This is what this ascended master told Alice Bailey: "The coming of the Aquarian Age also stimulates in man a spirit of universality and a tendency towards fusion. This can be seen working out in the present trend towards synthesis in business, religion, and politics. It produces an urge towards union and, among other unions, towards religious understanding and tolerance. False and true standards will emerge in man's consciousness, and those choices will be made which lay the foundation of the new order, which will inaugurate the new race with its new laws and novel approaches and so usher in the new religion of love and brotherhood and that period wherein the group and the group good will be the dominant note. Then separateness and hatreds will phase out." Let me read that to you again. "Then separateness and hatreds will phase or fade out, and men will be merged in true unity."

In other words, there's coming this one-world system on planet earth—economics, politics, and religion—a synthesis in business, religion, and politics. The people that oppose it have been phased out. Whether she knows it or not, what she's describing there is the rapture of the church. One second after the rapture of the church, you can expect all of these things which are in writing. Sometimes they're in movies, sometimes they're in books, podcasts, interviews, television shows. You can expect that type of explanation to leap off the pages, and that will be offered to humanity as an explanation for the missing people one second after the rapture.

A second thing that will happen one second after the rapture is there's going to be a dramatic change in God's program. Now, the change will take place in two ways. Number one, there will be a change from the church back to the nation of Israel. For the last 2,000 years, God has been at work through the body of Christ called the church. We see a description of the church's mission over in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 19, where Jesus told us, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."

What we learn in the New Testament is this age of the church will not last forever. One of these days, that age of the church will end. The earthly mission of the church will be complete, and it will be complete once the rapture transpires. Paul talks about this in Romans 11 verses 25 and 26. He says, "I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written. The deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob."

You'll notice that in this age where God is at work through the church, the nation of Israel is in a state of hardness or blindness. But that hardness or that blindness is temporary and will last until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. In other words, when the very last Gentile that's destined to be reached in the church age through the gospel has been reached, the bride of Christ, the body of Christ, the church will be made full, will be made complete, and will be snatched up in the rapture to heaven.

Then God, in the final seven years of human history, will put his hand back on national Israel and use them during the tribulation period, ultimately leading to the millennial kingdom. So, this is a shift in the purposes of God that will transpire one second after the rapture because the truth of the matter is God has not forgotten the nation of Israel. He can't forget Israel. Jeremiah 31:35-37 says, "Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the Lord of hosts is his name: 'If this fixed order departs from before me,' declares the Lord, 'then the offspring of Israel will cease from being a nation before me forever.' Thus says the Lord: 'If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out below, then I will cast off all of the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,' declares the Lord."

What God is saying there is if you want to get rid of Israel, you've got to get rid of the sun and the moon and the stars. For as long as the sun and the moon and the stars exist, Israel will always be a nation before God. The truth of the matter is God has made promises to the nation of Israel which have never been completely realized or fulfilled. We see those promises being laid out in what's called the Abrahamic Covenant—Genesis 15, giving to the nation of Israel land, seed, and blessing. Those are fleshed out in the Land Covenant, Deuteronomy 29 through 30; the Davidic Covenant, Second Samuel 7 verses 12 through 16; and the New Covenant, Jeremiah 31 verses 31 through 34. When you study that covenantal language in those passages, you'll see that God's promises to Israel have never been completely exhausted.

So, there has to come a time where God puts his hand back on Israel, brings them to faith, and fulfills these promises in and through them. This is the point of the tribulation period—to bring her to salvation. Jeremiah 30 verse 7 says, "Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it." We know from the book of Genesis chapter 32 verse 8 and chapter 35 verse 10, for example, that Jacob is a synonym for the nation of Israel. Jacob's name was changed to Israel in the book of Genesis, and this tribulation period that's coming is to save Israel, to bring her back into the fold. Then God will use her mightily during that seven-year time period, ultimately leading to the millennial kingdom.

This is the meaning of the 144,000 Jews that are going to be raised up in Revelation chapter 7 verses 1 through 8 to reach that innumerable multitude that's described in Revelation 7 verses 9 through 17. It's why God is raising up two Jewish witnesses in Revelation 11 to prophesy to the world, and it's an explanation as to why the dragon or Satan is persecuting Israel during the second half of the seven-year tribulation period. God is not through with the Jew. God is not through with Israel as a nation. Currently, they're on the shelf. They're in a state of blindness. They're in discipline. Some might analogize it to being put in timeout. That's where Israel is nationally, having rejected its king 2,000 years ago, and God today is using the church. But that era won't continue on forever and ever. One of these days it comes to a conclusion. The bride is made full, the rapture happens, and then God will put his hand back on Israel as his preeminent servant. The church will exit stage left, so to speak, Israel will re-enter stage right, and God will complete every single promise he has ever made to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

This is a tremendous shift in the outworking of God one second after the rapture, from the church which is now in heaven to national Israel. But there's a second way God's program is going to change. It's going to change in how the Holy Spirit operates. This is something that Jesus said in John 16 and verse 7 to the disciples in the upper room before the Day of Pentecost. Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the helper"—the Greek there is the Paraclete, the one who comes alongside to assist, another word for the Holy Spirit—"the helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you."

What Jesus is signaling there is you know about the Holy Spirit, but after I die, resurrect, ascend, and Peter preaches that opening sermon on the Day of Pentecost where about 3,000 souls were saved and the body of Christ or the church of Jesus Christ began, as that happened, the Holy Spirit dramatically shifted how he operated. You can see that by comparing two passages. One is First Samuel 16 verses 13 and 14. This is how the Holy Spirit operated in Old Testament times. It says there, "Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah. Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him."

It's talking about the Holy Spirit came not in David but upon David, and we see here that although the Holy Spirit could come upon people, it could also depart from people as it departed from Saul. Compare that to John 14 verses 16 through 17, where Jesus signals a tremendous shift in how the Holy Spirit would operate beginning on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus says there, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may be with you forever. That is the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you."

Jesus says the rules of the Holy Spirit are about to change. The Holy Spirit is not going to come upon people like it did David, but it's going to be inside of people. When the Holy Spirit comes inside of people—speaking of the believer during the church age—he will never depart from you, but he will be inside of you forever.

The Holy Spirit is there in the Old Testament, but how the Holy Spirit would begin to operate changes at the Day of Pentecost. In the prior age, he came upon people. Today he comes inside of people who believe on the name of Jesus. In the prior age, he could come upon people long after they were saved, like he came upon the tabernacle workers in Exodus 31 verse 3 and empowered them for a specific task. But in our age, he comes inside of the believer forever the moment they trust in Christ for salvation. This is why the book of Romans chapter 8 and verse 9 says if you don't have the Spirit of Christ, then you don't have Christ.

In the prior age, the Holy Spirit could come upon people temporarily, as in the case of Saul. That's why David prayed in Psalm 51 verse 11, "take not thy spirit from me." But in this age, he's inside of us forever. As far as I can tell, not everyone in the Old Testament age, even believers, had an encounter with the Holy Spirit. He came upon the people very selectively for a particular task. That's why when Joel 2 verse 28 predicts the day would come when the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, that was such a big deal of a prophecy, because if that had already been happening, then the drama of that prophecy would be removed. But in our age, he comes upon all of God's people forever. First Corinthians 12 verse 13 says, "For by one spirit we were all baptized," or identified, "into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we were all made to drink one spirit."

On the Day of Pentecost, there's a dramatic shift from the first category to the second category. What I would like for you to see is one second after the rapture, everything switches backwards. It switches from what the Spirit is doing today to what the Spirit was doing in Old Testament times. So, there will be a transition from internal dwelling back to external. There will be a transition from people today receiving the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation to sometimes people receiving the Holy Spirit upon them subsequent to salvation. There will be a change in the Spirit indwelling forever. Today he indwells us forever, but it will switch back to that Old Testament age where people can actually lose the Holy Spirit. It will be a scenario one second after the rapture where not necessarily every believer will have the Holy Spirit. It will be a scenario where some will have the Holy Spirit for a particular task.

This is a huge change in how the Holy Spirit will work one second after the rapture. The bottom line is just like on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit shifted his rules in terms of how he interacts with human beings, one second after the rapture the rules switch back to how they used to be. I believe that is true because the seven-year tribulation period represents a final seven-year part of Daniel’s clock—Daniel 9 verses 24 through 27—of 490 years. When you study that prophecy out, you learn that 483 of those years have transpired, seven years remain, and that's where we get the future tribulation period. The Holy Spirit in those final seven years will revert back to how he operated during the first 483 years of that prophecy.

What is coming is something monumental in terms of how God works. One second after the rapture, the primary servants of God will no longer be the church which will be in heaven, but will be the remnant of the nation of Israel as Israel will be brought to saving faith in the seven-year time period leading to the millennial kingdom. So you see a shift in God's program from the church to Israel, back to Israel, one second after the rapture. It has to happen that way because God has made promises to Israel which have never been fulfilled or elapsed. Also one second after the rapture, just as the rules of the Holy Spirit shifted on the Day of Pentecost, they will shift back to how the Holy Spirit used to work in the Old Testament age one second after the rapture.

So there are things that are happening one second after the rapture that the believer will experience and the unbeliever will experience. For the believer, there is a reunion, a resurrection, and a reward. But for the unbeliever, suddenly what will be thrust upon the scene is a perverted explanation will be offered from New Age sources explaining where all of these missing people are. There will be a dramatic change in the outworking of God's purposes from the church back to Israel, and the Holy Spirit's mode of operation will go back to how it was in Old Testament times. So there's a massive shift coming. I'll talk more about some of these massive shifts that will be coming on the unbelieving world one second after the rapture in our next show. God bless you.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to The Watchman’s Call, exploring the intersection of prophecy and culture. This program is a ministry of Sugar Land Bible Church, a place where the Bible is taught and the times are discerned. Visit this Sunday in person or connect with them anytime at slbc.org. That's slbc.org. Until next time, may the Lord give you a spirit of discernment in the week ahead.