Restraint, Derision, and Sudden Destruction

 Restraint, Derision, and Sudden Destruction – Terry James - https://terryjamesprophecyline.com/2024/06/09/restraint-derision-and-sudden-destruction/ One element about prophecy about the future that has puzzled me in a certain context is the phrase “sudden destruction” in the following: For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3) As I say, my perplexity has stemmed from the context. This is a follow-up passage from the Apostle Paul’s further revelation on the mystery about the Rapture: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive andremain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–18) For me, the disconnect came from my long-thought belief that there will be, following the disappearance of millions of believers, a collapse–a meltdown—of human interaction on a global scale.Chaos would immediately follow this staggering event, but it would, I believed, be a more-or-less controlled chaos; the cry for peace and safety would be like a growing worldwide emotional breakdown and financial, societal, and cultural collapse that wouldcause people to beg for somebody to fix it all. Antichrist would be willing and able to step up, and the panicked people would readily accept the back-to-normal promises he offered, giving him growing control over the nations. But why, then, the term “sudden destruction”? It smacks of instant devastation, not of slow or even rapid collapse into chaos and dystopian existence for the world of left-behind people. The realization strikes that “peace and safety” seems to connote something far deeper than freedom from chaos and disorder from financial catastrophe and the breakdown of law and order. Itindicates, I am convicted, a desperate desire for a preservation of life itself, not just a call for restoration to something akin to normalcy. I have long held, as anyone who has followed my commentaries knows, that Jesus Himself told of the exact circumstances in which this generation now finds us. His “days of Noah, days of Lot” prophecy found in the Matthew chapter 24 Olivet Discourse and again in Luke 17:26–28, says it will be business as usual right until the moment believers are taken to be with Him in the clouds of Glory. It will be just like it was in the time of Lot in Sodom.The very day Lot was taken by the angels out of the wicked city, the town and its sister town of Gomorrah were totally, and I mean totally, destroyed. As a matter of fact, those excavating the area today are just beginning to uncover just how total the destructionwas in that judgment. My puzzlement was always that Jesus indicated it will be just like that when believers are taken to Heaven. Destruction of the sort Sodom experienced, He said, will fall that very day. How,then, could there be this slow collapse into societal and cultural dystopia that could take weeks, months, or longer? Sodom and Gomorrah were instantly destroyed in a deluge of fire and brimstone–devastation that might have been similar to the nuclear devastationsuch weaponry can inflict today. All we must do to see the potential for nuclear conflict is to read the news. One report leaves little doubt the potential for Sodom-like destruction can be easily dealt by the hand of humankind,without even the need for wrath directly from Heaven. More and more European officials and NATO countries are on board with allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory. Among the latest to speak openlyabout this are NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell, and the government of Sweden, which is the NATO alliance’s newest member state. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday issued one of his more dire warnings yet, putting Europe on notice by commenting on their possessing small land areas and dense populations. Theveiled threat is very ominous especially in light of the fact that Russia just wrapped up tactical nuclear drills near Ukraine. (“Putin Threatens West’s ‘Dense Populations’ In ‘Small Land Masses’ In Response To NATO Escalation,” ZeroHedge, May 29, 2024) With nuclear weaponry in the hands of leaders who are more and more threatening to use them, it’s a wonder the nuclear genie hasn’t escaped the bottle. It is indeed amazing that a nuclearweapon hasn’t been accidentally discharged; there are accounts of massive hydrogen bombs that have come within a hair’s breadth of accidentally exploding. The fact is, I have no doubt, the staying hand of Almighty God has prevented such disaster. He continues to restrain nuclear and all other sorts of satanic evil from being unleashed. He has,as promised in Psalm 2, had the diabolists of this judgment-bound world in “derision”–intervening to disrupt the devil’s plans to bring on yet another world war. But God’s patience is not without limits. There is coming a time when, like with Lot‘s case, He will call believers from the planet’s surface and into Jesus’ loving arms. You want to go to Christ when He shouts, “Come up here!” You will be forever safe in God’s family, saved from the sudden destruction taking place on earth. Here is how to make sure you goin the Rapture, which will happen at any moment. That if you will confess with your mouth the lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness,and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)