THE POST RAPTURE SURVIVAL GUIDE

THE POST RAPTURE SURVIVAL GUIDE

by Kurt Seland

The purpose of this manual is twofold:

(a) First of all, it is to warn those who receive this manual prior to the "rapture" of the soon to occur events that will take place in the "last days" as foretold in the Bible. Based on what the Bible has to say about future events, nobody in their right mind would want live on earth after the rapture. Hopefully many will read, believe, seek God, repent and be saved. Salvation is very simple, so simple to attain that most people cannot accept it. However, it is complex because it is life changing and based on that which we cannot see; it is based on faith. Simple, because Jesus does all the work. If you want to be saved and have eternal life, simply pray in belief and humility to Lord Jesus:

"Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and ask you to forgive me of my sins and prepare for me a new heart. I surrender my life to you."

Now change the way you live your life so that it is in accordance with God's laws.

If you have done this prior to the rapture, get a Bible and start reading and studying it. Go to the Lord in prayer every day asking for guidance as to how to live.

b) Second, to those left behind after the rapture, this is indeed a survival manual. You still have an opportunity to repent and have eternal life. The same prayer of salvation is applicable to you; the only difference is that you will spend a little time experiencing a taste of hell while you remain on earth.

Let me be real frank with you. If you are reading this manual and the rapture has already occurred, then you probably are not going to physically survive; you most likely will die. This manual is about the survival of your soul. You are going to go through terrible suffering. The only question is whether you will go to Heaven or go to hell when you die.

1. Definition: Rapture- This is the event that will occur when Jesus calls His followers (both gentile and Jewish believers) with a trumpet blast, and in the "twinkling of an eye" they will be removed from the earth and transported to be with Jesus in the heavens. For those of Jewish heritage who are familiar with the seven feasts of the Old Testament that are celebrated each year, the rapture is portrayed by the feast of trumpets described at Leviticus 23:24. The Jewish feast of trumpets symbolized a regathering. At the trumpet call of the rapture, it will be a regathering of believers to be with Jesus, and for the Jews left behind on earth it will be the final regathering to the physical nation of Israel.

Interestingly, those who have died and are followers of Jesus will respond first to the call (I Thess 4:16). It very well may be that, as it happened when Jesus was crucified and resurrected, when the dead saints arose from the dead and walked amongst the living (Matthew chapter 27), that at the rapture the dead saints may walk briefly on earth again.

2. Biblical Foundation for the Rapture

"Take notice, I am telling you a secret. We shall not all die but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet call. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed." I Corinthians 15:51-52

"For with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven, and those who died in Christ will rise first. Afterward we, the living who remain, will be caught up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall forever be with the Lord." I Thessalonians 4:16-17

"...For I am going away to prepare a place for you. And when I have gone and have prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself so that where I am, you also will be." John 14:2-3

3. Events and Circumstances Prior to the Rapture

At the time that this manual is being written, and for the remainder of the time left in this age, the one word that describes the condition of the world is change. All this change is being accomplished through the work of Satan, as he can not tolerate anything that originated from God's creation. Originally, the Bible tells us that when God created the world He declared that it was "good". That means that it was perfect and no changes were necessary. Included in His creation were standards to live by that He gave to Adam and Eve. These standards covered everything from how to live in our private lives to domestic relationships to principles for governing a community. Satan seeks to change everything that God has created and established, thus he has used his power and influence in the world to make changes. None of these changes are good for humankind because all of these changes are opposed to God's original intent. Satan's goal is to establish a world order headed by his protege (the world dictator known in the Bible as the Beast and anti-christ) who will spend his time and effort changing everything to be in opposition to God's will as expressed in the Bible. This is predicted in the Bible in the book of Daniel, "and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law."

POLITICAL

In today's (1996) political environment there is no effective leadership in the world. Every nation lacks strong and competent leaders able to deal with the problems at home and abroad. The United States, which has been the world leader for the last 50 years, has steadily lost its influence among other nations because of political leaders in the United States who have no moral center to direct their decision making process. However, this distrust and dislike of government and government leaders is not just an American phenomenon but is a common theme worldwide: Europe, South America and Asia. Because of this leadership vacuum in the world, there is now an opportunity for a man to arise who is very charismatic, strong, and attractive to peoples of all nations. Based on the prophecies in the Bible such a man will arise, and he will be successful in uniting the various nations to rule as a dictator.

The move to unite the world under one government has been active since the early 1900's, and in the 1990's this became more of a reality as the nations of this world began to give up their sovereignty to the United Nations during armed intervention of conflicts between nations (Kuwait, Somalia, Bosnia). In these conflicts, the nations of the world contributed manpower and machinery to be used under the flag of the United Nations. The United States of America surrendered its sovereignty in these situations to much weaker nations by allowing its military to be controlled by these nations. In addition to these military actions the nations of the world also agreed to controlled trade and labor practices with international treaties such as NAFTA and GATT.

Thus in the 1990's there is no dominant nation to provide leadership to the world setting the stage for a man to arise out of the masses to unite the world as dictator.

SOCIAL

The foundational building block of society, that element which has always been responsible for social order and peace, is the family, and it has been virtually destroyed. The family is to be a man, his wife and their children. The man provides for the wife and children, the wife nurtures and educates the children, and the children obey their parents. In a community of families, each adult holds the other adults and children accountable for their actions. The family is based on marriage.

Marriage is an institution of God and therefore hated by Satan. Satan has worked very hard, primarily through communications media such as TV, movies, news journalists, and entertainment in general to convince women that marriage is detrimental to their freedom and fulfillment in life. Satan has deceived women into believing that they are the same as men and that all differences are the result of culture. Satan has worked very hard to convince women that their sexual gratification should come from outside of marriage, preferably with other women. Satan has worked hard to divide men and women and have them at war with one another, and because of this, the violence between men and women dramatically increased beginning in the 1980's. After the rapture, more than likely, the family as it is known today will be eliminated. Children will become wards of the state and marriage will be discouraged.

Civil war has been the theme of the 1980's and 1990's and will continue into the end times: man vs. women, black vs. white, Moslem vs. Jew, Catholic vs. Protestant, Moslem vs. Christian, one Moslem faction vs. another Moslem faction, one black African tribe vs. another black African tribe, nation vs. nation, people vs. people. Whatever divides people into different groups Satan uses to inspire hate, strife and violence.

Homosexuality and all sorts of perverse behavior have come to be accepted as normal. The world dictator(anti-christ) himself will not have the normal sexual attraction to women and may be asexual. Many theologians believe that he will probably be openly homosexual as indicated in the Bible in the book of Daniel 11:37; "and he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women...". And therefore after the rapture more than likely marriage will be discouraged or illegal, and homosexual and lesbian relationships highly encouraged.

ECONOMIC

On the economic scene the trend is toward poverty for the masses with wealth concentrated into the hands of very few people. These controllers of the wealth will be the kings of commerce and banking and also be the power behind politics of the world. Small businesses are merged into larger companies and the larger companies merge with themselves to increase profits. The result is huge multi-national companies that have no allegiance to any community, state, nation or people, whose only allegiance is to increased profits for management and shareholders. The result is workers who are little more than peasants and presidents of companies who are more and more kings. It will be these "kings" who usher in the world dictator to protect their wealth and power. Expect all commerce, buying and selling, to be controlled by a mark on the right hand or forehead of every person who wants to participate in the economy. Only those people with the mark will be able to buy and sell, but the consequences of taking the mark is eternal damnation. Therefore don't take that mark. You will have a very difficult time surviving, and probably won't, but you will save your soul. Again, don't take the mark on your right hand or forehead.

Another thing that will come back into vogue after the rapture will be slavery. The book of Revelation speaks of the slave trade after the rapture. The slaves will more than likely be Jews and Christians (those who converted after the rapture) but there will also be many children and poor that will be caught into slavery.

GEOPHYSICAL

In the gospel of Matthew chapter 24 Jesus spoke to his disciples and indicated to them that one of the signs of the time of the end of the world would be, "...as it were in the days of Noah so will the coming of the son of man be..." We read in Genesis that in the days of Noah that "the earth was filled with violence...". This speaks not only of the violence that men inflict on one another for certainly the earth is filled with that kind of violence; wars, civil wars, rape, brutality, murder, abortion, indiscriminate random acts of violence but the earth itself is also filled with violence. We see increasing earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, draught, lightening storms and unusual atmospheric phenomena. While all of these have existed in the past, over the last 50 years the number and intensity of these conditions and the property damage associated with these natural catastrophes has increased. As the level of violence that the human species has inflicted on one another has increased, so has the violent reaction of the earth increased.

4. Signs of the Times

When Jesus disciples asked Him about the signs that would be a precursor to His coming and the end of the age He responded that there would be (Matthew chapter 24):

Wars and rumors of wars
Nation will rise against nation. It is very interesting to note that the Greek word that is translated as nation is "ethnos" which deals with ethnic background and race. Most of the wars and conflicts in the 1980's and 1990's are wars amongst ethnic groups and tribes.
Kingdom will rise against kingdom
Famines
Earthquakes "these will be like the early pangs of childbirth", that is, as the time grows nearer and nearer to His coming, the frequency and intensity of these five signs will increase.
The followers of Jesus will be handed over to be persecuted and killed -This is happening with more frequency in the Moslem controlled nations in the Middle East and in Africa where Black Moslems are enslaving Black Christians.
Christians will be hated by all nations on account of His name. In many parts of the world Christians are jailed and killed for their beliefs; in the United States those who are Christians are hated by the media and liberals and are known by the code words "religious right".
Many will fall away...that is, many who claimed to be Christians will recant their faith and betray and hate Christians.
Many false prophets will arise and deceive many
Due to excessive lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold

5. The Rapture

This is an event that will not be hidden. The concept of the rapture will be made known to the disbelieving masses (those of you who do not know Jesus as your Lord and Messiah) before it occurs. It will be treated with ridicule, contempt and mockery by the world's media, but God will see to it that it will be highly publicized before it occurs just so that those left behind might still come to their senses. It will occur in the open, and everybody left behind will know somebody that was raptured. It will happen suddenly, unexpectedly, and lightning fast--"in the twinkling of an eye" as the Bible puts it. And there will be evidence all over the world that this event occurred. Some national leaders will disappear, celebrities in entertainment and professional sports will disappear, entire families will disappear, disbelieving spouses will see their mates vanish, children will disappear. Bank accounts, homes, cars, businesses and relationships will be left behind. The problem for the world's leaders will be trying to convince people that it didn't happen. Because if the world's leaders admit that it did happen then logically everything Christians preached about Jesus Christ being the Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and everything that Jesus preached and taught must be true. And if all of this is true, then the only logical response would be to fall on one's knees before God in confession and repentance and absolute submission to every word of God (as revealed in the Bible). But all of this is diametrically opposed to the way of the world which preaches freedom from the constraints of God's word, perverse sex, materialism and the devaluation of human life. So, although the rapture will shock everybody and will be covered in the media and everybody left will be aware of someone who is gone the leaders of the world will begin their great deception, that is convincing the population left behind that there was no rapture. How is this going to be accomplished? Well, pretty easily because most of the people left behind are already in a state of deception. They have been deceived into believing that Jesus is not the Messiah; they have been deceived into believing that the word of God is not true; they have been deceived into living in a lifestyle that only brings constant pain and suffering instead of the freedom and paradise that God offers. The world's leaders will declare that there was no rapture, that a mass hysteria took place, and the news media will follow the party line. Then to make things easier, shortly after the rapture, one-fourth of the world's population will be decimated due to wars, famine and plague. Those who were raptured will be counted as amongst the dead.

6. After the Rapture

Shortly after the rapture, a seven year period known in the Bible as the Great Tribulation will take place. It will begin with the signing of a peace agreement between Israel and her enemies and it will end with the physical return of Jesus Christ to set up His kingdom on earth. In between will be seven years of terror for those on earth. The following events and trends will take place in that seven year period :

A man will arise who will achieve victory after victory both in politics and in war. This man, who should be easily identified by his rapid rise and popularity, is your anti-christ. Many people believe that this person must be Jewish. That is, in order for Jews to accept him as Messiah, only a Jew will suffice. This is not necessarily the case; the Bible does not specify that he is a Jew, and it does not specify nationality. Only God-fearing Jews will require a Jewish Messiah. The liberal ungodly Jews who dominate Israel will be as lost when it comes to Biblical truth as the gentiles of the world and will be deceived by his charisma, and more than likely, the desires of the world's media. Currently the new nick-name for the United States is the Great Satan. This may have some significance.
Violence will increase in all parts of the world both nation against nation (ethnic wars) and domestically. Men will indiscriminately slay one another as peace will be removed from the earth.
There will be extreme inflation, poverty, and lack of food as one day's wages will buy enough food for one day for one person.
In a very short period of time, one-quarter of the earth's population will be killed due to wars, famine, pestilence and wild beasts. These wild beasts could very well be viruses, bacteria and other microbes. In late 1995 Time magazine ran a cover story on the rise of new infections and called microbes "malevolent little beasts".
Many people will experience a religious conversion and become followers of Jesus Christ and most of these people will be hunted down and killed.
There will be a great earthquake, the sun will be blackened, the moon will turn red and all mountains and islands (which are underwater mountains) will be moved.
There will be a brief period of calm on the earth following this great earthquake which will give those who survive a false sense of security. Then,
A third of the earth, one-third of all trees and all the green grass will be burned up due to a comet or meteor that hits the earth. Then,
A meteor will hit the earth causing the sea to become like blood, killing one-third of all sea creatures and destroying one-third of all shipping. Then,
A "star" named Wormwood will fall from the sky and poison one-third of all fresh water killing many people.
The sun, moon and stars will be darkened by one-third. The day and night will be reduced by one-third. There is some speculation that this means the rotation of the earth will be changed so that a day lasts only 16 hours instead of 24 hours.
Fearsome locust-like beings will be released from underground who only attack people who are not followers of Jesus Christ. These attacks will be very painful but last only 5 months.
An army of 200 million horse-like creatures will kill one-third of mankind.
Two men (known as witnesses, see item 7 below) of Jewish origin will preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ for 3 1/2 years and be killed at the midpoint of the 7 year tribulation. These two will be responsible for a 3 1/2 year world-wide draught and will be killed by the anti-christ (also known as the beast in the Bible).
People will be required to receive a mark on their right hand or forehead in order to buy and sell. Those who receive this mark will develop a loathsome and malignant sore on their bodies within a short period of time.
The oceans will chemically change and become like the blood of a dead man (congealed?) and everything in the sea will die.
The fresh waters will become like blood.
The sun will scorch the people on earth with fierce heat.
The throne of the anti-christ and his kingdom will become darkened.
The Euphrates river will dry up allowing the kings of the east to march westward.
The kings of the world will gather their armies together to battle God at Armageddon. There will be a great earthquake, so great that all the mountains and islands will disappear. There will be hailstones weighing close to 100 pounds that will crush the armies that have gathered.
Shortly after this great earthquake, Jesus Christ will return with His army to claim the earth as His possession.

7. The Two Witnesses

These two men are God's gift to the people of the earth who refused to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ prior to the rapture, but who will recognize the error in their life and seek God knowing the terrible mistake they have made. These two men will proclaim the gospel and provide hope for those left behind. Their message is for the salvation of the soul and to eternal life. They will have no message as to how you can avoid the hell that life on earth has become, because there is no hope to avoid that tribulation. If you are left on earth, then your destiny is to suffer and more than likely die. But you still have the hope of salvation. Listen to what these two men are preaching and turn to God.

The Bible does not say who these two men are. Many speculate that they are Elijah and Enoch, two ancient prophets of God who never died. Regardless, they will be responsible for many of the natural catastrophes that will reek havoc on the property and economy of the earth. They will have the power to prevent rain, and there will be a 3 1/2 year draught on earth until they die. They will turn water into blood and cause all kinds of plagues on earth and in general make life miserable for those who are living on earth. Also, they will be invincible, as many will try to kill them only to be killed by their own hands. Those who attempt to blow them up will themselves be blown up; those who attempt to shoot them will have their guns explode in their hands; those who attempt to poison them will be poisoned by their own efforts. Only the world dictator will be able to kill them and only when God allows it.

The purpose of all the misery that these two witnesses inflict on the earth dwellers is to turn people back to God in repentance. The misery will be so great that when the world dictator does finally kill these two the world will rejoice in a Christmas-like celebration, giving gifts to one another. Three and one-half days after their death they will be resurrected and in full view of the entire population of the world ascend to heaven at the command of God when He calls them to "Come up here". Shortly after he kills the two witnesses, the world dictator will declare himself to be God. He is the anti-christ.

8. The 144,000 Jewish Witnesses

Shortly after the rapture, God will call His army of 144,000 Jewish believers into service to provide a voice of hope for Jews throughout the world. The best friends and most staunch supporters of Jews have always been true believing Christians. It was this element of the world's population that provided help and support for Israel and Jewish people. The rapture removed the Christian people from the earth and awakened the 144,000 to their purpose. These 144,000 preach to Jews worldwide that Jesus is the Messiah. These 144,000 will be spread out worldwide and more than likely go about in pairs, two by two, as Jesus instructed His disciples to do. It will be these 144,000 who will oppose Israel signing a peace treaty for protection; it will be the 144,000 who will identify the anti-christ for who he is; it will be the 144,000 who will warn Israel of the treachery of the anti-christ, and it will be the 144,000 who will lead the Jews worldwide to the hiding place prepared for them by God in the Judean desert. These 144,000 Jews are going to be strange people by normal standards: they will be celibate, very bold, fearless, spiritually strong and probably very much like John the Baptist.

9. Money

Hard currency will become obsolete. This is no surprise, as banks and governments have been working to eliminate currency, coin money and paper transactions for decades. Currency and coin is expensive to produce, lends itself to readily for drug trafficking and, with high tech equipment, is too easily counterfeited. Banks desire to eliminate the teller position as an expense item, and with the elimination of paper checks and currency, all financial transactions can be handled with a computer. The debit card will become the tool for all personal financial transactions. However, at some point after the rapture, probably right after the two witnesses are killed, everyone will be required to get a mark on their right hand or forehead in order to buy and sell. Do not, do not, do not under any circumstances participate by receiving this mark. All those who receive this mark known as "the mark of the beast" are doomed for eternity. By taking this mark you are swearing allegiance to the anti-christ. You may as well attempt to enjoy life as best you can because eternity for you will be hell. It is at this point that God will have separated His followers from Satan's followers. Those who have taken the mark will persecute those without the mark. God will render judgment on those with the mark by inflicting them with a disgusting looking and very painful ulcer covering their bodies. This will remove much of the pleasure left in their life including making sexual relations almost, if not completely, impossible. So how can a person without the mark survive and still buy and sell? Again, this will almost be impossible, but there will be people who are part of the anti-christ's regime who don't believe in the anti-christ, they are just "survivors" who pick the "winner" and seek to profit from that relationship. Therefore, save up for yourself gold; gold has always had value as money and always will, even in a cashless society. Identify one of these profiteers and seek to purchase food and living supplies from him. However, don't ever disclose to him how much gold you have and where it is. You want to be more valuable to him as a dealer than as a bounty. By the way, you will have a price on your head for not taking the mark. Obviously you won't be living an open life, as you will be in hiding somewhere at a remote location or in the forest on the outskirts of a large city. Your only goal will be to eat to live and hope to escape the militia hunting for you and those like you. Should you get caught, your fate will be either death or slavery. If you receive this manual before the rapture and plan to be around after the rapture, then start storing up food and living supplies and put them into hiding in some remote and difficult to access area. You should include weaponry to defend yourself and medical supplies as part of your living supplies.

10. Safety Concerns

This era will be the most violent of times in the history of the world. Death, brutality and destruction will be part of everyday life. One of the defining characteristics of the last days following the rapture will be a lack of peace. There will be civil wars throughout the world: people will kill one another indiscriminately, random acts of violence will fill people with fear. Car jackings, home invasions, drive by shootings, bombings will all increase with an intensity that will leave people with absolutely no sense of security.

In order to survive this time, you need to remove yourself from society and live in a remote area that is difficult to access. Getting together with a group of like-minded people would provide additional support and safety. As mentioned earlier, stock up on food, medicines, living supplies, weaponry and gold. You will need enough for 7 years. Don't plan on being able to supplement your food with hunting and fishing because the stocks of wild animals and fish will have been depleted and destroyed by the 3 1/2 year worldwide draught and three successive meteor-like or comet-like objects that strike the earth sometime after the rapture. The 3 1/2 year draught is brought on by the two witnesses. The first object from outer space to strike the earth will destroy 1/3 of all trees and all the green grass on earth. The second object, more like a meteor, strikes the sea and destroys 1/3 of all sea creatures and 1/3 of all shipping. The third object turns 1/3 of all fresh water poisonous and kills many people. Needless to say all of this will also seriously deplete the food supplies for the world's population causing food prices to skyrocket. Those people in the world who never before missed a meal or worried about food will become very familiar with hunger pangs and the feeling of going without food for long periods of time. This will be one of the causes of the increased violence as people become more self centered, short tempered, and competitive for the food sources in short supply. As Jesus spoke to His disciples about these days He said, "people will betray one another and hate one another...the love of many will grow cold."

11. Health Concerns

Prior to the rapture, the world experienced an increase in health related catastrophes, an increase in new infectious diseases and an increase in the return of diseases thought to have been eradicated or brought under control. The 1980's and 1990's brought on AIDS, EBOLA virus, flesh eating bacteria, the return of tuberculosis, incurable gonorrhea, herpes and many other virtually incurable sexually transmitted diseases. After the rapture things do not get better, as one quarter of the world's population will die as the result of wars, famine and plague. Sometime after the two witnesses are murdered and after people are required to take the mark on the right hand or forehead, there will be a terrible plague causing a loathsome and malignant ulcer on the bodies of those who have taken the mark. This will be a very ugly and very painful sore that will make life miserable for those who have it. This sore will cover the body and remove the pleasure from sexual relations. People will avoid sexual relations due to the pain.

In addition to all this, because of the poor economic situation worldwide and the 3 1/2 year draught that depletes the worlds supply of water, sanitation practices will deteriorate even in what were advanced nations in Europe and North America. With the short supply of water, there won't be sufficient water for flushing toilets, taking baths, washing clothes and transporting wastewater to treatment facilities. This will result in the increase of typhus, cholera, salmonella and E.coli infections.

However, since you have decided to reject Christ's offer to join in the rapture, your concern is how to maintain good health in the post rapture era. You must build a supply of multiple vitamins with particular emphasis on anti-oxidants such as C and E and minerals. It will also be necessary to have a supply of disinfectants, particularly one that can be added to water to make it potable.

Above all, do not accept the mark of the beast on your right hand or forehead. If you do take the mark then nothing can be done for you -- you will suffer the malignant ulcer making the rest of your life almost unbearable. Did you ever have a canker sore in your mouth? If so, then you know how painful that was---just one little canker sore. Now think of having canker sores all over your body, on your genitalia, in your mouth. Think how painful and unbearable your life will be. Don't take that mark.