The Rapture

Interviewer: Okay, we have the Great Tribulation happening. What next? I hope there is a bit of an upswing.
God: The Great Tribulation will last for approximately three and a half years; one thousand two hundred and sixty days, to be precise. Then Jesus will return in the clouds with all the host of Heaven. Everyone will see Him as He circles the globe calling all His people to come to Him. Then will be the great Rapture I spoke of earlier, when all those who have received Jesus into their hearts, dead and alive, will rise to meet Him in the air.
Interviewer: I even have a bit of trouble flying in an airplane, but here You have people flying up to meet Jesus. I hope You do a number on me, otherwise I’m going to have to keep my eyes closed the whole time.
God: Don’t worry! You’ll find that you will have a new, transformed, superhuman body, similar in style to what you have now, but greatly improved and enhanced and impervious to harm. In these new and eternal bodies, all who believe will rise up into the sky in a mighty wave.
They will then be taken to the centerpiece of Heaven, the Heavenly City, where they will join with all those in Heaven to celebrate this great deliverance and victory in an event known as the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It will truly be the most wonderful occasion to date held in Heaven.
Meanwhile on earth, the troubles will intensify and multiply dramatically. Many will die and still more will wish to die to get away from the horrible plagues and disasters that will be occurring.
Interviewer: What about those who were in the rebel resistance who were not Christians? It hardly sounds fair if they get caught up in all this too.
God: I will protect them during this time. It is during this period that the Antichrist will amass his forces to try to annihilate the main force of the remaining rebels. Battle will be joined on the plain of Megiddo in Israel. This is the famous Battle of Armageddon, a battle so fierce and terrible as to dwarf all other battles in its ferocity and carnage. It is in the midst of this battle that the forces of Heaven, under the leadership of Jesus Himself, will intervene and annihilate the Antichrist and his forces. The Antichrist himself will be captured and cast alive into the very depths of Hell. The Devil also will be imprisoned in his own special jail known as the Bottomless Pit.
Interviewer: Gripping stuff! With those two baddies out of the way, I guess we all go back to Heaven and live happily ever after.
God: We live happily ever after, but not just confined to Heaven.
Interviewer: How so?
God: It is at this point that earth is given over to the personal rule of Jesus and those who follow and love Him. For the next thousand years, it will be run the best way. There will be much to do to restore its damaged environment and to try and turn the world back into the Edenic state that it was in the beginning.
Interviewer: I suppose the cities will need a lot of repair as well, after all that they would have gone through.
God: As a matter of fact, I am not so keen on fixing up the cities-at least the major ones. I think the world is better off without them.
Interviewer: Without them? Where will we live? Uh oh! I sense that the answer is obvious. We are not all going back to the farm, are we, for goodness sake?
God: You don’t like the farm?
Interviewer: Farm life is okay once in awhile on a weekend maybe, but living there?
God: Don’t get too excited. There will still be urban centers, but they won’t be the huge, overcrowded cities of today. They will be smaller, more intimate, more humane, and I assure you much more pleasant to live in. If farm life really isn’t your cup of tea, there will be lots of alternatives.
Interviewer: And this lasts for a thousand years.
God: That’s right.
Interviewer: So this is the good news You talked about at the beginning?
God: The beginning of it.
Interviewer: There is more?
God: Goodness gracious, yes! A thousand years is a drop in the bucket of eternity. This thousand years of peace and plenty and love and happiness is only the prelude.
Interviewer: I assume things only get better from then on.
God: Yes. There is a minor hiccup at the end of the thousand years, but that is all in the plan.
Interviewer: A hiccup?
God: It’s all under control, so don’t worry.
Interviewer: But a hiccup? Want to elaborate on this? What happens after the thousand years?
God: Can we save that till next time?
Interviewer: You’ve left us on a cliffhanger here.
God: Let’s just say the best is yet to come.
Interviewer: Okay! Sounds wonderful. Thank You again for a thoroughly absorbing discussion. I look forward to next time.
God: As do I.