Left Behind

 

The Left Behind series, written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, helped to shape and solidify the concept of Christians being raptured before a seven-year Great Tribulation. Their books “took the earth by storm”, selling over 65 million. Rapture became as popular as zombies, aliens, and UFOs. The presupposition upon which the series is built is the belief that Christians are “taken up” in the rapture while non-believers are "left behind” to endure the great tribulation and the Antichrist.

But the fact is, Christians will not be taken up in the rapture, preemptively, leaving non-believers behind to endure the Tribulation. That is a totally false notion, built upon some very faulty Biblical interpretation. It arose in the mid-19th century and became embedded in American last-days teachings. Then Tim LaHaye popularized it.

The Biblical phrase underlying the “left behind” concept is taken from the teaching of Jesus. He said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man…. that is how it will be…one will be taken and the other left.” (Mt 24:37-41; Lk 17:26-35).

Christians are not the ones who will be taken – in the rapture. That is not accurate. Look closely. Jesus is likening this future scene to what happened in the days of Noah. “People were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away” (Mt 24:38-39). It was the wicked who were taken, not the righteous. “Taken” is a military term used to this day to denote the casualties inflicted upon an enemy. Clearly, those who are taken are not Christians being taken up in Rapture, but rather causalities in war and destruction.

That leads us to conclude, then, that those who are left, as in the days of Noah, will be the few who survive the judgment of God and live through to the next era in His redemptive plan. There will be some people around the world who will live through the extreme tribulation and judgment of the last days. They will be the initial inhabitants of Christ’s Millennial kingdom (Rev 20:4-6).

The Left Behind book series amplified a very dangerous teaching. The saints will not be “taken up” in the rapture prior to the Tribulation. We Christians will endure the sword, famine, and plague of the last days alongside our fellow man. The rapture will indeed happen, but not before the time of Christ’s second coming. To be forewarned is to be prepared. That is the purpose of Revelation.