There is much conjecture regarding the rapture and the reaction of the people still on earth afterward. Many people think the worlds governments will try to explain it away with excuses of alien abductions or other similar propaganda. I am starting to think that the world will know that the rapture did in fact take place and will begin seeking a way to connect with God. This could be where the false prophet and the Antichrist really come into play. Once the world’s population begins following him then the only ones left would be the Jews and gentile believers who refuse to do so, and will become the objects of the anti-Christ’s wrath. What do you think?
I agree. With the number of people that will be missing and with information about the rapture being so readily available, I think it’s likely that many of those left behind will correctly conclude the rapture has taken place. Of course the governments of the world and heads of other religions will vigorously deny this, joined by pseudo-Christians who will have missed out.
But it makes sense that the rapture will generate a frantic seeking for God with two results, both explained in the Bible. 2 Thes. 2:9-11 says that the apparent miracles performed by the anti-Christ and false prophet will persuade those who have rejected the true God into accepting a counterfeit one. This group, composed of the other religions and the unbelievers in the world, will quickly become the dominant religious force and will eventually unite behind the anti-Christ (Rev. 13:8).
Rev. 7:9-17 speaks of a great multitude of martyrs who will arrive in Heaven after the rapture but before the Great Tribulation begins. I think this group will be composed of those who will have been ambivalent about the need to be born again until they witness the rapture and realize what they had been hearing is true. Their conversion will be powerful and their message will be impossible to ignore.
The end result will be that the first group, which will have official control of the post rapture world, will have to do away with the second group in order to shut them up. At that point various excuses will have to be offered to explain this 2nd disappearance and that’s where the stories we’re already hearing about mass abductions, etc. will really come in handy.