Indendence Day - Bible Study on The Rapture, Antichrist, and False Prophet

I love the movie, Independence Day (1996)! It’s a classic and a “must watch” on the 4th of July. When President Whitmore stands up and declares to a frightened people, “Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!” I want to stand up and cheer.

Do you remember the scene where Jasmine (the dancer) tries to warn her friend, Tiffany, not to go to the “Welcome aliens” party on the roof of a building? Jasmine begs Tiffany, “I have a really bad feeling about this. I don’t want you to go. Promise me you won’t go.” Of course, Tiffany does not listen. She’s dancing and partying, holding her welcome sign, when the aliens show their true intentions and all hell breaks loose.

This scene reminds me of how some in the world will respond when God removes His Believers from this earth and takes them up to Heaven (The Rapture). The Bible says that in a twinkling of an eye, God’s trumpet will sound, and we will be caught up in the sky to reunite with Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) I can imagine a metaphorical party similar to the scene in this movie. The world will be rejoicing that those intolerant, unloving, party-pooping Christians are gone - no one left to bring up hateful words like “sin” or “hell”.

To the world, all this Judgment and Rapture talk makes us sound crazy, like the character “Russell Casse” in the film. He kept warning everyone about the dangers to come because he’d experienced the evil himself but everyone just mocked him. The Bible tells us that this will be the world’s reaction to our warnings.

For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 (AMP)

And just like the people on the roof were welcoming the aliens, unbelievers are welcoming someone far more dangerous than any alien invasion. You see, soon there will be powerful political figure (Antichrist) on the scene, speaking peace, prosperity, inclusion, tolerance, and people will worship him like he’s the savior of world. But what they wont realize, until it’s too late, is that he will strip them of their freedoms in the name of the better good, forcing them to take an identification marker on their hand or forehead. He will make it mandatory to be marked before anyone can buy, sell, or work. During this time, a religious leader (The False Prophet) will rise and be in cahoots with the Antichrist. The False Prophet will make it mandatory to worship and bow down to an image of the Antichrist and if anyone refuses they will be beheaded. Do any events in the current world news sound like a precursor to these End Time events? They should. (Revelation 13:13-18, Revelation 20:4)

I read in The Bible about King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Kings 18-19). He was 25 years old when he became king. He was one of the few kings of Israel who trusted God completely and did not commit idolatry. He was faithfully devoted to God of Israel and God’s Law. God was pleased by him and blessed him. During his reign, the Assyrians were attacking the land of Israel and conquered Samaria. They led the Israelites into captivity. God allowed this to happen because the Israelites had “refused to listen to the LORD their God. Instead, they had violated His covenant – all the laws the LORD had given through His servant Moses.” (2 Kings 18:12) But King Hezekiah of Judah prayed to God and refused to be a servant to the Assyrian King. So, with God’s help he rebelled against the king’s demand.

The Assyrian king, sent a message to Hezekiah and the people of Judah through his army commander:

“Listen to what the great king of Assyria says! Don’t be fooled by Hezekiah. He can’t save you. Don’t trust him when he tells you that the Lord will protect you from the king of Assyria. Stop listening to Hezekiah! Pay attention to my king. Surrender to him. He will let you keep your own vineyards, fig trees, and cisterns for a while. Then he will come and take you away to a country just like yours, where you can plant vineyards, raise your own grain, and have plenty of olive oil and honey. Believe me, you won’t starve there.

Hezekiah claims the Lord will save you. But don’t be fooled by him. Were any other gods able to defend their land against the king of Assyria…Were the gods of Samaria able to protect their land against the Assyrian forces?  None of these gods kept their people safe from the king of Assyria. Do you think the Lord your God can do any better? (2 Kings 19:28-35)

The Assyrian King was totally mocking the God of Israel. When Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth in an act of humility before God. He asked others to put on sackcloth and to pray for God’s help to protect the city of Judah. Then He went to the temple of The Lord and spread this insulting letter in front of Him and prayed:

“Lord God of Israel, your throne is above the winged creatures. You created the heavens and the earth, and You alone rule the kingdoms of this world. But just look how Sennacherib has insulted you, the living God.

It is true, our Lord, that Assyrian kings have turned nations into deserts. They destroyed the idols of wood and stone that the people of those nations had made and worshiped. But you are our Lord and our God! We ask you to keep us safe from the Assyrian king. Then everyone in every kingdom on earth will know that you are the only God.” (2 Kings 19:15-19)

The LORD, God of Israel, heard the prayers of King Hezekiah and declared, “For my own honor, and for the sake of my servant David, I will defend it.” So God sent out an angel that night to kill 185,000 Assyrian troops surrounding Judah and the King of Assyria fled back to Ninevah. But God had declared that this mocking king would die by the sword so two of his own sons killed him by the sword.

This Bible story reminded me of the coming of the Antichrist. He will come disguised of as a man of peace but he will be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He will rise to power and mock God and say, “Listen to me. Don’t listen to what those crazy Christians said. Where is their God now? Where are they now? Listen to me. Surrender to me.  I will let you keep your positions, lives, belongings…for now.”  And before they know it, his true character will come out and it will be too late. You see, God will not be mocked – ever. And this Antichrist will get his comeuppance just like the king of Assyria did.

Galatians 6:7 (AMP)

 Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.

Many in the world are mocking and ignoring the warnings coming from Christians. They are rejoicing in the fact that we seem to be surrounded by the enemy, like King Hezekiah, and they are yelling their insults and their taunts, “Where is your God? Do you think your God can rescue you?” But just like in the movie Independence Day, Jasmine was escaping the city and heading to her military boyfriend for protection, we are escaping to our Bridegroom (Jesus) for protection.

In these dark and trying days ahead, God will purify and empower His Bride (the Church), preparing us for the great wedding feast. When mocking and persecution comes, God wants to see what His bride will do. Will we be like some of the Israelites who rejected God and His Law and were lead away into slavery or will be like the people of Judah that refused to reject God and His Word. And just like King Hezekiah tore his clothes in sorrow, humbled himself, and prayed to God for deliverance and mercy for his people. We, Believers, must weep in sorrow, humble ourselves, and pray like never before to be purified and empowered by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit so we are ready to meet our Bridegroom. But we must also pray for our people to get ready to meet Jesus. God's heart is that NONE should perish and all come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) So God's heart for the lost MUST become our heart!

So if this 4^th of July, you are reading this and you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior or maybe you once believed in Jesus but you’ve lost your love for Him, God is calling to you, “Today can be your INDEPENDENCE DAY! Come to me before it’s too late. I will welcome you with open arms. I will unbind the chains that have kept you prisoner and I will lift the veil from your eyes that has kept you blind. Do you want true freedom? In these last days, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. They will prophesy, have visions, and dream dreams. I will cause wonders in the heavens and signs on the earth - blood and fire and clouds of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn to blood red before that great and glorious day My Son arrives, but everyone who calls on the Name of Jesus will be saved. The Bridegroom awaits, will you be My Bride?" (Acts 2:17-21, Joel 2:28-32) 

Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. He made the church holy by the power of His Word, and He made it pure by washing it with water. Christ did this, so that He would have a glorious and holy church, without faults or spots or wrinkles or any other flaws. 
The wedding day of the Lamb is here, and His bride is ready.She will be given a wedding dress made of pure and shining linen.This linen stands for the good things God’s people have done.
For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is His name!

He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. 

So we will be glad and happy and give Him praise.

Then the angel told me, “Put this in writing. God will bless everyone who is invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” The angel also said, “These things that God has said are true.” 

Ephesians 5:25-27 (CEV), Isaiah 4:5 (NLT) Revelation 19:7-9(CEV)

I pray you answer God’s call and today you celebrate your Independence Day!

Love,

Yolanda