God's Prophetic Blueprint
Chapter 12
UNBELIEVERS IN PROPHECY
God's Word is clear concerning the destiny of those who die without Christ. In brief, it can be stated that there are four steps awaiting the unsaved: Hades (Luke 16:19-24); the resurrection of damnation (John 5:29); the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-13); and the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15).
TWO KINDS OF UNBELIEVERS
The question to be considered in this chapter deals with the prophecy concerning unbelievers here on earth. It should be understood that immediately after the Rapture of the Church, every person on earth will be an unbeliever, but it should also be noted that there will be two kinds of unbelievers: those who have heard the Gospel and have rejected God's plan of redemption, and those who have never heard. Concerning those who will have heard but said, "No," to Jesus Christ, Paul wrote: ". . . because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (II Thessalonians 2:10b-12). There is considerable discussion concerning this passage. Some are strong in their belief that those who hear the Gospel before the Rapture may still be saved after the Rapture. It is the conviction of this author that those who "received not the love of the truth that they might be saved" is a reference to people living before the Rapture who heard the story of God's love and could have been saved, but they turned from God's grace. These will be the ones who shall be sent a " strong delusion that they should believe a lie." In other words, they would not believe the truth, who is Jesus Christ, so they will believe the lie, who is the Antichrist. The record goes on to say that "they shall all be damned who believed not the truth."
The late H. A. Ironside had this to say on the passage before us:
I have run across the error in many recent books on the coming of the Lord. That after the rapture of the church there will be a great revival, an unprecedented spiritual awakening in Christendom, when a vast number of people who have been undecided during the present dispensation of grace will turn to the Lord, and it is being widely taught that these will form the great multitude of Gentiles who will be saved out of the tribulation. Let me say, I have searched my Bible diligently for any confirmation of such teaching, but I fail to find it. On the contrary, we are distinctly told in II Thessalonians 2:11 that God is going to give up those who during this present age receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved, they will be given up to hardness of heart and perversity of spirit.'
There will be another group of unsaved people on earth following the Rapture of the Church, namely, people who have never had an intelligent opportunity to accept or reject the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour. They will, no doubt, come from every nation on earth, for in the revelation given to God's servant John, he sees a great host of believers coming out of the Great Tribulation. These believers will come from "all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues" (Revelation 7:9). The 144,000 Jews who will be saved, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel, are simply the "firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb" (Revelation 14:4), but by no means will they be the only fruit. Following their conversion will be the salvation of millions of other Jews, as well as the host of Gentiles mentioned above, a multitude so numerous that "no man could number them" (Revelation 7:9).
This chapter, however, is primarily concerned with unbelievers as they appear in the prophetic blueprint here on earth. The next scene to be considered is in Matthew 24 where the following is recorded: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (verses 37-42).
It was suggested earlier that the Rapture of the Church is not found in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), but many people use the passage just quoted as a text for Christ's coming for His Bride. The fact is, the reference to "the coming of the Son of man" (Matthew 24:37) is not a reference to Christ's coming for His Bride but to His coming to the earth in His Revelation. In this coming Of Christ, He will destroy the armies of earth in the Battle of Armageddon (Matthew 24:27, 28). It will take place immediately after the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:29). Every eye will see Him as He returns in His power and great glory (Matthew 24:30, 31; Acts 1:11). There are those who reason that since "two shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left" (Matthew 24:40), the passage must be speaking of the Rapture of the Church. After all, if a believer and an unbeliever are in a field together when the Church is raptured, the believer will be caught away and the unbeliever will be left. However, Matthew 24 is not dealing with the Rapture of the Church, but with the Revelation of Christ. Then what can be said about those who will be taken and those who will be left? Remember, Jesus precedes this announcement with the prophecy that there will be a repeat performance of the days of Noah. That wicked generation refused to believe the truth and finally "the flood came, and took them all away" (Matthew 24:39). It is clear from this text, as well as from the Old Testament account, that all of those who were taken away were unbelievers. Those who were left were believers who became the first of a new generation on earth. So it will be when Christ returns to the earth in His Revelation. The survivors of earth will be gathered to be judged by Jesus Christ. The unbelievers who have come through the Great Tribulation and failed to trust Christ as Saviour will be cast into Hades, as were the unbelievers of Noah's day. The Jewish unbelievers are called "foolish virgins" while the Gentile unbelievers are referred to as "goats" (Matthew 25). Jewish believers are called "wise virgins" while Gentile believers are referred to as "sheep." These believers, like Noah and his family, will become the progenators of a new race that will develop here on earth during Christ's Millennial reign.
John Walvoord has written the following on the subject:
A utopian world will follow the colossal failure of man's attempt to control human history. Three judgments will have purged the world of all who have not believed in Jesus Christ. The armies of the world will have been destroyed on the battlefields of the Middle East. Unbelieving Jews will have been judged and killed. In the judgment of the sheep and goats, unbelieving non-Jews will also have been purged from the earth. The entire adult population of the earth which remains will have experienced regeneration through faith in Christ.'
THE GREAT WHITE THRONE
There is one final step which must be included in a study of unbelievers in Bible prophecy - the Great White Throne Judgment. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works" (Revelation 20:11, 12). All of the unsaved in the history of man will stand before Jesus Christ at this judgment (John 5:22; Acts 17:31; 11 Peter 2:9). At that awesome judgment, the books will be opened. These books contain the evil works of all of those who stand before Christ, for they will be "judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works" (Revelation 20:12). What a sobering truth to realize that God has been keeping accurate records of the thoughts, words, and actions of all of those who have ever violated His standards.
It is also recorded that the "book of life" will be opened. I agree with the comment in the footnote of the Scofield Bible: "The book of life is there to answer such as plead their works for justification ... an awful blank where their name might have been." In Jeremiah 2:8, we read of those who handled the law of God but did not know Him, and in Jeremiah 23:21, God declared: "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." Being a part of the modern-day clergy does not insure a person of eternal life, for Jesus declared: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:22, 23). The fact is that no number of works, however good they might be, can insure a person of life eternal. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
The only work that insures life eternal is the finished work of Christ upon the cross. Whoever will come to Him in child-like faith may pass from death unto life. If you have never opened your life to God's crucified, resurrected Lamb, I urge you at this moment to call upon Him as a penitent sinner, admitting your need, and inviting Him to come into your heart as Lord and Saviour.
'H.A. Ironside, Lectures on the Revelation (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1920), pp. 133-34. 2John F. Walvoord with John E. Walvoord, Armageddon (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1974), p. 179.