Christians can avoid the Great Tribulation

      God has always protected his people without removing them from the planet, as happened in Egypt; and as is promised that will happen with the future Church of Philadelphia. It is true also, when we see that in Revelation He marks His own, so they are not affected by the "locust". And even when we see that He gives refuge in the wilderness to the "woman" that flees, which is the Church. Besides, Christ personally tells us that we can escape, when He tells us to pray that we may be considered worthy of avoiding that which will come.

      Christians can avoid the Great Tribulation according to what Jesus says. In truth, Christians can stay away from the Great Tribulation. If that were not the case the Lord would not have advised us to pray that we may be held worthy to escape all these things.

 

    "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."                                                                                            (Lk 21:36)

      By using the phrase "stand before the Son of Man", he lets us see that in this verse Jesus is referring to the last generation, just before his Second Coming; not to the generation of the Apostles. Referring to that generation which will see the Second Coming, He exhorts to pray and watch. In other words, he advises to ask God, and to act accordingly, so that they may avoid the Great Tribulation and stand before Christ.

    If such were not the case, that is, that the last generation of Christians could avoid the Great Tribulation, the Lord would not have urged us to pray requesting such a thing.

    Jesus again mentions that Christians can avoid the antiChrist. In Rev 3:10, we see the Lord asserting again that the Church can be freed of the Great Tribulation. It is not an outlandish idea that Christians can avoid it. Notice that He is referring to end-time Christians

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    "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the Earth."                                  (Rev 3:10)

      When God protected his own people in Egypt, He did not have to remove them from there. It is useful to remember, when we speak of the plagues that the Lord will send during times of Revelation, that God protected his people thoroughly, from the plagues that afflicted Egypt. We cannot be called optimists, if we expect that during the plagues of Revelation, the magnificent and absolute protection of God on His people will be repeated.

 

"22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. 23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people; to morrow shall this sign be."    (Ex 8:22-23)

 

"4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. 5 And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. 6 And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one."        (Ex 9:4-6)

 

"25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail."                         (Ex 9:25-26)

 

"They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings." (Ex 10:23)

      From the reading of these portions, we see that the divine protection is full and complete. Nowhere have we seen that His people in Egypt had suffered the same plagues that were being suffered by those around them. Not even the side effects of these plagues.

      This same thing will happen at the End of this Era, when the foretold plagues come. The people of God shall be protected, at the very least, those that allow themselves to be protected. Those that persist on waiting for a "secret rapture", may not see the opportunity of escape, and will be prevented from getting refuge in the "wilderness".

      At that future time, the best advice that Christians can receive is not to cling to their properties nor to others that may not want to leave for the "wilderness" that God provided. Not only that, but also in many cases they may have to leave without their material goods, leaving everything, so that the people surrounding them may not suspect that they are fleeing and not planning to return, and may try to retain them. Things like that I have seen in countries under tyrannies.

      Where will the Christians that listen to God's voice and not sit to wait for the supposed Rapture previous to the Great Tribulation, find refuge? We have already seen several biblical examples of how God always provides an escape for His own and a place of refuge. Where would that refuge during the Great Tribulation be? It will definitely be what in Rev 12:14 is called "the wilderness".

 

    "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." (Rev 12:14)

      It is not misguided to believe that in this portion of Revelation, the eagle that lends the woman its two wings, symbolizes a powerful government, since He does call it a "great eagle". The act of giving the two wings to the woman, can be due to that nation lending its power to facilitate the transfer of Christians to the refuge or "wilderness" prepared by God for them.

      I do not believe that the transfer of the Christians would be something compulsory. In other words, that the Christians will be forced to go to the "wilderness" or refuge. But rather that they will allow them to go. Perhaps as a way of getting the more controversial citizens of that future society out of the way.

      I also doubt that all the Christians will desire to be transferred to the wilderness or refuge. There may be thousands that for various motives will not desire to take refuge and will ignorantly prefer to remain in the society of the nascent antiChrist .

The possible motives that many may have in remaining where they are, could be:

      a) They believe in Jesus, but they are un-aware of the prophecies. The propaganda that currently prepares the coming of the antiChrist will make them think that going to a "wilderness" to seek refuge is an exaggeration and a "fanaticism". Many will believe it, because those brothers have not read the Bible sufficiently. Ask the Christians you know what is the antiChrist. The majority do not know much about him and confidently expect that they will be "secretly raptured" before the antiChrist and the Great Tribulation .

      b) Their emotions: Christians in love with persons that does not wish to leave their nation. Christians that love their wealth and possessions and are holding on to them. Those that think they are too "clever", and figure they will be able to deal with problems without having to leave their place. Those that are afraid of starting a brand new life from scratch. The procrastinators that always leave everything for later. Those that do not want to separate from their unbelieving relatives; etc..

      I am not talking of things that do not happen. Each and every one of the examples just mentioned, were reasons why, in a certain country where tyranny reigned, hundreds of thousands remained which could have left on time and however, did not. Nevertheless, these that did not leave on time, would later torment their relatives in the United States desperately begging to be rescued from that hell. At that point it was either impossible or a huge sacrifice to do it. I am not talking of what I have been told, I am speaking of what, as a person who knew perfectly that country I saw, heard, and experienced.

      c) Those that have God's duty to fulfill in the place where they are; and those that do not have it, but think that they have it.

      d) Those that disguise their true motives to remain, with the pretext of the duty that they say they need to fulfill.

      e) Those that have two or more of the aforementioned motives, etc..

      I do not believe that all the Christians of the World will go to the refuge, due to the previously mentioned facts. Perhaps it may be only those that make up the description given in Rev 3:7-13 (the Church at Philadelphia), especially if we guide ourselves by the promise of verse 10 of that portion, "because you have kept the word of my patience...".

      Something else to have in mind is that when it says that the woman will be given two wings of a great eagle, it is referring to the times of the end. In these days of the End there is only one powerful country that has as its national symbol the eagle, and that country is the United States of North America. It may be that this country may hold the "wilderness" which is spoken of by the prophecy, or it may be that the "wilderness" be elsewhere, but that the United States makes their power and means available to those that want to flee to a separate "wilderness".

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