A young Rabbi sat on a seat in the back of the sanctuary near the sound booth. He had been having a hard time finding work at several local synagogues where he had filled out applications. Being from Israel and a Jew he had been having trouble finding his way. Several years earlier, while living in Tel Aviv, Joseph had taken a leap in faith and began trusting in Yeshua (Jesus) for his salvation.
For a Jew to believe that the Messiah had already appeared on the earth was cause for an instant severing from the rest of his Jewish family. As a Jewish Christian, Joseph was no longer welcomed into his household. Moving to the United States was a desperate move to find peace from the turmoil back home.
Unable to find work the rabbo began preaching the gospel on busy street corners. One day, several people roughed him up as they walked by. Joseph was preaching about the coming kingdom of God.
Joseph stood his ground and held up his right to preach the gospel as the hate-filled people pushed, shoved and kicked him while he was lying prone on the ground. Being estranged from his Jewish family back in Israel he was now completely alone and on his way to a local hospital.
But all that was in the past and Joseph had recovered and was getting his life back on track. Sitting in the back of the sanctuary he began reflecting on his new life in Jesus and how so many things in his life had changed. “And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Joseph relaxed in the back of the room listening to everyone worshiping as he fell into a deep slumber. In a vision, Joseph saw Jesus coming to gather His children from the face of the earth, just as the winds gather from the four corners of the earth. He saw the Messiah, Yeshua, gathering His elect into the clouds of heaven.
He saw men, women, and children rising out of their graves after a mighty shout, blast from the trumpet of God. Souls from around the world were rising up to meet Jesus in the air. Joseph was in awe as he witnessed clouds of ashes reform into human bodies, and the sea gave up her dead too. It was all so overwhelming and Joseph struggled to stay with the vision. After the last righteous grave had been opened, ashes collected and those buried at sea were freed, those living believers in Christ, who had confessed with their mouths that Jesus was Lord, who had believed in their hearts that God had raised Him from the dead, started rising up into the clouds.
The vision was so life-like that it was frightening, exciting and beyond all emotions Joseph had ever experienced. He was in-between wakefulness and sleep but knew that God was giving him a warning that the Lord would soon be returning for his people. The message needed to be heard, people needed to be warned, but how would he get it out?
As the vision continued to unfold Joseph realized that not everyone was taken? He watched as many people were left bewildered and unsure where everyone had vanished to? Some were weeping, others stared at empty suits of clothes left laying around wherever the person had been at the time of this great snatching away. Mothers cried as children disappeared from their arms, strollers and car seats.
In his vision there were many pastors, worship leaders who had been left behind. Some were in the middle of preaching while others stood alone holding their instruments. Disbelief was the order of the moment as dread filled the air like thick plumage from a volcano. There was nothing to say, nowhere to go as many scrambled to their local churches, synagogues, mosques and quiet places in search of answers.
In this work of fiction we see the day of the Lord will come as a thief comes in the night, quickly, in the twinkling of an eye when you least expect it. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
