Every 17 years a massive brood of cicadas emerge from underground to fill the air with a deafening mating hum that can reach up to 100 decibels.  This is approximately the same amount of noise made by a gas-powered lawn mower.  They remain above the ground for five to six weeks, and leave behind crunchy skeletons that are easily seen wherever they discard them.  They have recently begun appearing after feeding underground until the soil got warm enough for them to emerge.  Many predators feed on them, but there are so many of them that predators cannot eat all of them.

        “Words from Above” in the Bible tell us that there is an event that will occur some time in the future that will be very welcome, particularly to the followers of God.  It is totally unknown when this great event will occur, but it has been predicted for many years.  This great event is called the Rapture, and it has been predicted by many of God’s prophets and by Jesus, the One who will be coming back to earth.  After spending approximately thirty-three years on earth over two thousand years ago, He will return to the earth to gather His followers up out of the earth to take them to their eternal home in heaven.

        Many people have tried to predict the date of His second coming, but Jesus Himself said that no one knows that date other than God the Father, not even the angels of God.  Obviously, everyone who has predicted the date for the Rapture in the past has been wrong, and no one will be able to accurately predict the date in the future.  Jesus spoke often about coming back to the earth, and His focus was always on being ready for His return.  He never actually said to get ready.  He always said instead to be ready, and there is a big difference between the two ideas.

        I Thessalonians 4:16, 17 tell us that in the Rapture, “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then those who are alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”  Revelation 1:7 says, “Behold, He is coming in the clouds, and every eye shall see Him, as well as those who pierced Him.”  Colossians 3:4 says that “when Christ shall appear, we will also appear with Him in glory.”  It will be a day we will not want to miss.