Left Behind was first produced in 2001. The movie is based on the novel series written by Jerry B. Jenkins and Tom LaHaye. The remake, Left Behind 2014, is getting a mixture of reviews, none of which I’m particularly interested in, because I’d rather see a film myself before making any final observations.
Left Behind, staring Nicolas Cage, is a picture of what will happen when Jesus returns from heaven to gather the Christian believers, dead and alive, from the world unto himself. When that occurs, and it definitely will, the whole world will be shocked. There will be a tremendous amount of chaos and upheaval due to the vanishing of hundreds of millions of people at once.
Planes will fly without their pilots. Trains will crash. Cars, trucks, busses and motorcycles will collide. People in critical positions such as nuclear power plants could be among those taken. Can you imagine what the world will look like even a few hours after the great snatch as I like to call it?
Whether Left Behind lives up to the Biblical truth surrounding the gathering together of believers unto Christ is what I’ll be looking at when I go to see it, which I certainly will. In my estimation, any movie or work that attempts to present Biblical truths is worth seeing. You can’t know unless you go, you know! Letting people know there’s a ‘way out’ of this present darkness and the great tribulation coming upon the whole world is of utmost importance.
If you see Left Behind, let me know in the comments what you think about it. How did it touch you? Was it true to the Bible or not? Did it inspire you to want to live for Jesus? Let me know your thoughts.
Age Old Debates Sparked
Let Behind is a movie about “the Rapture’ or the ‘gathering together’ of those who believe in Christ, both dead and alive. Here’s a couple of the verses that speak about it in the Bible.
I Thessalonians 4:1-12 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, that the day of the Lord is at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come the falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Do you not remember, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
And now you know what restrains that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only he who now restrains will do so, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that Wicked One be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
And with all deception of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
That they all might be condemned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
And here’s another.
I Corinthians 15:50-58 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, since you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
The debates these verses spark is all over the timing of the event. Some people think it’s the ‘first resurrection” spoken of in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ while others think it occurs before the ‘great tribulation’ that precedes Christ’s coming. I won’t get into that debate here though I’ve studied it — and continue to — in depth. The main takeaway here is that Christ will return and gather his own unto himself; both dead and alive.
Left Behind, in its original production, did well at presenting what will inevitably happen even if it was off in places, as it was. It’s still good to let people know Christ will indeed return to save us. For that I applaud the effort and give my praise to God for hi marvelous Word.