The first thing to say is that, unlike the followers of the WT movement, Christians are never told to be "on the watch" with regard to the "end of the world". Rather the Bible exhorts believers down through the ages to be on the watch for a Person. Their Lord. Nowhere is there any reference to looking out with a view to "surviving the end into a paradise earth"
Interestingly the absolute deceit of the false hope of the WT followers is exposed in a WT article such as that found in the Jan 1 2003 magazine, pg 18. First they quote Matt 24:44, and then they write: "Jesus said that the end of this system will come at an hour that we do not think it to be which is why we need to stay awake" However, if you actually read the Bible quote you will see that what Jesus said was that it was The Son of Man whose coming was to be the thing that was at an hour that no one expects.The title of the article was "Keep on the Watch"! Complete with dramatic exclamation mark. I believe that just as Jesus said, He will catch everyone unawares, and that includes the WTS. They will be endlessly prattling on about being "loyal to the GB", they will be going d-t-d with their hackneyed phrases, the elders will be ogling little girls and boys, Teddy and his GB members will be toting up their millions, dreaming of a luxurious cruises down some faraway place and ....wham!
The second thing is to say that, again unlike the WTS, whose followers live under a repressive dictatorial system where conformity to the expressed will of the leadership is encumbent on believers, there is no unanimity of opinion among the freely expressed ideas of Christianson this subject. This is because there is no chapter in the NT called "The Second Coming- What and how and when it is" The various clues are scattered around throughout the various books of the Bible, and how you string these clues together is a matter of interpretation. The churlish thing would be to abrogate your own personal view as that of the Bible.
There are several things that evidently will occur, sometimes simultaneously. The 70th week prophecy of Daniel 7:8-26, the rule of Daniels final beast of Dan 7:25, the attack of Gog of Magog who may, or may not be the current state of Russia [Ex 38] etc Suffice it to say that these can be summarized as 1 The Great Tribulation [which may last 3 and a half years, or 7 yrs] 2 The Rapture 3 The Millennium. Some feel that the Rapture will come first [these are called the Pre-Millennialists, and form the largest group within "Born again" Christian circles.] Some feel it will come at the middle of the GT, these are called "Mid Tribulationists'' and there are other, more complicated, views.
As far as I am concerned I am sure it will all pan out in the end thats why I am a "pan Millenialist"
Much has been made by sceptics of a vengeful God who will somehow enjoy destroying 99.99999 % of the world's population at this time. Such arrant nonsense betrays an ignorance of the God whom Christians, like me worship. First, no one and I mean no one, who is innocent will die. Destruction at the GT is not predicated simply on ones religious affiliation. It is based on ones satanic inclinations, sexual, monetary, willful, repressive, hateful. There will be no place for the selfish, the domineering, and the arrogant.
When Christ comes again, there will be a cleansing, resulting in millions and even hundreds of millions, finally being liberated and who will indeed go into a cleansed earth. These are the "tribulation survivors" These will not be Christians, because they will be with their Lord, wherever He is. No one, living or dead will endure loss.
The ignorant questions of the WTS like: if all Christians go to heaven, who will they reign over, is unworthy of people who consider themselves "students" of the Bible. [Did someone say Taliban? which means "student"?] It is not "who" but "what" Christians will rule over. There is an entire universe to oversee, including billions of uncounted billions of angels. So there will be plenty of work for all. Even you, if you want it.
Cheers
