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I sat in the dentist’s chair, hands hugging my purse, trying to relax. But it’s kind of hard to do when the pick is scraping away below the gums, ruthlessly and systematically digging at every surface hiding below flesh. The whirring and screaming of the equipment in my ears sent my mind searching for any distraction to my pain. 

The scorpion locusts of Revelation Nine came to mind. These are one of the woes never before known to man which will inflict excruciating pain which will last for five months, only upon those who have received the mark of the Beast during the reign of the Antichrist. The Bible says people will seek death, but they will not find it. This will be worse than the fleeting pain of having my teeth cleaned. It will be like the pain of a scorpion’s sting, which can be intense, burning, with numbness and tingling. 

One of my characters in my end times novel—Till the Rapture Do Us Part—did not believe in heaven or hell, only in the here and now, so she received the mark of the Beast, thinking to make the most of her time. Unfortunately, one of the scorpion locusts released from the Abyss stung her and sent her writhing in pain. She tried to end her life by jumping from her dorm window, but survived with a broken back and concussion together with the excruciating pain brought on by the scorpion’s sting. This is what the Bible says awaits those who receive the mark of the Beast in the end times.

But there is a better way.  The rapture—described in II Thess. 2:1 as “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him”—will deliver believers from the day of God’s wrath during the reign of the Antichrist. So the only way to really be ready for the end times is to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. II Thess. 2:3-4 shows clearly that believers won’t be gathered to the Lord until after the “man of lawlessness...takes his seat in the temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” This abomination will trigger the day of God’s wrath known as the Great Tribulation. It is wrath reserved for the Beast and all who receive his mark. Believers in Christ at his coming will be gathered to him in the clouds.

Are you ready for the end times?