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Christians will go through the tribulation: And how to prepare for it
Book by McKeever, James M
351 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1978
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August 23, 2025
A COMBINATION OF POST-TRIB RAPTURE, WITH ‘SURVIVALIST’-TYPE PREPARATIONS
James McKeever is an author, lecturer, and financial consultant, as well as Editor and publisher of the 'Endtimes News Digest.' He has written related books such as ‘The Future Revealed’ and 'Now You Can Understand the Book Of Revelation.'
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1978 book, “I must clearly state that this book is written to those individuals who know for sure that Jesus Christ is their Savior. It doesn’t matter if they are Catholic, Protestant, or of some other faith, as long as they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the way to heaven is through Him…
“Most Christians have only heard about a pre-Tribulation Rapture. Most of them probably… have not heard a viable alternative presented intelligently. This volume is designed to briefly present the case for the post-Tribulation Rapture so that Christians … will have an opportunity to examine an alternative. For the readers… who do (or will) then embrace the view that Christians will go through the Tribulation, this book also gives very practical suggestions on how to prepare for the catastrophes that Christians will be experiencing during the Tribulation.
“I deal with both physical preparation and the even more important spiritual preparation… needed in order to go through the great Tribulation victoriously. In previous times of trial, God did not remove his people from the trial, but allowed them to go through it and gave them victory over the circumstances… they were unharmed by the trial that they were in. It is very possible that in a similar way God will have Christians go through the Tribulation in a victorious and unscathed manner.”
He cites Luke 17:34-37, then comments, “one person would be taken away and the other left, Luke records … the disciples then asked Jesus where the people that are taken would go. Christ’s reply was that they would be taken to the place where there are corpses… where the vultures gather…” But he acknowledges, “numerous leading proponents of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture … do not believe that this passage deals with the Rapture.” (Pg. 24-25)
He explains, “in Revelation we see that during the Tribulation there will be famine to such a degree that 100% of a man’s salary will have to be used to purchase food…. Revelation also says that Christians will not be able to buy and sell in the world’s economic system. This means that they will have to live in a self-supporting manner. They will need to have skills or goods that they can barter for items needed… It is predicted in Revelation that during the Tribulation there will be a tremendous persecution of Christians. If a Christian suspected … that he would be subject to that kind of persecution, there would certainly be much that he would do in preparation. Do you begin to see why the question of WHEN the Rapture will occur is so important?” (Pg. 27)
He recalls that “as a baby Christian… One of the things that particularly disturbed me was … They had Christ coming back halfway to the earth, stopping in the air, Christians going up to meet him, and then all of them going back to heaven. This was at the beginning of the Tribulation… Christ would then be coming back … at the end of the Tribulation… Were these two actually a ‘Second’ and a ‘Third Coming’ of Christ?... I was somewhat befuddled.” (Pg. 29)
He continues, “Another point of confusion for me was the fact that I did not see the Rapture … at the beginning of the Tribulation, in the book of Revelation… In my mind… an event as gigantically important as the Rapture… would have to be included in the book of Revelation.” (Pg. 31)
He quotes 1 Thess 4:16-17 and argues, “the dead in Christ shall rise and be caught up in the air to meet Him BEFORE the Christians who remain alive are caught up. Thus, we have a resurrection recorded as part of the Rapture. It would be impossible for this resurrection … to take place at the beginning of the Tribulation, because we read in [Rev 20:4]… that some Christians come to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years . Verse 5 tells us that this is the FIRST resurrection. There could not be a resurrection at the beginning of the Tribulation, or this one spoken of in Revelation 20 would not be the FIRST.” (Pg. 44-45)
He clarifies, “Even though the Christians may experience the Tribulation, they will never experience the wrath of God.” (Pg. 46-47) He adds, “The information … in this chapter is… [not] a complete theological argument. Rather, it is a sharing of some… things God has shown me … that we should believe the Rapture will occur at the end of the Tribulation. To delve into all of the reasons why … would require a separate book. Such a book has been written; it is ‘The Church and the Tribulation’ by Robert H. Gundry… I would highly recommend it, even though it is somewhat scholarly…” (Pg. 51)
He admits, “I wish that the Rapture were going to occur at the beginning of the Tribulation… However, since I believe… that the believers WILL go through the Tribulation, my family and I are making physical and spiritual preparations for it. My precious brothers who believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture are making no preparations.” (Pg. 56)
He quotes Mt 24:36, then asserts, “[Jesus] said that no one, not even Himself or .angels, knows the day and the hour when the end… will occur… WE CANNOT KNOW WHEN IT WILL OCCUR. But… I would have to conclude that there is a high probability that we are living in the last days… as Christians we have a responsibility to have a general idea of when it might be…” (Pg. 66-67)
He suggests, “Since the Tribulation will likely begin in a gradual way, rather than on a specific day, we cannot say that the Lord’s coming is seven years after a certain event. Thus, Christ’s words that He will come like a thief in the night are certainly true.” (Pg. 69)
Citing Rev 6:1-3, he comments, “the events of the first two seals … talk about a coming war. This war is not the Battle or Armageddon. It is World War III… As a result of this war, evidently much of the world’s food is destroyed, because the next major thing to occur is… World Famine (Seal Three).” (Pg. 73)
He suggests, “I do not believe that God is going to lead everyone to prepare in the same manner…. God may lead [some Christians] to move to a farm in Canada… and to live in a self-sufficient manner. Another Christian … [might] store up a 7-year supply of food… God might tell still another … to proclaim the gospel, and He would miraculously provide food… God DOES have a plan for you!” (Pg. 100)
He admits, “Christians frequently ask this question: If I have a nice supply of food stored… what do I do it a bunch of people decide to come and take my food? Do I give it to them? Do I kill them?... This is one of the most difficult questions that I have to address in this book…. the answer … obviously must be: YOU MUST DO WHATEVER GOD TELLS YOU TO DO AT THE MOMENT… God might lead one Christian family to protect their food … even to the point of killing… [while] God would lead other Christians to give most or all of it away…” (Pg. 149-150)
As with, say, Hal Lindsey’s eschatological predictions, once we get past the 1980s, books like this seem rather ‘dated.’ But this book was a ‘popular’ (i.e., not ‘scholarly’) presentation of the Post-Trib position, and may still interest some Christians.
James McKeever is an author, lecturer, and financial consultant, as well as Editor and publisher of the 'Endtimes News Digest.' He has written related books such as ‘The Future Revealed’ and 'Now You Can Understand the Book Of Revelation.'
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1978 book, “I must clearly state that this book is written to those individuals who know for sure that Jesus Christ is their Savior. It doesn’t matter if they are Catholic, Protestant, or of some other faith, as long as they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that the way to heaven is through Him…
“Most Christians have only heard about a pre-Tribulation Rapture. Most of them probably… have not heard a viable alternative presented intelligently. This volume is designed to briefly present the case for the post-Tribulation Rapture so that Christians … will have an opportunity to examine an alternative. For the readers… who do (or will) then embrace the view that Christians will go through the Tribulation, this book also gives very practical suggestions on how to prepare for the catastrophes that Christians will be experiencing during the Tribulation.
“I deal with both physical preparation and the even more important spiritual preparation… needed in order to go through the great Tribulation victoriously. In previous times of trial, God did not remove his people from the trial, but allowed them to go through it and gave them victory over the circumstances… they were unharmed by the trial that they were in. It is very possible that in a similar way God will have Christians go through the Tribulation in a victorious and unscathed manner.”
He cites Luke 17:34-37, then comments, “one person would be taken away and the other left, Luke records … the disciples then asked Jesus where the people that are taken would go. Christ’s reply was that they would be taken to the place where there are corpses… where the vultures gather…” But he acknowledges, “numerous leading proponents of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture … do not believe that this passage deals with the Rapture.” (Pg. 24-25)
He explains, “in Revelation we see that during the Tribulation there will be famine to such a degree that 100% of a man’s salary will have to be used to purchase food…. Revelation also says that Christians will not be able to buy and sell in the world’s economic system. This means that they will have to live in a self-supporting manner. They will need to have skills or goods that they can barter for items needed… It is predicted in Revelation that during the Tribulation there will be a tremendous persecution of Christians. If a Christian suspected … that he would be subject to that kind of persecution, there would certainly be much that he would do in preparation. Do you begin to see why the question of WHEN the Rapture will occur is so important?” (Pg. 27)
He recalls that “as a baby Christian… One of the things that particularly disturbed me was … They had Christ coming back halfway to the earth, stopping in the air, Christians going up to meet him, and then all of them going back to heaven. This was at the beginning of the Tribulation… Christ would then be coming back … at the end of the Tribulation… Were these two actually a ‘Second’ and a ‘Third Coming’ of Christ?... I was somewhat befuddled.” (Pg. 29)
He continues, “Another point of confusion for me was the fact that I did not see the Rapture … at the beginning of the Tribulation, in the book of Revelation… In my mind… an event as gigantically important as the Rapture… would have to be included in the book of Revelation.” (Pg. 31)
He quotes 1 Thess 4:16-17 and argues, “the dead in Christ shall rise and be caught up in the air to meet Him BEFORE the Christians who remain alive are caught up. Thus, we have a resurrection recorded as part of the Rapture. It would be impossible for this resurrection … to take place at the beginning of the Tribulation, because we read in [Rev 20:4]… that some Christians come to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years . Verse 5 tells us that this is the FIRST resurrection. There could not be a resurrection at the beginning of the Tribulation, or this one spoken of in Revelation 20 would not be the FIRST.” (Pg. 44-45)
He clarifies, “Even though the Christians may experience the Tribulation, they will never experience the wrath of God.” (Pg. 46-47) He adds, “The information … in this chapter is… [not] a complete theological argument. Rather, it is a sharing of some… things God has shown me … that we should believe the Rapture will occur at the end of the Tribulation. To delve into all of the reasons why … would require a separate book. Such a book has been written; it is ‘The Church and the Tribulation’ by Robert H. Gundry… I would highly recommend it, even though it is somewhat scholarly…” (Pg. 51)
He admits, “I wish that the Rapture were going to occur at the beginning of the Tribulation… However, since I believe… that the believers WILL go through the Tribulation, my family and I are making physical and spiritual preparations for it. My precious brothers who believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture are making no preparations.” (Pg. 56)
He quotes Mt 24:36, then asserts, “[Jesus] said that no one, not even Himself or .angels, knows the day and the hour when the end… will occur… WE CANNOT KNOW WHEN IT WILL OCCUR. But… I would have to conclude that there is a high probability that we are living in the last days… as Christians we have a responsibility to have a general idea of when it might be…” (Pg. 66-67)
He suggests, “Since the Tribulation will likely begin in a gradual way, rather than on a specific day, we cannot say that the Lord’s coming is seven years after a certain event. Thus, Christ’s words that He will come like a thief in the night are certainly true.” (Pg. 69)
Citing Rev 6:1-3, he comments, “the events of the first two seals … talk about a coming war. This war is not the Battle or Armageddon. It is World War III… As a result of this war, evidently much of the world’s food is destroyed, because the next major thing to occur is… World Famine (Seal Three).” (Pg. 73)
He suggests, “I do not believe that God is going to lead everyone to prepare in the same manner…. God may lead [some Christians] to move to a farm in Canada… and to live in a self-sufficient manner. Another Christian … [might] store up a 7-year supply of food… God might tell still another … to proclaim the gospel, and He would miraculously provide food… God DOES have a plan for you!” (Pg. 100)
He admits, “Christians frequently ask this question: If I have a nice supply of food stored… what do I do it a bunch of people decide to come and take my food? Do I give it to them? Do I kill them?... This is one of the most difficult questions that I have to address in this book…. the answer … obviously must be: YOU MUST DO WHATEVER GOD TELLS YOU TO DO AT THE MOMENT… God might lead one Christian family to protect their food … even to the point of killing… [while] God would lead other Christians to give most or all of it away…” (Pg. 149-150)
As with, say, Hal Lindsey’s eschatological predictions, once we get past the 1980s, books like this seem rather ‘dated.’ But this book was a ‘popular’ (i.e., not ‘scholarly’) presentation of the Post-Trib position, and may still interest some Christians.
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