"...because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!"

Romans 11:11-12

The Old Testament teaches that Israel will be a nation of God forever. It also teaches that Israel will go through a time of discipline before its final salvation and glory in the Presence of God. The Old Testament prophesied that Israel would reject and murder its Messiah. The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would come again and save Israel from its enemies. Paul called the rebirth of Israel "life from the dead." (Romans 11:15) What the Old Testament didn't reveal was a time between the first and second comings of Messiah when God would manage a Household of Faith specifically for Gentiles. That's the time we're living in now: The Age of Grace.

What's in all our futures is the Rapture. That's when Christ calls Christians from Earth to Heaven to be with Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) I believe the Bible teaches that event will occur "before" Messiah returns to Earth to save Israel from its enemies. Israel will not be saved until "after" Christ removes Christians from Earth and receives them into His Love in Heaven.

"I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved..."

Romans 11:25-26

The day is coming when the last Gentile will be saved. It may be sometime this year. It may be next year or the next or the next. It may not be for a decade or two decades. It may not be for a century, but the day is coming when the "full number of the Gentiles has come in." That's a promise! That single event will end the Dispensation of Grace. Nothing will be left to keep the Holy Spirit from taking the entire Christian Body from Earth to Heaven in the blink of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15:51-57) What a Glorious Day that will be!

Some major things happen on that day.

1. The Man of Lawlessness will be revealed.

   "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed."

   2 Thessalonians 2:6-8

   The secret power of lawlessness was working when Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians in the 1st Century A.D. That power is still working today. It is the power of Satan. However, Someone has held it back for thousands of years. That Someone is the Holy Spirit. He will continue to hold back the secret power of lawlessness "until he is taken out of the way." The Holy Spirit doesn't leave until we leave. The Holy Spirit is our "seal." He is "a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession." (Ephesians 1:13-14) When is redemption day? When Christ receives us unto Himself in Heaven. It is on that day, the day when the last Gentile is saved, that Christ calls us to Heaven and the Holy Spirit Who lives in each Christian catapults us to Heaven at a speed that would amaze NASA. On that day, the Holy Spirit will no longer hold back the secret power of lawlessness. Nothing will be in Satan's way. He will reveal the "lawlessness one."

   It is my personal belief that the Gentiles and Jews left behind on that Wonderful Day will face a crisis unlike any before in the history of mankind. The world will be faced with the disappearance of millions of their loved ones, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Our disappearance will be a shock to the world and its economy. Every Christian person man and woman, boy and girl will be gone. Gone! That's the moment when Satan reveals "the lawless one." The man of lawlessness will move in for the kill. It will be his shining moment to bring the world together with an answer to what happened and why. How will the entire world of several billion people come together around one man?

   "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."

   2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

   God will help Satan on this occasion. God will send a powerful delusion to Earth so everyone will believe "the lie" the lawless one tells them. Satan and his puppet will be center stage. It's not hard to imagine how this will happen. Satellites, television, radio, computers and the Internet stand ready right now to reach most of the world's population with any live image and message the lawless one would want to send them. If that day is decades or centuries in the future, mankind will probably have developed other technology which will do the job. The lawless one will have the eyes and ears of the world. He will tell them "the lie" and God will send the world a "powerful delusion" so they will believe the lie and be condemned.

2. A second thing that happens on the day "the full number of the Gentiles" comes in is the next Dispensational clock begins. The Dispensation of the Kingdom of Christ has been on hold since Israel's leaders rejected Him and killed Stephen and other Kingdom disciples. God gave Israel "Seventy 'sevens'" to "finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy." Daniel wrote that the 69 "sevens" (one week = seven years) would end when the "Anointed One will be cut off." (Daniel 9:24-26) That is when Israel rejected its Messiah. That leaves one "seven" in the prophecy. That "seven" is what we call the "Tribulation Period."

   The Tribulation Period is the seven years that follow the Rapture of Christians from Earth to Heaven to be with Christ forever. The Tribulation Period begins when the "full number of the Gentiles comes in." It begins when Satan reveals the "lawless one." In those seven years, God will discipline Israel and punish the wicked world.

Now, to your question about Gentile non-believers after the rapture. Can they be saved during the Tribulation? I believe they can, but let's keep a few things in mind.

1. Christians are gone.

2. The Holy Spirit is taken out of the way.

3. The Dispensation of Grace is over.

4. The Time of the Gentiles is over.

5. Satan is in charge.

6. The lawless one will rule the world.

7. The Dispensation of the Kingdom is underway again.

8. The Time of Israel's Acceptance begins.

The seven years following our rapid departure to Heaven will lead to several important things for Israel:

1. Finish transgression

2. Put an end to sin

3. Atone for wickedness

4. Bring in everlasting righteousness

5. Seal up vision and prophecy

6. Anoint the most holy

Our work on Earth is done the instant Christ calls us to Heaven. The Lord's Work takes on a new energy and purpose with Israel and the world. It's the beginning of salvation for Israel and wrath for everybody else.

Gentiles will live in a different world after Christ takes Christians out of it. Gentiles will be under the thumb of Satan through his puppet "the lawless one." Things will go from bad to worse for the human race. The economies of nations will crumble. People will die by the tens of thousands from the wickedness of unbridled sin and a Satanic leader and from the Wrath of Almighty God. Think about people you know or have heard about living now who would be some of those affected by this portion of Revelation.

"Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and ever free man hid in caves among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?'"

Revelation 6:15-17

It will soon be obvious to Jews that the time of Daniel's 70th Week is upon them. Chapter seven of Revelation introduces us to 144,000 Israelites: 12,000 people from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. These are Jews who served God faithfully during the Tribulation Period and died for His Cause.

"These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple."

Revelation 7:14-15

Gentiles, on the other hand, will not repent of their sins even in the face of God's Awful Wrath.

"The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts."

Revelation 9:20-21

Things go from bad to worse when Satan raises the lawless one from a fatal wound. He becomes a "beast" who has great power to blaspheme God and conquer God's people in battle. Satan will give the beast authority over every tribe, people, language and nation and all inhabitants of the earth whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will worship the beast. As John wrote, "This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints." (Revelation 13:1-10)

As if that's not bad enough, Satan introduces "another beast." This beast "exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast...he deceived the inhabitants of the earth...He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name...His number is 666." (Revelation 13:11-18)

I believe it will be possible for Gentiles to be saved during the Tribulation. However, it will be at a great price. Gentiles will have to turn away from everyone else and obey the God of Israel. Gentiles could become part of Israel thousands of years ago by obeying God's Word and becoming proselytes to Judaism. They will have that chance again during the Tribulation Period.

"Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, 'Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.' A second angel followed and said, 'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.' A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: 'If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.' This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus."

Revelation 14:6-12

Today is the day of the Gentile. Today is the best day for their salvation. Today is the Day of Grace. Today is the day of God's Forgiveness. Today is the day of God's Mercy. Today is the day Christians should use everything in their strength and ability to preach to Gentiles about reconciliation with God!

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

2 Corinthians 5:18-21