(You can listen by audio and pause the audio to follow page links for important details on these teachings; then resume the audio when you are ready. Please note that I use page links for important details and in lieu of footnotes and references.)
Chapter 11 – THE PRE-MILLENNIAL PRE-WRATH RAPTURE
There are several eschatological views of the End Time and The End of The Age. The most traditional views, (which are in constant competition and conflict), are:
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- The Traditional Pre-tribulation Rapture view says that the rapture will occur before the beginning of a seven-year tribulation period, before the breaking of the first tribulation seal.
- It describes the second coming of Jesus as occurring at the end of the Tribulation period, that is, it will occur after the 7 Seal judgments, the 7 Trumpet judgments and the 7 Bowl judgments.
- The Pre-tribulation Rapture describes the rapture as Jesus coming for the church – then, Jesus’ second coming, as Him coming with the church.
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The first three on this list adhere to the doctrine of the rapture and a fixed seven-year tribulation period. Post-millennialism omits the rapture.
There is another, more recent view, similar to the other four, in that it is called The Pre-wrath Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Which is also Pre-millennial. This view suggests that the Last Days began in our around AD 30 to AD 69. This is confirmed by Jesus and several Apostles in Matthew 24, Hebrews 1:2, Hebrews 9:26, Acts 2:14-17, 2 Timothy 3:1, 1 Peter 1:20, 1 Peter 4:7, 2 Peter 3:3.
(One of the first, most accurate, and most persistent advocates of the Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church can be found at Zion’s Hope, with videos on this site.)
Finally, in this 21st century, there are a few prominent Bible teachers who are now arriving at this same conclusions (John Piper, and Corrie Ten Boom)
The Pre-wrath Pre-Tribulation Rapture is the clearest explanation, by Jesus, of The Day of the Lord and the rapture.
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- The Bible says, in plain language, that the rapture will occur after or during the 6th tribulation seal.
- This view holds that the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21) or a Great Distress (Luke21:23) begins during the 6th seal, being Daniel’s 70th week, when the Antichrist is revealed in the temple. This is not a “mid-tribulation view” because it occurs after or during the 6th Seal, but, well before the three- and one-half-year mark of the Great Tribulation.
- Again, this period is defined, in the Bible, as the Great Tribulation or the time of Great Distress as opposed to “the tribulation” which began as early as AD 60.
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The danger of the first four Tribulation and Rapture views are that they leave the believer in an unprepared state for the Tribulation and the Rapture. They teach that a believer need to do nothing more than make a statement of faith, and he or she will escape any and all of the Tribulation period. There is no further need for preparation, evangelism or ‘enduring to the end‘, which are clearly spelled out in scriptures.
The Pre-wrath Pre-Tribulation Rapture teaches that the tribulation period began in or around AD 30 and tribulation seals 1 through 5 have been progressively broken to this day and the effects are overlapping continuing and intensifying. We are near the breaking of the 6th Tribulation Seal which marks the beginning of the Day of the Wrath of the Lamb, the sealing of the 144,000 of Israel, the Rapture of the Church and the pouring out of God’s wrath on earth.
The Pre-wrath Pre-Tribulation Rapture teaches that
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- You must get ready and stay in a state of readiness, because we do not know the day or the hour of His return, but that if you did know “you would not have allowed your house to be broken into“.
- As a believer, you have responsibilities while you are waiting for Jesus’ return. (If you die before His return, your efforts will be judged, later. Matthew 24:42 – Matthew 25:29.
- You must ‘endure to the end‘ which, for believers, is the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, (a.k.a., the Wrath of the Lamb or the End of the Age).
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In support of the Pre-Wrath Rapture view, here is a quick scan of time and history as it relates to the Bible. Read carefully, and study.
WARS AND RUMORS OF WAR
Jesus says, in Matthew 24:6, “And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.”
Jesus, in agreement with His statement in Matthew 24:6, again says in chapter Revelation chapter 6, “one who sat on a white horse had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
“When Jesus broke the second seal, the second living creature said, “Come!” And a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that people would kill one another; and a large sword was given to him.”
There have been thousands upon thousands of wars and conflicts since the time of Christ. Most notable for their scope and breadth are the
- Religious Crusades (1095 – 1291, Muslims vs Latin Church, almost 2 million dead),
- WWI (1914 – 1918, 17 million dead), and
- WW2 (1939 – 1945, over 70 million dead).
Current wars and global conflicts, as of 2018 (link).
“Wars and rumors of war” is nothing new. So, when Jesus says, in Matthew 24:6-8, “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”
First, we should ask “WHICH wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines” was Jesus referring to? Those in AD 30? Those in AD69? Those later wars? The answer is, ‘No’. Jesus was speaking in the present about an unfolding present and future event. These wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines were already occurring, have continued to occur and will increase with intensity until the end!
Look at it this way: When Hurricane Irma hit the U.S. it was a category 5 storm; As Irma progressed up the peninsula of Florida, it became a category 4 storm; then as it entered Alabama it became a category 3 storm; and finally as it entered Georgia, Irma became a tropical storm; and later as it entered Tennessee, it became a rain event.
To those in the various states which hurricane Irma entered, it would have appeared to them that Irma might have been 5 different storms, occurring consecutively; first a Category 5 storm, then, a Category 4 storm, then, a Category 3 hurricane, then, a Tropical storm, and, finally, a rain event. But if viewed “From Above” it was ONE CONTINUOUS STORM, progressively unfolding to its conclusion
FAMINES AND EARTHQUAKES
Again, famines and earthquakes are nothing new in history. So, how do we determine TO WHICH famines and earthquakes was Jesus referring?
Here is a continuing list of Famines: A list of global famines and a historical list of global seismic activity.
Compare what Jesus said, found in Matthew 24 and what John said in Revelation about these matters.
- But that is not yet the end…all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
- Wars and rumors of wars have been ongoing since the 1st century.
- The breaking of the 2nd Seal brings outright warfare on a Global Scale.
- We have now seen two world wars
- We have seen ‘the sons of Ishmael’ warring with ‘the sons of Isaac’ on a global scale since the time of Christ.
Once again, if we are not to endure these ‘tribulations’ why is Jesus warning us to “endure to the end”?
Matthew 24:15 tells us, “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
Verse 16: “Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.
Verse 17: “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house.
Verse 18: “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.
Verse 19: “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
Verse 20: “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.
Verse 21: “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.
Verse 22: “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
The Prophetic Word of God will be manifested in the physical realms of the heavens and the earth.
There is one more important clue to the timing of the rapture and the beginning of the Great Tribulation period found in
2 Thessalonians 2:1 “Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, verse 2, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
Verse 3. No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, verse 4, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”
We can also see references to these events in Matthew chapter 24 and in Revelation chapter Six. This is referring to the breaking of the 5th Tribulation Seal.
Next chapter: PERFECTION – Chapter 12 – The 5th Tribulation Seal
Previous Chapter: PERFECTION – Chapter 10 – Clue #3
Go here for the entire book: The Journey Toward Perfection – God’s Ultimate Plan
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