Pre-Wrath Eschatology

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=185 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03fb9c00dduajq.jpg"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="70" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 76 WIDTH="66"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="76" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="66" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="End Times Issues"><U><B>End Times Issues</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFBF0" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Christian Debatorial Works</B></FONT>    |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christian Debatorial Works"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id131.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pre millennialism"><U>Pre millennialism</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Amillennialism"><U>Amillennialism</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Rapture"><U>The Rapture</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PostTribulation Eschatology"><U>Post-Tribulation Eschatology</U></A>   |   <B>Pre-Wrath Eschatology</B>   |   <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Preterism"><U>Preterism</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id149.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dispensationalism"><U>Dispensationalism</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id345.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Thoughts on the End of the World"><U>Thoughts on the End of the World</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id174.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Most Asked Questions About EndTimes"><U>Most Asked Questions About End-Times</U></A></div> <div> Pre-Wrath Eschatology</div> <bR> <div> Much of the modern doctrine known as Pre-Wrath comes from  books by Marvin Rosenthal called "The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church", and Robert Van Kampens' "The Rapture Question Answered".  Essentially, these teach that the Church, (Christian people), will endure part of the great Tribulation and will not be raptured until just before the Seventh Seal of Revelation 8:1 is opened.</div> <bR> <div> Thus, one key difference between Pre-Trib Rapture and Pre-Wrath  (or Mid-Trib) Rapture is that Pre-Trib believers will see no series of events leading up to the Rapture. To them, the Lord will come as a theif in the night, 1 Thess 5:2, and they will remain in active, resolute service to Him up to that time. </div> <bR> <div> To Pre-Wrath believers, however, the series of events protrayed in Revelation up to 8:1 will be expected, (mark of the beast, the beast sitting in the temple as God, supernatural locusts coming out of the pit of hell, two hundred million supernatural fire breathing horsemen to kill a third of the earth, the sun darkened and the moon turned to blood), and he won't expect the Lord to come "as a thief in the night". This almost 7 year warning may cause many to slack off in their service to the Lord, as our human nature is so inclined.</div> <bR> <div> Areas of agreement between Pre-Wrath (henceforth called PWT) and Pre-Trib positions are:</div> <div> Premillenialism</div> <div> Literal hermeneutic</div> <div> Seven year Tribulation</div> <div> Second half of Tribulation dominated by Antichrist</div> <div> Mark of the Beast</div> <div> Unprecedented persecution of the elect and Israel</div> <div> Timing of the battle of Armageddon</div> <div> The Church will not see the wrath of God (Rapture, pp. 33-42)</div> <bR> <div> Van Kampen claims that he was torn between the pretribulation and postribulation views of the rapture. He agreed with his pretribulation friends that the church will not see the wrath of God (1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; Rev. 3:10). But he agreed with his postribulation friends that the elect will someday become targets of Antichrist's persecution (Matt. 24:21-22; 29-31; 2 Thess. 2:1-8; Rev. 13:3-10; 14:9-12). (Rapture, pp. 42-43)</div> <bR> <div> He felt that there must be a common denominator somewhere in Scripture to balance these teachings. When he considered the signs given in Matthew 24:29-31, he believed he had discovered this common element.</div> <bR> <div> "Immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'</div> <bR> <div> "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." Matthew 24:29-31(NIV)</div> <bR> <div> Based on this discovery, Van Kampen says that the core truth of their view is this: "The persecution by Antichrist during the great tribulation will be the wrath of Satan (Rev. 12:12), not the wrath of God. When the sign of the sun, moon, and stars is given in the heavens, the wrath of Satan against the elect will be terminated, the faithful to God will be raptured, and then the wrath of God will begin against the wicked who remain, ending with the battle of Armageddon." (Rapture, pp. 47-48)</div> <bR> <div> Thus, the big problem with prewrath theology is the assumption that the "elect" which are also "saints" of the Tribulation period are basically the same as the Church. There are two main difficulties with this view. First, the Church is missing.  Of equal importance, this seven year Tribulation period is definitely the last "week" of Daniel 9:27, and, as such, is a final segment of Israel's history before the Millennial Kingdom. According to The book of Revelation, the events of the period revolve around Israel, The Temple, Jerusalem, the Two Witnesses, and the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel.</div> <bR> <div> Attack Point #1:</div> <bR> <div> The prewrath Rapture theory equates Church with the "elect" of Matthew 24:31, who are gathered by angels when Christ returns in power and glory (Rapture, pp. 80-81. There are serious problems with this view.</div> <div> 1. The glorious visible return of Christ as King of Kings is quite different from the promised Rapture of the Church. </div> <div> 2. The church is not named once in the entire account of the Tribulation period in the Book of Revelation Chapters 4-19. This is all the more noticeable since the word is used repeatedly in the first three chapters, where Christ is seen walking among the churches, and then sending messages to seven specific churches. The best explanation for this is that the true Church, the bride of Christ, is taken from the earth at the Rapture. At chapter 4, the Apostle John is told to "Come up here." For the remainder of the vision, he is in the presence of the Lord, looking down on the dreadful events of the Tribulation. This is symbolic of the Rapture of the Church.</div> <div> During the Tribulation, however, there are "saints." They are also called the "elect." They are undoubtedly true believers in Jesus Christ, because there has been "no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 (NIV) Just as it has always been, they may be Jews or Gentiles who have decided to receive Christ as Savior. As the story unfolds in the book of Revelation, these believers will undergo great persecution, and many of them will be martyred for the cause of Christ. Those who die are the subject of the Fifth Seal (Revelation 6:9-11). Those who survive to the end will be gathered together by angels (Matthew 24:31) and will undoubtedly be the mortals who populate the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20).</div> <bR> <div> Attack Point #2:</div> <bR> <div> Using Revelation 12:12, and 13:4-7, Van Kampen says that Satan's wrath is the persecution of God's elect. (Rapture, p. 58).</div> <bR> <div> But, when one studies this passage, it is clear that Satan's wrath is a reaction to God's wrath. God punishes Satan by casting him down to earth. This makes him angry. He is, in fact given power to persecute believers ("the saints") during the last half of the Tribulation (42 months). The proper way of seeing the Tribulation is that it is the time of both God's wrath and Satan's wrath as he struggles against the sovereignty of God.</div> <bR> <div> Attack Point #3:</div> <bR> <div> Using the illustrations of the days of Noah and the days of Lot in Luke 17:22-30, Van Kampen concludes that the Rapture will occur on the very day that God's wrath begins, thus ending the wrath of Satan. (Rapture, pp. 56-59).</div> <bR> <div> but, the passage does not refer to the Rapture, but to the Glorious Return of Christ. The worst expression of God's wrath will be delivered at that time because the battle of Armageddon if fought. But that is not to say that the earlier part of the Tribulation is not also the result of God's wrath.</div> <bR> <div> Attack Point #4:</div> <bR> <div> The prewrath assumption that God's wrath does not start until just before the battle of Armageddon does not fit the facts revealed in the book of Revelation.</div> <bR> <div> Even in the very first chapter of Revelation we see Christ, not as the Gentle Savior of the Gospels, but as the Judge, with eyes of blazing fire, glowing bronze feet, a voice that sounds like rushing waters, a sword coming out of his mouth, and a face glowing like the sun in all its brilliance. (Revelation 1:13-18)</div> <bR> <div> In Revelation 3:10 the Church at Philadelphia was given the promise that they would be kept "from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth." The implication is clear that God's wrath would be poured out on the whole evil world as He had done at the time of the flood.</div> <bR> <div> In Chapters 4 and 5, future events are seen as emanating from God's sovereign throne. Jesus Christ, as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Lamb who was slain, is the only one worthy to open the seals of the scroll. Starting with chapter 6, Jesus opens the seals, one at a time, and each time, events transpire which represent God's wrath and judgment, usually on the whole earth.</div> <bR> <div> In chapter 7 God holds back the strong angels who have power to harm the earth until the 144,000 can be sealed.</div> <bR> <div> In chapter 12, as mentioned before, Satan's wrath is displayed, but it is the result of God's wrath leveled against him.</div> <bR> <div> At the midpoint of the Tribulation, when people must decide whether or not to receive the "mark of the beast," it is said that God's judgment has come.</div> <bR> <div> Attack Point #5:</div> <bR> <div> The key passage for the prewrath view is the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 and 25). There is only one return of Christ in view there, and that is at the end of the sequence of events describing the Great Tribulation. Matthew 24:30 states that, "They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory." Van Kampen says this is the Rapture. However, there are many differences between the Rapture and the Glorious Return of Christ.</div> <bR> <div> Attack Point #6:</div> <bR> <div> If the Rapture were to take place just before the battle of Armageddon, and all the believers were taken just before the final events of the Tribulation, what people would become believers at the very last moments so that there would be godly people to populate the Millennial Kingdom? Van Kampen's thought is that this is where the 144,000 come in. (Rapture, pp. 53-54).</div> <bR> <div> We agree that there will be many Jewish people who believe at the end when they see the Lord whom they have pierced and mourn for Him. (Zechariah 12:10).</div> <bR> <div> However, according to Revelation 7:3- , the 144,000 are sealed before any destruction occurs:</div> <bR> <div> "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.</div> <bR> <div> Attack Point #7:</div> <bR> <div> According to Matthew 25:31-46, there will be a judgment of "sheep" and "goats" based on how people treated Israel. In the pretribulation view, surviving believers of the Tribulation period will qualify as the "sheep." In the prewrath view, all believers would have been taken at the Rapture and only a remnant from Israel itself would become believers at the very end. It is difficult to imagine that these new converts could be the "sheep" who acted kindly toward Israel.</div> <bR> <div> Attack Point #8:</div> <bR> <div> The Parable of the Wheat and Tares also refers to the separation of believers from non-believers at the end of this age. This parable make good sense from a pretribulation point of view because it is similar to the Judgment of Sheep and Goats. In both cases, there are many believers and many non-believers. It is difficult for the prewrath position because that view does not allow for a large number of believers at the end of the age.</div> <bR> <div> What difference does it make whether we accept the pretribulation or the prewrath viewpoint? To Van Kampen, the stakes are great. He says, "your view of end times may determine whether you, your children, or your grandchildren survive the onslaught of Antichrist or die at his hands." (Rapture, p. 131) Just like the postribulation view, the bottom line for the prewrath folks is survival.</div> <bR> <div> By contrast, the bottom line for the pretribulation view is evangelism and holy living. But let's admit that godly prewrath believers can be just as evangelistic as their pretribulation brothers and sisters. And shouldn't we all be wise enough to prepare for the future? In any case, Jesus expects us to love one another.</div> <bR> <div> Attack Point #9:</div> <bR> <div> Pre-Tribulationists, for the most part, agree that the Day of the Lord includes the Tribulation, the 2nd Coming of Christ, and the 1000 year millennial kingdom, as per:</div> <bR> <div> Hosea 6:2 After two days [the 2000 year church age] will he revive us: in the third day [the 1000 year day of the Lord] he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.</div> <bR> <div> Pre-Wrath holds more to the view that the Day of the Lord is only the 2nd Coming, a day on which Christ shall procede to judge the wicked.</div> <bR> <div> Concerning the extent of "the day of the Lord,"  Rosenthal wrote:</div> <bR> <div> "There is no blessing associated with the Day of the Lord. It is the most awesome period of divine judgment the world will ever know. Nonetheless, and amazingly, some Bible teachers insist that the Day of the Lord is a time of darkness and light, judgment and blessing, night and day. They do so by starting the Day of the Lord at the beginning of Daniel's seventieth week and then extending it through the millennial kingdom " (p. 126).</div> <bR> <div> However, Zechariah 14:1-11 clearly shows that the Day of the Lord includes both a time of judgement and a time of blessing (the Millennial Reign).</div> <bR> <div> This Day of the Lord (DOL) issue is a very important one when considering the Pre-Wrath position. The twenty three references to the DOL refer to the indefinite and short period of time at the end of the last three and a half years of the Tribulation, according to Rosenthal (p. 118). However, Isaiah uses the expression "in that day" (bayyom hahua) to refer to the same period of the DOL (yom lajehovah) in Isaiah 2:11,12. Isaiah builds on this unity of expressions throughout the rest of his book, depicting the Tribulation and Millennium as aspects of the DOL (cf. Isa. 4:1,2; 11:10,11; 13:6,9,13; et al). Furthermore, the Scriptures demand that the DOL includes the first three and a half years of the Tribulation. Matthew refers to the time before the Great Tribulation (Mt. 24:21) as the "beginning of sorrows" (v. 8). The "sorrows" (odinon) is the NT counterpart for the Hebrew chavalim, and both words refer to the birth pangs of a women in labor. Isaiah implements chavalim to refer to the sorrows of the DOL (Isa. 13:6,8,9), which Matthew interprets as the whole Tribulation, including the first three and a half years. </div> <bR> <div> Most advocates of the PTR position argue that Daniel's seventy weeks refer to the Lord's eschatological program for Israel, not for the Church Age saints. However Rosenthal blurs the distinction between the nation of Israel and the NT Christians (p. 263). Consequently, he fails to realize that Mt. 24 is the eschatological program for Israel based on Daniel 9, and that I Thess. 4 and 5 is the eschatological program for the NT Christian (after all, Paul was the Apostle to the Gentile Christians). Rosenthal's strongest argument is his interpretation that the passage of Mt. 24:40,41 is teaching the rapture is inside the Tribulation Week period (pp. 220;304-305). Unfortunately, some advocates of the PTR position hold this unbiblical position as well. The context of this passage teaches that those taken in the flood were taken in judgment (vv. 38,39). Likewise, those taken in verses 40 and 41 are taken in judgment, and those left are left for blessing. The OT passage of Zechariah 14:16 prepares the hearer and/or reader of Christ's Olivet Discourse for this truth: "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." Both Zechariah 14 and Mt. 24 deal with the end of the Tribulation period and the ones left are allowed to enter the Millennium . Again, Rosenthal's fallacious premise crumbles because of weak exegesis.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>