THE WRATH OF GOD

Danny McDowell

Pre-tribulationism has but one view concerning the "Wrath of God." That view declares emphatically that the entire 70th week of Daniel (7 years of tribulation) and the "Wrath of God" are synonymous.

Since the church has been promised exclusion from God's wrath "The 70th week of Daniel, the church must therefore be gathered prior to the opening of that event - hence "The Pre-Tribulation Rapture!" Some verses used to under gird this position are:

I Thessalonians 5:9;
"9For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"

.....Since the 70th week of Daniel and the "Wrath of God" are considered synonymous, it is believed impossible for the church to enter the 70th week of Daniel (7 years of tribulation).

II Thessalonians 2:6-8;" restraining "
"6And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:"

.....It is said in Pre-Tribulation doctrine, that this restraining force spoken of in this passage is "The Church, indwelt by the Holy Spirit" and that this "Restraining influence will be removed from the earth prior to 7 years of tribulation.
II Thessalonians 2:13;

"13But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:"

.....This verse is commonly used to support II Thessalonians 2:6-8. It is said that the phrase "has appointed you to salvation," indicates salvation from the "7 years of tribulation".

Revelation 3:18;
"10Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."

.....It is said that the phrase "I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation " is referring to the 7 years previously mentioned.

Revelation 4:1;
"1After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter."

.....It is said that because John heard "a voice as a trumpet" and saw "a door was opened in heaven," that he was thrust forward in time and translated WITH THE CHURCH at the rapture. Since Revelation 4:1 precedes Revelation 6 (the opening of the first seal) and the revelation of Anti-Christ - this is substantial evidence that the church will be gathered prior to the 7 years of tribulation.

.....Are these things so?
Lets see what the Bible has to say about, The Wrath of God ,

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The Day of The Lord
..... It is fanatically held in PRE-TRIBULATION doctrine that the Day of The Lord and the 70th week of Daniel are synonymous, and since the church of all ages has been promised exclusion from God's Wrath due to the blood application of Jesus to every believer - the church will be taken out of the earth prior to the terrible events of the 70th week.

.....It seems logical to me, that to identify the Day of the Lord (the WRATH OF GOD) is crucial to any position connected to that event. There is NOT a scrap of evidence anywhere in the Bible that will connect the entirety of the 70th week of Daniel (7 years of tribulation) to the Day of The Lord! Sounds incredulous doesn't it? So much of pre-tribulation reasoning depends on this single issue.

I therefore challenge ANYONE to biblically connect the 70th week in its entirety to the Day of The Lord. Once again, I must say "Nothing in scripture connects 7 years of tribulation to the DAY OF THE LORD! It is said in pre-tribulation theology that the 7 years of tribulation begins with the "signing of a PEACE COVENANT" between Anti-Christ and others for the safety and protection of Israel. Many believe that this political agreement will provide for the construction of the 3rd Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.

Let's look to the scriptures to find out how THE DAY OF THE LORD begins.

Isaiah 2:10-22;
"10Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. 11The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 12For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: 13And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, 16And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. 17And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 18And the idols he shall utterly abolish. 19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 20In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; 21To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. 22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?"

Verse 10:
"10Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty."
..... Men enter into the rocks to hide from the Lord [Revelation 6:15-16].

Verse 11:
"11The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day."
..... Man shall be humbled, ALL MEN!

Verse 12:
"12For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:"
..... The Day of the Lord will humble the proud. Is Anti-Christ proud?

Verse 13-16:
"13And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, 14And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, 15And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, 16And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures."
..... Everything and every person will be humbled in the Day of The LORD!

Verse 17:
"17And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day."
..... "THE LORD ALONE" will be exalted in that day. Where does Anti-Christ fit into this picture?

Verse 18:
"18And the idols he shall utterly abolish."
..... All idols will be UTTERLY ABOLISHED in the DAY of the LORD. So much for the IMAGE of the BEAST!

Verse 19:
"19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth."

..... Think they might be hiding from someone [Revelation 6:15-16]?

Verse 21:
"21To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth."
..... WHO is shaking the earth here?

Verse 22:
"22Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?"
..... CEASE YE FROM MAN WHOSE BREATH IS IN HIS NOSTRILS FOR WHEREIN IS HE TO BE ACCOUNTED OF?
Could this include Anti-Christ?

Isaiah 13:6-13;
"6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD isat hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: 8And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. 9Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 11And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger."
.....

Verse 6:
"6Howl ye; for the day of the LORD isat hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty."
..... Where does the Day of the Lord come from in this verse? [Isaiah 2:17, Revelation 6:16-17]

Is Anti-Christ involved here?

Verse 9:
"9Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it."
..... Who gets destroyed here? Jews? Tribulation Saints?

Verse 10:
"10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine."
..... Hmm - the Sun and Moon are darkened. Have I read this somewhere else?

Verse 11:
"11And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible."
..... He will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease [Isaiah 2:13-16].

Verse 13:
"13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger."
..... Please, tell me, is this THE WRATH OF GOD?

Joel 1:15;
"15Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."
..... Again now, where does this wrath come from? Is Anti-Christ anyway involved in God's Wrath?

Joel 2:1-2;
"1Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations."
.....
Verse 1:

"1Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
..... "let ALL inhabitants of the earth tremble." Would this include the FALSE PROPHET?

Verse 2:
"2A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations."
..... There's that Sun/Moon thing again!

Joel 2:31-32:
"31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call."

.....
Verse 31:
"31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
..... Redundant, redundant! Is there a point here? Whoa - wait a minute, there's NEW information here. The Sun and moon will be darkened BEFORE the Day of the Lord. How does that "Peace Covenant" thing fit into all of this?

Verse 32:
"32And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call."
..... What? People can still be saved? How is this possible? Those pre-tribulation folks said the Holy Spirit was taken out of the earth Before the opening of the 70th week! I'm sooo confused.

Joel 3:14-15;
"14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining."
.....
Verse 14;
"14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
..... The Day of the Lord is near. In the VALLEY of DECISION! I think God is trying to say something here!

Amos 5:18-20;
"18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?"
..... Sun and moon again?

Matthew 24:28-30;
"28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
..... OK, now we're gonna get this sun/moon/tribulation thing straightened out!

Verse 29:
"29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: "
..... What? "AFTER the tribulation of those days?"

Luke 21:25-26;
"25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."
.....

II Peter 3:10-12;
"10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"
.....

Verse 10:
"10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."
..... OK, now we're talkin' pre-tribulation "thief in the night."

Verse 12:
"12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"
..... Think I spoke too soon. Wonder what he means here by the words "LOOKING FOR?"

Revelation 6:12-17;
"12And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
.....

Verse 12:
"12And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;"
..... Sun/moon thing again.

Verse 17:
"17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
..... "For the Great Day of HIS WRATH IS COME!"
The Day of the Lord begins AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS. There is no other Day of the Lord. SAME DAY ESCAPE.

II Peter 2:4-9;
"4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:"
..... Anybody LEFT BEHIND here?

Luke 17:28-30;
"28Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."
.....
Verse 29:

"29But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. "
..... SAME DAY!

Verse 30:
"30Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. "
..... EVEN THUS - SAME DAY!

..... When God shut the door of the ARK, it began to rain on the SAME DAY. When Lot was safely removed from Sodom and Gomorah - fire fell from heaven on the SAME DAY!

NOBODY was LEFT BEHIND LIKEWISE! LIKEWISE! LIKEWISE! SAME DAY!
..... It is difficult to understand how pre-tribulationists so utterly miss the mark on this very important point of the Day of the Lord. Four issues are at hand here:
1. The pre-tribulationsists declaration that the Day of the Lord begins with the opening of 7 years of tribulation (70th week of Daniel) simply cannot be validated in scripture. There is absolutely NOTHING to support this notion. It seem then, that pre-tribulationists go to great lengths to avoid any discomfort what-so-ever upon the church of the Latter Times. Comfort has never been a criteria for interpreting scripture. There seems to be no plum lines or parameters in the pre-tribulation method of interpreting God's word. Standards of study and development of doctrine are totally abandoned regarding the identification of the Day of the Lord.

2. It is not "DISCOMFORT" that the Lord promises protection from. It is not even "TRIBULATION" that the Lord promises deliverance from. It is only the Day of the Lord and His WRATH that the church will be exempt of. Tribulation is nothing new for the elect. The elect have always " suffered tribulation in some location and in every century throughout church history. To suggest that Tribulation and the Wrath of God are synonymous is ludicrous. Is every severe persecution that has assailed the church throughout the ages to be considered "The Wrath of God?" Early church leaders and followers of Jesus believed that the Day of the Lord was at hand BECAUSE of tribulation. They were well aware of the fact that the "GREAT TRIBULATION" must occur FIRST, before their gathering by the Lord. They held that Anti-Christ must first appear [II Thessalonians 2] and that he will set up the abomination of desolation which would be the Flash Point to begin the Great Tribulation! They BELIEVED their Lord and the Apostles.

3. Neither God nor angles can dissuade the pre-tribulationist. God has said, "immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days, the sun and moon shall be darkened, the powers of the heavens shaken, and THEN the sign of the Son of Man in heaven --- He shall send His ANGELS to gather his elect " at that time [Matthew 24] The ANGEL said (to John) "These are those who came out of GREAT TRIBULATION." I must point out that these who "came out of Great Tribulation;

a. were from every race on earth;
b. numbered in the multiplied millions;
c. they came out of the earth under the sixth seal at that same time when the Day of the Lord begins.

4. Pre-tribulationists simply FAIL to disclose (in scripture) any other description of the Gathering Together of the ELECT. Every reference to the "Rapture" is based circumstantially and in many cases on conjecture and in some cases on unadulterated FRAUD (i.e. "the silent rapture").
.....It must be understood that "the valley of decision" precedes the Day of the Lord. This will be mankind's LAST CHANCE for deliverance and that day will come when the sun and moon are darkened and the powers of the heaven are shaken. There will be NO excuse in that day.

Those appointed unto God's Wrath will be the only ones LEFT BEHIND!

Is the 70th week of Daniel synonymous with the GREAT AND TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD?
IMPOSSIBLE!!!