We are continuing on with the support scriptures of a pre-tribulation rapture. This week is another scripture that indicates we are to be spared from God’s wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 – 9For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We talked last week that the righteous will not be swept away with the wicked. What makes you righteous? By accepting Jesus Christ and his blood sacrifice on the cross.
Who is wicked? We are all wicked, some more than others, but none-the-less all. It’s not about what we can do to get back to God, but what God did through His Son.
So we see once again that those in Jesus Christ are not appointed to suffer wrath.
Some mid-tribbers will state that the last three and half years is when God pours out His wrath. The first three and half years are just hardships. What does the book of Revelation say?
Revelation 6:16 – 16They 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!
So the sixth seal indicates that it is a part of the wrath of the Lamb! Who is the Lamb that was slain? Jesus. Who do we read Jesus is in Revelation?
Revelation 1:7-8 – 7Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. 8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 1:17-18 – 17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
So the wrath of the Lamb is the wrath of God. When is it mentioned? Just the sixth seal into the Tribulation which is in chapter 6. The tribulation doesn’t start until the 6th chapter. It also states that only the Lion from the Tribe of Judah and the Lamb that was slain was worthy to open up the scroll and begin the seal judgments. The second, third, and fourth seals, are war, famine, and pestilence. Would these be considered wraths from God? Jesus is the only One who could open the seals and initiate them, so my guess is yes.
How soon are the seal judgments released into the Tribulation? Well we know that the Seal Judgments are the first of three sets of seven judgments each that are unleashed. The second group of seven judgments is called the Trumpet Judgments. The third set is the Bowl Judgments.
In Chapter 11 we have the Seventh Trumpet Judgment happening. In Chapter 12 we have Satan being cast down after losing a battle in Heaven. Why is this significant? Because we know that Satan incarnates the Antichrist’s body after he is killed. That is at the 3 and half year point. So if the seventh trumpet judgment happens before that, it leaves only the Bowl Judgments left.
My whole point is that the 6th Seal appears to happen within a year or two into the Tribulation. The other point is I believe all the Seal Judgments are part of the wrath of God.
To recap both the scripture that started this post and the one in the previous posts:
1 Thessalonians 5:9 – 9For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:10 – 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
According to the scriptures from Paul we will not be here for the wrath that is to come, but are rescued by Jesus Christ.