End Times Part 2: God's Wrath and the Great Tribulation are NOT the Same Event

End Times Part 2: God's Wrath and the Great Tribulation are NOT the Same Event

In Part I last week, especially from Matthew 24:5-21 (“fact #5”), we showed Scriptural proof that the End Times chronology had this order of events:

First, deception, wars, famine—called “the beginning of sorrows”—then the “abomination of desolation,” done by the Antichrist, who suddenly becomes an enemy of Jews, by doing an “abomination of Desolation” in the Jerusalem temple’s holy place. Those Christians/Jews living then should immediately hide, because this event begins the Tribulation, consisting of persecution and martyrdom of Jews and Christians. Then later, a cosmic disturbance blackens the sky (moon darkens to a reddish hue, the sun and stars lose their light); then Jesus appears in the clouds, for—in order--a rescue (rapture); and then Day of the Lord’s wrath on non-Christians. We spent time proving, Scripturally, that Christians go through the Tribulation, as you can see in the order above.

Today, that point gets further proof. Let’s take a closer look at Jesus’ Olivet discourse in Matthew 24:27ff:

 

"For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be… 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven... 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

So after the end of the Tribulation (v.29), here’s what happens: first the cosmic disturbance (v.29) prophesied in Joel 2 (See Part I). It has completely blackened the sky—everywhere--so that then a sign, perhaps a huge flash of light, stretching from the earth’s east to the west would be visible in all the world. This rivets everyone’s attention upward—and then will appear our Lord, in glory, visible to all--in His return (elsewhere called the Second Advent). His coming begins with the rapture (though it’s not mentioned until v. 31, see Part I for proof of this order); Jesus has come to rescue righteous, saved men. But His coming, secondly, is to judge disobedient men. (More on that later.) Thus, four events happen on the Day of the Lord, in order, from these verses and in Part I: Cosmic disturbance blackens the sky, then a highly visible sign showing the Lord’s appearing in the sky, then the rapture, with help from the angels; and then the mourning of rebellious men who know judgment is coming.

Now please note the details of the rapture itself, and observe the three specific events in it, vv.30b-31: (a) Jesus appears on the clouds of heaven in visible glory, and can be seen by all in a blackened sky lit up by huge “sign of the Son of Man”--thus there is no "secret rapture," as is fantasized by some; (b) angels will sound a trumpet; (c) His elect (genuine Christians) will be gathered “from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other;” i.e., in the air.

For anyone who would argue that Matthew 24 isn’t the rapture, look at I Thess. 4:16-17, which all acknowledge are rapture verses:

 

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Note the three important events in I Thess: (a) Jesus appears from heaven, with some noise--a shout, the voice of an archangel, and a trumpet blast--so there is no “secret” to the rapture; (b) angels blow the trumpet; (c) believers are gathered in the sky, to meet the Lord in the air. Note that these are the very same critical three elements as Matthew 24:30b-31. Is this not the SAME EVENT? Of course it is. Thus Matthew 24, the Olivet Discourse, presents the Rapture, as does I Thess. 4:16-17.

****Now the order of End Times is: Deception, wars, famine, then the abomination of desolation (Antichrist) in the holy place, then it’s time to hide because Tribulation is next--death and martyrdom of Jews and Christians, and later—on one Day--cosmic disturbance blackens the sky, then the “sign” seen by all, then His Coming in the clouds with angels blowing the trumpet. Believers are rescued/raptured, gathered in the sky—and on the same day, other people mourn, because the Day of the Lord’s wrath begins on them (more on that wrath later).

For further proof: Let’s spend some time on a second chronology of end-time events. As you will see, this will duplicate, and confirm, the Matthew 24 order. It is in Revelation 6:1-11.  'Seals' are given in order. The order of the seals 1-5 correspond exactly to the same five events in Matthew 24 (read Part I for more on Matthew 24). Here are the Revelation 6 verses:

 

Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. 3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. 5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” 7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. 9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

In verse 1 we have seal #1, with the white horse. The rider has a crown, and goes forth conquering. If you think this is Christ, you are deceived—this Greek word for “crown” in v. 2 is “stephanos.” But the Greek word for the crown Christ wears is “diadema,” for kingly or imperial dignity. Stephanos, on the other hand, is given for triumph in the games or for military prowess—it is a garland of oak, ivy, parsley, myrtle or olive. The wearer is an aggressive warrior-conqueror, not a king. The crown-wearer of verse 1 wants us to think he is Christ, riding on a white horse, but he isn’t. Thus seal# 1 is deception.

Seal 2, the red horse, is clearly wars. Seal 3, the black horse, where they are carefully handling and measuring expensive food, suggests famine. Seal 4, the pale horse, is death. (A fourth of the earth killed! from starvation and war.) The seal 5 refers to martyrs. Now turn back to Part I’s analysis of Matthew 24:5-21—the order is the same! Revelation 6 and Matthew 24 refer to the same events!  Deception, wars, famine, death, and martyrs is the order in both Jesus' chronology and the seals.

Now observe how these two sections of verses, the same themes thus far, suddenly part in how they deal with seal 6, the last event/seal. In the Matthew chronology, 24:30-31 gives us the rapture, and only hints at the wrath of God (it just gives you the word “mourn” as a hint). Since we’ve looked at Revelation 6:1-11 in seals 1-5, let’s see how Revelation 6:12-17 handles the sixth seal:

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth…. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men…every slave… hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” 

This seal begins with our familiar cosmic disturbance--(the appearance of the cosmic disturbance in Revelation and Matthew is a further proof that these are talking about the same events). But Revelation 6 details with the beginning of judgment, the second part of the Day of the Lord, with nothing on the rapture. Whereas Matthew 24 detailed the rapture, and only hinted at the judgment (“mourn”). What to do about that difference?

The solution to this “controversy” is simply to put both events—rapture and wrath—after the tribulation. After all, they are happening on the same day (see Part I as to proof of them being on the same day). Both these sections of verses talk about the same events—they just each emphasize a different one on the final Day.

Now let's re-emphasize some important points for those "pre-tribbers" to chew on:

Remember my earlier assertion that the Tribulation is NOT the wrath of God; this was proved with Scripture in Part I, They are separate as can be seen by our order of events above. Actually, the Tribulation is the wrath of Satan, per Rev. 12:12, as we also proved in Part I. The wrath of God is later; it is the last of these end time events. In the Tribulation, Satan is having a field day through his Antichrist, killing Jews and Christians.

But the wrath of God is different: In His wrath (particularly seen in Revelation 8 and 9), only the person of God is stressed. He does not allow Satan to strut his stuff like the Antichrist does who dominates the scene in the Tribulation. Proof that this differing emphasis matters is found in Isaiah 2:11--Let's see what it says about the wrath of God:

 

The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 For the day of the LORD of hosts Shall come upon everything proud and lofty, Upon everything lifted up—And it shall be brought low. 

The image we get for the wrath of God in the Day of the Lord is this: God performs an unanswered destruction, which centers only on God, glorifying His pure holiness and cleansing the earth. That’s not the Tribulation, where Satan is having a gay old time sticking it to the saints. The wrath and the Tribulation are just not the same event.

NEXT WEEK:  How Long Do Christians Have to Suffer in the Great Tribulation? God's Word is abundantly clear on that, too.