Recently I was reading a new book on Revelation by an author who subscribes to the pre-wrath Rapture position. I don’t recommend this or any other mid-Trib, pre-Wrath, or post-Trib book. I only read them myself because my belief in the pre-Trib position is solid enough to not be shaken, and I feel the need to know about the current thinking on other positions in case I’m asked.

When you depart from a literal, contextual interpretation of Scripture, as you have to do when you’re trying to justify the other rapture positions, anything becomes possible. For that reason some of these books, like the one I just read, are so far off the mark as to be ludicrous. But there are two things they all seem to have in common. One is their confusion about the difference between tribulation and the Great Tribulation and the other is the meaning and duration of the phrase “Wrath of God.”

Here are some examples of what I mean. In John 16:33 Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart because I have overcome the world.” This verse is often used to refute the pre-Trib belief that the church will not be present during the end times judgments. “After all,” they say, “Jesus said we will have tribulation in this world.”

Another is 1 Thess. 5:9 where Paul said, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here they say the wrath Paul was talking about is not the end times judgments associated with the Day of the Lord, which is the context of the passage, but the eternal punishment to be endured by non-believers. They say that’s the only wrath our salvation protects us from.

So let’s take a closer look at these two words as they pertain to the end times and see what the Bible says about them.

Tribulation
In English, the word “tribulation” appears 22 times in the Bible. Three of them are in the Old Testament, although the Hebrew word from which it is translated can be found 105 times, having a number of different meanings. The other 19 are in the New Testament, but there are also 26 times where the Greek word is translated in different ways as well, for a total of 45. In both testaments the other meanings are similar; distress, affliction, trouble, etc.

The phrase “great tribulation” makes only three appearances, all in the New Testament (Matt. 24:21, Rev. 2:22, and Rev. 7:14). In its first one the Lord actually coined the term, identifying its beginning as the time when the abomination of desolation occurs.

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress(tribulation), unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again” (Matt. 24:15-21). A few verses later He said it would end just before the Second Coming.

“Immediately after the distress (tribulation) 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. Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:29-30).

Daniel 9:27 tells us the anti-Christ will set up an abomination of desolation in the middle of the 70th Week (Daniel 9:27), or 3 ½ years from its end. It’s the same event Jesus identified as the sign that the Great Tribulation will have begun. This tells us the Great Tribulation will have a duration of 3 ½ years.

Daniel also made reference to the Great Tribulation in Daniel 12:1 when he wrote:

“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress [tribulation] such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then.”

Notice that Daniel’s words are very similar to the ones Jesus used in Matt 24:21. The phrase “at that time” refers back to Daniel 11:36-45 where the angel was telling Daniel about the reign of the Antichrist. For these reasons, it’s safe to assume that Daniel and Jesus were talking about the same thing. In fact, Jesus confirmed this in Matt. 24:15.

Put together, these references identify the Great Tribulation as a specific period of time with an identifiable beginning and end. That makes this 3 ½ period distinct from the periodic times of tribulation that believersexperience in this world. Daniel and Jesus both said this time of tribulation would be the worst the world has ever seen. Jesus said it has never been equaled before and would never be equaled again, and if He didn’t return to put an end to it no one would survive (Matt. 24:22). This is definitely not the everyday variety of tribulation you and I face in life. This is the one and only Great Tribulation.

And Wrath
The word “wrath” also has a general as well as a specific meaning, and again the two are differentiated by time. When used in connection with God, the word “wrath” appears in 18 verses, of the Old Testament and usually describes God’s feelings toward Israel during their periodic times of disobedience.

In the New Testament there are 16 verses where wrath appears in connection with God. Some of them refer to the eternal destiny unbelievers will face after they die and others are about the end times judgments. We can tell which is which by the context in which they are used. Here are some examples.

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” (John 3:36).

In this verse the context is eternal life. Those who believe in the Son will receive it but those who reject Him will not receive it for God’s wrath remains on them. There are only two possible dispositions for mankind, eternal life and eternal punishment. Belief in the Son brings life, and rejection of the Son brings punishment. Only one generation of mankind will experience the end times judgments, but John 3:36 pertains to all mankind. Therefore the Lord had to be using God’s wrath in reference to eternal punishment here.

Now let’s take the example we used earlier from 1 Thess. 5:9: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul began chapter 5 by talking about the timing of the Day of the Lord. He said the world would not know the day or hour in advance, and that it would come like a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2). At a time when people are saying “peace and safety” it will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thess. 5:3).

By this we know Paul was not talking about the actual day of the Lord’s return, because earlier we learned that He will come to put an end to the worst period of devastation the world has ever known, not while people are thinking peace has come. And from other passages we know that Daniel’s 70th week will begin with a perception of peace (Daniel 8:25) which will quickly be replaced by war. Therefore Paul’s reference to “peace and safety” points to the beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week, not the actual day of the Lord’s return.

He said believers should not be surprised by this, and changed his narrative from the third person (they) in verse 3 to the second person (you) in verse 4.He did this to distinguish between the unbelieving world, who will be surprised, and the believers, who won’t. Being sons of the light (having the knowledge of Scripture) we will be able to see the signs of its approach, and when we do we should be awake and alert. After expanding on that thought (vv. 5-8) he came to verse 9: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.“

Obviously, believers will not suffer the eternal wrath of God that awaits unbelievers. But the context of 1 Thess. 5:1-9 is the Day of the Lord, when the end times judgments will fall upon an unbelieving and unsuspecting world. That’s the wrath Paul was talking about.

So, just like we can differentiate between the periodic times of tribulation we all experience and the Great Tribulation which will be the single worst thing ever to happen on earth, we can also differentiate between the eternal wrath of God to be visited on all unbelievers after they die, and the time of God’s wrath, the end time judgments that will come upon one generation of unbelievers before they die, and which will have a discernible beginning and end.

Is It Time Yet?
Now let’s look at the time of God’s wrath.

“Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins.The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer” (Isaiah 26:20-21).

Isaiah foresaw a time when God will pour out His wrath on earth for a period of time he describes as lasting “a little while.” Therefore this passage is not about His eternal wrath against all unbelievers who have died, but is a specific period of time against one generation of unbelievers who will still be alive. And like Paul, he separated believers from unbelievers by changing from the second person (your rooms) to the third person (their sins).

The angel Gabriel gave Daniel similar information, saying, “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end” (Daniel 8:19). Starting with an overview of the kings of Medo-Persia and Greece the angel quickly focused in on the days of the Antichrist during the time of wrath at the end of the age (Daniel 8:19-25).

These passages identify a specific period of time at the end of the age when God will visit His wrath upon the unbelieving world.

In the past, many commentators have identified this period as being the time of the bowl judgments of Rev. 15-16. That’s because in Rev. 16:1these judgments are called the seven bowls of “God’s wrath.”

But the Bible does not say the time of God’s wrath begins with these judgments. In fact in Rev. 15:1 we’re told that with the bowl judgments God’s wrath will end. If that gives us the ending point then where do they begin?

The answer can be found in Rev. 6:16-17 where the kings of the earth realize that with the seal judgments the great day of God’s wrath has begun.

They 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! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

The KJV renders Rev. 6:17 as “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” Based on this, some people see a difference between the wrath of the Lamb, which only appears in Rev. 6:16, and the wrath of God. But the majority of English versions translate the Greek word “autos” in the plural, as happens over 300 times in the Bible, and translate Rev. 6:17 as “the great day of their wrath has come.” Since both Father and Son are in view in Rev. 6:16 and since the two are one (John 10:30) this seems to fit the context better.

Also note the past perfect tense of the phrase “the great day of their wrath has come.” The past perfect tense is used to describe an action that has taken place at a specific time in the past. From the preceding judgments of Rev. 6 the kings of the earth will realize that they are already in the period known as the wrath of God. Therefore, the time of God’s wrath begins with the seal judgments of Rev. 6 and ends with the bowl judgments of Rev. 16and will occupy most, if not all, of Daniel’s 70th Week

Many commentators insist that God’s wrath is the worst part of a time they call the seven-year Tribulation period, making God’s wrath synonymous with the Great Tribulation. But as we can see, it’s actually the other way around. The Great Tribulation is the worst part of the time of God’s wrath.

When Jesus spoke of the Great Tribulation in Matt. 24:21 He was referring to the bowl judgments of Rev. 16 because these are the only judgments that will take place in the second half of Daniel’s 70th Week, after the Antichrist sets up the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:27). The bowl judgments are the third and final series of judgments that God will execute upon the earth during the time of His wrath.

So there you have it. In the Bible, tribulation and the Great Tribulation are not the same, and God’s eternal wrath and the time of God’s wrath are not the same. These terms are only confused in the minds of people who advocate something other than the pre-Trib Rapture of the church. That’s what the Bible says.

Contrary to all the polls and predictions Benyamin Netanyahu and his Likud party have won another election.  Some Israeli observers are calling this a landmark victory, because it came in spite of (or maybe as a reaction to) unprecedented external meddling in the country’s election process.

Now the challenge will be to form a coalition with some of the other political parties because it takes nominal control of at least 61 seats in the Knesset (parliament) to have a workable government and Likud only controls 30. Netanyahu will now have 42 days to accomplish this through negotiations with some of the other party leaders for the remaining 31 seats.  Because of the size of Likud’s victory this is not expected to be a difficult process, and Israel should wind up with a decidedly nationalist government.

In the short term, if you believe Netanyahu’s promises, this means the possibility of a Palestinian state becoming a reality is not at all certain, if it ever was.  Same goes for the possibility of Iran acquiring the ability to produce nuclear weaponry. I believe it was his public stance on these two issues that resonated in the hearts of Jewish voters and won the election for him.

Some people have written me wondering if I think this will set the end times back a little on the belief that Netanyahu is a stronger defender of Israel’s territory than the other leading candidate.  But I think the opposite might be true. Where Israel is concerned, Arab strategy has always been to get as much as possible through negotiations (land for peace) and then get the rest by going to war.  Those who are willing to negotiate can keep making concessions to avoid war.

Netanyahu has promised no Palestinian state (although he has since softened a little on that), no divided capitol, and more construction in East Jerusalem. If he sticks to these promises there won’t be much to negotiate. The effect of this could be to convince the Arabs that they will have to fight to get the rest of the things they want. (Of course what they want is no more Israel.)

It’s rumored that the US and other countries will turn to the UN in an effort to force Israel into negotiations with the Palestinians. If so, we may be seeing early hints of the fulfillment of Zechariah 12:3 when all the nations of the world will gather against Jerusalem.

But it’s not my job to offer political commentary or human speculation. It’s my job to report on what the Bible says. So let’s begin.

Psalm 83/Isaiah 17
The combined fulfillment of these two prophecies could well be the next event on the prophetic calendar. In Psalm 83 the psalmist listed a group of adversaries plotting to “destroy Israel as a nation, that the name of Israel will be remembered no more” (Psalm 83:4).  The fulfillment of these prophecies are not recorded in history, but may soon become a reality.  A careful study of the names of Israel’s adversaries listed in Psalm 83:5-8 shows they all occupied lands adjacent to Israel in their time.  The current occupants of these lands appear just as determined to destroy Israel as their historic counterparts were.  If the psalmist’s prayer is answered, Israel will emerge victorious. Damascus will no longer be a city,  and the threat from the proxy groups controlled by Russia and Iran who are lurking just across Israel’s borders will have been neutralized.

Ezekiel 38-39
The defeat of Israel’s next door neighbors will fulfill one of the preconditions required for the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 to take place. In Ezekiel 38:11 the Lord revealed these thoughts in the mind of Gog, the supernatural leader of the armies of Magog. “I will invade a land of unwalled villages. I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people – all of them living without gates and bars”(Ezekiel 38:11).  This certainly cannot be said of Israel today. But it could be the case if Hezbollah, Syria, the PLO, Hamas, and other contentious neighbors had recently been defeated. The absence of these neighbors from Ezekiel’s list of Israel’s attackers lends credence to the notion of their prior defeat.

However it happens, a large contingent of forces armed and controlled by Russia and consisting of Muslim fighters from around the Middle East and Eastern Europe will suddenly swoop down from the north onto the mountains of Israel. They will descend like a cloud over central Israel, having the goal of conquering the Jewish nation with overwhelming force.

In Ezekiel 38:16 God admitted that He Himself will have orchestrated this attack as a demonstration of his power to the nations of the world.  With His signature acts of a great earthquake, plague, torrents of rain, hailstones, burning sulfur, and turning the attackers against each other, He will decimate this invading army and Israel will once again emerge victorious (Ezekiel 38:19-23).

Daniel’s 70th Week
The realization that it was God who won their victory over the Russian/Muslim invaders will make Israel will respond just as God predicted.“From that day forward, the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God” (Ezekiel 39:22).  They will renew their national Old Covenant relationship with Him.   Employing the altar they have recently completed, the priesthood they’ve been preparing will again offer sacrifices to their God.

After a 2,000 year pause, Daniel’s missing 70th Week will have begun. With the help of an emerging world leader, they will begin constructing a Temple. Many will believe peace in the Middle East has finally arrived.

But too late, they will realize they’ve made a covenant with death, something God also predicted (Isaiah 28:15)  The emerging world leader who everyone saw as a great man of peace will turn out to be a conqueror bent on conquest (Rev. 6:2), and war will soon be the order of the day across 1/4th of the world, accompanied by the disease, famine, and death that always follows (Rev. 6:8).

Then this leader will commit an act of blasphemy that in Jewish history has been called the abomination of desolation, previously committed only by Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 BC.  He will stand in the Temple he helped build and declare himself to be God (2 Thess. 2:4).  This is the event Jesus said would signal the beginning of the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:15, 21). It will take place in the middle of Daniel’s 70th Week.

Great Tribulation
When He gave this sign to Israel almost 2,000 years  ago, Jesus also warned them to flee into the mountains when they saw it, saying this would begin the greatest time of trouble the world has ever seen. Those who are believers will flee, but those who are only Jews by heritage or tradition will accept this imposter. They will think he’s the long awaited messiah and worship him, even as he begins a concerted effort to wipe their believing brethren off the face of the earth.

God will help the believers escape to a place prepared for them in the desert (Rev. 12:14) and will protect them there while He launches the most severe series of judgments in the history of the world.  According to Jeremiah 30:11, His purpose in doing so will be two fold.  First, He’s going to completely destroy all the nations to which His people have been scattered, and second, He’s going to  discipline Israel, purifying them in preparation for opening their eyes so they’ll finally be able to recognize the Messiah.

Toward the end of the Great Tribulation, this will happen.

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

This will be the moment the Lord has been waiting for.  2,000 years ago Israel had asked for a miraculous sign from Him.

He said, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:39-40).

Having waited in vain for Israel to accept this undeniable proof that He is their Messiah, He left them.  It was 40 days after His resurrection, and their time of testing was over.  This too had been prophesied long ago.

“Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me” (Hosea 5:15).

Finally, in their hour of desperation, they will admit their guilt and mourn for Him.  And the Lord will say,

Their blood guilt which I have not pardoned, I will pardon (Joel 3:21).

They will finally understand what the preceding 2,000 years has been all about.  It has been about God waiting for Israel to admit that their Messiah had come and they did not recognize Him.

Second Coming
Upon His return the Lord will first go to Petra, where the believing remnant of Israel will be, and defeat all the enemy forces surrounding His people there (Isaiah 63:1-6).  Then He will go to Jerusalem to free His city and defeat the forces gathered against Him there.  The anti-Christ, who had deceived the whole world, will be captured and thrown live into the Lake of fire, and all his armies will be destroyed (Rev. 19:11-21).  At the end of the day He will be King of the whole Earth, and His name will be the only name (Zechariah 14:9).

Millennium
In the Millennium, Israel will once again be God’s most favored nation on Earth. In fact, He will dwell among them as He did in Biblical times, only this time it will be forever (Ezekiel 43:7). They will occupy all the land he originally promised to them. Peace and prosperity will be the order of the day (Isaiah 66:12), since the nation’s age old enemies will have all been vanquished. Only during the time of Solomon have they even come close to having the quality of life they will soon enjoy, with all the promises God has made to them finally coming true.

Summary
When you understand the prophetic view, you can see that everything is falling into place, just like God said it would.  Because their hearts remain hardened against Him, there will be some very difficult days ahead for Israel. They will be abandoned by all their friends, at the mercy of their enemies. Even the nation’s self reliance, declared so confidently in the prime minister’s recent speech before Congress, will be insufficient to save them.

But He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4). He’s been waiting patiently for the time to come when they will realize that only He can save them, and will humble themselves before Him to ask for His help.  Even this has been foretold.

“Come, let us return to the Lord.  He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence” (Hosea 6:1-2).

When that time comes,  He will save them and restore them. He will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:34). Once again they will be His people and He will be their God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins (Isaiah 40:2). Finally.