CET: 14 When Does Christ’s Wrath Begin?

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Chapter 14

When Does Christ’s Endtime Wrath Begin?

The Cosmic Signs

[Note: See the Glossary in Appendix B for Christ’s Wrath, Trumpet and Bowl Punishments.]

A) Myth #9 in Pretribulationism: The “tribulation” is Christ’s Wrath which we are promised to be rescued from

B) Defining Christ’s Wrath

C) Christ’s Wrath is not the persecution of Christians

D) The Cosmic Signs mark the beginning of Christ’s Wrath

E) The Seals of Preparation prepare the world for Christ’s Wrath

F) What is the “blessed hope”? (Tit 2:13)

Primary Points

Christ’s Endtimes Wrath is defined as the period of time when Christ executes His punishment of unbelievers remaining on Earth after Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue. It is made up of the Trumpet and Bowl Punishments.

Unfortunately, Pre-tribulationism perverts the promise that Christians will be rescued from this wrath (1 Thess 1:10) and even claims this promise will not apply to all Christians in the Endtimes.

Myth #9 in Pretribulationism is that the “tribulation” is Christ’s Wrath which we are promised to be rescued from. The truth is this: Christ’s Wrath begins after the Cosmic Signs, Christ’s Return, and the Church’s Rescue.

Unfortunately, Pre-tribulationism fails to distinguish Christ’s Wrath against unbelievers, from Antichrist’s Wrath against believers.

Pre-tribulationism concludes that The Greatest Persecution is Christ’s Wrath! This is both biblically and morally wrong. What makes Pre-tribulationism’s view even worse is that it also claims there are “post-rapture” Christians on the Earth during Christ’s Endtime Wrath.

The repeated teaching of Scripture is that the Cosmic Signs indicate Christ’s Return and the beginning of Christ’s Endtime Wrath.

Pre-tribulationism claims that all of the Seals described in Revelation 6 are Christ’s Wrath. This is clearly false because one of those Seals unleashes The Greatest Persecution on the Church which cannot be Christ’s Wrath.
The scroll contains Christ’s Wrath. The seals on the scroll prepare the world for Christ’s Wrath. After all seven seals are opened, Christ’s Wrath will begin.
The blessed hope (Tit 2:13) is not to be exempted from The Greatest Persecution as Pre-tribulationism claims. Rather, it is the better promise to be rescued from Christ’s Wrath.

A) Myth #9 in Pretribulationism: The “tribulation” is Christ’s Wrath which we are promised to be rescued from

In these chapters we are refuting 13 myths that have been made popular by the Pre-tribulation Rapture view. Myth #9 is: The “tribulation” is Christ’s Wrath which we are promised to be rescued from. This myth is most clearly refuted by answering the question posed in the title of this chapter: When does Christ’s Endtime Wrath begin? The biblical answer to this question clearly reveals the difference between the biblical Pre-wrath Rescue position and the unbiblical Pre-tribulation Rapture view.

Christ’s Wrath throughout the Endtimes Essentials is what Revelation refers to as the wrath of the Lamb! (Rev 6:16 NIV). It is defined as the period of time when Christ executes His punishment of unbelievers remaining on Earth after Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue. It is made up of the Trumpet and Bowl Punishments (cf. Rev chs. 8-9, 15-16, 19). Therefore, it can be further distinguished as Christ’s Endtimes Wrath.

Thankfully, the NT promises that before Christ’s Endtime Wrath begins, the Church’s Rescue will occur with Christ’s Return. This is why the Apostle Paul tells Christians to wait for his Son from heaven … Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10 NIV; cf. 5:9; Rom 5:9; Col 3:6). This is a precious and repeated promise in Scripture that the Church will not suffer Christ’s punishing Endtime Wrath but will be rescued by Jesus before it occurs.

Unfortunately, Pre-tribulationism perverts this promise and even claims this promise will not apply to all Christians in the Endtimes. It does this by redefining Christ’s Endtimes Wrath as the entire “tribulation” period. Therefore, it claims that Christ’s Wrath will include The Beginning of Birth Pains and The Greatest Persecution of Christians. This redefining of thlipsis (“tribulation”) as Christ’s Wrath, leads to the claim that the Church is “raptured” before any of the Endtime events in Christ’s Endtimes Teaching occur. This fundamental error in Pre-tribulationism was discussed thoroughly in chapter 3 (sec. E).

Contrary to the popular Pre-tribulation Rapture view, the Pre-wrath Rescue position teaches that the Church’s Rescue occurs after The Greatest Persecution and Antichrist’s Wrath against God’s people. Therefore, the “rapture” is not “pre-tribulational” but pre-divine wrath. The differences between these two views can be illustrated in the following graphics.

Again, redefining Christ’s Wrath as including The Beginning of Birth Pains and The Greatest Persecution is essential to Pre-tribulationism. Accordingly, Mark Hitchcock, a foremost promoter of Pre-tribulationism writes:

While no single verse says Jesus is coming to rapture His saints before the seven-year Tribulation, there are clear statements that He is coming to deliver His people from the coming wrath [notice how the author equates “Tribulation” and “wrath”] (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; Revelation 3:10). Thus, it stands to reason that God will use the Rapture to accomplish this promise…

While much more could be said about this view [the Pre-wrath Rescue position taught in the Endtimes Essentials] its validity rises and falls on the interpretation of when God’s wrath begins [true!]. If God’s wrath doesn’t begin until the seventh seal of Revelation, as proponents [of the Pre-wrath Rescue position rightly] suggest, then this view could be legitimate [that’s one reason it is]. If, however, God’s wrath unfurls from the start of the Tribulation [even before the first seal of Revelation as Pre-tribulationism claims], then this view [Pre-wrath Rescue position] falls to pieces. One must decide which interpretation makes more sense.

In my opinion, the wrath of God does not begin near the end of the Tribulation, but at the very beginning. The seal judgments in Revelation 6 are opened by the Lamb (Jesus Christ) at the very beginning of the Tribulation (Revelation 6:1-2). He is the source of these judgments. To argue that they are the wrath of man and Satan, ignores that the One bringing these judgments forth is the Lamb. ^[1] (Underlining added)

Hitchcock is right to recognize that the timing of Christ’s Wrath is a pivotal issue between the biblical Pre-wrath Rescue position and the unbiblical Pre-tribulation Rapture view. However, the author makes several biblical errors in the text above.

First, notice in the first paragraph that Hitchcock equates “the seven-year Tribulation” with “the coming wrath.” Again, this fundamental error of Pre-tribulationism was addressed earlier (cf. ch. 3, sec. E). There it was concluded that 1) “tribulation” in English means “persecution” not “God’s wrath”; and 2) Jesus described the periods of the Endtimes as the beginning of birth pains and the greatest persecution of God’s elect people (Matt 24:8, 21 ^[2]). Referring to these events with the general term “tribulation” is misleading. Pre-tribulationism’s “great tribulation” is not Christ’s Endtime Wrath to punish unbelievers. Rather, “the great tribulation” is The Greatest Persecution (thlipsis; cf. Matt 24:9, 21, 29) of God’s elect [eklektous] people. In no way should The Beginning of Birth Pains and The Greatest Persecution be referred to as Christ’s Wrath. This error will be discussed further below.

Second, notice that Hitchcock’s confusion of “the Tribulation” with “the coming wrath” results in placing the greatest persecution of God’s elect people (Matt 24:21) during Christ’s Wrath. Therefore, Pretribulationism claims that a period of time when Christians are being persecuted and murdered, should be understood as the wrath of God. This is not only biblically wrong, but morally wrong. And it is the clearest reason to reject their view on the timing of Christ’s Wrath. This is discussed further in section C below.

Third, in the second paragraph, Hitchcock rejects the biblical teaching that “God’s wrath doesn’t begin until the seventh seal of Revelation.” On the contrary, this truth will be demonstrated below in section D.

Fourth, Hitchcock’s claim that the Pre-wrath Rescue position believes “the wrath of God” begins “near the end of the Tribulation” is false. Christ’s Wrath begins with the opening of the 7^th Seal, but will include all of the Trumpet and Bowl Punishments.

Finally, in the last sentence above, Hitchcock claims that “To argue that” the Seals described in Revelation chapter 6 are not Christ’s Wrath “ignores that the One bringing these judgments forth is the Lamb.” This seems to be the author’s strongest argument for his view. It can be dealt with fairly easily. First, Hitchcock again seems to forget that the martyrdom of Christians is revealed in the Fifth Seal (cf. Rev 6:9-11). Therefore, even Pre-tribulationism needs to answer the question of why the demonic genocide of God’s people is unleashed when Christ opens the Fifth Seal. The answer is something else Hitchcock seems to forget. God’s sovereignty and plan can include the actions of Satan and the worst disasters for His people.

Myth #9 in Pretribulationism is that the “tribulation” is Christ’s Wrath which we are promised to be rescued from. The truth is this: As depicted in the graphic above, Christ’s Wrath begins after the Cosmic Signs, Christ’s Return, and the Church’s Rescue. Jesus said Immediately after the completion of the greatest persecution when the heavenly bodies will be shaken … And then all the peoples of the Earth will … see the Son of Man then He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet sound, and they will lift up and gather together God’s elect people from one end of the sky to the other, from everywhere on Earth. (Matt 24:29-31; cf. Rev 6:12-17).

Therefore, neither The Beginning of Birth Pains, nor The Greatest Persecution is the coming wrath that Jesus is coming from heaven to rescues us from (1 Thess 1:10). Particularly, The Greatest Persecution should never be labeled as Christ’s Wrath. The biblical truth is that The Greatest Persecution will be Antichrist’s Wrath against God’s people, not Christ’s Wrath. Therefore, the Church’s Rescue (“rapture”) is Pre-wrath, not Pre-tribulational.

Again, God promises that the coming of Jesus … rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10). But, contrary to Pre-tribulationism, the Church has been promised it will experience “tribulation.” Pre-tribulationism denies that Christ’s Endtimes Teaching places the Church in the great tribulation [thlipsis] (Matt 24:21 NASB). But using the same Greek word, Jesus promised His Church elsewhere, “In the world you will have tribulation [thlipsin]” (John 16:33 ESV). More will be said about this in the next chapter (15).

The next section (B) will more specifically define what Christ’s Endtime Wrath is. Section C will further discuss the unbiblical and even immoral claim of Pre-tribulationism that real Christians will be on Earth during Christ’s Endtimes Wrath. Section D will answer the question, “When does Christ’s Endtime Wrath begin?” Section E will demonstrate these truths by further explaining the Seals of Preparation. Finally, section F will rescue the biblical blessed hope (Tit 2:13) from the false teaching of Pre-tribulationism.

B) Defining Christ’s Endtime Wrath

Paul tells Christians to wait for … Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10 NIV). This Endtime coming wrath of Christ was defined above as: the period of time when Christ executes His punishment of unbelievers remaining on Earth after Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue. It is made up of the Trumpet and Bowl Punishments (cf. Rev chs. 8-9, 15-16, 19).

Christ’s Endtime Wrath needs to be distinguished from other expressions of God’s wrath and human catastrophes. Of course, God chooses to punish sinners on Earth in His wrath now. God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day (Ps 7:11; cf. Rom 1:18; 13:4; Eph 5:6). Perhaps some wars, famines, plagues, and catastrophes in human history have been directly caused by God exercising His wrath. Unfortunately, there can be times that God’s own people are caught up in these divine judgments.

In both Christ’s Endtimes Teaching and Revelation 6, The Beginning of Birth Pains is described as a time of unprecedented wars, famines, and plagues killing people on one fourth of the Earth. Surely some of those people will include Christians in the Church. Therefore, will this be Christ’s Wrath on unbelievers? Of course not. Scripture repeatedly says the Church will be on Earth during this time.

Therefore, we cannot label these catastrophes as Christ’s Wrath. Rather, they are better labeled Seals of Preparation for Christ’s Wrath. This will all be confirmed below when we clearly see when Christ’s Wrath begins in the book of Revelation. The Scriptures clearly teach that Christ’s Endtime Wrath is the period of time when Christ executes His punishment of unbelievers remaining on Earth after Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue. It is the coming wrath that Jesus … rescues us from (1 Thess 1:10).

The Bible often refers to Christ’s Endtimes Wrath as a part of “The Day of the Lord.” For example, we read in Isaiah:

See, the day of the LORD is coming—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger —to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it… I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins… I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the LORD Almighty, in the day of his burning anger (13:9, 11, 13 NIV).

Likewise, Paul referred to the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed (Rom 2:5 NIV). Revelation chapter 6 introduces the arrival of the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:16) in the sequence of Endtime events. The wrath of the Lamb (Christ) is what is referred to as Christ’s Wrath throughout the Endtimes Essentials series. Revelation goes on in chapters 8-9 and 15-16 to describe in more detail the wrath of the Lamb in the Trumpet and Bowl Punishments. For example, starting in Revelation 8:7 we read:

The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. (NIV)

Revelation goes on to tell us that Christ’s Endtime Wrath includes: The Earth’s water turning to blood and killing every sea creature (cf. 8:8-9; 15:3-6); locusts from the Abyss stinging people and causing enough pain to make them seek death but they will not die (cf. 9:1-11); and an army of horses with lion’s heads killing people with fire coming from their mouths (cf. 9:13-19).

That is the supernatural Endtime Wrath of Christ to punish unbelievers remaining on the Earth after the Church’s Rescue. It is concluded with the Battle of Armageddon, the battle on the great day of God Almighty (Rev 16:14; cf. 15:1; 19:15). Those defeated are described as grapes … loaded into the great winepress of God’s wrath which will be trampled such that blood [will] flow from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle (Rev 14:19-20 NLT ^[3]). This is because Christ, treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty (Rev 19:15). This is the coming wrath that the Church is promised Jesus will rescue it from (1 Thess 1:10).

Unfortunately, Pre-tribulationism fails to distinguish Christ’s Wrath against unbelievers, from Antichrist’s Wrath against believers. The Antichrist’s Wrath will begin immediately after Antichrist’s Claim to be God and the resulting Greatest Persecution (cf. Matt 24:15-29; Rev 12:7-17; 13:1-17; 14:9-13). Antichrist’s Wrath will be ended with Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue. Following these, Christ’s Wrath on the unbelievers remaining on Earth will begin and then end with the Battle of Armageddon. ^[4] Again, this is portrayed in the graphic above of the biblical Pre-wrath Rescue position.

C) Christ’s Endtime Wrath is not the persecution of Christians

Scripture encourages the Church to wait for … Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10). Again, Pretribulationism claims that this rescue occurs before The Greatest Persecution. Therefore, it also claims that The Greatest Persecution is Christ’s Wrath! This is perhaps the most alarming and even immoral conclusion of Pre-tribulational teaching.

It is alarming how many teachers are willing to claim that the Antichrist’s persecution of the elect (Matt 24:22) and the saints (Dan 7:25; Rev 13:5-10) is during Christ’s Endtime Wrath. Those who carelessly define the great tribulation (Matt 24:21 NASB) as God’s wrath seem to intentionally ignore the fact that the persecution of Christians is described as occurring at that time.

What makes Pre-tribulationism’s view even worse is that it also claims there are “post-rapture” Christians on the Earth during Christ’s Endtime Wrath. Pre-tribulation comes to this complicated conclusion by claiming: 1) “the tribulation” will be Christ’s Wrath; and 2) There is a massive revival of Christianity after the Church’s Rescue.

This latter error is based on interpreting the 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel (Rev 7:4 NIV) as worldwide evangelists whom God uses to convert a massive number of people during the Endtimes. According to the error of Pre-tribulationism, this “post-rapture revival” and these “post-rapture Christians” are described later in Revelation 7 where we read:

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes —who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev 7:9, 13-14 NIV)

As a result of Pre-tribulationism’s complicated scheme, Tim Lahaye writes:

Revelation 7:9 indicates that during the first part of the Tribulation [after the “rapture”] the greatest soul harvest in all history will take place. ^[5]

There are several biblical problems with claiming that Revelation 7:9-14 is not describing the Church’s Rescue, but a multitude of Christians getting saved after the “rapture.”

First, this completely ignores the sequence of Endtime events that Christ gave us in His Endtimes Teaching. The great persecution (megalēs thlipseōs) mentioned in Revelation 7:14 is the same greatest persecution (megalē thlipsis) that Christ spoke of in Matthew 24:21. And Christ made it clear that the greatest persecution will occur before the Church’s Rescue (cf. Matt 24:29-31). Therefore, it is impossible for this great persecution in Revelation 7 to occur after the Church’s Rescue as Pre-tribulationism claims.

Second, contrary to Lahaye, there is no clear biblical evidence of any kind of Christian revival among Gentiles after Christ’s Return and the Church’s Rescue. There is some evidence that God begins to work in Israel during this time. ^[6]

For the above reasons it is unbiblical and even perverted for Pre-tribulationism to claim there will be Christians on the Earth during Christ’s Wrath. Frankly, supporters of this view do not think through the ramifications of their teaching.

Why are these so-called “post-rapture” Christians disqualified from God’s promise to rescue them from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10)? These Christians are described as those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained (Rev 6:9). They are fellow servants of Christ and brothers and sisters in Christ (v. 11). These are they who have come out of the great persecution; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (7:14). We ask again, what is inferior about these Christians that denies them membership in the Church of Christ and to be rescued by Christ from the time of Christ’s Endtime Wrath on Earth? Proponents for this view have no good answer for that. ^[7]

Many seem so desperate to exempt themselves and the Church from The Greatest Persecution that they have invented a separate category of Christians who are disqualified from God’s promise to rescue us from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10). This false teaching has separated the Church into Christians who are exempt from Christ’s Endtime Wrath, and those who will experience it. And of course, those teaching this view are among those who are exempt. Ironically, some of those promoting this false teaching are also false Christians and will in fact experience Christ’s Endtime Wrath and even God’s eternal wrath.

The persecution of Christians should NEVER be labeled as the time of Christ’s Endtime Wrath. Rather, The Greatest Persecution will be Antichrist’s Wrath against God’s people, including the Church. ^[8]

D) The Cosmic Signs mark the beginning of Christ’s Wrath

Scripture encourages the Church to wait for … Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10). When will this rescue occur in the Endtimes? We can answer that question by answering another one. How will we know when Christ’s Endtime Wrath is just about to begin?

The repeated teaching of Scripture is that the Cosmic Signs indicate Christ’s Return and the beginning of Christ’s Endtime Wrath. Many times in Scripture, the Cosmic Signs signal God’s Wrath (cf. Isa 13:10; 34:4; Eze 32:7; Joel 2:10,31; Zep 1:15; Rev 6:12,13). We will discuss three of these descriptions.

First, the Prophet Joel described the Cosmic Signs as marking the beginning of the Endtime “day of the Lord” wrath. God says:

I will cause wonders in the heavens [stars] and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. (2:30-31 NLT)

The Cosmic Signs are wonders in the heavens or stars, including the sun turning dark and the moon turning blood red. These are consistently the Cosmic Signs throughout Scripture. The great and terrible day of the LORD is a biblical term for Christ’s Wrath against His enemies. Therefore, notice the sequence in Joel: the Cosmic Signs are immediately before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. Therefore, the Cosmic Signs immediately precede Christ’s Endtime Wrath.

This same purpose for the Cosmic Signs is revealed in Christ’s Endtimes Teaching. The Beginning of Birth Pains (cf. Matt 24:4-8) and The Greatest Persecution (vs. 9-22) will be followed by Cosmic Signs signaling Christ’s visible Return and the Church’s Rescue. Jesus said:

Immediately after the completion of the greatest persecution, then [there will be Cosmic Signs] ‘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 the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the sky. 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.

He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet sound, and they will lift up and gather together [rescue] God’s elect people from one end of the sky to the other, from everywhere on Earth.” (Matt 24:29-31 ^[9]).

We see that the Church’s Rescue rather immediately follows the Cosmic Signs. Why? Because at this point, with Christ’s Return, Christ’s Wrath is about to begin.

In Luke’s version of Christ’s Endtimes Teaching, Jesus tells His people:

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your rescue [apolytrōsis] is drawing near” (Luke 21:25-28 ^[10]).

First, notice that Jesus added an element to the Cosmic Signs: the roaring and tossing of the sea (v. 25). Perhaps this will be caused by the gravitational forces being unleashed when the heavenly bodies will be shaken (v. 26).

Secondly, why would Jesus tell us that the Cosmic Signs will mean our rescue is near? Because the Cosmic Signs signal Christ’s visible Return and Christ’s Endtime Wrath and Jesus … rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10).

Of course, there are many Christian Teachers who claim these Cosmic Signs are merely symbolic and not to be understood in a literal way. But Jesus made it clear that the physical appearance of these phenomena will mark His Return. As discussed previously (ch. 12, sec. A), God usually fulfills biblical prophecy in a literal and physical way. ^[11] The Bible teaches that these Cosmic Signs will mark the beginning of Christ’s Wrath on Earth.

All of this perfectly agrees with Revelation 6 where the Apostle John says:

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth. (vs. 12-13)

Then we are told that unbelievers in the world at that time will be desperate to hide … from the wrath of the Lamb! (v. 16). Christ’s visible Return following the Cosmic Signs marks the beginning of Christ’s Endtime Wrath. This is why v. 17 says: For the great day of their wrath has come, the Greek referring to an event that has just begun or is about to appear. ^[12]

Revelation 6:16 is the first time God’s wrath or anger is mentioned in the book of Revelation, followed by 15 more times. However, Pre-tribulationism teaches that the first 5 Seals of Preparation described previously in Revelation 6:1-11 is Christ’s Endtimes Wrath. If this were true, why are the Christian martyrs in verse 10 asking, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”? They are asking this because Christ’s Endtime Wrath and His punishment of unbelievers on the Earth has not occurred yet in the sequence of Endtime events. Their martyrdoms and The Greatest Persecution they will experience will not be the wrath of God.

At the end of Revelation chapter 6, we read that the wrath of the Lamb … has come (vs. 16-17). Revelation chapter 8 will begin a description of Christ’s Wrath in the first Trumpet Punishment. Therefore, if the Church’s Rescue must happen before Christ’s Endtime Wrath is unleashed on the Earth, what would we expect to find described in between Revelation chapters 6 and 8? The Church’s Rescue. Which is precisely what we find in Revelation 7:9, 14 which describes a great multitude of Christians from every nation … who have come out of the great persecution (thlipseōs).

Therefore, Revelation 6-8 makes it clear when Christ’s Endtime Wrath begins in the sequence of Endtime events. Revelation 6:1-11 describes the first 5 Seals of Preparation, including the wars and famines of The Beginning of Birth Pains and martyrdoms that will occur during The Greatest Persecution. Then when The Greatest Persecution is completed, the sixth Seal of Preparation will be opened, and the Cosmic Signs will occur signaling that the wrath of the Lamb … has come (vs. 16-17). Next Revelation chapter 7 describes the Church’s Rescue because Christ’s Wrath is about to begin.

After the Church’s Rescue described in Revelation chapter 7, chapter 8 begins a description of Christ’s Wrath. The seventh seal of Preparation is opened and there is an ominous silence in heaven for about half an hour (v. 1). In verse 7 we read the first angel sounded his trumpet and a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. That is the beginning of Christ’s Wrath, signaled by the Cosmic Signs described at the end of Revelation chapter 6.

E) The Seals of Preparation prepare the world for Christ’s Wrath

Pre-tribulationism claims that all the Seals described in Revelation chapter 6 is Christ’s Wrath. This has been thoroughly demonstrated to be false. Again, one reason is that one of those Seals unleashes The Greatest Persecution on the Church which cannot be Christ’s Wrath.

Therefore, what is the meaning of this scroll that is being opened? Its first mention is in Revelation chapter 5 where John wrote:

Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of God the Father Who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. (Rev 5:1 ^[13])

What does this scroll represent? What is contained within it? Christ’s Endtime Wrath on this world. When all seven seals of Preparation are broken and the scroll is opened, Christ’s Wrath will be unleashed.

As noted above, after the seventh seal is opened (v. 1) “all Hell breaks loose.” Rather immediately a third of the Earth will be burned up by hail and fire mixed with blood being hurled down on the Earth (v. 7 NIV). This is the beginning of Christ’s Wrath.

So what do the previous six seals on the scroll represent? They are events that prepare the world for Christ’s Wrath. In the ancient world important legal announcements from a ruler were written on such scrolls. Then they were sealed with a piece of wax imprinted with the signet ring of the ruler. Often times each seal represented a condition that needed to be met before the scroll was to be opened.

Likewise, the events unleashed by the seals prepare the world for the contents of the scroll which is Christ’s Endtime Wrath. These events will include The Greatest Persecution of God’s people in the Fifth Seal (cf. Rev 6:9-11). This will certainly be one thing that prepares the world for Christ’s Wrath (cf. Rev 6:10; 16:6; 18:20; 19:2).

This is why these events are referred to as Seal Preparations throughout the Endtimes Essentials studies. They prepare the world for Christ’s Wrath. For reasons given above, the Seal Preparations themselves are not Christ’s Wrath. Christ’s Endtime Wrath does not begin until all seven seals of the scroll are broken. But, when all seven seals are opened, Christ’s Wrath will be unleashed. This is because Christ’s Wrath is the contents of the scroll. It contains the Trumpet and Bowl Punishments described in Revelation chapters 8-9 and 15-16. The end of the scroll and Christ’s Wrath will be the Battle of Armageddon (cf. Rev 16:12-21; 19:11-21). ^[14]

F) What is the “blessed hope”? (Tit 2:13)

The Scriptures say: we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Tit 2:13 NIV). Unfortunately, Pre-tribulationism claims the blessed hope is being exempted from The Greatest Persecution by a “secret and silent rapture.” This view further claims that any view of the Endtimes that places the Church in The Greatest Persecution, steals our blessed hope. There are at least three errors in this view.

First, the biblical blessed hope is not some “secret and silent rapture.” It is rather surprising how Pre-tribulationists completely ignore how Paul describes the “rapture” in Titus 2:13. The Apostle said, we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Again, that is not a “secret, silent, rapture” as Pre-tribulationism claims. Lahaye tries to solve this problem by claiming Paul is referring to two different appearances of Christ in this one verse. He writes:

The “blessed hope” [refers to] that day just before the Tribulation when we will be gathered together … to meet the Lord in the clouds [for the “rapture”]. The “glorious appearing” obviously refers to His [visibly] coming to the earth in “power and great glory.” To those who take the Bible literally, this interpretation passes the test of “making common sense” out of Scripture. ^[15]

On the contrary, Titus 2:13 is not describing two different appearances of Christ. The verse simply says: we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Tit 2:13). Contrary to what Lahaye, the Apostle clearly believed that the blessed hope was the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. These will not be two separated events. This is confirmed by the Apostle’s teaching in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7. There he told the persecuted Christian not to expect relief until the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels (NIV; cf. ch. 5, sec. B).

Secondly, the blessed hope is not to be exempted from The Greatest Persecution. Rather, the blessed hope is to be rescued out of persecution after experiencing it. This actually enhances the “blessedness” of the deliverance, and in no way diminishes the blessed hope as Pre-tribulationism claims.

Finally, our blessed hope is something even better than being exempted from or rescued out of persecution. Our blessed hope is to wait for his Son from heaven … who rescues us from the coming wrath of God (1 Thess 1:10)! The Antichrist’s Wrath will be minor and very temporary compared to the powerful anger and eternal punishment of God Almighty. Which one would you rather be rescued from? The Antichrist’s temporary persecution, or God Almighty’s eternal Wrath?

As Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body [in persecution, for example] but cannot kill the soul [like God]. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell forever (Math 10:28 NIV). Indeed, it is a very blessed hope to wait for his Son from heaven … Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath of God!

Hitchcock, End, 136, 143. ↑
For an explanation of the suggested translation of Matt 24:21 see ch. 3, sec. E. ↑
For arguments that Revelation 14:19-20 is referring to the Battle of Armageddon and can be interpreted literally see Thomas. ↑
This section contains the simple and biblical explanation of Christ’s Endtime Wrath. However, it needs to be reconciled with the following prophecy from Luke’s version of Christ’s Endtimes Teaching:“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-24 NIV)
This is a complex prophecy. First, it should be noticed that elements of it were fulfilled in A. D. 70 when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies from Rome and the city became a desolation (v. 20). However, Luke’s version of Christ’s Endtimes Teaching makes it clear that the final and ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy will occur immediately before “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars and people … will see the Son of Man coming” (vs. 25-27). In other words, Luke 21:2-24 will occur during The Greatest Persecution.

It has been argued in this section that The Greatest Persecution will not be Christ’s Endtime Wrath. This would violate God’s promise that the Church is to wait for … Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10). In addition, as also demonstrated in this section, Christ’s Endtimes Wrath will not begin until after The Greatest Persecution, the Cosmic Signs, Christ’s Return, and the Church’s Rescue.

However, the text above predicts that during The Greatest Persecution of the Church, There will be great distress in the land of Israel and wrath against this people (v 23) the unbelieving Jews. This will be the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written (v. 22) in the OT about God’s Endtime plan for Israel. It seems that during The Greatest Persecution that the Jews and Jerusalem will finish their rebellion … put an end to their sin … atone for their guilt and bring in everlasting righteousness (Dan 9:24 NLT).

Therefore, we have another example of the complex differences between God’s Endtime plan for the Church and Israel. During The Greatest Persecution, Christians in the Church will be experiencing Antichrist’s Wrath as an opportunity to glorify their Savior. But during the same time, unbelieving Jews will be experiencing God’s punishment for their sin, in preparation for restoring them after Christ’s Return and during “the day of the Lord.”

For more on the relationship between Israel and the Church in the Endtimes see chapter 11 in Additional Studies on the Endtimes (ASE). The point here is this. The fact that unbelieving Jews will be experiencing God’s wrath during The Greatest Persecution does not mean that the saved, forgiven believers in the Church will be experiencing the same. The Church will be experiencing Antichrist’s Wrath and afterwards Jesus will come from heaven to rescue us from the coming wrath (1 Thess 1:10) of God. ↑
Tim Lahaye, Revelation Unveiled (Zondervan, 1999), 153. ↑
For more on the question, “Will people get saved in the Endtimes?” see chapter 10 in ASE. ↑
Others recognize that The Beginning of Birth Pains and The Greatest Persecution contained in the first 5 Seals of Revelation 6 should not be considered Christ’s Endtime Wrath in the “Day of the Lord.” Morris writes:The first four seals … show us the self-defeating character of sin. When the spirit of selfishness and conquest is operating, all God needs to do is let events take their course and sinners will be inevitably punished. (Rev)
Likewise, Osborne writes of the “four horsemen” of Rev 6:1-8: “God is not so much pouring down judgment on the earth-dwellers as allowing their depravity to come full circle” (274).

Finally, Van Kampen notes: “The wrath of God is never equated with the persecution of God’s elect” (Sign, 19). ↑
The error of confusing “the tribulation” and persecution of Christians with “the day of the Lord” and Christ’s Endtime Wrath is illustrated in the following. MacArthur writes regarding the alarm the Thessalonians had about the false claim that the day of the Lord has already begun (2 Thess 2:2):The Thessalonians’ fears that they were in the Day of the Lord and thus had missed the Rapture imply that the Rapture precedes the Tribulation [Day of the Lord & Christ’s Wrath]. If the Thessalonians knew that the Rapture came at the end of the Tribulation, persecution would not have caused them to fear they had missed it. Instead, that persecution would have been a cause for joy, not concern.(Thessalonians, 124)
There are several problems with this interpretation. In the first sentence MacArthur confuses “the Day of the Lord” with “the Tribulation” claiming the latter is Christ’s Endtime Wrath. We have argued against this in detail in this book. In chapter 3, it was noted that “tribulation” in both Greek and English means “persecution,” not “wrath” (cf. sec. E). In this chapter it has been demonstrated that Christ’s Wrath does not begin until after the Cosmic Signs, Christ’s Return, and the Church’s Rescue. Contrary to MacArthur, the “rapture” is pre-wrath, not pre-tribulational.

The second and third sentences of MacArthur’s statement are true. They express the biblical view of the sequence of Endtime events and if the Thessalonians had understood it, they would not have been alarmed, but anticipating the Church’s Rescue. But MacArthur claims the “pre-wrath rapture” cannot be true because the Thessalonians were afraid. On the contrary, the reason they were afraid is because they believed the same error as MacArthur: that their persecution (“the tribulation”) was the wrath of God. ↑
For an explanation of the suggested translation of Matt 24:29-31 see ch. 3, secs. E & F and ch. 4, sec. C. ↑
For support for translating apolytrōsis as “rescue” in Luke 21:28 see chapter 4, section C.3 and endnote there. ↑
Piper addresses the common error of interpreting the Cosmic Signs in merely a symbolic way when he writes:We should be slow to treat the signs accompanying the second coming as metaphorical. Jesus and the apostles give no hint that they are not describing cosmological reality… The prophets’ use of such language is regularly in contexts marked by what I have called “prophetic perspective” in which a near event (like the destruction of Babylon) and a distant event (like the universal judgment) are spoken of with no temporal distinction. One would need to be careful, therefore, not to assume that a reference to stars and sun being darkened (e.g., Isa. 13:10) is metaphorical in such a context, when in fact it may have a literal fulfillment at the last day. (241, 245) ↑
Has come in Revelation 6:17 translates the Greek verb ēlthen in the aorist tense and indicative mood. Unfortunately, many scholars claim the aorist tense here means Christ’s Endtime Wrath has already been happening throughout the Seals (cf. Thomas, Osborne). This is based on the fact that the aorist tense often refers to something that has been completed in the past.However, NT scholar D. A. Carson notes in his classic book, Exegetical Fallacies regarding the Greek aorist:
The problem [is that] competent scholars deduce from the presence of an aorist verb that the action was “once for all” or “completed.” The problem arises in part because the aorist is often described as the punctiliar tense. Careful grammarians, of course, understand that this does not mean the aorist could be used only for point actions. The aorist, after all, is well-named: it is aorist, without a place, undefined. It simply refers to the action itself, without specifying whether the action is unique, repeated, ingressive, instantaneous, past, or accomplished. (Baker, 1996, 69-70; cf. A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament [Broadman, 1934], 835, 846).

Likewise, the highly respected Bible scholar Paul Feinberg, who is a committed Pre-tribulationist, commented on the use of ēlthen at Revelation 6:17:

The aorist verb ēlthen is either an ingressive or dramatic aorist. The ingressive or inceptive aorist expresses a state or condition just entered. On the other hand, the dramatic or proleptic aorist functions like a future, taking place after the realization of some condition. This would mean with the sixth seal the wrath of God has just begun or is about to appear. (The Rapture: Pre-, Mid-, or Post-Tribulational [Zondervan, 1984], 59).

Another Bible scholar, Gary Cohen, has described the use of ēlthen here as meaning God’s wrath “is an overhanging event about to occur” (Understanding Revelation [Wipf & Stock, 2001]).

As noted above, additional evidence for this is that Revelation 6:9-10 describes the martyrdom of Christians and their request for Christ’s wrath. Therefore, at this point in the sequence of Endtime events, before 6:17, Christ’s Endtime Wrath has not yet begun.

Likewise, this understanding is proven by the fact that Revelation 7:9, 14 depicts Christians on the Earth during the great tribulation. Therefore, the wrath of God could not have commenced before this.

For an example of the Greek verb ēlthen in the same aorist indicative tense, see Mark 14:41 where we read Jesus saying to His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane: The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer! Christ being delivered into the hands of sinners had not yet occurred, but was just about to occur. ↑
The fact that the Lamb Who had been slain (Rev 5:6) is portrayed as the One Who took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne (v. 7), makes it clear that the One on the throne in both Rev 5:1 and 7 is God the Father. This is reflected in the suggested translation. ↑
Not surprisingly, there are many rather odd suggestions from scholars about what the scroll contains. Thomas addresses and refutes five of them and rightly concludes: “in this scroll is a comprehensive account of the future wrath of the Lamb (cf. 6:17)” (625). Along the same lines, Osborne writes: “The seven seals are preliminary judgments on the earth that prepare for the trumpets and bowls… [After the seals are opened] the contents of the scroll are concerned more with the trumpets and bowls [i.e. Christ’s Wrath]” (269). ↑
Lahaye, 105-6. ↑

Chapter 14

When Does Christ’s Endtime Wrath Begin?

The Cosmic Signs

Contents

Primary Points