We are satisfied that the rapture FOLLOWS the signing of the treaty, the revealing of the antichrist by the setting up the
"abomination, the great persecution directed against those who resist the rule of the antichrist, signs in the sun, moon and stars, and the appearing of Jesus in the clouds.
We now want to draw attention to the fact that the rapture occurs BEFORE the wrath of God descends on the earth.
There is a divine pattern established which we call "prewrath"; first the righteous are removed from danger, and immediately the wrath descends on the unrighteous. Let us begin with Luke 17:26-30:
- 26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
- 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, UNTIL THE DAY that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
- 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
- 29 But THE SAME DAY that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
- 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
- (Luke 17:26-30)
Note the words "UNTIL THE DAY" in verse 27 (referring to Noah's flood), and the words "THE SAME DAY" in verse 29 (referring to that day that Lot and his daughters were out of the city and safe), that very day the judgement fell.
NOW notice what Jesus said in His commentary on this review of Old Testament history: "Thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed" ! The removal of the church clears the way for the judgement to fall
...immediately.
Note also Genesis 7:11-13:
- 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, THE SAME DAY were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
- 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
- 13 IN THE SELFSAME DAY entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
- (Genesis 7:11-13)
Notice in the above portion that the rain began ON THE SELFSAME DAY that Noah and his family entered the ark. Indeed, once the people of God are safe, there is no need to delay.
The deliverance of the righteous immediately before the wrath is an evidence of the hand of God in the situation, a witness to all. The unrighteous could see the open door of the ark for many years. Then, on the SAME DAY they saw the door shut, the rain began to fall. The combination of those two events on the same day brought one obvious conclusion -- the hand of God was involved in the order of events ! It is too much to be a coincidence.
This "pre-wrath deliverance" pattern is used by Peter to emphasize the deliverance of the saints from the coming wrath:
- 5 And 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;
- 6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
- 7 And 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;)
- 9 THE LORD KNOWETH HOW TO DELIVER THE GODLY out of temptations, AND TO RESERVE THE UNJUST UNTO THE DAY
OF JUDGMENT to be punished:
- (2 Peter 2:5-9)
It is this same perspective that Paul describes in I Thessalonians 5:9,10:
- 9 For God hath NOT appointed US to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
- 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
- (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10)
Verse 10 is an obvious reference to the rapture, which Paul has been describing in 4:13 to 5:8, and this escape occurs when it does because "God hath NOT appointed US to wrath".
Notice also I Thessalonians 1:10:
- And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
- (1 Thessalonians 1:10 emphasis added)
First comes the appearance (epiphany) of Jesus in the sky, then the deliverance of the church, then the wrath of God. The rapture is PRE-wrath !
Revelation 14 repeats the sequence of events we saw in chapter 6. The sequence of events remains the same -- beginning with the appearance of Jesus in the skies.
- And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
- (Revelation 14:14)
Verses 15 and 16 describe (we believe) the rapture of the church (the first harvest):
- 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
- 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
- (Revelation 14:15-16)
And, verses 17 to 20 describe the wrath of God under the picture of the second harvest which ends up in the winepress of the wrath of God.
- 17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
- 18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
- 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
- 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
- (Revelation 14:17-20 emphasis added)
This last phrase is a reference to the battle of Armageddon, thus placing this second harvest, called "the wrath of God" after the rapture (at the close of the seven year period).
Now notice that in Revelation 15, which begins the description of the third set of seven events which completes the wrath of God (vs. 1), there is portrayed the raptured ones safely in heaven as the wrath is poured out upon the earth:
- 1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
- 2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
- (Revelation 15:1-2)
Notice that those gathered in heaven, safely protected from this outpouring of the wrath of God, are those who have TRIUMPHED OVER THE BEAST, his image, and his mark. This scene re-confirms the similar scene described in Rev. 7:9-17 (those who have come out of great persecution, and are present in heaven before the seven trumpets begin -- which is the beginning of the wrath of God). In other words, the raptured church is STILL safe and secure.
This group (Revelation 15:2), described as being victorious over the beast, his image, and the number of his name, is the same group in Revelation chapter 7 which has come out of great persecution, and whom we identified earlier as the raptured church. We also showed from Matthew 24, that this great persecution comes immediately after the antichrist is positively identified through the abomination in the temple, immediately launching his attack upon the church. Therefore, the group in Revelation 7 and 15 is the same group (the church) described in Matthew 24:15-21, where is described the great persecution of the saints.
Once again we have confirmation that the rapture occurs AFTER the reign of the antichrist begins (thus not "pre-trib" or before the treaty beginning the seven year period), and BEFORE the wrath of God is poured out (thus not "posttrib"). It is unmistakable then, that the rapture is PREWRATH.
There is yet one more confirmation on the timing of the rapture...a seldom-referred-to Scripture that defines the first resurrection.
