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The Daily Word of Righteousness
After the Tribulation of Those Days, #4
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you And give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. (II Thessalonians 1:6,7—NIV)
Again, in Second Thessalonians, in the first chapter (above), Paul tells us that the saints who were being persecuted would be delivered, not by a catching up but by the coming of the Lord to destroy Antichrist.
To say there had been a special catching up prior to this event is simply not a responsible position to take if one wishes to be regarded as a competent scholar.
Notice the expression, "This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven." What will happen? God will give relief to those who are troubled.
To dismiss such clarity by saying "I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture" is the same as saying "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." Neither expression can be supported by any examination of truth.
The Difference Between the Great Tribulation and the Wrath of God
One of the main points of confusion arising from the "rapture" teaching is the neglect of the distinction between the great tribulation period and the outpouring of the wrath of God.
The great tribulation period is set in motion by the declaration of Antichrist that he is God. The tribulation is a chastisement of the earth. Much good will come from this time of suffering. The primary good is that the true Christians will be separated from the babylonish confusion that represents itself as the Christian churches, and the true Christians will be perfected in spirit until they are coming up out of the wilderness leaning on their Beloved. They will be ready for the change from flesh-and-blood life to Holy-Spirit life that will be required of all living believers who are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. It seems many of the believers of today are not nearly prepared for such a radical step into Divine life.
Thus we see that tribulation is redemptive. We enter the Kingdom of God through much tribulation.
Divine wrath, however, is not redemptive. God has not appointed His elect to wrath. The Day of Wrath is the hour of Divine punishment when God goes forth to destroy evil from the earth. The holy will remain holy in that hour and the filthy will remain filthy.
Tribulation can serve as a scourging that makes us holy. Wrath does nothing but destroy. These are not the same at all.
Now lets look at the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew where we shall see the great tribulation, then the coming of the Lord, then the beginning of the outpouring of the wrath of God.
So when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—(Matthew 24:15—NIV)
Our opinion is that the "holy place" refers to a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. We think Antichrist will invade Israel and position himself in the Temple as being the living God.
His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. (Daniel 11:31—NIV)
To be continued.