The debate over the timing of the rapture continues, but I would like to point out that there are areas on which pretribbers and prewrathers do agree.
We are both premillennial, that is, we both believe Christ will return to earth before a literal thousand year reign upon the earth.
We both believe in a literal Antichrist who will rise up and win the favor of Israel, making a covenant with them. With the signing of this covenant Daniel’s Seventieth Week will begin, but half way through that covenant He will turn on them and reveal who he is.
We both believe that a temple will be in place for Antichrist to desecrate at the midpoint of Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
We both believe that the church is not destined to suffer the wrath of God. Jesus Christ bore that wrath for us on the cross.
Where we disagree is when the wrath of God occurs in which God deals with the sinfulness of man. When does God’s wrath begin? Does it begin at the signing of the covenant, when Daniel’s Seventieth Week gets underway, or does it fall sometime after?
The most prophesied event in the Old Testament concerning the last days is the Day of the Lord.
• It will be marked by God’s fiery judgment, His wrath, against the earth’s wicked. (2 Peter 3:7)
• The Lord alone will be exalted during that time period. (Isaiah 2:11)
• It will be preceded by a sign in the heavens given in the sun, moon, and stars. (Joel 2:30,31)
• The wicked inhabitants of the earth will recognize its arrival in the form of the wrath of the Lamb at the opening of the sixth seal, when the sign in the sun, moon, and stars occurs. (Rev. 6:12-17)
Are you aware that scripture instructs believers, the true church, to look for the coming of the day of the Lord?
2 Peter 3:10-12: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with heat!”
Paul told the Thessalonians that for unbelievers the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night but for believers that day will not overtake like a thief in the night. Why is that? Because we’ve been given signs for which to watch! We already saw that Joel 2:31 specifically says that
BEFORE the day of the Lord there will be a sign in the heavens, the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon into blood.
When does the sign signaling the day of the Lord for which the church is to be looking occur in relation to the great tribulation and persecution by Antichrist? According to Matthew in chapter 24,
immediately after the great tribulation - which does not run the full second half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week – Jesus says it will be cut short for the sake of the elect!
THE DAY OF THE LORD, FOR WHICH BELIEVERS ARE TO BE LOOKING, WILL OCCUR SOMETIME AFTER THE MIDPOINT OF DANIEL’S SEVENTIETH WEEK! Yes, the building of a temple should get us excited. I believe the church will still be here when that happens. According to Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4, the day of the Lord will not occur before Antichrist sets himself up as God in that temple. If the church is to be looking for the day of the Lord and since the day of the Lord will not have occurred before Antichrist exalts himself in the temple, this allows the church to be here during the reign of Antichrist and his persecution of Israel and believers. Persecution or tribulation and wrath are two very different things. Believers are actually promised persecution when they live godly lives. The abomination of desolation is the huge sign that the great tribulation is about to start. At some point Christ will cut the persecution short by His return. He will signal to His elect that His day of the Lord's wrath is about to begin. The wicked of the earth will also see the sign and will cower and run and hide in sheer terror, but we are to look up when this sign occurs for our redemption is near. (Luke 21:28) His angels will then gather His true church and then He will pour out His day of the Lord's wrath against the sinfulness of mankind.
