Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Why Pre-Trib Rapture: Saved From Wrath
The Pre-Tribulation Rapture has a whole lot of real evidence in the Bible. To the point that when you put it all together, it becomes the clear truth. I have put much of it in articles but they become long articles that many do not want to read. I felt it time to break it all down. This short article is one in a series that when put together, they prove the Pre-Trib rapture is true.
There are scriptures telling us that we are not destined for Wrath. Those who do not believe the Pre-Trib rapture will try and argue that the wrath is hell, but that is not what the Bible says. Nowhere does Gods Word ever refer to hell or the lake of fire as wrath. What is the wrath? It is the action God takes out on one in His anger.
Deuteronomy 29:28 (NASB)
28 and the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, fury, and in great wrath, and hurled them into another land, as it is this day.’
2 Kings 23:26 (NASB)
26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.
However, when God says we are not destined for wrath, there is one specific wrath coming. Jesus mentions it here...
Matthew 3:7 (NASB)
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
He is not talking about hell coming. He is not talking about the lake of fire coming. Those are places souls are sent. They do not come to us. Clearly, the Wrath to come must be a specific event coming when God pours out his wrath on the world out of anger.
Many will try to say that is the Seven Bowls of Gods Wrath mentioned in Revelation. To a point it is. Their mistake is thinking that is all of Gods Wrath when scripture clearly tells us that is where God's Wrath is finished. The Seven Bowls begin in Revelation 16, but it is in chapter 15 that we must look. In chapter 15, it talks of the seven angels who are given the seven bowls. In verse 7 they are given the bowls, but what does it say the very first verse?
Matthew 15:1 (NASB)
1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
The Seven Bowls of Gods Wrath is where Gods Wrath is finished. Not started. So the question is, where is the day of God's Wrath started? In the 6th Seal.
Revelation 6:16-17 (NASB)
16 and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”.
Okay, so the Day of Gods Wrath begins in the 6th Seal. How does that tell us that the Pre-trib rapture is true? Because the Seven Seals must be broken before the Tribulation begins. If you are not familiar with this teaching, please read this article.
The Seven Seals
So we know that the Day of Gods Wrath begins in the 6th seal. The seven Seals are broken before the tribulation begins. So by default the Day of Gods Wrath must begin before the tribulation begins. So how do we know the Rapture happens before the Day of Gods Wrath? God's Word tells us.
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (NASB)
9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
Romans 5:9 (NASB)
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
Revelation 3:10 (NASB)
10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Notice that He rescues us from the wrath to come. The same words as Matthew 3:7 where Jesus asks them who warned them of the wrath to come. Also take note that He doesn't rescue us from the wrath itself, but from the wrath to come. Which means He rescues us before the wrath comes.
Return to Pre-Trib Rapture Articles
There are scriptures telling us that we are not destined for Wrath. Those who do not believe the Pre-Trib rapture will try and argue that the wrath is hell, but that is not what the Bible says. Nowhere does Gods Word ever refer to hell or the lake of fire as wrath. What is the wrath? It is the action God takes out on one in His anger.
Deuteronomy 29:28 (NASB)
28 and the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, fury, and in great wrath, and hurled them into another land, as it is this day.’
2 Kings 23:26 (NASB)
26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.
However, when God says we are not destined for wrath, there is one specific wrath coming. Jesus mentions it here...
Matthew 3:7 (NASB)
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
He is not talking about hell coming. He is not talking about the lake of fire coming. Those are places souls are sent. They do not come to us. Clearly, the Wrath to come must be a specific event coming when God pours out his wrath on the world out of anger.
Many will try to say that is the Seven Bowls of Gods Wrath mentioned in Revelation. To a point it is. Their mistake is thinking that is all of Gods Wrath when scripture clearly tells us that is where God's Wrath is finished. The Seven Bowls begin in Revelation 16, but it is in chapter 15 that we must look. In chapter 15, it talks of the seven angels who are given the seven bowls. In verse 7 they are given the bowls, but what does it say the very first verse?
Matthew 15:1 (NASB)
1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
The Seven Bowls of Gods Wrath is where Gods Wrath is finished. Not started. So the question is, where is the day of God's Wrath started? In the 6th Seal.
Revelation 6:16-17 (NASB)
16 and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”.
Okay, so the Day of Gods Wrath begins in the 6th Seal. How does that tell us that the Pre-trib rapture is true? Because the Seven Seals must be broken before the Tribulation begins. If you are not familiar with this teaching, please read this article.
The Seven Seals
So we know that the Day of Gods Wrath begins in the 6th seal. The seven Seals are broken before the tribulation begins. So by default the Day of Gods Wrath must begin before the tribulation begins. So how do we know the Rapture happens before the Day of Gods Wrath? God's Word tells us.
1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (NASB)
9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
Romans 5:9 (NASB)
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
Revelation 3:10 (NASB)
10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Notice that He rescues us from the wrath to come. The same words as Matthew 3:7 where Jesus asks them who warned them of the wrath to come. Also take note that He doesn't rescue us from the wrath itself, but from the wrath to come. Which means He rescues us before the wrath comes.
Return to Pre-Trib Rapture Articles
