by Randy Maugans
Even those who subscribe to unsound doctrine do occasionally get a point right. The article below is important only because it presents a valid argument to a tenet—which we have presented on the Threshing Floor and Third Day shows for four years—that the tribulation is upon the “church” , i.e.-the believers in Messiah Yeshua.
The article below is presented on behalf of the “pre-wrath tribulation” adherents, which are a subset of the rapture deception. It is still based upon the same faulty foundations of the pre-tribulation rapture, but inserts an “accordian effect”—that the (unsupported) seven year tribulation is truncated for these believers, who are “raptured” before the “Antichrist” begins the slaughter of Christians.
Prewrath rapture is an attempt to rescue the rapture doctrine from its most glaring flaws and contradictions; and was proposed, most famously, by Marvin Rosenthal, H.L. Nigro and Robert VanKampen. It is a late theory (1990) that sought to harmonize the Olivet Sermon of Christ with the Thessalonian and other letters of Paul. Examined dispassionately, it is an obvious contrivance and more of the wholesale distortions of Bible prophecy proffered by deceived theologians who fail to move entirely into the truth.
Nevertheless, we do commend the honesty of this article in perceiving something we see prophetically clear:
“Pretribs are hard-pressed to find any passage in the Bible that teaches that the Great Tribulation will be against unbelievers.”-Alan Kurschner, prewrathrapture.com
This is a big step toward truth—IF they can only now advance to the next level of understanding about the end times!
-Randy Maugans – The Threshing Floor
The Great Tribulation is Against Believers, Not Unbelievers
A definitional tenet of the prewrath position is seeing a proper distinction between the Antichrist Great Tribulation against God’s people, and the Day of the Lord’s wrath against the ungodly. Pretribulationists conflate (or confuse) the two making God’s wrath mediated through the Antichrist against unbelievers and believers! All one needs to do is read Revelation 13 and learn that the Antichrist will be persecuting God’s people, not unbelievers.
One attempt to make the Great Tribulation a time for persecution for unbelievers is by Dr. Mike Stallard in his article, “An Analysis of the Use of Cosmic-Sign Passages by Proponents of the Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory.” He writes:
[T]he passage [Matthew 24:22] in question says that “no life” would be saved unless God shortened this time. Yet, it is clear that life continues on after the rapture in a pre-wrath scheme until the Second Coming itself. The verse does not limit itself to “Christian life” in the first part of that verse. Such an assumption is arbitrary. It is much more natural to interpret the statement of Jesus to mean that, if the tribulation lasts longer than seven years, everyone on earth would die.”
The life that Jesus is speaking of is clearly of Christian life, not “everyone on earth.”
Stallard arbitrary disconnects “life” from the qualification of what kind of life found in the second half of this verse: “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” (Matt 24:22 NASB).
Stallard believes that the wrath of God is both against the ungodly and godly in this passage. This is untenable. The context of the Great Tribulation in that passage is the Antichrist’s (not God’s) wrath in the suffering of believer’s lives because they are perishing. Unbelievers arenowhere in view in that passage; hence the reason Stallard failed to provide any examples.
Pretribs are hard-pressed to find any passage in the Bible that teaches that the Great Tribulation will be against unbelievers.