FIRST THESSALONIANS 5:9
THE WRATH OF GOD DURING THE TRIBULATION:
A POSTTRIBULATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
1. Introduction:
Eschatological Premises
This study is specifically directed toward those readers who, for whatever variety of reasons, have embraced the assumption that the return of Christ for the Church is imminent, and that the so-called Rapture of the Church and the resurrection of the righteous dead will occur just prior to that period of time known as the Tribulation. The Tribulation is usually seen as being seven years in length, the final half of which is called the Great Tribulation, because of the extraordinary political, economic and cosmic chaos that will transpire during that time. Such individuals, whether they know it or not, are called pretribulationists, and they are sometimes surprised to discover that there are alternative points of view.
The position the author of this paper takes is called posttribulationism, the primary ingredients of which are the beliefs that (1) that generation of believers who will be alive at the time of the Tribulation will enter into that period, some surviving the entire span relatively unscathed, some suffering varying degrees of persecution, and some being martyred at the hands of Antichrist and other ungodly forces during that time; (2) that those believers who survive the Tribulation will be raptured (removed from the earth in regenerated bodies) in connection with the Second Advent of Christ at the end of that period; (3) that the righteous dead will also be resurrected at the time of the Second Advent, rather than before the Tribulation.
The scope of this paper cannot include a rationale for the fundamental premises underlying posttribulationism. An entire book would be required for that purpose.1 Instead, this study focuses on a single aspect of pre- versus posttribulationism; that is, the contention by pretribulationists that the Church cannot enter into the Tribulation because "God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ " (1 Thess. 5:9)2. It is maintained by pretribulationists that the great outpouring of God's vengeance upon the earth, described mainly in the Revelation, will be so pervasive that virtually no one will escape unscathed, including the Church, if it is present at that time. Since the Church is not destined to experience God's wrath, it follows that it must be removed beforehand.
This is one in a long line of arguments pretribulationists base on logical assumption, rather than on evidence of a more substantial nature. First Thessalonians 5:9 does not specify the Church will be removed; the removal must be assumed.
2. The persecution of the saints is not the wrath of God.
The main weakness in the pretribulationist interpretation of 1 Thess. 5:9 stems from the tendency to overlook the distinction between the persecution of the saints by evil forces during the Tribulation, and the wrath of God poured out on those same forces during the final portion of that period. Instead, they often ascribe all of the perplexing events of the Tribulation to the wrath of God, whether they come at the hands of the beast, invading armies, etc., or directly from God Himself.
That saints will experience severe persecution during the Great Tribulation is amply supported by numerous scriptures. The martyrs of the fifth seal (Rev.6:9ff) cry out, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? “3 In response to this question, they are told to rest "until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been4 should be completed also ” (6:11). Those yet to be killed are the martyrs of the Great Tribulation. The great multitude of Revelation 7:9—17 are said to be those "who came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb " (7:14). The beast of Revelation 13 is given authority "to make war with the saints and to overcome them ” for a period of forty—two months5 (13:5,7). In Revelation 20 we read of "those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God " (20:4). The great harlot, Babylon (Rev.17), is pictured as being "drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus " (17:6), and her ultimate destruction is inflicted, in large part, because "in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints… " (18:24).
In addition to the above, many other passages, from both Old and New Testaments, relating to the great eschatological tribulation, could be called upon to underscore the persecution of the saints during that time.
3. God's wrath is selective.
The Scripture, however, just as clearly distinguishes between those people who, on the one hand, are recipients of persecution and violence at the hands of evil forces, and those who, on the other, are the objects of God's wrath. Indeed, in most instances, God's people are specifically mentioned as being exempted from the great outpouring of God's anger.
The locusts of the fifth trumpet (9:1—11) are told to hurt "only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads " (9:4). The four angels of the sixth trumpet (9:13—21) are instructed to kill a third of mankind, but it is clear from the context that the term "mankind" is intended to be applied only to unbelievers, since those who are killed (i.e., the third: vss. 15, 18) are only the smaller portion of a larger group ("the rest of mankind ": vss. 20, 21) who are identified as committing idolatry, sorcery, murders, immorality, and theft. The first vial (16:2) is specifically poured out upon "the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image. " Although the third vial (16:4—7) is poured out upon the rivers and springs, so that they turn to blood, this plague, too, is directed against the ungodly, for the angel of the waters says, concerning the objects of the plagues, "they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou [God] hast given them blood to drink. They deserve it " (vs. 6). The fourth vial (16:8, 9) is poured out upon those who "blaspheme the name of God " and "did not repent, so as to give Him glory. " The sixth vial (16:12—16) results in the gathering of the armies of the world to Har—Magedon, where they later engage in an unsuccessful battle against Christ; and the seventh vial (16:17ff) is directed against Babylon and the remainder of evil mankind, who blaspheme God as a result of the plague of hail connected with this vial.
As a matter of fact, wherever the objects of God's wrath are either specifically or indirectly identified, they seem always to represent those who oppose God, and not His followers, thus differentiating between those (the saints) who suffer affliction at the hands of evil, and those (the ungodly) who suffer affliction at the hands of God.
Reference is often made, in this connection, to the message of Christ to the church at Philadelphia (3:7—11), which is told that because of their steadfastness they will be kept "from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth " (vs. 10).6 The statement appears to be so all-encompassing, on first glance, that it is difficult to imagine anyone, believer or unbeliever, escaping the fiery trials of that period.
Further examination, however, seems to indicate a more restricted use of the phrase, "those who dwell upon the earth. " In Revelation 13:8, 14, "those who dwell upon the earth " are those who worship the beast, and in 17:8 they are clearly distinguished from those whose names have been written in the book of life "from the foundation of the world. " The martyrs of the fifth seal (6:9, 10) identify "those who dwell on the earth " as the ones who are responsible for their deaths. The final three trumpet plagues are directed toward "those who dwell upon the earth " (8:13), and when they are examined, we discover, as mentioned earlier, that the fifth trumpet is specifically restricted to "those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads " (9:4), that the sixth trumpet results in the deaths of a portion of a larger group described as idolators, murderers, sorcerers and thiefs (9:20, 21), and that the seventh trumpet (11:15ff) brings judgment on enraged nations and "those who destroy the earth " (11:18).
When in addition to all of this, we discover that "those who dwell on the earth " are those who delight in the deaths of God's two prophets, described in Revelation 11:3—13, the statement to the church at Philadelphia regarding the testing that is to come upon "those who dwell upon the earth " takes on a considerably more restricted complexion, and does not seem nearly so universal in its application. There are saints on earth during the Great Tribulation, but they are apparently not considered to be part of "those who dwell upon the earth."
Nevertheless, pretribulationists persist in their insistence that the plagues inflicted by God, as described in the Revelation (famines, earthquakes, stars falling from heaven, etc.) do not lend themselves to discrimination; that is, they must of necessity fall on both the just and the unjust. If the Church were on earth during the Tribulation, it is argued, it would be unable to escape the outpouring of God's wrath, thus negating the clear promise of God in 1 Thess. 5:9.
However, the above analysis would seem to indicate that God is indeed quite capable of controlling the extent and direction of His wrath, and there is no reason to believe that the possible existence of the Church during the Tribulation would in any way diminish that capability. If He can protect those who have the seal of God on their foreheads (Rev. 9:4), He can surely protect the Church. Indeed, this author believes that those having the seal of God on their foreheads are part of the Church of the Tribulation.
4. First Thessalonians 5:9 is not about tribulational wrath.
In any case, the use of 1 Thess. 5:9 as evidence to support the view that the Church is absent from earth during the Tribulation, on the basis that it promises escape from the eschatological wrath of God, seems to be reading too much into the statement, since it is highly questionable that tribulation wrath is what is being referred to in the verse.
The term "wrath" is used in opposition to "salvation," and seems more naturally to imply condemnation rather than the tribulational wrath of God. The ungodly will experience the ultimate wrath of God—that is, the loss of their souls (Cf. Rom. 2:5)—but the Church is destined for salvation (see also 1 Thess. 1:9, 10).
Even if 1 Thess. 5:9 could be applied to the wrath of God as displayed during the Great Tribulation (which is almost certainly not the case), the verse says nothing about the removal of the Church from the earth. The assumption that the Church must be removed in order to avoid God's wrath is exactly that—an assumption, in the light of which the verse must be interpreted.
5. Saints in the Tribulation equal Israel in Egypt.
At best, 1 Thess. 5:9 implies only that the saints will be protected from the wrath of God, even as Israel was protected during the plagues visited upon Egypt. In spite of the fact that Israel lived in Egypt, in the midst of those plagues, she was under God's sovereign protection, and was delivered through them, while Egypt experienced the full wrath of God (Ex. 9:2—4, 26, 10:23). It is, in fact, difficult to avoid noting the similarities between the plagues of God, visited upon earth during the Great Tribulation, and those associated with Egypt during the time of Moses. The following table illustrates those similarities.
Plagues
Revelation 8, 9, 16
Plagues in Egypt
1. Hail and fire mixed
with blood; earth, trees
and grass burned up.
First trumpet (8:7)
Exodus 9:18—25
2. Sea and fresh water turned to blood; creatures in the sea die.
Second trumpet (8:8)
Second vial (16:3)
Third vial (16:4—7)
Exodus 7:17—21
3. Water fouled
Third trumpet (8:10, 11)
Exodus 7:21
4.Sun,moon,stars darkened.
Fourth trumpet (8:13)
Exodus 10:21—23
5. Plague of locusts
Fifth trumpet (9:1ff)
Exodus 10:12—15
6. Plague of sores
First vial (16:1, 2)
Fifth vial (16:10, 11)
Exodus 9:8—10
Although the idea of God's protection for the Church during the Great Tribulation cannot reasonably be sustained merely because of the similarity between His eschatological plagues and the plagues on Egypt, the striking parallel cannot be accidental, and when added to all that has already been said, it is tempting to think of the Tribulation judgments as a kind of eschatological version of God's plagues on Egypt, complete with protection for the saints who live in the midst of those judgments.
Remember, too, that although God protected the Israelites from His plagues, He did not protect them from the persecution of Pharoah. In the Tribulation, the saints will be protected from the wrath of God, but not necessarily from the persecution of Antichrist.
Conclusion
That multitudes of believers will exist on earth during the Tribulation, and experience persecution, seems beyond dispute. That saints throughout the ages have been warned to expect tribulation, and have indeed experienced it, is equally clear. There is no particular reason to believe that a single generation of believers—those alive when the Great Tribulation strikes—should expect to escape a persecution which otherwise, according to Rev. 7:9ff, will come upon so vast a multitude of believers whom no one, save God, can count.
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1 See the bibliography for a few of the standard defences of both pre- and posttribulationism. Also, the reader should understand that these eschatological stances are only two among several major viewpoints regarding the events of the consummation of the age.
3Note that the phrase, "those who dwell on the earth," does not include the saints themselves, but those who perpetuate the persecution. More about this later.
5Throughout the Revelation all references to forty-two months (11:2, 13:5) or 1260 days (11:3, 12:6) refer to the final half of the Tribulation (three-and-a-half years), known as the Great Tribulation.
6Pretribulationists make a great deal out of the Greek preposition ek, which is translated "from" in the passage. While they correctly observe that the term carries the more specific connotation "out from" or "out from within," they maintain that it implies the complete removal of the Church from the face of the earth, the Philadelphian church being seen by pretribulationists as representative of the entire faithful Christian community just prior to the commencement of the Tribulation. This does seem to be a case of reading a great deal into very little information. It is first of all necessary to demonstrate that the church at Philadelphia does represent the totality of believers immediately prior to the Tribulation. Secondly, even if that were possible, it would still remain to be shown that the term "from" indicates the removal of an entire generation of believers from earth.
Unfortunately for the pretribulationist position, neither the term nor the context in which it appears carries that kind of force. In John 17:15, Jesus specifically avoids asking the Father to remove believers from out of the world, but that He "keep them from (ek) the evil one." Clearly the preposition, in this instance, implies nothing more than effective protection from evil while remaining in close proximity to that evil. Also, in Galatians 1:4, Paul states that Jesus "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of (ek) this present evil age… " Although we do, indeed, expect an eventual removal from earth, either by translation (rapture) or resurrection, the true believer has already been delivered "out of" (ek) this present evil world, even while remaining on earth and bearing witness to the truth in the midst of moral decay.
Cases such as these reveal that the term "ek" is not so strictly used, and, in the case of the Philadelphian church, need imply nothing more than effective protection during "the hour of testing."
© Dr. Theodore H. Mann, 2006