Is The Pre-Tribulation Rapture In I Thessalonians 5:9?

Surely God will not let His children suffer like the world that is going to be judged, right? I mean after all, look at Paul's words:

I Thessalonians 5:9, "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Question: Since the tribulation is the wrath of God upon unbelievers, how can the church be present?

Let me ask you in return a more difficult question from the pre-tribulation perspective: If people can indeed be saved during the Tribulation, as most who teach this theory believe, [since they see saints all over the Book of Revelation], why are the saints not raptured out of the world immediately upon their salvation, since the same wrath will be falling all around? Are these new believers a separate category of saints? To put a possible end to the dilemma of both questions, let us call upon brothers Bethel and Schwertley:

From Bethel, " What is the wrath to which we are not appointed? And, can saints go through the Great Tribulation without suffering the

wrath of God, as did the Old Testament saints in Egypt when God sent His plagues because of Pharaoh? ..."

The first question, regarding the nature of the wrath, needs a careful answer. For the wrath of God is indeed poured out during the three and one half years called the "Tribulation." During these times, believers will be separated from unbelievers, as they were in Egypt. Nevertheless there will be other forms of death for believers, and as Bethel says, "Tribulation and persecution is not the wrath of God...persecution and martyrdom is the New Testament norm."

He adds that, ultimately, " The wrath of God that Christians will be kept from is the wrath of the last day and, of course, the wrath of the Lake of Fire." It is clear at the end of the Book that believers are indeed caught up before Jesus pours out His vengeance on all His enemies (19:11-21). There is definitely no one called saint on the planet at that moment.

Bethel says that often in Scripture God takes His people through tribulation rather than delivering them from it.He cites Noah, the three Hebrew boys, and Daniel as examples of this. He mentions that all the Apostles were martyred except John... "God sometimes lets His saints suffer and die for His glory. Beloved, let no man deceive you. The saints will go through the tribulation depicted in the Revelation. The antichrist will be given power 'to make war with the saints, and to overcome them' (Rev. 13:7). The prophet Daniel wrote concerning the antichrist, 'He will speak against the Most High and oppress His saints...The saints will be handed over to him for [three and a half years]...He will destroy the mighty men and the holy people' (Dan. 7:25, 8:24). Christians who are compromisers before the Great Tribulation are not going to be overcomers through it."

Yes, God's people are kept from the wrath before the ultimate wrath during this Tribulation time: Hear Schwertley: "Revelation 16:1-2 says that God's wrath (the first bowl) is only to be poured out on the worshipers of the beast, who have his mark. Once again believers are excluded. In 16:9 and 11 those who receive God's plagues are identified as blasphemers who refuse to repent. A careful reading of Revelation demonstrates that although God's people experience persecution, death, and harm at the hands of wicked men they are carefully and lovingly excluded from every act of God's wrath..."

Another example then of pre-tribulation arguments that go up in smoke under close examination. God's people will not be judged with His wrath, but they will not be spared from the ravages of the antichrist. They suffer in our present day, and they will suffer then. It is knowing this that makes the "blessed hope" even more blessed.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.