Pretribbers Will Be In The Time Of The Wrath of God
By Ed Tarkowski

One of the most amusing arguments Pretribbers give against Posttribulationism is that they must be removed from earth because of the wrath of God. But, the saints ARE PLACED IN THE TIME OF THE VIALS OF WRATH AND WRATH OF GOD. We inherit salvation at the time of His wrath.

IF the Pretrib were true, Pretribber would still come back with Him AS HIS WRATH IS BEING POURED OUT. They would be in the midst of it because we come back with Him. In Revelation 19, we see the Church coming back with Him as He treads out the winepress of the wrath of God:

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

We Posttribbers, being in the tribulation, are raptured and the dead raised to the clouds from where we come back with Him and His wrath is poured out. The Pretribulation argument about the Church not experiencing the wrath is no support for the Pretrib doctrine. Because of Revelation 19, the Posttrib doctrine has no problem with being in the time of His wrath. Why? Because it is the beauty and power of our salvation. The wrath certainly won't hurt Him, NOR WILL IT HURT US because of what Paul said:

Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 WHO SHALL CHANGE OUR VILE BODY, THAT IT MAY BE FASHIONED LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY, ACCORDING TO THE WORKING WHEREBY HE IS ABLE EVEN TO SUBDUE ALL THINGS UNTO HIMSELF.
4:1 Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

We will be changed to be like Him - incorruptible, even in the midst of the wrath of God on this earth. YOU WILL BE IN THE MIDST OF IT:

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

We will be saved by His life at that time:

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

NOTICE: Paul DID NOT say, "we shall be saved from wrath through him . . . much more, being reconciled, we HAVE BEEN saved by his life." He said we SHALL be saved by His life, saved from wrath THROUGH HIM, THROUGH HIS LIFE.

The saints are glorified by His power to subject all things to Himself and to change our lowly body to be like His. He is glorified IN THEM because they are changed to be like Him and He gets the glory for that.

In Posttribulationism, the wrath of God is no problem for the believer. He is caught up to meet Christ in the clouds as the wrath descends. He is in the wrath of God and it is unavoidable that He is there and we are with Him. That's why Paul said,

1 Thess 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath [at the time of His coming-Ed], but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ [at the time of His coming-Ed]

The wrath of the vials in the tribulation will almost seem like a piece of cake compared to HIS WRATH. There is a big difference between the wrath of the vials and HIS WRATH, as Revelation 19 indicates.

The bowls of wrath aren't for believers anyways, which renders the Pretrib protest invalid also. The first bowl is poured out on those who have the mark of the beast. Those who do not have the mark are exempt from it:

Revelation 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.

The second vial is poured out upon the sea, not men:

3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.

The third seal is river and fountains and waters:

4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

An angel announces that these plagues are sent upon those who have shed the blood of saints and prophets:

5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

The fourth vial is poured out on the sun to scortch blasphemers with fire and men in need of repentance, which would exclude the saints:

8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

The fifth vial is sent upon the beast's kingdom and those in it:

10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

The sixth vial is a call to the nations to Armageddon, not on the saints:

12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Jesus encourages His saints by saying at this point:

15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

The last vial is upon the blasphemers of the earth and upon all the earth. It is here that I believe the rapture takes place:

17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Notice verse 15 near the end of the vials being poured out:

15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

The pretrib doctrine believes there will be saved people in the tribulation, and there are - they are called saints. They are MEMBERS OF CHRIST, HIS BLOOD WAS SHED FOR THEM IF THEY ARE SAINTS, THEY ARE MEMBERS OF HIS BODY, HIS CHURCH. IT CANNOT BE OTHERWISE. AND THEY ARE HERE in the midst of all this because He hasn't come yet as shown by
Revelation 16:15:

15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

The pretrib doctrine places saints in the time of the vials of wrath because they come back with Him, but also says the church has to be raptured so it won't be in the time of wrath. Pretribbers defeat their own argument. Is the blood of Jesus worth less for these saints than the ones pretrib says have to be raptured before the trib because they can't experience God's wrath? They won't. It's not poured out on the saints.

One question over all of this has never been answered SCRIPTURALLY by pretribbers. Why are they in heaven for seven years while an immature body of saints is found in the tribulation standing in the evil day? There are no designated hitters in the Body of Christ.

Go To The Top
Home Page