Will God allow the church to go through the Tribulation? Since Christians have been tortured and killed throughout the last 2,000 years for their faith in Jesus Christ, many people believe that the answer to that question is yes. Why would God spare us if He didn’t spare them?
The Tribulation is defined as the period referred to in the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy, where God is dealing with the nation of Israel (Dan. 9:24-27, 12:6, 7,11; Rev. 13:5). It is also referred to as the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jacob refers to Israel in Jer. 30:7).
Israel, as a nation, has never recognized Jesus as the Messiah. God has dedicated this seven-year period to pressure Israel into seeing that they have been deceived, and to finally repent and acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah. Hosea 5:15 (NKJV) says, “I will return again to My place, till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.” It will take wrath and suffering, a broken peace treaty, and the Antichrist setting up his image in the temple and declaring himself God before they will finally acknowledge the truth. This seven-year period will also be a time that God pours out His wrath on His enemies, on all who have rejected Him as Lord and Savior.
The church is not appointed to wrath. Therefore God’s children, the church, must be removed in order for God to deal with these two groups of people. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:9, which states, “For God did not appoint us to wrath.” Also,1 Thessalonians 1:10b reads, “Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come” (Not just from hell but from His wrath.)
It doesn’t matter whether you believe in regard to pre-, mid- or post- rapture. Based solely on Scripture, we believe that Christians will not endure the Tribulation. It’s important to remember that the persecution inflicted upon the church over the past two centuries was from wicked men influenced by demons and not by God’s wrath. Let’s consider just a few points that also point to believers being exempt from the Tribulation period:
1. The Tribulation period is reserved for God to pour out His wrath on Israel and the wicked who have rejected Jesus as their Lord and Savior not on His children, the church.
2. Almost every Christian will be killed during the seven-year period so there will be very few left to rapture or take away as described in the Bible. It would be a non-event.
3. Jesus said we would not know when He is coming. The end of the Tribulation is revealed to us by the day the “abomination of desolation” (Dan. 11:31, 12:11; Matt. 24:15, Mark 13:14). happens. This is when the Antichrist sets up his image in the temple. If the rapture were at the end of the Tribulation we would know, and there would be no imminence. In addition, in Daniel 9:27 the Antichrist confirms the covenant with Israel for seven years. This marks the beginning of the Tribulation. Then he breaks that covenant in the middle of those years. If the rapture were in the middle of the Tribulation, we would know when it would take place.
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4. After Jesus described the horrors of the Tribulation, He then said in Luke 21:36, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” He just told us we may escape these things.
There will also be many people who receive salvation through Jesus Christ during this seven-year time period. Revelation 7:9, 14 says, “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes. … These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Let’s also remember the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jeremiah 5:1 (NLT) reads, “‘Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,’ says the Lord. ‘Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.'” If God could find even one just person, He wouldn’t destroy the city. With that in mind, why would God change His nature and His ways and punish His children with the most severe punishment the world has ever seen?
Jesus repeatedly told us to watch and be ready, and that no one knows when He is coming (Matt. 24:44). If you want to escape the Tribulation period, you need to be a part of God’s family. Acts 4:12 (NKJV) says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” It is the name of Jesus.
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Bill Wiese is the author of the New York Times bestselling book, 23 Minutes In Hell, the story of his life-changing visit to hell in 1998. Bill has since authored six additional book titles and continues to share his experience around the world. He and his wife, Annette, founded Soul Choice Ministries in late 2006 and have dedicated their lives to reaching the unsaved. For more information about Bill Wiese and Soul Choice Ministries, please visit us at: https://soulchoiceministries.org/
You can find more of Bill’s teachings at: https://www.youtube.com/user/BillWieseTV.
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