The Bible word “tribulation” means ‘to be caused pain or suffering to; distressed or troubled.’ Jesus of Nazareth spoke often of ‘tribulation’ when He came to the wayward, apostate Nation He referred to as “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

When Jesus of Nazareth appeared on earth He spoke often and at length about a time of ‘tribulation’ that was to come upon the wayward, apostate Nation of Israel, referring to Israel as “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” In Matt. 24 and Luke 21 Jesus spoke of this “tribulation” also as “desolation [despoiling, ruination],” as the time of God’s “vengeance” and “wrath to come.” Finally, Jesus spoke of a period of “Great Tribulation” such as never was before.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21 (KJV).

These times of judgment upon the world were well prophesied repeatedly through Israel’s prophets.

The questions are posed by many Christians today are as follows:

• Will Genuine Christians Have to Endure Any or All of the 7-Year Tribulation Judgements?
• Is the Rapture of “the church,” called “the body of Christ,” to be ‘Pre-Trib’ or ‘Pre-Wrath’?

The Pauline doctrine of the ‘Pre-Tribulational Rapture’ is clearly established as truth in Paul’s epistles [1Thes. 4:13-18, 1Cor. 15:51-55) that are written to the Gentile church of today called “the Body of Christ” (Eph. 1:22b-23a).

There have been many views regarding the timing of the Rapture of the members of “the body of Christ” relative to the timing of the Tribulation Judgments to come upon the apostate Nation of Israel and the whole rebellious world.

Within the last forty years or so a new view of the timing of the Rapture has become popular. This view, called the Pre-Wrath view, was first taught by Robert Van Kampen in the 1970's. In the 1990s, Van Kampen developed what is known today in evangelical Christian eschatology as the “Pre-Wrath” Rapture position, authoring three books on the subject. Then also in the early 1990s Marvin J. Rosenthal published the book “The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church” which popularized the Pre-Wrath Rapture view.

Sadly, this is view accepted by many evangelicals who were once Pre-Tribulationalists. But as you will see this view is at odds with Scripture and only served to bring no “comfort” to the members of “the body of Christ.”

The basic difference we are considering is this;

• The Pre-Tribulational view places the time of the Rapture BEFORE the coming seven-year Tribulation, also called ‘Daniel's 70th Week’ (cf. Dan. 9:27). We learn explicitly this from Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians as we will discuss later.
• The Pre-Wrath view places the time of the Rapture of believers as occurring sometime During the Middle of the Tribulation, just before the 6^th Seal is opened. The Pre-Wrath view concludes that the believers of this present “the dispensation of the grace of God,” will have to experience the birth-pang sufferings of The Four Horsemen during beginning 3-1/2 years of the Tribulation period. The Rapture only just before the 6^th seal is opened with God pouring out His great “wrath” upon the earth during the last 3-1/2 years called the ‘The Great Tribulation.’ This is the reason for its title, “The Pre-Wrath Rapture.”

This view has several major flaws because the fact is that “the Church, which is His body” will not go through any part of the Tribulation. This isn’t saying, we will not suffer the usual calamities and persecutions that have commonly come upon men of faith throughout all ages.

The “Pre-Wrath Rapture” folks teach that “wrath” is not poured out during the first three and a half years of the Tribulation. Most of them believe the Rapture will occur before “the Lamb of God” opens of the sixth seal (cf. Rev. 6:12).  The timeline of the Revelation’s events, as seen in the diagram below clearly refutes this with the “seal” judgments being opened early in the Revelation events, releasing the suffering at the hands of ‘the Four Horsemen and their riders.’

As seen below, God’s “vengeance” appears in a three series of judgments upon the earth, which will end with His Second Coming to earth at the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem.  

1) the 7 Seal judgments (including the dreaded ‘Four Horseman of the Apocalypse’),

2) the 7 Trumpet judgments, and

3) the 7 Bowl judgments.  

The Seven-Year Tribulation Timeline
(Daniel 9:24-27)

             The                      

             Rapture I<gap>l                                  <<< 7 years of Tribulation >>>                         I Jesus’ 2^nd Coming 
                     Begin The I <<---    3 ½ years                   --->>l<<---                 3 ½ years   --->> I Ending the Trib.

               Trib.  |____ The Four Horsemen ____>>I<<________________________|
                           The 7 Seals                                 The 7 Trumpets         The 7 Bowls
                            Rev. 6:17-8:60                             Rev. 8:7-9:21              Rev. 16:1-21

There is a brief time gap (perhaps 1-3 years) between the Rapture and the start of The Tribulation period in order for the Antichrist to become established with credibility and for Israel to begin building the 3^rd Temple in Jerusalem.

Christians of the current “dispensation of the grace of God” will be Raptured (“caught up”) and NOT go through any part of the 7-year Tribulation Period. All genuine grace-age Christians will be “caught up” to heaven before the seven years of God’s ‘vengeance and wrath’ upon the earth. The Latin, word for “caught up” is ‘rapere,’ from which we get the word ‘Raptured.’ All genuine grace-age Christians will then forever be with the Lord dwelling “eternal in the heavens” as their eternal home (2Cor. 5:1b, cf. Philippians 3:20-21), serving Him in “the heavenly places.”

(You can read my 15-Part Study Series with regard to “the heavenly places,” titled “The Dynaspheres” at: http://artlicursi.com/series/dynaspheres. My website contains over 1,400 articles).

The Biblical view of the Pre-Tribulationalists such as myself is that the whole of the seven years of ‘The Tribulation period,’ which is also referred to in the Bible as “Daniel's 70th Week,” and the “Time of Jacobs [Israel’s] trouble,” is a 7-year period of God pouring out His “vengeance” and “wrath.”

Today, we certainly are witnessing the setting of the stage for ‘the events to come’ when we read any honestly reported world news accounts. God is positioning all the participants for the start of ‘The Tribulation period.’