We have added the new feature “International Prewrath” to our homepage over on the sidebar down below. We have three languages so far: Spanish, Chinese, and Dutch. If you know of other prewrath websites from other languages, please let us know.
We should pray for the people of Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake. A prayer for Japan. Earthquakes and tsunamis are events that should bring us to repentance (Luke 13:2-5), for each of us deserves to be swept into the ocean by a tsunami, and it is only by God’s mercy that we are not. This event will either harden hearts more toward God, or by God’s grace will break them with contriteness—there is no neutral response. When we view pictures and video of the devastation they remind us of how fragile creatures we really are. It should humble Humanity, especially how we so easily love to elevate our “greatness.”
In the future, just before the Day of the Lord there will be a cluster of celestial and earthly disturbances that will act as a prelude warning to the Day of the Lord.
The sixth seal informs us that there will be this “huge earthquake” accompanied by a cluster of celestial signs:
“Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red;” – Rev 6:11-12
And I don’t believe this will be some regional earthquake; instead, it will be global, since “every mountain” will be moved from its place.
Given the magnitude of this earthquake, it makes perfect sense why the Bible employs tsunami language in two passages on the sign of the Day of the Lord:
“And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth nations will be in distress, anxious over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves” – Luke 21:25.
Nations do not “distress” over mere ten foot waves. This will be global tsunamis on a massive scale. Interestingly, the Greek term for “surging waves” (salos) can mean “earthquake.” Also, the text indicates that the nations on the earth are not so much distressed and anxious over the celestial signs as they are with the roaring of the sea and surging waves.
The other text is Rev 6:14b:
“and [every] island was moved from its place.”
Again, mere ten foot waves do not accomplish this. No wonder Scripture prophecies that “people will be fainting from fear and from the expectation of what is coming on the world.”
This is a sober truth. Do not fall into the Amos syndrome, in which his audience was deceptively self-assured that they were right with God and that the Day of the Lord was for those “other people.”
“Woe to those who wish for the day of the LORD! Why do you want the LORD’s day of judgment to come? – Amos 5:18
Today is the day for self-examination.
Many pretribulationist theologians have attempted to place a temporal gap of time between the rapture and God’s wrath. For example, John Walvoord has tried to argue that God’s wrath does not immediately begin after the rapture; to be sure, he recognizes that in some sense the Day of the Lord begins immediately after the rapture, but he posits a delay of the wrath, which he says will begin to occur at a later time.
We have argued here over the years that the Day of the Lord’s wrath begins immediately after the rapture, not delayed down the road. Even though Walvoord has not provided any actual biblical texts to prove his point in his article, he concentrates on reading into the metaphor “day” in the expression, “the Day of the Lord.”
He writes:
In this symbolism [of the word “day”], the following points can be noted: (1) the day of the Lord indicates that the preceding day has ended as a time period, and a new time period has begun; (2) an ordinary day is usually a period of time which, at its beginning, is without major events—that is, people normally sleep from midnight until daybreak; (3) with the coming of the daylight, or after the time period is somewhat advanced, major events begin as the program for the day unfolds—as in a sense the day “comes to life” with daylight rather than at midnight; (4) as the morning hours of the day unfold, the major activities of the day take place, climaxing in the events of the evening hours; (5) as a twenty-four-hour day ends at midnight, so a new day follows with a new series of events. (Posttribulationism Today: Part IX: The Rapture and the Day of the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 5. Bibliotheca Sacra – Jan-March 1977, page 5)
Then he goes on to import this understanding into his doctrine of the Day of the Lord:
If the symbolism of a twenty-four-hour day is followed, the various facts revealed in Scriptures relating to the day of the Lord begin to take on meaning and relationship. (page 6)
Notice how his premise leads him later to his strained conclusion:
When we take the total picture of this passage into consideration, the reason for Paul’s introducing it become clearer. Although the events of the day of the Lord do not begin immediately after the rapture, the time period as such—-following the symbolism of a day beginning at midnight—-could easily be understood to begin with the rapture itself. (page 12)
That Paul, let alone the Old Testament prophets, understood the theology of the Day of the Lord according to the different divisions of the day (e.g. daybreak, morning, midnight, afternoon, etc), is nothing less than nonsensical. To latch onto a metaphor and read implausible notions that will determine your doctrine of the Day of the Lord is indicative of a Tradition controlling the interpretation.
Incidentally, the origin of the term “day” in the expression the “Day of the Lord” likely emerged from the ancient notion that a sovereign could be victorious in a single day. Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word, 1987, 352.) It eventually morphed into the connotation of an epoch as we see in the Old Testament prophets and finally in the New Testament revelation.
Strong Tower Publishing, who publishes prewrath books and on other topics, has recently upgraded their website.
They maintain a directory of prewrath churches here. There are many more prewrath churches out there than is listed in that directory. So if you know of prewrath pastors, ask them to submit their church to the directory to help build up the church listings. One of the most common requests that we receive is, “Do you know of a prewrath church in XYZ city?” It would be good to refer them to a robust directory. It should go without saying that we think that a church affirming prewrath should not be your sufficient reason for attending that church, since there are other important doctrines and practices that should also be prayerfully considered. But a prewrath directory is a good starting point to research churches.
and the incline of Prewrath!
Ok, this was just for fun, but it is interesting to see how accurate it is.
Update: Four views of the rapture