The term “Prewrath” is a popular term today and many are eager to latch on that term by appropriating it even when their view of end-times has no resemblance with the tenets of the Prewrath position. I have seen more than a few individuals on the Internet who claim to be “prewrath.” For example some of these folks would assert that the Church is raptured before the 70th week of Daniel. Sound familiar? Or the Church is raptured at the midpoint. Again, sound familiar? Some insist that they are prewrath and can hold to imminence!
What makes matters worse is that there are bloggers who have written articles outlining the different end-time views and when they get to the prewrath position I am left just shaking my head — and of course you will find no documentation for their definition of prewrath (this is on a weekly basis).
In an Internet age in which many people struggle to read something more than the length of a haiku, it may be expected that we find this lack of accuracy and willingness.
It is not that the Prewrath position is inflexible on all its interpretations. But it is a different matter when individuals deny definitional tenets of prewrath but continue to claim to be prewrath. This engenders confusion with God’s people looking for answers. It is dishonest, in short — and the abode of cyberspace is not immune from God’s eyes.
I thought I would provide one example of this to illustrate. There is no particular reason to single out this person, it could have been someone else. I asked Darrin to respond to one individual, Ken Schweizer.
There are some people out there using the term PreWrath, but in such a way that the PreWrath position is not represented. Zelma Pack, who maintains a Pre-Trib Rapture position, has a blog entitled The Rose of Sharon is Jesus. Zelma posted an article on her blog by Ken Schweizer entitled “Pre-Tribulation Rapture”. You can read the entire article at this link here.
http://sharonsrose.blogspot.com/2008/06/pre-tribulation-rapture.html
The interesting thing about this article is that Ken opens up saying that he believes in a PreWrath rapture. Here is his quote. “I must state, up front, that I believe in a pre-wrath rapture. That (in my opinion) places the rapture either before the revealing of the antichrist or before the sixth seal of Rev 6:12, but I am leaning toward the first or a pre-tribulation rapture.”
By using the term PreWrath, Ken causes confusion with the PreWrath position. One of the basic tenets of PreWrath is to distinguish between tribulation and wrath. Most PreTribbers just assert that these terms are the synonymous when they are not, and Ken does this very thing departing from the PreWrath view. Here is what he states: “The word says that the Tribulation is the wrath of the Lamb. Re 6:16-17 & Re 14:10. The word says that we are not appointed unto wrath. – 1Thes 5:9, John 3:36.”
So Ken’s appropriation of the term PreWrath is not in accordance with the established position. The PreWrath position maintains that the church will enter the Great Tribulation, but Ken rejects this idea. Later in his article, Ken actually concedes the difference between persecution and wrath. He writes, “There is no similarity between persecution and the wrath of God and any attempt to do so is ridiculous. There have always been tribulations for believers and the Church, but none brought on by The Lord Jesus Christ like when He opens the seven sealed book. That is reserved for non-believers.” So Ken actually has the blueprint for PreWrath in this nugget of truth. Now if we can just get him to see that this truth applies to the Great Tribulation contained in the seven sealed scroll as well as any tribulation for the Word.
The main point of departure from PreWrath can be easily seen in Ken’s opening line. PreWrathers know that the rapture will occur just after the sixth seal which ends the Great Tribulation and begins the wrath of God. It is something that is an essential part of the term PreWrath. Unless you state upfront that you believe at least at minimum:
#1- the church will enter the Great Tribulation which begins at the midpoint of Daniel’s seventieth week,
#2- the church will be raptured just after the sixth seal and at coming of Christ which ends the Great Tribulation, and
#3- the wrath of God begins after the rapture of the church has occurred,
then you cannot begin to think of yourself as PreWrath in accordance with the established position.
The point here is that we must examine when someone uses the term PreWrath to see if they agree with the basic tenets of the position. Just because they say they are PreWrath does not mean they hold to what is definitional of the PreWrath outworking. Thanks to Ken for allowing his article to be referenced so that others may study for themselves. I would encourage prophecy students to follow the link and read his article as it does contain many good things. Also, scroll down and read my personal correspondence to Ken which Zelma graciously posted for readers to see under the comments section.
Have fun and stay busy – Luke 19:13
-The Orange Mailman
