In the first video, David Rosenthal gives evidence of a rapture position that may surprise you. I say that because most churches hold to a Pretribulation Rapture position.
David Rosenthal systematically explores Matthew 24 and the 7 Seals of Revelation. He then gives evidence and a Scriptural basis for select events tied to the return of Jesus in, “6 Proofs of a Pre-Wrath Rapture.”
I recommend David Rosenthal and suggest you check out his website http://www.zionshope.org. Zion’s Hope was started by his father Marvin Rosenthal who wrote the book The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church.
The second video is equally as good as the first but I will leave it up to you to decide which is more useful in conveying the truth of God’s Word concerning the rapture of the Saints and God pouring out His wrath upon an unrepentant world.
“God is our refuge and strength,a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” Psalms 46:1-3
Do you live your life according to this Scripture? You will need to in the years ahead as the following Scripture comes to pass.
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24:6-12
Our true reality must be: God is our refuge and strength. Jesus made it possible for God our Father to send the Holy Spirit to empower us to live the Christian life. Those who live under the guidance and influence of the Holy Spirit will live a life of faith in Christ, abound in Christian graces, and know they have everlasting life. We must also remember not to quench the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives nor grieve Him.
“Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30
There are some 2000 prophecies of Jesus’ second coming. God has told us beforehand how events will unfold before Jesus returns first to take up His Saints to heaven and then to pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world. Those that follow this website know that I believe the Scriptures teach that the Saints will not be subject to the wrath of God that is poured out with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements. However, the Saints will go through the prophesied tribulation, even great tribulation, of Revelation’s Six Seals. It is at the opening of the sixth seal that we see the prophesied signs that Jesus gave the disciples (Olivet Discourse) which precede both the rapture of the Saints and the wrath of God being poured out on the world.
When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”Revelation 6:12-17
Apostle Paul explains the timing of the Rapture in 2 Thessalonians 2 so clearly and yet many recognised scholars willfully deny the truth. This scripture clearly contradicts their doctrine that nothing has to happen before the rapture happens. The Rapture does not happen until after the Antichrist takes his seat in the temple and declares he is God.
“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him… Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:1,3-4
Why is this so important? It means that Christians will go through tribulation, even great tribulation that the Antichrist unleashes on all those people that will not take his mark. Jesus also tells us that the tribulation will be great but for the elect “those days will be cut short”. He also tells us that the Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world and only then will the end come so Saints we need to be busy proclaiming the Gospel.
“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.” Matthew 24:21-22
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”Matthew 24:9-14
God has used this video to change the minds of countless (ex-)pretribulationists over to the prewrath view in the past year. In it, Chris White and Alan Kurschner do a good job of presenting the case for the PreWrath position of the timing of the Rapture. I believe they also do a good job of appraising the pretribulation position fairly, giving extensive citations.
The timing of the video and its addressing the seven pretribulation problems is shown below.
Intro: 0:00 The Basics: 1:45 The Precursor Problem: 6:06 The Olivet Discourse Problem: 19:28 The 2 Thessalonians Problem: 40:23 The Revelation Problem: 58:59 The Imminence Problem: 1:18:29 The Same Time Problem: 1:44:04 The Early Church Problem 1:55:39 Outro / Credits: 2:13:32
“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:9-13
These two verses show us we cannot claim Jesus did not tell us that Christians will face persecution in the last days as God refines His church before the Rapture. It shows the Pretribulation position held by much of charismatic church in the USA and Australia is untenable. The church will go through a refining process with the tribulation and even great tribulation but Jesus tells us that we will kept from the wrath of God that is poured out on the world with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements.
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Romans 5:9
“Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:10
It is at the sixth seal that heralds the coming wrath of God
“Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”Revelation 6:15-17
The trumpet blast at the seventh seal is when the Rapture of the Saints on earth takes place and it is then John sees the Saints in heavenin their glorified bodies.
“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”Revelation 7:9-10
Hold steady by keeping close to Jesus, by following the leading of the Spirit and by keeping short accounts with the Lord. Confess sin quickly and be restored from all unrighteousness. Pray and seek guidance so that we can walk on the Highway of Holiness prepared for the ransomed, doing the things He has prepared beforehand for us to walk in – all for His glory.
You need to connect with this excellent teaching on the Book of Revelation by Jeff Scwarzwntraub of Brave Church Colorado. There are 10 sermons in this Alpha/Omega – Revelation series. You will learn and be challenged by this teaching regardless of what you believe about end times eschatology. Jeff sticks to a historical-grammatical exegesis which strives to reveal the original authors intent.
For over 150 years the evangelical church has mainly been taught a pre-tribulational rapture of the saints, which theorizes the church will be raptured and then the 70th week of Daniel will begin. Some have been taught that Jesus returns at the midpoint of the seven years and still others believe He will return at the end. However, what is important is what do the Scriptures say will happen. God desires for us to know what to expect in the last days and therefore He has given us His Word to study. May the truth of these messages stir your hearts to love God more and prepare you for His second coming.
This important new documentary, Seven Pretribulation Problems and the Prewrath Rapture, identifies seven flaws in pretribulation rapture theology. Identifying the problems, however, does not stop there as this documentary responds compellingly to these pretribulation problems with seven prewrath answers. This documentary marshals leading biblical prophecy teachers who walk through each of the seven problems, answering them with sound biblical investigation!
TEACHERS INCLUDE Alan Kurschner Alan Hultberg Charles Cooper David Rosenthal Ryan Habbena
7 PRETRIB PROBLEMS The Basics #1 The Precursor Problem #2 The Olivet Discourse Problem #3 The 2nd Thessalonians Problem #4 The Book of Revelation Problem #5 The Imminence Problem #6 The Church and Israel Problem #7 The Early Church Problem
There is a lot of information in this presentation. You will need to make notes and may need to pause the video on many occasions so you can at least note the scriptures. I suggest that you will need to watch this video several times to enable you to make the case yourself for the PreWrath position.
Ex-preterist theologian Dr. Brock Hollett has authored Debunking Preterism: How Over-Realized Eschatology Misses the Not Yet of Bible Prophecy. The book is replete with a wealth of illustrative figures and comparative charts that reinforce its main concepts. Special emphasis is placed upon a proper understanding of the biblical time statements and the “already and not yet” principle of eschatology. Joel Richardson interviews Dr Hollett on the attached video. May I suggest you schedule a time to watch it. Why Brock made the change and the circumstances surrounding it are dramatic to say the least. If you hold the Preterism position you will be challenged to reexamine the Scriptures.
The following end times scholars: Chris White, Charles Cooper, Alan Hultberg, David Rosenthal, Ryan Habbena, and Alan Kurschner unite to produce this excellent video – Seven Pretribulation Problems and the Prewrath Rapture. You can watch this film as a whole or in parts. The individual parts pages below also have written transcripts available on https://7pretribproblems.com/7-problems/
You need to settle this issue so that you are prepared for the coming tribulation which will occur before Jesus returns to rule and reign on this earth with a “rod of iron”. God set up the nation of Israel to be His nation on earth to accomplish His purposes. During the Millennial reign of Jesus from a completely restored/restructured Jerusalem, God’s purposes for Israel will be finally realised. Satan is bound in the Abyss during Jesus 1000 year reign so it is reasonable to assume that there will be a great harvest of souls during this period. Sadly, at the end of the thousand years Satan is released from the Abyss and Scripture reveals that he is still able to get an enormous army to come against Jesus and the resurrected saints who are ruling and reigning with Him. The fact that we are told Jesus needs to rule and reign with a “rod of iron” tells us that people will still rebel against Jesus ruling according God’s commandments.
“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10
Prewrath interpreters such as myself locate the resurrection just before the day of the Lord’s wrath is poured out beginning with the breaking of the seventh seal. The six seals depict the wrath of Satan being vented on Christians and Jews by the Antichrist and his followers. It is a time of great tribulation then the rapture and resurrection take place after which the wrath of God with the trumpet and bowl judgements. This is consistent with Matthew 24 and Paul’s Thessalonian teaching.
“Let no one deceive you in any way; for the day of the Lord will not come unless [ean mē] the apostasy comes first [prōton] and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
The rapture and the resurrection will happen at the cutting short of the Beast’s great tribulation and before the day of the Lord’s wrath.
IT IS AT THE SEVENTH SEAL THAT JOHN SEES THE FOLLOWING
“After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. They w ere shouting out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Praise and glory, and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Then one of the elders asked me, “Thesedressed in long white robes—who are they and where have they come from?” So I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them.They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat,because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9–17)