The Difference between Tribulation and Wrath

The most important thing to understand when attempting to interpret the tribulation period is the fact that most Biblical prophecies are dual in nature. They were actual events that occurred in history AND they foretell coming future events.

Such an example is found in 1 Maccabees when Antiochus Epiphanes captured the Holy Land, desecrated the temple, and persecuted the Jews. This started the war of Jewish of Independence which led to the recapture and re-dedication of the temple.

This is the event Daniel is describing in his Book. It was an actual historical event. It is also a future prophecy confirmed by both Yeshua (Matt 24) and the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation. Bible prophecy has dual meanings.

If we understand this we begin to understand the second coming of Yeshua as described in the New Testament writings.

These are the most difficult prophecies to understand and there are countless interpretations. Some say the tribulation is 3.5 years while others say 7 years. Some believe Yeshua raptures out the Christians and this only happens to the Jews, others say we go through the entire seven years. It is a difficult issue to comprehend.

My position is that it is a seven year event broken down into two 3.5 year periods, we go through just about 7 years of tribulation, as we wait for salvation when the Master returns to save us. I’ve come to this conclusion after much prayer and reading of many scriptures describing this time. Many of the scriptures I use are Yeshua’s own words.

What is the difference between tribulation and the wrath of God? This is a key question to consider.

Tribulation and wrath are two different things:

Tribulation – Greek - #2347 Strong’s – trouble, distress, oppression, affliction, persecution. Same word in Matt 5.11, Matt 5.24, 29, 44.

Yeshua warned his disciples and us that we would experience persecution, oppression, distress, and affliction:

Yeshua warns us we will go through tribulation- Matt 24.9-12: Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Yeshua is warning us of tribulations. He is warning his disciples and all of us in the future to be prepared for this tribulation and persecution.  We will ultimately be saved but the wicked will experience the wrath of Yahweh.

MOSES WARNS US

Moses warned us we would experience tribulation: Deuteronomy 4.30-31 - When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swore unto them.

Is the servant greater than his master? Yeshua was persecuted and put to death.

Wrath – Greek - #3709 Strong’s – righteous anger of God toward sinful disobedience. Some verses on wrath:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Romans 1.18

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Romans 5.9

Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Ephesians 5.6

 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. 1 Thessalonians 2.15-16

Wrath is God’s righteous anger poured out upon the wicked for their sinful disobedience and ungodly behavior.

My position is that during the tribulation period the righteous will be persecuted by the ungodly. We can already see this developing in our society now. Good is called evil and evil is called good just as Isaiah 5.20 states.

During the tribulation period a remnant of God’s people will be hidden in a place of safety, which many actually be captivity. Some of God’s people will choose to be martyrs. Some will be martyrs for their testimony. It will be a time of purification of God’s people.

All the Apostles except John were killed for their testimony. Yeshua was crucified for His testimony. The tribulation will be a terrible time but many will shine for God:  And he said, Go thy way, Daniel, for these words are closed up and sealed until the time of the fulfillment. Many shall be purified and made white and purged, but the wicked shall get worse; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Daniel 12.9-10

Yeshua said His end time bride would be pure and spotless. Those who go through this time will be purified through trials and tribulations. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage I have overcome the world. John 16.33

This is a difficult saying but this is how it shall be in that time. We see tribulation is not the wrath of God.

Amos 5.18-20: Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD shall be darkness, and not light. As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

He will come to save us and judge the wicked: Matt 24.9-13 - Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

There are many other scriptures to support this view. Each reader must decide for themselves. It will be a difficult time. Please do not think the Christians are raptured out and all this happens to the Jews.

 

THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Matthew 24.14

In our day the church has done a fine job of preaching the Gospel of Salvation from sin and redemption in Jesus Christ. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God, in reality, is very seldom preached or taught! Some churches preach a salvation message each and every Sunday never touching on the deeper issues of what Yeshua taught.

The disciples were commanded to preach the Kingdom of God. A kingdom is a nation. A kingdom has laws. A kingdom has citizens and a kingdom has a king. How much do we really understand the Gospel of the Kingdom?

When I was first led into understanding the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith one of the first things the set apart Spirit of God led me to study was the Biblical Calendar.

I had a desire to understand the end of the age and the Book of Revelation. I was confused with all of the prophetic teachings on the end times. It wasn’t making sense to me. Why should I study the calendar?

For two weeks I resisted studying the calendar because I knew that the Biblical calendar would require I study the Jewish calendar. I soon felt compelled to visit Israel. I signed up to go on a tour to Israel with a recommended guide and I began to study the Biblical calendar.

I had always been stuck on Daniel 7.25: And he (Antichrist) shall speak great words against the most High and shall break down the saints of the most High and think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the half or dividing of a time.

Slowly I began to see that the “times and the law” that would be changed were the Biblical times and laws! The Bible time and laws are much different than the times and laws the world currently observes. We are observing the Roman Gregorian Calendar—not the Biblical calendar. https://burningbush647.blogspot.com/2017/11/gods-time-and-calendar-vs-roman.html

https://burningbush647.blogspot.com/2017/11/insightsinto-sabbath-and-calendar-our.html

I began to understand that the Kingdom of God has its own calendar and time. The world operates on other calendars and time which obscure the truth. God’s calendar contains many clues concerning the Kingdom of God and coming world events.

The feasts and holidays we are to be observing are listed in Leviticus 23, Numbers 23, and Deuteronomy 16. My calendar study led me into the study of the feasts of the Lord. Eventually I realized why we were to observe these feasts instead of the traditional Christian holidays.

These feasts contain instruction and prophetic information on the return of King Yeshua that traditional Christianity has missed by rejecting the importance of these Biblical feasts. These were exciting discoveries. The truth was setting me free! These were the Lord’s Feasts, not only the feasts the Jewish people observed.

The next phase led into understanding the importance of our being grafted into “The Commonwealth of Israel”. Ref: Ephesians 2-3.6; Romans 9-11.

This phase took years to understand and I’m still learning! Grafted into Israel is of major importance in understanding who we are, what the kingdom is, and where we are headed. It is about inheritance, identity, and the Millennial Kingdom to come.

The Church has not replaced Israel as many have been taught. It is not about being Jewish. It is about both Jew and Gentile being transformed into the image of Yeshua—it is about becoming Yeshua-ish if you will-one new man!

Abraham was not Jewish. Abraham was a Hebrew. There is a big difference. A Hebrew is one who has crossed over. Abram (A high father) crossed over (into Monotheism) and became Abraham (a father of a multitude). Abraham is never called a Jew in the Bible. He is specifically called a “Hebrew” in Genesis 14.13. This was prior to his name being changed to Abraham and his meeting with Melchizedek.

Abraham came out of idolatry and crossed over the Euphrates River. He was called out by Yahweh and became a believer in the one true God of the Universe. He is our Father, both Jew and Gentile. Essentially we both are Hebrews (until we cross over into Yeshua).

Hang in with me, there is more! We are allowing the Bible to interpret itself. Very important.

Moving unto Abraham’s descendants we arrive at Jacob who fathers the 12 tribes of Israel. Jacob’s name is changed by Yahweh to Israel. The official name of the twelve tribes is Israel = He will be a prince with God; contender with God, one that prevails with God. Note they are not yet referred to as “Jews”—we will address this later.

A careful examination will reveal that the 12 Tribes of Jacob/Israel do not include Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph. They are Jacob’s grandchildren. This gets very interesting.

In Genesis 48 Jacob blesses the two sons of Joseph and in verse 16 says: “Let my name be named on them and the names of my father’s Abraham and Isaac.” Israel/Jacob is adopting Ephraim and Manasseh, grafting them into the family. They are not Israel/Jacob’s sons—they are Joseph’s sons. They are being grafted into Israel the nation.

Later in Genesis 49 Jacob calls unto “his sons” in verse one. He proceeds to bless them and in verse 28 we read: “All these (his sons) are the tribes of Israel. These are in order: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, JOSEPH, and Benjamin.

Ephraim and Manasseh are not mentioned because they have been grafted into Israel. Joseph was the first born of the wife Jacob loved—Rachel. In Jacob’s mind Joseph is the first born and through the blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh Joseph is receiving the double portion blessing of the first born son.

Now go to 1 Chronicles 5.1-2: Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; and he was not counted as the firstborn.  For Judah prevailed above his brethren and was their prince, but the birthright was Joseph’s….

This is vital information. The birthright is given unto the sons of Joseph and the leadership is given to Judah (until Shiloh/Messiah) comes Gen 49.10). Judah, as we will see, is going to become “the Jews” as history progresses.

Joseph’s son’s mother was Asenath, the idolatrous daughter of the high priest of Egypt. Ephraim and Manasseh were most probably taught about the god’s of Egypt by their mother. Later, Ephraim will lead the northern tribes into Idolatry.

Ephraim and Manasseh represent the Gentiles or nations. They were grafted into the tribes of Israel. Later in Exodus we see Levi becoming the priests of the Lord (no land inheritance) and Ephraim and Manasseh receive land inheritance in place of Levi and their Father Joseph. Their grafting in is complete. Ephraim and Manasseh represent the gentile nations that will be grafted into ISRAEL. We are Ephraim and Manasseh.

The tribes go in and take the land of Canaan. Eventually David and Solomon become Kings. After Solomon’s death there was a rebellion. Solomon’s son Rehoboam wanted to raise taxes and the northern tribes rebelled and broke away under the Kingship of Jeroboam the Ephramite. Ref : 1 Kings 11-12.

Jeroboam becomes king of the 10 northern tribes who retain the name Israel. The southern kingdom becomes known as Judah. They are now Jehudah or as we call them today—Jews. The first mention of this is in 2 Kings 16.5-6.

Jeroboam sets up idols in Bethel and Dan and changes the Biblical feasts in 1 Kings 12.25-33. This is a shadow and type of what the gentile Christian church would do in the far future times—reject the feasts of the Lord and make up their own holidays/feasts.

The nation is now split in two. The northern kingdom of Israel, which has turned to idolatry, and the southern kingdom of Judah who retain allegiance to Yahweh. They are the modern day Jewish people who have remained true to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are the Jews.

Note: In 1948 the Jewish state was named Israel. This is prophetic. Ezekiel 37 says the two sticks of Judah and Joseph (Ephraim/Manasseh) will be joined together in the future. At that time they will once again become ISRAEL. Jew and Gentile reunited under Yahweh and Yeshua his son, the KING.

We know how Assyria conquered idolatrous Israel and relocated them to Assyria. There they lost their identities and mingled into the gentile nations (Hosea 7.8-9). Read the entire book of Hosea. It chronicles how the northern tribes of Israel become the “lost tribes” and assimilate into the Gentile culture.

Later Judah will be exiled to Babylon, but be allowed to return to Judah and rebuild the temple. They had not lost their identity.

SUMMARY

We all (Jew and Gentile) begin as Father Abraham--as Hebrews when we “cross-over” into Monotheism. We are named by God “Israel”. We had a civil war and divided into Israel (Idolatrous gentiles) and Judah (Jews). Israel assimilated into the nations, Judah kept Judaism alive throughout the centuries.

Yeshua came and called us both to cross-over into Him. This process is still in progress. At a future time, in Yahweh’s own time and way, we two sticks shall become one in His hand. We will once again become known as Israel.

Yeshua will return and establish the Millennial Kingdom for a thousand years to teach all the world (Isaiah 64-66, Zecariah 12-14, Rev 20).

There will be a final rebellion (Rev 20). Then there will be a New Jerusalem and peace.

This information is documented in the Bible. It is the first step in understanding the “Gospel of the Kingdom” and how Yahweh is going to reunite Jew and Gentile once again as the nation of Israel. This is a basic “big picture” view of the Kingdom and what Yahweh is doing in these last days. This is how Jew and Gentile will become one new man in Yeshua.

It took me many years to come to this understanding. It is not the Gospel which is widely adhered to by the world, the Christian church, or Judaism. It is the truth. It has set me free. It is a stumbling block to the world.

Unity comes only through division. That is counter intuitive. The world sees unity as being all inclusive—everyone is welcome with all of their various religious beliefs. Soon that leads to dead religion with no power and man becomes the god of this religion.

We arrive at truth through winnowing. The chaff must be winnowed away. We cannot be unified until we arrive at the truth. Has there ever been a time when the world stampeded towards the truth? Never. Have we ever really been in unity? Never. It shall come at the appointed time.

Knowing the truth can be a lonely path. Yeshua walked that lonely path. The Father will draw his own unto Himself--John 14 through 17 is much to understand. There is a remnant in God. It is not always a comfortable place in which to dwell but it is our calling. The world will never understand—but Yahweh has a magnificent plan.

Below is a link to a short treatise on the Gospel of the Kingdom of God by Tessa Beswick. It should be your manual and manifesto of the Kingdom. Please take the time to prayerfully read and heed it.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=YmVpdC1lbC5vcmd8d3d3fGd4OjM2ZDc4MjM0NWE3Yzk2NDY

 

 

THE BASIC BELIEFS OF IRENAEUS AND HIPPOLYTUS ON THE ANTICHRIST

 

Since we have been discussing the Tribulation period, I thought I’d post this short article concerning Irenaeus and Polycarp’s view on the subject.

 Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, who had been a disciple of the Apostle John. Both he and Polycarp believed they had been accurately taught the apostolic tradition. Irenaeus wrote this of his teacher Polycarp:

 “But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried (on earth) a very long time, and when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom, departed this life, always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. (Against Heresies, III, 4)

 Hippolytus was a disciple of Irenaeus. He too believed he had been accurately taught those things the apostles received from Jesus Christ by revelation. Irenaeus and Hippolytus agree on all the basic points regarding the advent of Christ and the Antichrist, although Hippolytus provides more details. The beliefs they held in common can be briefly summarized as follows:

 1. Satan will appear as a man in the person of the Antichrist because he seeks to reign as king over mankind and desires to focus the worship of God on himself.

 2. The Antichrist will be a Jew, and will achieve his stated objectives by being accepted as the Christ, the messianic king of the Jews, taking his seat in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, pretending to be God Himself, and thereby becoming the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by the prophet Daniel and also by Jesus. Dan 12.11, Matt 24.15

 3. The Antichrist is the “little horn” of the fourth beast mentioned in Daniel 7. He will slay three of the other horns and reign as an eighth with the remaining seven. (Hippolytus explains the three horns are Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia.)

 4. The Antichrist will achieve his objectives in the middle of the final seven year period of this age. At that time he will be proclaimed the messianic king of the Jews, and will take his seat as God in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. He will reign for three and one-half years.

 5. The Antichrist, during his reign, will deceive the majority of people living on the Earth at the time into believing he is God. However, he will persecute those who refuse to worship him because they are able to see through his delusion.

 6. Jesus Christ will return to Earth at the end of the three and one-half year reign of the Antichrist, destroying Satan’s kingdom. The resurrection of the just will occur at that time.

The conviction of these two early fathers came from the knowledge that they had received an accurate explanation of the Apostle’s understanding of the message of Scripture which had been handed down by the Apostle John to Polycarp. We should all seriously consider the basis for our own beliefs, rather than hastily discarding these sources.

 Sources:

 http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/hippolytus-christ.html

 http://www.gnosis.org/library/advh5.htm - start at chapter XXV

Seven Years through the Tribulation

The following scriptures have been compiled to prove that the tribulation is a seven year event with no pre-trib rapture. These scriptures as a whole explain the events to come. Yeshua comes to save us and Israel at the sound of the last trumpet (shofar). 

Our approach in this study is to allow the Bible, the WORD of God to interpret itself through many scriptures in both Old and New Testaments. It takes time to digest all these scriptures. It may take several readings to understand.

Many of these scriptures are in Yeshua's own words explaining to His disciples the events to come. Allow them to interpret themselves.

Tribulation and wrath are two different things:

Tribulation – Greek - #2347 Strong’s – trouble, distress, oppression, affliction, persecution. Same word in Matt 5.11, Matt 5.24, 29, 44.

Yeshua warned his disciples and us that we would experience persecution, oppression, distress, and affliction:

Yeshua warns us we will go through tribulation- Matt 24.9-12: Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Yeshua is warning us of tribulations. We will ultimately be saved but the wicked will experience the wrath of Yahweh.

Mark 13.19-23 - For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

Yeshua is warning his disciples and all of us in the future to be prepared for this tribulation and persecution.

MOSES WARNS US

Moses warned us we would experience tribulation: Deuteronomy 4.30-31 - When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he swore unto them.

Tribulation in this verse = Strong’s #6862 – sar – trouble, distress, enemy, foe, adversaries, affliction, anguish

Wrath – Greek - #3709 Strong’s – righteous anger of God toward sinful disobedience. Some verses on wrath:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Romans 1.18

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Romans 5.9

Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Ephesians 5.6

 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. 1 Thessalonians 2.15-16

Is the servant greater than his master? Yeshua was persecuted and put to death.

We see that the wrath of God is righteous and toward all ungodliness, unrighteousness, and sinful disobedience. In the verse above from 1 Thessalonians we also see that the righteous are persecuted during the same time.

Matthew 13.24-30 is most powerful: Yeshua describes the end time in a parable: Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From where then hath it tares? 

He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, No; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Pretty self-explanatory. This is the fall harvest during the Fall Feasts of the Lord. This really got my attention when trying to understand the difference between tribulation and wrath.  Yeshua interprets:

Interpretation – Matthew 13.37-42 He answered and said unto them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

This is the harvest at the end of the world at His second coming! He did not remove the righteous, only the wicked!

Proverbs 10:30 - The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

We should now begin to understand the difference between tribulation and the wrath of God. As followers of Yeshua we will be persecuted during the 7 year tribulation. At His second coming He will save us and we will meet Him in the air at the sound of the last shofar.

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ….1 Thessalonians 5.9 

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4.15-18

Two things are happening during the tribulation. God’s people are being persecuted and wrath is being poured out upon the wicked. These things are happening together during the tribulation. When Yeshua returns for the final harvest (Matthew 13.37-42) at the end of the world, we meet in the air and the wicked are destroyed by fire. That’s what Yeshua said and He is the WORD.

Additional confirmation by Yeshua:

Days of Noah – Matthew 24.37-41 - But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, (His coming) and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The ark was a place of safety; Ref: Isaiah 63.1-6 and Micha 2.12-13 – Bozrah means “sheep pen” and is located in Edom/Esau an arch enemy of Israel. Bozrah is a type of a place of captivity but yet a place of safety for Elohim’s people. https://burningbush647.blogspot.com/2020/04/bozrah-sheep-pen-place-of-safety-i-will.html

During the time of persecution some saints will be hidden in a place of safety. The above scriptures indicate this. However, some saints will be martyrs. Most of the Apostles were martyrs. They were persecuted and killed just as Yeshua told them:

Matt 24.9-13 - Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Yeshua speaking to the Apostles and to our generation. It cannot be any clearer!

Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Matt 24.40-42

The wicked taken out, the righteous remain just as Yeshua said in the parable. His one and only second coming. No rapture. We meet Him when he comes for us at the harvest, as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4.

Mark 13.19-23 - For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

Yeshua is telling us of much tribulation/affliction but the days will be shortened. Seven years of affliction is a week. Does this not fit in with Daniel’s final week?

Then later Yeshua prays at the Last Supper: John 17.15-16 - I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Read again, sorry to repeat, but let this sink deep into your soul:

Paul the Apostle writes: 1 Thess 4.13-18 - But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Paul never mentions a pre-tribulation rapture and neither does Yeshua. Paul says in 1 Thess 5.9-11: For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Wrath – Greek - #3709 Strong’s – righteous anger of God toward sinful disobedience

Tribulation – Greek - #2347 Strong’s – trouble, distress, oppression, affliction, persecution. Same word in Matt 5.11, Matt 5.24, 29, 44.

Yeshua warns us we will go through tribulation- Matt 24.9-12: Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

This is warning us of tribulation. The servant is not greater than his Lord. We will ultimately be saved but the wicked will experience the wrath of Yahweh.

Revelation 13.7-9: And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  If any man have an ear, let him hear.

Another warning. If the saints are raptured out how is the beast making war with them? We are temporarily overcome, but Yeshua is coming to save us!

Then look at Rev 13.15: And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

If only the wicked are left who are those not worshipping the Beast? Look again at Matt 13.40: Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Seems pretty clear we go through tribulation. All who live in perilous times are persecuted and afflicted. We are not destined to wrath, but salvation when He returns for us. Thus says the WORD.