Revelation - Tribulation - Wrath - Love


Pastor J. R. Wilhite, author   Close Window

Introduction

The one thing I had a problem with growing up was the wrath and anger of God.

I could not understand why God was so mad at me; I had not done anything to Him.

I could not understand how someone could love and at the same time hear how He was going to send me to Hell. I was either being taught that God was love, or Hell, fire and brimstone.

I got tired of hearing how mad God was, or how His wrath was to fall on us all.

I spent 4 years in the 70's becoming a Methodist Reverend, only to leave and stay away from organized religion until the late 80's. I did not leave God exactly, just organized religion.

In the mid 80's I had a reaction to Halcyon that 1 out of 3 have had. I had spent 4 years in and out of hospitals had 5 surgery's and was given Halcyon as a sleeping pill.

I took one, some how called someone for help, and fell asleep. By the time the medics got to me I was gone. I woke up 26 hours later in ICU with at least 6 tubes sticking out of me.

There was a psychiatrist waiting for me when I woke up. They had pumped my stomach and thought I had tried to kill my self on an overdose.

It took 3 years for the main doctor to finally admit that Halcyon was some mean stuff and that I may not have been suicidal after all.

For what ever reason (fear of a law suit from me or other reasons) the hospital never recorded that I had died when they has already started to send me to the morgue.

One nurse and one doctor from the ER had told me I had been dead.

I will share is that in the time I was gone I felt a love, and peace that can not be described here or even felt here due to the limits of our flesh.

It is only when we leave the flesh that we are truly free to experience real life. Compare it to a baby leaving the womb of its mother. The baby can not remember much of its previous life in the womb, and has no desire to go back.

The whole point of this study is to shed light where darkness has been before.

Before we go on I need to clear up some things.

First, I am not coming down on or judging anyone. I am just trying to show light where it is dark.

In the early 90's people started learning after, 2,000 years, that Christ was not Jesus' last name or title, but a description of Who He is.

As others before did not know due to a lack of knowledge, they were also destroyed or harmed due to this lack of knowledge.

Hosea 4: 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Also, if you do not know it, you are a priest if you are of God.

Rev 1: 6. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

So, as knowledge has come and, as we Mattain it, we have grown and cast thoughts of misleading aside for the truth, I, today, will bring a truth to you that if anyone goes before the Lord and asks, he can have it verified in more detail.

A friend of mine who is an Evangelist told me that some areas we deal in are unknowns, as far as the Bible is concerned, until we get to heaven. He is a dear and good friend, but in this area is allowing teachings of God from his past to play a part. In most of our upbringing we have been taught what a mystery God is to us.

Well look at what Jesus said about that.

Mark 4: 11. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

If you are of Christ :

I Cor 1: 24. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

And learn from God via His Spirit:

John 14: 26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

And allow the anointing (Christ) to reside in you and teach you, you will know the truth and it will make you free.

I John 2: 27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

John 8: 32. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Make free would be:

Strong's Ref. # 1659

Romanized eleutheroo

Pronounced el-yoo-ther-o'-o

from GSN1658; to liberate, i.e. (figuratively) to exempt (from moral, ceremonial or mortal liability):

KJV--deliver, make free.

#eleutho. See GSN2064.

IS 10:27. And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Jesus was anointed in the beginning (Gensis 1:3, John 1:4-5) as the light of this world to teach us the way.

But we have an enemy who has been here a long time and has learned well how to keep us down, and will not be happy with what you learn in the truth.

It is time to start with the truth, the truth that God is a God of love not wrath, and that the wrath is restrained more than we could ever restrain.

Look at the beginning. Adam sinned and brought sin into us and the earth. God did not. All God did was start preparing a way to bring us back into a relationship with Him in truth and light.

Mankind became so wicked and vile that God repented of ever creating us, but He found ONE He could use to save mankind. Not 1 million, not 100,000, not 10,000, not even 1,000 or a 100, but ONE.

Genesis 6: 5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

  1. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Then, as time went, on the great grandsons of Abraham sinned and they sold their brother in to slavery. How about Sodom and how God saved Lot and would have saved the city if there had been only 10 righteous men there?

But God still gave the children of Israel a chance due to the one, the one that was mistreated.

After 430 years God used another, Moses, to save Israel from bondage and slavery.

For the next couple thousand years God tolerated mankind and his wicked, vile, evil ways due to ONE. He found David then Isaiah and a list of others, one at a time.

He (God) was patient placing His word in the world through who any He could find willing to be used. Most of the time it was only ONE.

John 1: 14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Even after all of this, He gave us grace. In the Bible a generation (not how long we live) is 40 years. Do not get this mixed up with the year of the Lord. Before Jesus, the year of the Lord was the year of Jubilee and was every 50 years, this was not the same as a generation. Look at how many years Israel was in the wilderness, 40. Moses was 40 when he thought he was the savior of Israel and it was 40 more years before God used Moses, and 40 more before Israel went into the promised land. Jesus spent 40 days (1 day for each year) in the wilderness. I could go on, but you have the point.

The first 33 years of the last generation of mankind was the life of Jesus, the last 7 years was the tribulation. What has been in between the two is GRACE.

Now review what you know:

Adam sinned, and God helped.

Mankind sinned and God sought one to help save man.

God sent His own Son (ONE) into the earth to die for mankind to save mankind.

In spite of man, God has done, and done, and done for us.

You can see where man would sin and God would bend over backwards to set things straight. Abram became Abraham and had a child by another, not the one God promised. This was showing a lack in faith, or a need to help God, but God stayed honorable and gave Abraham his promise.

David sinned with another man's wife and then sent the man out to die, but God worked with David. Yes, there was a price to pay, and David lost a lot, but he did not have the blood of Jesus. He had dead animal's blood to cover his sin and that was not enough.

Again, I could go on, Peter denying he knew Jesus, Judas selling Jesus into the hands of those who wanted to be rid of Him, but then this study would be as long as the Bible itself.

Where do you see the wrath of God in this, yes, He flooded the earth, but at this time it got down to only one person who was not totally evil. The rest was a result of the sins of the person who comitted them. Sin is like gravity; if you drop a ball from a tree it will fall, not rise. If you sin a price will have to be paid; it is part of nature.

Before sin, it was not nature or natural, but super natural, and sin removed the super and made it just natural.

Well, we needed something to bring the super back in, and that was Jesus. His blood paid the price we never could. Where is the wrath in this?

Revelation - Tribulation - Wrath - Love

Now let's get to Revelation, the last book of the Bible.

What does the word "revelation" mean? It is to make evident a truth that was not previously known.

Jesus revealed unto John, in the first three chapters, that out of 7 churches only one came close to what was supposed to be the church. Or a 7 to 1 ratio of wrong, or 1 out 7 getting it right. If that is true today, and about 30% of the world or 180 million are Christians then only 25.3 million are close to the truth while 154.7 million are off totally.

But this was written based in 90 AD, and in the past 2 thousand years we have strayed more than they had. Revelation was written to those who were trying. How many of the 180 million today do more than state they are Christian? Notice how now the number drops further.

This is where I see so many not understanding the tribulation period. First let's Look at what the word "tribulation" means:

Strong's Ref. # 2347

Romanized thlipsis

Pronounced thlip'-sis

from GSN2346; pressure (literally or figuratively):

KJV--afflicted(-tion), anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation, trouble.

matt. 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Tribulation works to help us grow, and as Christians growing in Christ (Spirit of God)

we are going through our tribulation. We have a way to overcome the tribulation of the

world

John 16: 33. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Romans 2: 7. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and imortality, eternal life:

8. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

9. Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

10. But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

Notice wrath for to those who work evil not those who seek God.

II Thess 5: 9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Ok, we are not appointed to the wrath of God.

Matthew 24: 29. Imediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Mark 13: 24. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

25. And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

26. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

27. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

If you read the above verses in Matthew and Mark, you notice the things we have been taught (the wrath of God) happen AFTER the tribulation. Now you are thinking that all I proved was that the wrath was after tribulation, so there is no proof of rapture or us not having to go through the tribulation.

You are right but I am not finished. Now that you see the wrath comes at the end, you need to understand why it is at the end and not during the Great Tribulation and why we are removed beforehand.

First of all there have been 4 raptures to date, starting with Enoch.

23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

Gen 5:23-24 (KJV)

9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

2 Kings 2:9-11 (KJV)

52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

matt 27:52-53 (KJV)

Now understand that the number 7 is the number of completion, 7 days in the week, the number 8 is new beginning the 8th day a new week.

So we have had 4 raptures; to have completion 3 more are needed.

One is pre-tribulation. God must remove us to reveal the anti-christ. But also because we have gone through our tribulation. The last 7 years, the 7 years of tribulation are for those who still are lost. Yes, some of those call themselves Christian.

Here is II Thess 2:7 from the transliterated Bible

7.

|3588| the

|1063| For

|3466| mystery

|2235| already

|1754| works

|3588| of

|0458| lawlessness,

|3440| only

|3588| he

|2722| restraining

|0737| now,

|2193| until

|1537| out of

|9999| {the}

|3319| middle

|1096| it comes.

The mystery here is

Strong's Ref. # 3466

Romanized musterion

Pronounced moos-tay'-ree-on

from a derivative of muo (to shut the mouth); a secret or "mystery" (through the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites):

KJV--mystery.

Just one who is a secret not revealed yet.

And restraining is:

Strong's Ref. # 2722

Romanized katecho

Pronounced kat-ekh'-o

from GSN2596 and GSN2192; to hold down (fast), in various applications (literally or figuratively):

KJV--have, hold (fast), keep (in memory), let, X make toward, possess, retain, seize on, stay, take, withhold.

The power of the Spirit of God works through those here, restraining that one who would allow for a falling away from God, or more wickedness and evil to grow.

And out of the middle is:

Strong's Ref. # 3319

Romanized mesos

Pronounced mes'-os

from GSN3326; middle (as an adjective or [neuter] noun):

KJV--among, X before them, between, + forth, mid[-day, -night], midst, way.

So out of our midst, as we are removed (raptured), one will be revealed as the anti-christ, but most will see him as hope. He will have been known in the world as a Christian leader.

Those left behind who believe they are of God but never comitted themselves more than just words will be comforted by him. He will use a line like, "If it was rapture I would have gone as well so it must not have been rapture." With so many who believe they are of God still here, they will also believe this.

Matthew 7:21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Think about this with the increase belief in UFOs, abductions and so forth, after something that would remove millions, and most will not believe it was rapture, what would be another theory that the antichrist will use?

It will work for him because it will place people in fear and bondage and allow him to pull it out to use in the next rapture to promote his number for people to have and they will worship it as their salvation from abduction. He could state that if they receive the Mark (chip) they would be able to be tracked and then would be able to be rescued.

Now that is the physical side of the number of the beast 666. The spiritual side is the number is also the number of man. The number 6 means incomplete, 6 days of the week is not a complete week. Man without God is incomplete. So we are all of 666, body, soul and spirit until we stop rejecting God in our life and let Him have His way with us, to bless us, guide us, and teach us, as well as love us.

So this first 3.5 years of tribulation is God's way of helping those who are to stuborn, lazy, confused to see the truth, trying to show them that He exists by having man rule man without God but by the antichrist.

Some will be saved, yes there are the 144,000 these are the ones who are martyred for God. They are the new leaders. They will try to stop the evil by sharing the love of God and teach people the truth, and they will be killed. As time goes on in the first 3.5 years, grief from the loss of so many (raptured) will be replaced by anger, hate and just a hard heart. And as we can not see it happening, the day will be when killing someone of this belief may even become a sport or at the least considered a service. Think about how we allow things today that 50 years ago people would have rebelled against, sex, drugs, taxes. Yes they would not have allowed the violence in movies and TV much less the sex and other things as we have. Over the first 3.5 years of the Great Tribulation two groups will come about.

One that is growing towards God due to the 144,000 sharing the truth.

One that will become more and more evil as in the days of the flood and Sodom & Gomorrah.

Then comes the next to last rapture. All the people who have become true parts of God are raptured if they have not already been killed.

The last 3.5 years is where Satan is cast down and he rules. If you do not believe this is when he cast down, read Hebrews, and Revelation 12 where it talks about the brethren and how the one who was the accuser of the brethren is finally cast down. If Satan was cast down back in the Old Testament, as some teach, then how is it he would be our accuser? Read about how Paul talks about going to the third heaven. Paul describes the third heaven as where God is. The first heaven is what we see in the sky so the second must be where Satan resides. Also, review about how the battle we have is of the mind and how something blocks us from the truth. That would only be if Satan is in between us and God.

Enough on that. Satan is cast down. Now God must show those who were really stubborn that Satan's way is not the way to go. Yes, there will be some saved here, maybe not as many because there are fewer people. The 2 witnesses will provide proof of God by confounding what the Anti-christ, Satan, and beast do during this 3.5 years.

Some will believe and be saved and will go in the last rapture at the end of tribulation.

Now the wrath comes and those who have not worshiped the Mark of the beast will survive as those who did worship the Mark will perish.

For a 1,000 years Jesus will rule over those left to give them a final chance to make the right choice. At the end Satan is released one last time to tempt those who are left and all who are not of God with their names written in the Lamb's book of life will be judged and sent to hell. Hell, those in it, Satan, the Anti-christ, and the beast will be cast into the lake of fire. Those of us found in the Lamb's book of life will live life eternal on a new earth that is 10 times the size of our sun. If you imagine that our present earth's size is nothing more than a pin head in comparison to our present sun, and our new earth is 10 times the size of our sun, you can see where it will take eternity just to travel and enjoy the new earth.

Q and A

Where did I get the size of the new earth?

Compare the size of the new Jerusalem on the new earth to the old and multiply it out.

What about all those who die in tribulation from famine, disease, plagues; is this not the wrath of God?

No, this is the result of sin. When God is removed from something, sin runs rampant and then death and destruction come. With most of God's own being raptured out, so is most of the blessing gone, and then here comes the curse.

What about those seeking death and can not find it? This is where those who are now of God want out and they seek death in the last 6 months of the first half of Tribulation, but can not find it. To comit suicide is a sin and they understand they have sinned enough. The world is so wicked and they are still babes in Christ. They are not sure there is another rapture and can not handle the thought of spending 4 more years with all the evil not knowing just how bad it is going to get. They will not find death because God will be protecting them to finish their work before they leave. They are stung and shot at and so forth. Yes, it will be bad and they will suffer and be in pain. But, none the less, they will not find death.

Why can it not be those of evil seeking death wanting to leave?

God's wrath does not come until after the tribulation, so is it is not His wrath. It is sin working for those of evil. Remember the result of sin is death. God does not change the rules; He abides by them.

Could it be another period other than at the 3 year point that people are seeking death?

Yes, it could be both, either, or the 3 year Mark or the 6.5 year Mark.

Why did God create Hell and sin?

He did not. They are a result of disobedience. When an action happens, a reaction happens. By Lucifer falling from His place with God, Hell was created as an alternative for Satan and his fallen angels. Sin is reaction to the action of disobediance.

Why does God send people to Hell?

God does not; it is our choice. Stop rejecting God in your life and live eternal life with Him or go to Hell.

Why is it rejecting God and just not accepting God?

We all reject Him at some point, in some area. We may just want to sin, someone gets you angry, so do you say I love you and think you are wonderfull or get angry back?

Do not get me wrong; this does not send us to Hell. We can always repent and ask forgiveness, but if we do it long enough and do not overcome this sin, sooner or later it will lead us astray.

God in, His infinte wisdom, created a way to bless us in our sins, we ask forgiveness, He forgives and that is that. First though, we have to have the relationship with Him then we have to want forgiveness, and we have to be forgiving of ourselves and of others no matter what they do.

We have to forgive the sinner, but we do not have to forgive the sin.

If someone lies to you, you forgive them but you still hate sin. To truly forgive means to forget. We have a memory to keep from being hurt again. Forgive the person and do not hate them, but remember the sin and hate it. Do not let anger, offense or hate toward a person or group of people grow and fester inside you like a cancer. Like cancer, it can kill you physically and spiritually.

God can forgive and forget that sin if the sinner asks it from Him.

This is one of the hardest areas for us to learn, and we must. God will help us.

I ask you to review the study and realize that God is a God of Love. He has wrath, but restrains it for our sake, but He is not a wrathful God as we have learned. He has wrath, but is not wrathful. Meaning when the time is right He lets loose, but 99.9% of the time it is not His wrath, but His love that is at work.

If you have questions email me at and include your return email.

Also I always appreciate hearing how a study has helped others. So please drop me a line.

If you have been fed and want to bless us according to the feeding you received let me know.

COMPLAINTS or DISAGREEMENTS

If you feel I am full of it, please go to God and seek Him on the truth. Every verse I use is meant to be read and then re-read in its full text.

If after seeking God, you feel the same about me, do not email me, pray about it more and seek God to set me right. All your email will do is be read and then dumped. For I am convinvced the only one that can or should change any of us is God. I would rather see someone use their time getting closer to God and the truth than trying to show me where I may be wrong because you are not God.

As it says in: John 14:26 and I John 2:27 I go by the anointing that resides in me, and am taught by the Holy Spirit.


CONTINUE

If you read Malachi 3:10-12 and then Mark 4:12-18 you will see where the tithe can and will increase your knowledge of the word and of God. The tithe is more than just giving 10% to a church, it is a way for God to have authority in your life over all that matters, your income, your growth, even relationships. Out of about 30 people I have known for the past 10+ years only 5 tithed. The 5 of the 20 that tithed have increased in every area of their life. Where the other 15 have increased some, they are still light years behind the 5 who tithed in all areas. It is your choice, but do not tithe until you understand the tithe and what it does for you and do it from the heart and not the head.



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