Rapture Sermon Series 47. Explaining & Refuting Pre-Wrath, Pt. 6. Daniel 9:27. Dr. Andy Woods - YouTube
When you see.. (Matthew 25:15).
So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.(Matthew 25:15-20). According to Andy Woods, Jesus' warnings refer to Jewish individuals living on the earth at the time the temple is desecrated. These warnings are addressed to the disciples, and by extension to the church.
Three Parts?
And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. (Daniel 9:27).
Andy Woods confirms that the 70th week of Daniel is divided into two halves i.e. two periods of 3.5 years. (Revelation 11:2-3, 12:6, 13:5; Daniel 7:25, 12:7, 12:11). However, he fails to take into account explicit scriptures that elaborate on this two part framework and he superimposes the tribulation onto the entire seven years. *The Olivet Discourse is unequivocal ~ the great tribulation begins and ends at specific points during the 70th week:
For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again. Matthew 24:21)
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31 cf. Revelation 6:12-17 ).
The above verses indicate that the sixth seal cosmic disturbances occur immediately after the tribulation of those days. The tribulation is "cut short" for the sake of the elect, before the 3.5 years are completed. (Matthew 24:22). The gathering of the elect (the rapture) becomes imminent, and the Day of the Lord is specifically indicated as portending following the sixth seal cosmic disturbances. (Revelation 6:12-14). The wrath of God occurs towards the end of the 70th week after the seventh seal is broken. (Revelation 8:1- 9:20, 15:1,8, 16:1-17).
Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” (Revelation 6:15-17).
And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. (Joel 2:30-31).
With such clarity available to us in the scriptures, it is difficult, if not impossible, to understand Andy Woods' objection that the prewrath view imposes an artificial construct on Daniel's 70th week by separating the great tribulation from the Day of the Lord.
Larry B Pettigrew's flawed arguments:
In his paper Interpretive Flaws in the Olivet Discourse, Larry Pettigrew grossly misrepresents the prewrath position below:
Israel will be protected in the wilderness for the period of the tribulation and also during the period of time that the wrath continues, in all, 1260 days. However unlike Israel, the church will be raptured before the Day of the Lord commences.
..and the woman (Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. (Revelation 12:6).
Pettigrew: "The bible never divides the 1260 days into two 630 days." Prewrath teachers do not claim that the 1260 years will be split in half! In fact, Pettigrew's points are not only inaccurate, but they appear to be a deliberate distortion of the prewrath position. We need to ask the question: Why do pre-trib teachers find it necessary to resort to disreputable tactics in order to misrepresent the prewrath rapture? The tendency of pre-trib leaders to 'win the argument' by fair means or foul reflects very badly on their supposed integrity! (Ephesians 4:25).
Pettigrew: "Another flaw in the pre-wrath interpretation of Matthew 24:22 is its logical
failure to explain properly the reason that the great tribulation is shortened. The
reason given is that if it were not, no flesh would be saved. The point of the
Scripture is that when the great tribulation is over, something easier and better comes
on the scene. In the pre-wrath scheme, however, something more horrible
occurs—the Day of the Lord. If no flesh would have survived a continuation of the
great tribulation through the full forty-two months, surely no flesh would survive if
the great tribulation were to be cut short and followed by the awesome Day of the
Lord.
Moreover, Matthew 24:21 says that the great tribulation will be the worst time ever. So, how can it be replaced by the Day of the Lord which is more horrible in that it consists in God’s wrath on the world? In fact, the great tribulation (Matt 24:21) and the Day of the Lord (Dan 12:1; Jer 30:7) are both said to be the worst time ever, so they must be the same time period or at least overlap one another. How much better is the pretribulational interpretation of Matthew 24:22 which says that when the great tribulation concludes at the end of 1,260 days, Christ returns, judgment on the earth ceases, and the millennial Kingdom begins!" {1}
Pettigrew directly contradicts the specific distinction between tribulation and wrath in Matthew 24:29-31 and Revelation 6:12-17. Scripturally, the two periods are not the same time period and they do not overlap. As already stated, the Olivet Discourse is unequivocal, the great tribulation begins and ends at specific points during the 70th week.*
Andy Woods also quotes an article written by George Zeller entitled Pre-Wrath Confusion: "The PRE-WRATH view teaches that the Day of the Lord begins after the Great Tribulation and that the Day of the Lord is the time of God’s wrath. Matthew 24:21, Daniel 12:1 and Jeremiah 30:7 all teach that the Great Tribulation is the greatest time of trouble that the world has ever known. Therefore, if the Day of the Lord is distinct from the Great Tribulation, then the Day of the Lord must be LESS SEVERE than the Great Tribulation. But how can the great day of God’s wrath be less severe and less troublesome than the Great Tribulation?How can God’s wrath be less severe than man’s wrath? How can the trumpets and bowls be less severe than the fifth seal? How can God’s wrath be less severe than Satan’s wrath? How can unregenerate men and Satan cause more trouble for this world than the wrathful JUDGE Himself? The PRE-WRATH view, when compared with Matthew 24:21 and these other verses, makes the Day of the Lord an ANTICLIMAX! " {2}
Andy Woods applies the phrase no flesh would be saved to all humanity: "God is not going to allow the second half to exceed its allotted time frame because if that happened no one would survive.. if this time period of great tribulation goes outside this seven years everyone would be dead." The problem with Andy Woods' argument is that the great tribulation will be cut short before its allotted time frame for the sake of the elect. The pre-trib camp are obdurate in their unwillingness to differentiate between the scriptural designations (thlipsis) and wrath (orgē) during this period. The application of the great tribulation is unprecedented persecution against believers # the elect # the church. (Matthew 24:15-22). Daniel 12:1 and Jeremiah 30:7 refer to unbelieving Israel (your people/Jacob). It is evident that the unequalled distress of the great tribulation does not apply to the world, since the world will not suffer the persecution of the Antichrist. The Day of the Lord follows the great tribulation and the rapture and is directed against the world.
..let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.. 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 24:16,21-22).Alas! That day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob; yet he shall be saved out of it. (Jeremiah 30:7).
At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. (Daniel 12:1).
The Great Multitude (Revelation 7:9-17)
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming (erchomai) out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:13-14).
To paraphrase Andy Woods: "The present tense participle (erchomai) describes a process of continuous action. This cannot be the rapture because erchomai is a process, whereas the rapture happens in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. (1 Corinthians 15:52)." It may seem that at last Andy Woods has found the Achilles heel in the prewrath view. However the preponderance of evidence is against him.
The reference to "the ones who are coming out of the great tribulation" is attached to a sequence of two Greek verbs in the aorist tense. i.e. "have washed" and "made" These verbs refer to the timing of the event as a completed action. One of the elders asks: .. from where have they come (elthon)? He did not ask where are they coming from, rather the past tense of the Greek verb (to come) is employed. This is further corroborated by: ..they have washed (past tense) their robes and made (past tense) them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The context of Revelation 7:13-14 gives a fuller view of the great multitude in heaven:
# The appearance of the great multitude in heaven is sandwiched between the sixth seal cosmic disturbances when the rapture becomes imminent, and the breaking of the seventh seal and the onset of the Day of the Lord via the trumpet judgements. (Revelation 8:1-13 cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:9). This scene precisely parallels Jesus timeline of events in Matthew 24:29-31, i.e. the cosmic disturbances follow the great tribulation and then the angels gather the elect from the four winds.
# The phrase
a great multitude that no one could number from
every tribe and language and people and nation in Revelation 7:9 echoes the language of
every tribe and language and people and nation in Revelation 5:9,
the great multitude in Revelation 19:6 and also God's promise to Abraham:
I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. (Genesis 22:17). This scene is the immediate prelude to the opening of the seventh seal and indicates the rapture.
# The prewrath view teaches that the church will remain on the earth until the tribulation is
"cut short". (
Matthew 24:22). There is no evidence of a
"worldwide revival" during the 70th week of Daniel. (Revelation 9:20-21). The sudden appearance of the innumerable multitude before the throne does not correlate well with a worldwide revival. However, this scene does correlate with the rapture and the appearance in heaven of innumerable numbers i.e. the resurrected saints of all time. (
2 Timothy 3:12).
# The saints will receive their resurrected bodies at the rapture. (1 Corinthians 15:35-58 cf. Philippians 3:21). We see the great multitude described in physical terms: ..standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9).
# Regarding the praises of the great multitude: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” and the subsequent angelic praises: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” This scene suggests that a momentous event has just occurred. The contention of prewrath teachers is that this momentous event is rapture of the church.
The objection that John should have known the identity of the great multitude because he is a foundation stone of the church is clutching at straws. (Ephesians 2:20). Revelation 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants.. is precisely that. If John had been au fait with the entirety of the revelation he was given, there would have been no need for him to receive it. (1 John 3:2 cf. Revelation 21:14). We could ask why John began to weep because no one was worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals. (Revelation 5:3-5). These kind of inane questions are redundant.
The forty seven long weeks that Andy Woods has been teaching and defending the pre-trib rapture is unprecedented as far as I am aware. Tragically, Woods is a hardcore pretribulationalist, despite the fact that he has been made aware of many evidences to the contrary.
While I believe that many true believers have been sucked into the pre-trib deception by stealth, unfortunately I cannot say the same for their leaders. (Genesis 3:1). Technically, those who teach the pre-trib doctrine fall into the category of false prophets who distort the scriptures. (Revelation 22:18-19). Many pre-trib teachers are hirelings who remain loyal to their denominational label above the scriptures. (John 10:13). The words of Jeremiah come to mind: “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD make the words that you have prophesied come true.. Jeremiah continued: ..the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. (Jeremiah 28:6-15).
Pre-trib teachers will need some good answers when the time comes for them to give an account! (Hebrews 4:13).
1. tmsj13f.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment