Sorry I didn't read all the comments as they seem mostly argumentative and insulting, but my simple answer to the OP is "fear." I'll add that this "fear" comes from a lack of faith or understanding in the power of God to preserve his own.
I'm inclined to give silly anecdotal stories in my posts (but they are true stories just the same which illustrate something of how God works in His creation) so I'll share one now. My dad, now deceased, served in the European theatre in WWII as a liaison officer (though he was only a corporal) with an armored unit under the command of George Patton. His duties included driving to forward positions to deliver orders and receive reports. On one occasion, my father chose to drive through an open field rather than keep his jeep on the road, because of a column or other obstruction on the road. At the far end of the field he observed signs posted in German which said "attention, minefield, forbidden," so he apparently drove through the middle of a mine field completely unharmed. My pop had a number of such stories, which we were always entertained by, but my dad could by no means be called a Christian. The Lord preserved my dad through many dangers, toils, and snares, in spite of the fact that my father never confessed any belief or faith in Christ prior to a single occasion of conversation when he was very old. I like to think that the Lord preserved my father for my sake (wonderfully ego boosting), but the Lord is "kind to the unthankful and evil" and shows grace to men as He pleases.
The scripture tells us that The Lord preserved Daniel's friends through a fire hot enough to kill those men who threw them into it and that their clothes were intact and not even a hint of smoke was upon them. If Christians really believed this, would they fear what was coming? The same book tells us that Daniel was thrown into a den of lions and came out unharmed while his enemies were then thrown in and devoured. Do Christians really believe this?
God poured out His wrath upon the earth in the days of Noah, yet Noah was preserved through the flood, not removed from the flood. Do Christians understand this or believe it? Obviously some do.
The pre-trib rapture doctrine appeals to the flesh (our carnal nature) which desires pleasure and comfort, peace and safety, but the Lord is more concerned with our character and our faith than with our comfort and our safety, or there would be no martyrs and no Christian would die from disease or violence or any of the evils that God has permitted in the world.
But for the sake of the peanut gallery:
7. "For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. 8. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,'' says the Lord, your Redeemer. 9. "For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. 10. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,'' says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
11. "O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires. 12. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones. 13. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. 14. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. 15. Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. Isaiah 54:7-15
There's a reason that this passage follows the gospel given in Isaiah 53, and my apologies to Marcus, but the Apostle Paul tells us that the church is comprised of both Jews and gentiles and that God has joined us together in what Paul calls the Israel of God. For two thousand years gentiles have been trying to kick the Jews out of the church or put them into some separate category as "Christian Jews" or even as "revelation saints," but being a Christian is a matter of faith and being a Jew is a matter of birth and there isn't a soul on earth that can separate God's people from God's love. You can narrow your definition of the church to only those who are born again by the Spirit of God, but the professing church is every bit as much a mixed multitude as was ancient Israel and this is certainly no secret to the Lord. Now if the Lord were going to catch up all born again believers before the great tribulation, He would be contradicting more than one verse of scripture pertaining to His saints and most significantly those found in Chapter 20 of the book of the Revelation which describes the first resurrection as occurring after the destruction of the beast and the binding of Satan (for the millennial kingdom period.)
The outpouring of God's wrath upon the earth is a judgment against all flesh, not against all souls. The great white throne judgment is the one in which eternal wrath is expressed, because at that time Christ will judge the eternal disposition of every soul that hasn't submitted to Him and hasn't found God's grace to be part of the first resurrection.
The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, So that men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth.'' Psalms 58:10-11
If you believe this last verse to be the word of God, then who is it referring to, given that the scripture also says,
"Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?'' says the Lord God, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live? Ezekiel 18:23
Doesn't it speak of those whom God has accounted as righteous by faith? And how would we witness the judgment if we aren't here?
