We Are Not Appointed to “ETERNAL” Wrath
When one understands there is no 7 yr. “trib period” prophesied, there is only the 70th week and the last half of the week is "not" called the GT in scripture, they will start to get closer to understanding what the 70th week consists of. Many try to say that this period is the time of Jacob’s trouble but that isn’t affirmed in Rev. although the description given is similar to how the GT is described, they are not the same. They are depicting two different peoples in two different time periods. Those scenarios are all made up as an excuse to somehow remove christians from something that scripture tells us we must endure. In Rev. 7:9, we see the raptured/resurrected church arriving in heaven and vs. 14 tells us the GT is the last thing we will be enduring before we go. However, the timing of this does put us in the era of at least the wrath of the Lamb, from Rev. 6:16-17 which are the trumpet judgments. The bible tells us over and over that we will have times of tribulation and persecution but folks want to shake that off and say that’s only talking about our day to day problems. In a way they’re right, but what were the day to day problems of the early church? Beatings, tortures, getting kicked out of cities, running for their lives, being put in prison, being thrown to the lions, roasted in oil, being fried, losing all their possessions, etc. It wasn’t just the apostles that had to endure all these things.
As far as I can tell, the concept that the church doesn't suffer from his wrath comes from only half of a single verse, 1 Thess. 5:9, “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Many erroneous eschatologies have been built around this phrase and never taking in the context of which it is given, even in the verse itself. Unlike most, I don't believe it is speaking of God's endtimes wrath because of the context.
The wrath being spoken of here is eternal "condemnation", not end times wrath. The same God who tells us in Matt. 28:10 - "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." and from Matt. 5:45 - "that ye may be the children of your Father who is in Heaven. For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust", isn’t concerned about how we die, death is a given except those who will be raptured. 1 Thess. 5:9 is speaking of the same wrath as found in John 3:36 - "He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but "the wrath of God" abideth on him.” So we are not appointed to “eternal” wrath because we have "believed in Christ". When you're a christian it doesn't matter how you die whether it be from an earthquake, a tsunami, car accident, meteor strikes, being tortured and martyred for our faith, radiation or old age. If we die because of events caused by the wrath of the Lamb or the wrath of God, why would it matter, our destination is the same? What "saves" us from God's "eternal" wrath is also found in 1 Thess. 5:8 - "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation." It is because we are wearing the armor of God that we are not "appointed" to wrath. When folks understand this reality, they can look at the 70th week from a more realistic pov, instead of creating a separate set of christians (trib saints) the bible never talks about.