Judgment vs. Wrath

What's the Difference?

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JUDGMENT vs. WRATH
What's the Difference?

(This article is long. Take your time. Grab your Bible and I recommend to pray the Ephesians 1:17-23 prayer over yourself.)

1.) Introduction

2.) Judgment and Wrath work together

3.) “Day” of Wrath

4.) Last Tidbits - Another Sacred Cow

1.) Introduction

God’s Word defines itself. What this means is when we have a question regarding a particular subject matter, look at all the passages on that point or word, like words as “wrath” for example. You will find all the scriptures work together like a jigsaw puzzle, they fit neatly together. While looking into a particular subject some passages say exactly the same thing as the others. Oftentimes some passages will show a slightly different aspect with added details. It all shows a bigger picture. God sure seems to like to work that way. Let God be God. In all our articles we add emphasis to most of the scriptures to draw attention on a point and be sure the detail(s) don’t get missed by the reader.

There are hundreds of scriptures on this subject matter of Judgement and Wrath. Like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Revelation, and parts of the Epistles, the Gospels, Peter, and Jude. Clearly we will not list all of them. You can study it out on your own if you desire. We will list at least three in each section. For out of two or three witnesses every word is established - 2 Corinthians 13:1 and Deuteronomy 17:6. Have your Bible since some of the scriptures are only listed and need to be looked up. This is heavy, dense. Take you time with this because we will be going against what we have been traditionally taught in the Church. Let God be God and all of the “doctrines of men” fall away.

All that being said, in this article we will distinguish from the Word of God these subjects: 1.) Judgment-Wrath; and 2.) Day of Wrath.

I pray God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ would give unto you wisdom and revelation knowledge by the Spirit as you read this, that your eyes would be enlightened to what He wants you to know, in Jesus Name. (Ephesians 1:17-18).

2. ) Judgment and Wrath work together

Definitions - From Strong’s Concordance:

Judgment: “Greek - #2920 - krisis: A decision, judgment, judging, sentence; generally; divine judgment; accusation. To separate, distinguish - judgment, emphasizing its qualitative aspect that can apply either to a positive verdict (for righteousness) - or more commonly, a “negative” verdict which condemns the nature of sin that brings it on.

Similar to #2919 - krinó: I judge, whether in a law-court or privately; sometimes with cognate noun emphasizing the notion of the verb, I decide, I think (it) good. Properly to separate (distinguish), come to a choice (decision, judgment) by making a judgment - either positive (a verdict in favor of) or negative (which rejects or condemns). J. Thayer comments that “the proper meaning of #2919 is to pick out (choose) by separating.” To make a determination of right or wrong, especially on an official (legal) standard.

#2917 - krima: stresses the results that go with a particular judgment (of blessing or pain depending on the choice).”

Wrath: “Greek - #3709 - orgé: Justifiable violent passion, abhorrence, by implication punishment, anger, vengeance, rising up from an ongoing opposition. To teem, swelling up to constitutionally oppose. Proceeds from an internal disposition which steadfastly opposes someone or something based on extended personal exposure, i.e. solidifying what the beholder considers wrong (unjust, evil). To swell, and thus implies that it is not a sudden outburst, but rather (referring to God’s) fixed, controlled, passionate feeling against sin…a settled indignation.”

1 Peter 4:17 - “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

The Body of Christ will have to go through judgment. The word: “tribulation” is used frequently in Old Testament and the New meaning “tough times.” They have happened before and will happen again. There is so much more to judgment and wrath then what we thought. And I’ve never seen it taught anywhere. God has executed wrath many times in the Old Testament. There are also many lessons in the Word of God where great men of God repented and some had to go through judgment even if they repented. It was the result of their sin although they repented. Depends on the depth of the sin. God does differentiate between “types” of sins in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Even though there is forgiveness there is sometimes still judgment for the depths of the sin:

1. Moses who didn’t cross the Jordan to go to the promised land because of his sin, of which he repented of in Deuteronomy 32:51-52 - “This is because …you broke faith with Me in the presence of the Israelites at the water of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold My holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the land only from the a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.” God showed him the land as it is recorded in Numbers 20 where we see the shortcoming of Moses when he disobeyed God. The symbology is even more layered than not obeying God. Moses struck the “Rock” twice instead of what God told him, “strike it once” - this was the symbol of Jesus’ death on the cross. Crucifying Him again. Moses’ punishment for his pride, doubt, and disobedience was very great…Moses didn’t get to go to the promised land because of his sin, of which the Lord had originally promised him he would see if he obeyed God. Yet with all of that God loved him and it was God Himself that buried the body of Moses. See also Deuteronomy 34. Moses’ failure at the rock did not break his relationship with the Lord. God continued to use the prophet and continued to love him with tenderness.

2. David with Bathsheba - 2 Samuel 11-12 - King David was loved by God. He was chosen by God to be the first victorious king of Israel, who replaced king Saul after Saul got into idolatry. David wrote the majority of the Psalms, about half, and was a fierce warrior for God. David always went to God first when a battle looked like it would ensue and David got God’s plans for the battle before he ever made a step. His time as king over Israel was the most prosperous time period in Israel’s history…because David put God first. King David is written about a lot in the Old Testament mostly in Samuel and Chronicles. He is the second most written about person in the Bible; the first most written about is of course Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Messiah. David was a king of piety, repentance, and submission to God, as well as the forerunner to the Messiah - Jesus, the Son of God. David was even from Bethlehem. And David made several foolish and purposeful errors with Bathsheba. David knew what he was doing was wrong. It was “willful” sin. David knew the punishment of adultery according to Levitical law. Once he had taken her while her husband was at war, David proceeded to sleep with her and eventually found she was pregnant. Then because David knew what he did was wrong he tried to hide it. He wanted her husband Uriah to go home and sleep with Bathsheba so he wouldn’t know she was pregnant from someone else, especially him. So he schemed another plan to have Uriah killed, along with others in the Israeli army that had to die for David’s sin. Many people were effected by this one act of David’s “looking” on another man’s wife and wanting to sleep with her. Psalm 51 was written by David with his heartfelt pleadings from this ordeal. And yet, David is called by God as a “man after God’s own heart, who shall fulfill all My will.” (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22.) But because of David’s willful sin the first child born to David from Bathsheba died. Yes, God forgave David and took away his sin and took away the just penalty on David which would have been David’s death. David was in grief with fasting and praying to God to attempt to change the outcome of his infant son but just as the Lord said, David’s child died. When David heard, he cleaned himself up and went to the Temple to worship God!! That’s profound!! How many of us caught up in a tragedy would go or have gone to worship God?! There is something major to learn from this! And bear in mind, his second son born to him from this grief was Solomon. It’s an important story to read. There was an outcome for the sin of David, his son’s death. And even Solomon whom the Lord loved, got messed up in all sorts of idolatry and had wives from the tribes that had nephilim blood and were into idolatry worshiping demon gods. David is one of my favorite heroes. A giant slayer - more than only Goliath. But David made mistakes, as we all do. Some outcomes God will hold off the just punishment for the sins we commit, some He does not. This is “judgment.” Not “wrath.”

3. Sampson - Judges 13-16 - Sampson was a judge of Israel and known for his strength that came from God. God raised up judges who were heroes for Israel, my favorite is Deborah - take a look at Deborah sometime, Judges 4-5, who was like Moses and David, a prophet, national leader, and military commander. Samson was born to begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines. But Sampson broke three of the Nazarite vows. (Seeing another “thread” here…Sampson was from Nazareth.) First: was to fall in love with a Philistine woman and he went home to tell his parents to get her to marry him. After the Spirit of God came on him and Sampson killed the lion, when he returned and passed by the carcass of the dead lion, he saw there was a bee hive within the carcass and he ate some of the honey. He brought some to his parents and they ate it. According to the Levitical law they were not to be near a dead body, but he ate from it and gave some to his parents who did not know where the honey came from. Numbers 6:6 says a Nazarite is not to go near a dead body and because Samson didn’t tell his parents means he knew what he was doing and breaking his vow. It is a vow to God. The second vow he broke is loosely implied in Judges 14:10-20 was the feast he gave to celebrate his wedding to this Philistine. In Hebrew the word is: misteh. It implies a drinking bout, of which he was doing with the Philistines, the woman’s family and friends. You can tell from this scripture this is what occurred. This was breaking his second vow to God that a Nazarite is to have no wine or hard drink. A Nazarite vow. There’s much historical narrative to what likely happened for this wedding which was never consummated and she was then married off to Sampson’s best man. The last vow that Sampson broke with the Lord was what happened with Delilah, a harlot he found in Gaza. (Judges 16:1-3.) Sampson had sexual relations with her which is against Levitical law and Nazarite vow. Vow’s or keeping your promise(s) to God are very important. God is very serious about them - Matthew 5:33-35. This example of Samson’s capture and death shows God’s judgement for broken vows.

4. Jonah - Jonah 1-4 - The lesson of Jonah is important for this age, Jesus said sign of Jonah being 3 days in the belly of the fish, like Jesus being in hell for three days before His resurrection; and it is also the last days sign - the sign of Jonah. He was a disobedient prophet who rejected what the Lord told him to do. It was a part of his calling that the Lord commissioned Jonah to go to Nineveh. There is so much scholarly text written about Jonah should you be inclined to do the research. Some of which I’ll mention: Nineveh was the capitol of Babylon. Heavy pagan worship. And the reason why they listened, at least in their minds, but we know it had to do with God, was that Jonah showed up after there had been a major solar eclipse. They worshipped the sun god. When the sun got covered by the moon Babylonians knew this was a bad sign. Like the eclipse we are going to have (at the time of this writing) on April 8, 2024, this I believe is the Lord telling us our nation is done for (and with the one in 2017 and the path of both make an “X” across our nation. Just like Babylon-Assyria, of which the Lord calls America “Babylon” in the book of Revelation.) Getting back to Jonah’s disobedience, it caused him to be thrown into the ocean and swallowed by a large fish. Jonah’s disobedience had an outcome. An outcome that included death - Jonah 2. Once he was vomited out by the fish, Jonah does what the Lord had asked. And because of the repentance from the king of Nineveh all the way down the ranks of the people, God withheld His judgment. And Jonah was not happy about that. He was upset that God would hold off. Interesting lesson of this story, it was the king of Nineveh that told the Ninevites to repent to the Lord, not Jonah.

5. Peter - Matthew 14:29; Luke 5:8; Matthew 26:31-33, 69-75; John 21:15-19 Peter is another hero of the Bible I love and have learned so much from. He loved the Lord and yet, made mistakes. What I learned from his lessons are about faith. I call him the disciple of faith. When Jesus said something, Peter did it. “At Your word I will do it.” We don’t see in scripture that he ever had to go through judgement for a mistake like when Peter denied Jesus but we can learn much from looking at him through scripture.

Judgment and Wrath Work Together

The two work together: Judgment and Wrath. Judgment brings about wrath. Or perhaps it’s better to say when there has been no repentance wrath is the ultimate culmination of the judgement. Wrath as the outcome of judgment is all over the Old Testament with the flood of Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah, Tower of Babel, Moses with the Israelites in Egypt and in the desert, and with many of the kings in Chronicles, Samuel, Kings, Psalms, and Daniel.

In looking at these two subjects we inevitably see in the Word of God the Seven Year Tribulation and the Rapture occurring around the same time period. The Word says the time period is seven years and not just in Daniel. God uses the same descriptions for things in many places and it pin points the timeline.

Let’s take a look at Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 - “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.”

Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon. The man of whom God gave the greatest amount of wisdom to and no one else will ever have that in this life on earth. What he wrote is important - God thought so. And there is much to this passage in Ecclesiastes but for this article we are looking at one piece: God’s method of operating - What God has done before He will do again; and what He has done of old will be again. And He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Judgment and Wrath work together and yet they are slightly different from each other from the definitions we looked at in the beginning. Wrath is the result of the buildup of Judgment - which means no repentance. When God brings Judgment on a land, a king, a people group, a city, He is looking for repentance. For people to run to Him. When there is repentance God holds off or cancels out the Wrath. The classic example is Jonah with the city of Nineveh. The City’s - ruler and the people, including the animals went to a state of repentance and stopped the hand of God from bringing His righteous Judgment and Wrath wiping out the city. As James 2:13 says “For He shall have judgment without mercy, that has showed no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgment.” I like it in the NLV - “There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.” Historically we know that God ultimately did wipe out the city of Nineveh as it is to this day.

Back to Ecclesiastes. Where else has God used two things that work together like Judgment and Wrath?

Let’s look at an extra Biblical book for reference because it’s states clearly this type of duel relationship. These relationships are in the Bible but only in an esoteric way.

Enoch 60:6,12-15 - 6. “And when the day, and the power, and the punishment, and the judgement come, which the Lord of Spirits hath prepared for those who worship not the righteous law, and for those who deny the righteous judgement, and for those who take His name in vain-that day is prepared, for the elect a covenant, but for sinners an inquisition…12. And how the spirits are distributed, and how they are weighed. And how the springs, and the winds, are counted according to the power of their spirit. And the power of the light of the Moon. And the divisions of the stars according to their names. And how all the divisions are made. 13. And the thunder – according to the places were it falls. And all the divisions that are made in lightning – so that it may flash. And its hosts – how they quickly obey. 14. For the thunder have fixed intervals, which have been given to its sound, for waiting. And the thunder and the lightning are not separate although not the same. Through a spirit the two of them move inseparably. 15. For when the lightning flashes the thunder utters its voice, and the spirit, at the proper time, causes it to rest, and divides equally between them because the storehouse of the times for their occurrence is like that of the sand. And each of them, at the proper time, is held by a rein, and turned back by the power of the spirit, and likewise driven forward, according to the number of the regions of the Earth.”

Thunder and lighting are two separate elements yet they work together by the spirit that God has put in charge of them. God sets things in motion that work together like: sun and moon, lightning and thunder, day and night, seasons, sand and sea, judgment and wrath. He even does it in the New Testament with sending the disciples out two by two and in marriage - the two are one flesh. And if we are taking all of this as an example of His modus operandi, then we also see there is a “space” of time between the two parts as it says in Enoch. For human kind his “space” of time is God’s grace and mercy to get people to repent so He won’t have to bring His Wrath. We can see a “space” of time in Revelation 8:1 when the 7th seal is open and the entire scroll is now open, there is silence in heaven for about a half-an-hour. A grace period of time to still give people a chance to repent before the trumpets begin to sound.

There’s another element I want to bring up about that passage in Enoch that states: the day; the power; the punishment; the judgment; and that day is prepared, for the elect a covenant, but for sinners an inquisition. That “day” - what day? The Day of Wrath is prepared. It is a Judgment. It is punishment. It shows God Almighty’s power. Just like how God has prepared everything. Nothing is by coincidence. And that day is prepared for the elect, those who are His with a covenant. What is that covenant? It was made by God to mankind and sealed with the Blood of Jesus! Meaning we are sealed with a covenant to not partake of the Day of Wrath - 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; and Romans 5:9. Praise God! But for sinners, it is an inquisition.

Let’s see how seriously God takes His own covenants:

Jeremiah 33:19-22 - “And the Word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus says the Lord: ‘If you can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant, that He should not have a Son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, My ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me.”

The question God asks is rhetorical. His covenant He made with the day and night, the season, and numbering and naming all the stars cannot be broken. Neither can God’s covenant with David. We see from Jeremiah that God cannot break His covenant. Any of them. His covenant(s) - yes, there is more than one, like His covenant with sun and moon, day and night, and how they are to operate; with the sand and the sea in Jeremiah 5:22 - “‘Should you not fear me?’ declares the LORD. ‘Should you not tremble in My presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.’” When God declares something as a covenant He will never break it. All His covenants are everlasting.

Hebrews 13:20 - “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,”

Hebrews 10:29 - “How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

God’s Word stands. His covenants He has made to Himself! He did that because He will never break His own Word - a human unfortunately can, and He is the one who is making the promise, covenant, to Himself to be sure that it cannot be broken - Hebrews 6:13 “For when God made promise to Abraham, He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself.” And God is no respecter of persons, neither male nor female, Gentile or Jew - we are all one in Christ Jesus; and we are the seed of Abraham. People can break promises, covenants…God cannot. This is why He has set things up the way He has, His promises are to Himself and they cant be broken by Him! That’s shoutin’ ground!

Ezekiel 37:26 - “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put My sanctuary among them forever.”

Psalm 111:5, 9 - “He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever…He provided redemption for His people; He ordained His covenant forever - holy and awesome is His Name.”

Isaiah 59:21 - “‘As for Me, this is My covenant with them,’ says the Lord. ‘My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and My Words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants - from this time on and forever,’ says the Lord.”

So what happens when promises of God are not manifesting in the readers life? There are a couple of reasons why: unrepented sin; family curse/general curse; not heeding the Voice of God; not spending time with God; not understanding who you are to Him and what He has given you. Get in prayer time with Him and see what the cause is, then take the necessary steps to clean it up.

Let’s look and see Judgment and Wrath working together:

Job 19:29 - “You should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment.”

Deuteronomy 29:27-28 - “Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against this land, so that He brought on it all the curses written in this book. In furious anger and in great wrath the LORD uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

Hosea 13:11 - “So in my anger I gave you a king, and in My wrath I took him away.”

2.) “Day” of Wrath

The Day of Wrath is a specific “day.” It is the culmination, the epitome, of the Judgment of God on people who have turned away from Him. They have refused Him. For those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, we are saved from that “day.” - Romans 5:9 - “Since we have now been justified by His Blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s Wrath through Him!” We don’t exactly know what “saved from wrath” means. Yes, it could mean the rapture. But it could also mean kept safe by the Lord just like Noah, Lot, Joshua, and many others. If we are being honest, we don’t exactly know what it means. We do know God is with us.

Let’s look at details from the Word about the “Day of Wrath.” There are so many scriptures that speak of this when you know “what” to look for. Same descriptors, key words and phrases. Below is a very descriptive scripture about the Day of Wrath showing many aspects of what it’s called in the Word:

Zephaniah 1:7-18 - “Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. The LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated those He has invited. ‘On the day of the LORD’s sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all those clad in foreign clothes. On that day I will punish all who avoid stepping on the threshold, who fill the temple of their gods with violence and deceit. On that day,’ declares the LORD, ‘a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills. Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be destroyed. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’ ‘Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. Though they build houses, they will not live in them; though they plant vineyards, they will not drink the wine.’ The great day of the LORD is near— near and coming quickly. The cry (voice) on the day of the LORD is bitter; the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry. (Rev. 19:11-21)

That day is a day of wrath,

A day of trouble and ruin,

A day of darkness and gloom,

A day of clouds and blackness,

A day of trumpet and alarm (battle cry)

against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. I will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung. Neither their silver not their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealously; for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the the land.”

Notice in the beginning of this passage it says - “be silent” - this is before the “Day of the Lord”/ “Day of Wrath”. Where else does the Bible talk about silence? - Revelation 8:1 - “And when He had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.” And in Zephaniah it says the “day” is near when the silence occurs. It is the same in Revelation 8. Heaven is quiet, nothing is happening. It’s a grace period of time before the trumpets sound. We know how we think of time is not how God does. He created time. He molds time. He is outside of time and operates within it for us. He is in eternity. I don’t know precisely what an “hour” or “about a half and hour” means. But it is a certain amount of time that is a grace period before it all comes down. I do not know if the silence happens then the Day of the Lord/Wrath immediately occurs. No matter what God has it in His hands. It’s simply an interesting observation.

The Day of the Lord is listed as:

The Day of the Lord

The Voice on the Day is Bitter

It’s a Day of the Lord’s Sacrifice

It’s the Day of Wrath

It’s a Day of Trouble

It’s a Day of Distress

It’s a Day of Ruin

It’s a Day of Darkness

It’s a Day of Gloominess

It’s a Day of the Trumpet

It’s a Day of Alarm/Battle Cry.

All of this is what the “Day” encompasses - the nitty gritty details. This is THE wrath that we are delivered from in Romans 5:9 and 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and 5:9. Let’s take a look at 1 Thessalonians 1:10 - “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming Wrath.” Notice that the Rapture is the escape for that “Day.” It’s a rescue. This is what the Greek word “harpazo” means. A rescue from the “Day of Wrath.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:9 - “For (He) has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation (deliverance) by our Lord Jesus Christ.” The basic definition of “salvation” is: deliverance. We are not appointed to wrath but delivered by Jesus Christ because He is our Lord. It is my personal opinion that as the Day of Wrath falls the Rapture occurs.

God is always right. No matter what we will all see where we missed our interpretation of it all.

Just to share a few thoughts. Let’s look at what else it appears He has to say about it. Because let’s face it…we don’t exactly know. But there are some very big clues. We will look at this in context with a scripture most have been taught was at the Second Coming. But the thing is, it matches all the other rapture scriptures. No where in the Word does it say there is a “second coming” and it’s been assumed that those with Jesus are the previously raptured saints. But no where does it say that either. It says He comes with His armies and in other places He comes with His angels. We do know He has warrior angels like Michael and Gabriel (Daniel 8-9 and 12). Revelation 19:11-21 - “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and wages war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a Name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His Name is the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” a He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16On His robe and on His thigh He has this Name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

17And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.

19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the Rider on the horse and His army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the Rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.”

First: we are not given a timeline of how long Wrath is. But some can look at it either 3.5 years or the remaining 75 days in Daniel 12 that says 1,260 days (3.5 years) and blessed is the one who can make it through to 1,335 days. (1,335 - 1,260 = 75.) But it is called a “day”. Isaiah 34 is much like Rev. 19. I think it is exactly, showing more aspects to the “day”. And in verse 8 it says “For it is the day of the vengeance of Yaweh, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.” It certainly looks like it is the final year of the Seven Year Tribulation.

Jesus is judging and making war - Judgment and Wrath with Jesus as the Judge. Zephaniah calls Him “the Mighty Warrior who shouts out His battle cry.” - Zephaniah 1:14 NIV.

Armies of Heaven - following Jesus ridding on white horses and dressed in clean white linen. This more detail of what is said in part in 2 Thessalonians 1:7 - “…the Lord Jesus will be revealed with His mighty angels.” And look at Matthew 16:27 - “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.” Again in Matthew 25:31 - “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.” Another in Matthew 24:31 - “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.” And another Mark 13:27 - “And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.” Again in Jude 1:14 - “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,”. And another in 1 Thessalonians 3:13 - “To the end He may establish your hearts un-blamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” In this one there are three other translations of 1 Thessalonians 3:13 that say “Jesus Christ with His Holy Ones;” “Jesus Christ with His holy angels;” from the Greek: “Set apart by (or for) God, holy, sacred”. From “hagos”- sacred. And we can see from other scripture that “holy ones” means angels, Daniel 4:23 - “Your Majesty saw a holy one, a messenger, coming down from heaven…” ESV calls this “holy one” what Enoch calls them: Watcher. We can see by looking at some of the rapture scriptures that Jesus is coming with angels, not with the “already raptured” saints, the Word doesn’t state that anywhere. There are quite a few Old Testament verses about the rapture as well. There are far more than 2 or 3 scriptures settling this matter of “who” Jesus is returning with.

Jesus comes with a sharp sword coming out of His mouth to strike down the nations. This is the Day of the Lord - both rapture and wrath. Other scriptures which speak to this: Revelation 1:16; Isaiah 49:1-2; Psalm 18:7-19; 2 Samuel 22:9-16; Job 37:2-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

Winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. Other scriptures that match this: Revelation 14:15-20; Joel 3:12-16; Isaiah 63:2-6; Isaiah 13:6-13; Revelation 18:3; Matthew 24:31.

Birds gorge themselves on the flesh. Genesis 15:1-11; Ezekiel 39:4, 19; Revelation 19:21 - this is the Ezekiel 38-39 war, it starts before the Rapture/Day of Wrath. Look at Ezekiel 38:18-23 and 39:9 - they are gathering and burning weapons for 7 years.

Notice all of this starts with the Rapture/Day of Wrath. Take a look at Isaiah 26:16-21. And this is only a portion of the scriptures. There are three more parts to share about this “day”: 1. Jesus comes on clouds with tumult; 2. More to show on the day of the Rapture is the same day as the Day of Wrath; 3. Timing of this “day.”

1. Jesus comes with clouds and tumult: Matthew 24:29-30 - “ Immediately 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:

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.” We see here the sun is darkened, the moon doesn’t give its light, stars fall from heaven, and the powers (think Ephesians 6:12), all people of the earth will see this, and it’s all with Jesus coming in the clouds. Just as Acts 1:9 says He was taken up in a cloud and in verse 11 the angels told the disciples that He will come the same way they saw Him go. This also goes with Joel 2:28-32 and we will just show verse 30-31 - “I will show wonders in the heavens. And on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke, the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” And this also goes in line with previously mentioned Isaiah 13:9-10; All of Isaiah 24 but here note verse 23; 26:19-21; Joel 3:15; Amos 8:9 (All of Amos 8 pertains); Ezekiel 32:4-10 - Ezekiel is alluding to Revelation 18, these two chapters of scripture go together.

2. Day of the Rapture is the same Day as the Day of Wrath. In Zephaniah 1:16 as I shared earlier, it says it’s a Day of Trumpet and Day of Alarm. That is two distinctions. “Trumpet” can symbolize two events: one of the seven trumpets that sounds in Revelation chapters 8-11; and it is also the Rapture as seen in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” That “Day” as Zephaniah says has a voice and a trumpet, and Thessalonians says “a loud command.” All on that “Day.” It is a “Day of Alarm” and a “Day of Trumpet” - which I believe means it’s a dual day: a day of trumpet for the Rapture and day of alarm for the planet because of God’s Wrath. Praise God we are delivered as God’s Wrath comes down. And when you look at other Rapture verses many of them show the disaster that is falling. Including 2 Peter 3:10-12 - “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.” And Peter goes in line with what Joel describes.

3. Timing of this “day.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 - “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” This passage shows us “when” this happens. It’s at the Last Trumpet! Which is Revelation 11:15-18. All of Revelation 11 is important for this because we see 42 months are given to the Gentiles to trample the outer court of the temple and the 2 witnesses are around for a specific number of days - 1,260 which is exactly 42 months at 30 days each month. Forty-two months give a little wiggle room. It could be just over 1,260 days or just under. Keep in mind there is only one resurrection for the believers - at the Rapture. The other resurrection is for the Great White Throne judgment. No where in scripture does it say there are multiple group resurrections. Perhaps the witnesses are raised on the Ratpure/Wrath Day or perhaps they are raised by themselves. This has happened before - Jesus. We shall see how Lord does this. In verses 15-18 it does look like the Day of Wrath after the 2 witnesses resurrection. It could be when the antichrist is possessed by satan after he or one of his “heads” or “rulers” gets shot in the head, there seems to be another 42 months - this is the time period if the a.c. gets killed during this time… unless he is someone of whom the enemy is cloning who has already died. A historical figure. Sounds a little out there but it has been discussed in many circles. (Revelation 11 and 13.)

Notice another phrase in Zephaniah - “…all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be destroyed.” Where else have we seen that statement in the Word? Revelation 18! Especially in versus 11-19 but we will look at Revelation 18:3-4 - “…and the merchants (or corporations) of the earth grew rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven saying ‘Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.” It could be that “duel day”. Rapture and Wrath - the same day. Jesus calling us upward as The Day of Lord is coming down. Or it could be that the Lord is telling us to get out of this country. We shall see.

3. Here’s a few more I see to state my case of the dual day theory: Rapture/Wrath. Look at another part of Zephaniah says: “Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished…neither shall their wealth deliver them” - This goes with Revelation 6:12-17 but we will only look at versus 15 and 17 - “Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains…For the great day of His Wrath is come and who shall be able to stand.” Which goes with Isaiah 2:10-22 & 24:5-23 (Notice in verse 23 the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed…this is just like Matthew 24:29. This is the same day as the Rapture, the Day of the Lord, the Day of His Wrath. And if you look at Philippians 1:6,10 speaks of that “Day” as the Day of Christ. 2 Peter 3:10-12 calls it the Day of God and Day of the Lord - “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are in it shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” Where else do we see “thief in the night?” - 1 Thessalonians 5:2 - “for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” All of 1 Thessalonians 5 is another important chapter regarding all of this. Here are a few more scriptures:

Ezekiel 30:2-3 - “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “’Wail and say, “Alas for that day!” For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near— a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations…”

Isaiah 61:2 - “to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,”

Isaiah 10:3 - “What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?”

2 Thessalonians 2:12 - “and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

Jeremiah 15:3 - “I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the LORD, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy.” (Revelation 6:7; 9:13-15.)

Romans 2:8 - “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”

Romans 5:9 (repeated again in 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9) - “Since we have now been justified by His Blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s Wrath through Him!”

Romans 1:18 - “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,”

Romans 9:22 - “What if God, although choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?”

Ecclesiastes 8:11-12 - “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil…”

Revelation 6:12-17 - “I watched as He opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, (just like Matthew 24:29) and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. (Isaiah 24.) Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the Face of Him Who sits on the throne and from the Wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His Wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

3.) Last Tidbits - Another Sacred Cow

If you have read the article The Second Death and Great White Throne Judgement this is part of that article. You may want to skip it if you have already read it. Everyone in the Church has been taught this so this is going to be hard to look at initially because it messes with our paradigm. A paradigm isn’t necessarily the truth. It’s only something held onto “as” the truth. I am asking that you put aside what you have been told and look at what the Bible says versus what scholars and Pastors have assumed. Remember what 1 Peter 4:17 says the “judgment begins with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? “

This “doctrine” is that the restrainer to be removed is the Holy Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12) and it is assumed that includes the Church and we won’t see the antichrist. This is put in line with Daniel 9:24-27. But is that what it says? Let’s take a look. We will go to Daniel first. The entire chapter 9 is Daniel finding out by revelation from the Lord that the prophet Jeremiah spoke of how long Israel was to be captive in Babylon. Daniel interceded for the nation of Israel, repented in behalf of all their ungodly acts and asked the Lord how long would this judgement be for Israel. Daniel had thought it was a literal 70 years which by his time had already passed but he was told how he misunderstood it and that it was to be “70 sevens” or weeks of years. Verses 24-27 Gabriel comes to give Daniel the answer and yes, we do look at to what part is relevant for this day that we live in. The issue that has been the subject of confusion is all of the “he’s” that is in this chapter. Take a look.

Overview

Originally the word “restrainer” was used in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. It’s been changed in many translations to “let.” “Restrainer” is one of those enigmatic Greek words that means simply means “something that restrains,” it is stopping something from happening for a particular reason. Uh…okay…this means we need to go into more depth in the Word to see exactly what the Lord means.

As mentioned before the devil has been trying to get his antichrist (ac) in the limelight for centuries. Actually, millennia. The “Restrainer” has been holding him back because of what God has said in His Word. It’s in God’s timing, not the enemy’s. God has a timeline for this to occur. Why? This is my take on it, since God has already created people before the foundation of the world and written them down in His Book of Life, they must be born…or let’s say it this way: conceived in this world, this realm, first. Each person is designated to be on earth in a specific time period, and no devil is going to push the clock to make the final 7 years happen outside of God’s timing. What God has said in context with His prophetic scripture is a covenant. It is an oath from God Almighty. In context with 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 the Restrainer is stopping the ac from showing up before the time that God has ordained according to His Word - and according to Daniel 9:27 it is God Himself that has made a covenant with many for the 7 year Tribulation to occur, God has it set in a specific timeline and won’t let the devil “jump the gun” or make it last longer. We have thought that Daniel 9:27 the “he” was the ac. It is not the ac.

Let’s look at Daniel 9 in more detail:

"2 in the first year of his reign (king Xerxes), I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the Word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

‘Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your Name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.’

7 'Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8 We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against You. 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him; 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws He gave us through His servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey You.’ ‘Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You. 12 You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to Your truth. [which is why judgement comes on the house of the Lord] 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything He does; yet we have not obeyed Him.’ 15 'Now, Lord our God, who brought Your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for Yourself a Name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from Jerusalem, Your city, Your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and Your people an object of scorn to all those around us.’ 17 'Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, Lord, look with favor on Your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your Name. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, my God, do not delay, because Your city and your people bear Your Name.’”

The Seventy “Sevens”

"20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for His holy hill— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, ‘Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:

24 Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25 Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’”

Notice the flow of what is spoken. It is about God and what He has poured out on Israel because of their sin. The “he” that occurs everywhere except the end - the last sentence - of verse 27 throughout the text is God. We will look at it again with more inflections to see better. There is also the part at Gabriel’s opening statement that lays out an outline in verse 24 - this gives an order to more details within the order that is discussed in subsequent verses. We will start at verse 15. We could go from the beginning but you get the point.

Emphasis added of course and I will stop in more places with commentary:

15“'Now, Lord our God, Who brought Your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and Who made for Yourself a Name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from Jerusalem, Your city, Your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and Your people an object of scorn to all those around us.

17"Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, Lord, Look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18Give ear, our God, and Hear; open Your eyes and See the desolation of the city that bears Your Name. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your Name.’”

The Seventy “Sevens”

20"While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for His holy hill— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. [Regarding what you have asked for from God.] 23 As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:

[Verse 24 which we are about to get to is the outline of what Daniel is told and the main themes and I have numbered them here. Verses 25-27 are further details of each numbered item and the events described within each numbered part overlap from one number to the next. Notice when God answers He does so from His perspective, not man’s: #1 was the primary question Daniel raised about how long Israel would remain in captivity under Babylon. #2 is from God’s perspective of His doing away with sin and atoning for wickedness. #3 is also from God’s perspective how God will bring everlasting righteousness because man cannot do it on his own. #4 is what God will do with…get this…THE vision and prophecy that He has given to Daniel - All of Daniel’s visions that God gave him are ONE vision and prophecy - they are more details of what the Lord is showing Daniel in chapters 2 (I know, it was Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, I’ll get to that later), 7-12. Just like chapter 9 there is further explanation of what verse 24 lays out will happen. This is how God does things all through the Bible, especially in Revelation. Revelation is not linear in happenings. Many chapters are further explanation of other chapters. They overlap. So does Daniel’s visions - they overlap, they are further detail of what he first got in Chapter 2 and chapter 7. And technically what he got in chapter 2 came through someone else - Nebuchadnezzar. Have you ever had the Holy Spirit give you further revelation upon a word that He revealed to someone else? Sure you have. God does that. And God was letting Daniel know that He would seal what He gave Daniel until the time of the end - Daniel 12. No one will understand it until God opens it. #5 the final part of God’s design of Anointing His Most Holy Place, the New Jerusalem, of which Daniel didn’t realize this was one of the answers he asked for, “the rebuilding of Jerusalem” - the final one, from God’s perspective. When we ask God questions, most commonly we don’t realize “what” we are asking. And He will answer from His perspective. This is why the Lord said in Isaiah 55:8-9 that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are higher than man’s ways.]

Verse 24 here’s the “overview” of what is spoken in subsequent verses that give more detail.

24 - #1 - Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, #2 to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, #3 to bring in everlasting righteousness, #4 to seal up vision and prophecy #5 and to anoint the Most Holy Place.

Further Explanation of verse 24: we see 70 sevens of years (490) was the time allotted for Israel to pay for their transgression by the rule of Babylon, of which Daniel was praying about and repenting of the nation of Israel’s sin. Putting and end to sin and atone for wickedness permanently could only be done by Jesus and the cross. His resurrection is what brought everlasting righteousness, it could come no other way - 1 Corinthians 5:21 - “you are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus.” Upon His resurrection He brought in EVERLASTING RIGHTEOUSNESS. Righteousness was not here before His resurrection. [Yes, God called Abraham a righteous man because he believed what God said. That is a different situation. People as a whole were not righteous and only Jesus could make that happen.] Sealing up Daniel’s vision and end time prophecy has been done from the time of Daniel through to the end times. Anointing the most holy place, the New Jerusalem, is what will happen after the millennium. There is a wide timeline of what the Lord was showing Daniel, from his time through to the next dimension on the recreated earth with the New Jerusalem - Revelation 21:1-2.

[Numbered sections in verses 25-27 go into the sections listed in verse 24 - they are further explanations of sections in verse 24, they overlap.]

25"Know and understand this: #1 From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the Ruler, comes there will be seven ‘sevens’, and sixty-two ‘sevens’” - In this verse there is more detail of #1 that leads into #2 giving a timeline - 490 years plus 434 years until Jesus came from the time of Daniel. Now I know it doesn’t add up. Thats because of use of the Gregorian calendar and matching it up with God’s calendar. There is always an overlap. [Babylon took over Israel in 605 BC. Which makes it 320 AD according to this verse of scripture for when Jesus was around and we know that wasn’t the case on our calendar. Hear me out - in Church history the most important political ruler was Constantine. 320 AD was the year he was born. His rulership made Christianity acceptable in the world. More than that, they stoped killing and torturing Christians. Something else to figure is the Essene calendar. The way the Essenes figured the timeline was according to scripture, it is God’s calendar not the Gregorian calendar. And there is always an overlap between the two. Each era or what are called “days” - there are 7 and we are currently at the end of the 6th era or day which ends in 2025 - overlaps on the Gregorian calendar. All of them overlap on the Gregorian calendar. [https://www.fivedoves.com/letters/mar2024/luisv310-2.htm ]. So from the Prevoius era “The age of Torah” over laps into the “Age of Grace”. It only does the first portion of that “day”. About 1/3. This is the same as an over lap to what they consider the “Church Age- the Age of Grace”. So what am I saying? It is both. It is the coming of Jesus to take away the sins of the world and bring righteousness and Constantine was the political leader who made Christianity the religion of an empire. It had never happened before. All done by the hand of God.]

Back to #2. There are 70 sevens and another 62 sevens until Jesus comes to put an end to sin and wickedness. The Temple was rebuilt during the time of Nehemiah when the Temple was first rebuilt, after the time of Babylon, under Persia when they defeated Babylon.

More detail in verse 25: #2 25 until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. - These are overlapping the rebuilding of the Temple and Jesus onto the earth under the occupation of Rome - times of trouble with what it was to be like to the time of His death on the cross.

During the time of the rebuilt Temple would be a time of trouble - it wasn’t going to be easy for Israel for well-over millennia. We know what happened, after Babylon was the Persians with king Cyrus, Greeks with Alexander the Great, and then the Romans with the various Caesars, and subsequent to that the great dispersion after the Resurrection of Jesus that lasted until 1948 - all overtook Israel. Israel certainly had times of trouble even though the Temple had been rebuilt from what Daniel had asked.

Explanation of verse 26: 26”After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.” Let’s look at this verse in Hebrew Bible: 26 After the weeks, 60 and 2, Messiah shall be cut off but not for Himself, and the city and the sanctuary shall destroy the people, of the prince (ruler) who is to come, and the end of it shall be with a flood and till the end of the war are determined desolations.” We see Messiah’s death on the cross which is not for Himself, He died for the sins of the whole world. When Rome takes over, at this time under emperor Nero, is the one who destroyed the second Temple. This is all part of #1 for Israel being under the punishment of God. Again, it’s more detail of verse 24. There is also added the time of the end like Revelation 12:16 where Jerusalem is destroyed by a flood. As verse 26 says, the end comes with a flood. There are scholarly debates as to whether this is literal or figurative. I’m not going to say one way or the other. It could be both knowing how God uses language. There are often 2 meanings at the very least.

Explanation of verse 27: 27"He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” Now here is part with the “he” or “He” to consider. Let me ask you a question: Did God speak of the antichrist at all in this chapter so far?

No. So let’s take a look at it from God’s perspective since He is answering Daniel from His perspective.

27. “He - God - will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’ “- God is making a promise to those who believe in Jesus, His death, burial, and resurrection, for a limited time: 7 years. And it’s a promise! A covenant! And He has made the covenant, His promise with many…not just Jews but to all who receive Him. God will not allow the devil to run rampant for longer than that. He is putting a parameter on the devil. Why is God even having to do any of this, you might ask? Because people have become so stubborn, hardhearted and deny God. All of God’s punishment no matter when He has done it - Noah’s Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, (the original) Babylon, Tyre, Ai, Nineveh, Jericho, etc. - come from lack of repentance and coming back to Him. It’s all over Genesis, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and many more. It is what the entire Bible is about - those who stay with Him and those who do not. God has to allow the punishment to try to turn people back to Him. It is what the entire book of Revelation is about. Look at Revelation 16:11 - “they cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.” But God will only allow so much time for this because of those who believe in Him - Mark 13:20 - “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has shortened them.” Who God has chosen are those in the Lamb’s Book of Life. God’s seed. Those who are alive and remain and are His seed, the days will be shortened because of them! In the next part of this verse “‘He’ will put an end to sacrifice and offering - what has this whole chapter spoken about? - the sacrifice and offering of Jesus for all of mankind to put an end to sin and wickedness. This is where we get back to what “He” means, right here in this part of verse 27. Let’s look at this with 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 and Isaiah 66:9.

First Isaiah 66:9 “Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God.” As you know it is God that gives children and it is God that closes the womb. He allows or does not allow on the earth.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 “1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. [This is the same as the ‘abomination of desolation’ from Daniel 9 and Luke 21. The ac will desecrate Christian churches and houses of worship. We have seen this occur recently when Jihad occurs and Christians are tortured, burned, beheaded, and their churches are set on fire or converted to mosques. I’m not saying the ac is muslim…but it’s possible. From what is written by Daniel especially in chapter 7 and 11 it could very well be. We shall see how this plays out.]

This also goes with the “Restrainer” being removed…it’s half-way through the 7 years to allow the ac to have authority over the believers - Revelation 13:7 “it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them:” and Revelation 12:17 which is after the “woman” or those who believe in Jesus go into hiding - verse 17 says, “And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” God has to allow the devil to do this because believers who know their place in Christ and the Authority He gave won’t put up with it, unless they have been told by God that they will be a martyr. And let’s face it, most Christians today have no idea about their Authority in Jesus Christ. Once the Lord removes His hand from the devil and allows him to run wild, many of the Christians left won’t have a Spiritual leg to stand on.

2 Thessalonians 2:2-12 (continued) “5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. [“Something” or better to say Someone is holding him - the ac - back for the proper time!!! Not in the devil’s own time, but rather in God’s own time! Which is only for 7 years. The devil thinks he can run the entire show on this planet for eternity. As Daniel 7:25 says the ac is going to try to change the law - God’s law - and the times. God is in charge and won’t let the ac change His timing. Not going to happen. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof!] 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work [because of sin in the earth and those who have not received Jesus]; but the one [One] who [Who] now holds it back will continue to do so till he [He] is taken out of the way. [Remember this is why has the sacrifice that Jesus paid have to be removed or “taken out of the way” which is the other way to say it: BECAUSE God gives satan authority OVER ALL mankind for a period of time - the last 3.5 years. This is seen in Daniel 7:25; 9:27 and Revelation 13:5 -

Daniel 7:25 - “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time:”

Daniel 9:27 - “He (God) will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ He (God) will put an end to sacrifice and offering.”

Revelation 13:5-8 - “5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander His Name and His dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”

We see that God’s holy people have to undergo the ac having authority over them. With Jesus having done His sacrifice we have Authority over the devil - Luke 10:17-19 & Mark 16:17-18 but this time period is different. God is allowing the devil to have authority over His people, those who are His holy people. It is not just Jews. No where does it say that it is only the Jews. It says: His people. There is no difference between Jew or Gentile, male or female, we are all one in God - Galatians 3:28. God is allowing the devil to have dominion so “Something” needs to be removed to allow the devil to have authority. God is removing His Atoning Sacrifice of sin and wickedness for a short period of time which is what gives believers Authority in order to let the devil free to torment those who are hard hearted, which is the punishment on people who have refused Jesus. Like Sodom and Gomorrah. Believers who are left are able to handle what’s coming. No different than the disciples who all but one was tortured to death. But they knew what was coming. The Lord revealed it to them. He was with them every step of the way. That’s heavy! But God!!! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!]

2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 “8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth and destroy by the splendor of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, [Just like Revelation 13.] 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” - This is an apparent and simple explanation of why God is allowing this. This next statement will be difficult who are still adamant about certain “doctrinal paradigms” but let go of preconceived paradigms of men and allow the Holy Spirit to show you. Notice all of the rapture scriptures - none state that there are 2 comings of Jesus. When Jesus comes in all of them it is at one time - at the end, the final year of the 7 year Tribulation, because according to Isaiah 34 a “the day” in this time period is equal to a “year”. Read the scriptures above again, notice that believers will be persecuted by the ac. The rapture is not pre-trib. I know some may say mid-trib but by 2 Thessalonians 2 we see it is at the end and this matches with Matthew 24:27-31; Isaiah 26:16-21. It is not at the mid-point either.

Matthew 24:27-31 “27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

29“Immediately after the distress of those days

“ ‘the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from the sky,

and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

30“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

Isaiah 26:16-21 “16 Lord, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer. 17As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, Lord. 18We were with child, we writhed in labor, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life. 19But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise—let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy—your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. 20Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. 21See, the Lord is coming out of His dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer.” [Put that last sentence with Genesis 4:10 “The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”]

God is just in all that He does. It’s all in God’s timing and His timing is always right, no matter what we perceive. The devil has been attempting to get an ac started for centuries: Nero, Napoleon, Hitler etc. But the “Restrainer” has to be removed before the ac can show up. And who…or Who is in charge of everything? God, the creator of all things. Many Bible scholars believe the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit. That’s understandable but according to scripture there is more depth to the meaning. Since there is persecution of the saints it doesn’t make sense for the Holy Spirit to be removed. It is the Holy Spirit who recreates our spirit when we get born again. If He is removed than He, the Holy Spirit being removed would of course mean all Christian’s. He can’t be because we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise and yet there are believers who are persecuted by the ac. That’s a contradiction. He can’t be because we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And there are believers who are persecuted by the ac. The Restrainer cannot be the Holy Spirit - it goes against other scriptures in the Epistles like 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 “God makes us and you stand firm in Christ. 22 He Anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our heart as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” And Ephesians 1:13-14 “13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory.” We must always go to the Word to define itself.

Reasoning for this “doctrine”?

This “doctrine” is that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit and the Church to be removed - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 is assumed that is the Holy Spirit and includes the Church because He is in each of us. Looking at it from that point of view we won’t see the antichrist because we will be taken out of the way. And yet, he persecutes those who believe in Jesus. It’s a contradiction. It is put in an incorrect context with Daniel 7:25; 9:24-27; Revelation 12:17 & 13:7,10. We will only look at the first scripture:

Daniel 7:25 “he will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.”

God is the One Who made the covenant with all those who are alive on earth at this time, that there will only be a 7 year period. It will be a tough period for Jerusalem because there will be a major flood and wars. And these things also go on across the globe. But here is a key point. It is divided into halves. Two 3.5 year parts. Where else do we see that number with the Tribulation?

Revelation 11:1-3 - “1I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Revelation 12:14-17 - “14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.”

Revelation 13:5-8,10 - “5The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander His Name and His dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. 10 'If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.’ This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.”

Daniel 9:27 27He [God] will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he [He] will put an end to sacrifice and offering [because He is removing His restraint from the devil so the ac can show up and this whole thing will be done soon.] And at the temple he [this is finally the ac] will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed [by God and the entirety of Revelation is poured out on him and those who refuse God] is poured out on him.” [the ac who is possessed by the devil per Revelation 13 and 9 - he comes out of the abyss at the half way point, 3.5 years, and then goes to persecute the remaining believers.]

Daniel 12:1-2, 5-7, 11 1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. 6 One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”

7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed. 11“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. [or 3.5 years] 12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.”

God’s people are delivered into the ac’s hands - meaning the ac has authority because God is no longer restraining him. There’s two types of saints at that time: those who will be martyrs and those who will be isolated and trying to survive - both are called “Tribulation Saints.” And with all of the disasters that are coming, many will go by way of the grave.

I know this isn’t easy to read but it is what scripture states. Pray. Talk with the Lord and see what He wants you to do.

I don’t know “when” all of this will take place. But we know we are close. Very close. Some say it can happen at any time. Some say within 20 years. Whatever it is the Lord has got us. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. Some are given the calling to be a martyr as Revelation 6 speaks of; some will be a tribulation saint as Revelation 7 tells; some will go by way of the grave before the Rapture. Whatever God needs to be done will be done. Whatever your calling is, if you do not know, ask, He will lead you! He never gives a calling without giving you the grace to do it. If your a martyr - God will lead you and give you the strength; if you’re a tribulation saint, see what scripture He wants you to stand on. Perhaps Psalm 121:8 - “The Lord will keep me from all harm - He will watch over my life; the Lord will watch over my coming and going both now and forever more.”

Those who have accepted the Lord Jesus into their heart and made Him Lord ARE justified BY Him! It is through receiving Jesus as our Lord and His sacrifice that has blotted out all our sin - Colossians 2:14; Galatians 1:4; 1 Corinthians 5:7. We have obeyed His calling which is to “come to Him”- Ephesians 1:18 and Hebrews 3:1 - and receive the free gift of Jesus Christ through His sacrifice on the cross. None of this ever goes away. - His salvation, His justification, His Word. We now have an eternal covenant with God through the Blood of Jesus. If we could loose our salvation then what Jesus did through His death was useless. But He has taken all the bad for us. HOWEVER, simply because we are justified, which also means “made righteous” by Jesus Christ, AND we ARE new creatures and reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17) doesn’t give us a “free pass” to do any sinful thing we want. The actions we take have an outcome. Sinful actions that are unrepented of eventually cause death - Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” BUT you are saved. Just like the Apostle Paul who told the Corinthian church to kick out the man who was having sex with his stepmother. This young man was in sin. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Paul told them to kick him out of the church and let satan destroy his flesh so that his spirit may be saved. (1 Corinthians 5.)

We have eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ no matter what form of sin we allow in our lives - John 3:15-17 - “eternal” means eternally, forever. The fact of allowing sin into someone’s life means there is no revelation about what the Lord has done. It doesn’t mean you loose your salvation. There’s simply no revelation. It all depends on what you focus on. Whatever you focus on is what will show in your life.

He paid the price of going to hell so you don’t have to. You don’t loose your salvation. That’s why Jesus paid the price of a brutal, horrific death, and went to hell so we don’t have to. And He was the first one raised from the dead! Hallelujah! But there is judgment. And we will all go through it. As Peter says, judgment comes first to the house of God.

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Judgment vs. Wrath

JUDGMENT vs. WRATH What's the Difference?

2.) “Day” of Wrath

3.) Last Tidbits - Another Sacred Cow

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JUDGMENT vs. WRATH
What's the Difference?