"For when they say, Peace
and safety ! then sudden destruction
comes upon them.......and they shall not
escape."
"But when you see
Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that
its destruction is near."
The armies surrounding
Jerusalem are the armies of Gog-Magog which
bring the 'great tribulation war' to Israel as
the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-14 tells
us:
"Therefore, Son of Man,
prophesy and say to Gog, On that day
when My people of Israel dwell
safely......then you will come out of
your place in the far north.......You will
come up against My people of Israel
like a cloud.....It will be in the latter
days that I will bring you
against My land."
"These are the days of
vengeance that all things which are
written may be fulfilled.....For there
will be great tribulation in the land and
wrath upon this people."
The 'great tribulation' is
confined to Israel only because it is His
vengeance against the land and the
people of Israel. The world-wide Christian
Church will witness the 'great tribulation'
events, as the occur in Israel, without being
directly affected by it. Jesus will shorten
and end the great tribulation of Israel
to save the flesh of the Hebrew
remnant. Then immediately after the 'great
tribulation', of those days in Israel, Jesus
will save/the souls and rapture His
Church before the wrath of God is poured out
upon the whole world at the opening of the
Seventh Seal because the Church is not
appointed to suffer the wrath of God.
When Jesus opens the
Second Seal He begins the Gog-Magog War which
is the 'great tribulation' confined to Israel
only. The third and fourth seals are a
consequence of the Gog-Magog War in Israel.
He then shortens and ends the 'great
tribulation war' of Israel in time to save
the flesh of the Hebrew remnant.
Immediately after the 'great tribulation' of
Israel is ended Jesus saves the souls
and raptures His Church to heaven before He
opens the Seventh Seal and pours out the wrath
of God upon the whole world after the half an
hour of silence.
Therefore the rapture is
both post-trib to the great
tribulation of Israel, and also pre-wrath.