Thursday, October 23, 2014

Wrath Word Concept Fallacy

So I point out to Pre-Wrathers and Pre-Tribbers that Revelation doesn't mention Wrath until after the 7th Trumpet except in one passage where fallible human beings say they think it's already come, after the 6th Seal.

But Alan Kurschner goes on about what he calls a "Word-Concept fallacy" and says that concepts are in Scriptures that don't mention the word.  And yes that is true many times.  But when you're building doctrine you need a higher standard then just that the concept is vaguely there.  Those other passages can demonstrate a doctrine but they don't build it.

And there are plenty of times when The Bible specifically avoiding saying something means something.  My view on God's Wrath is not about when the word isn't used but when it is used.  Only with the Bowls is it clearly linked to the entirety of that group of judgments.

The thing is, not even every passage with the word "Wrath" is about the concept of an Eschatological time period in which God pours out his Wrath on an unbelieving world after The Bride of Christ has been removed from it..

In fact even tough I do see the timing of The Rapture as before The Bowls.  I must reluctantly admit that the Post-Trib objection to how Pre-Tirbbers read 1 Thessalonians 5:9 is valid.  In that verse Wrath is contrasted with Salvation, not being Raptured.  Yes the Rapture is discussed around that same area, but that doesn't prove what he's referring to.  Comparing it to John 3:36 and also Romans 5:9. proves Wrath means Damnation in those kinds of verses.

The Lake of Fire and Hell is not "Eternal separation from God" as Liberals want to water it down to. (Revelation 14:10, Psalm 139:8)  It is God's Eternal Wrath.  The Fire that Burns you is the Fire that emanates from God's presence (Isaiah 30:33, II Thessalonians 1:8-9).

God also poured out his Wrath on Jesus on The Cross, that's the Cup Jesus spoke of in Gethsemane. And that's a conclusion I come to without needing the word to be used.

In Romans 1:18 Paul spoke about the Romans of that time being subject to God's Wrath, hence him delivering them unto certain Sins.

Ephesians 5:6 and Colossians 3:6 show that Christians when we're in Disobedience can be Subject to God's Wrath.  Salvation cannot be lost but there are ramifications when a believer Sins.  We are always God's Children but a Father can still be angry with his Children.  1 John 5 clearly warns of even a Sin unto Death for Believers, like what happened to Saul.

1 Thessalonians 2:16 refers to God's Wrath having already come upon the unbelieving Gentiles.

 And I'm also not one of those futurists who wants to remove 70 AD from Bible Prophecy all together.  Luke's Gospel especially has Jesus and John The Baptist saying things that clearly apply to 70 AD, not just in the Olivite discourse.  And Luke 3:7 and 21:23 refer to what happened in 70 AD as God's Wrath against Israel.

So let me explain why just saying what happens in Revelation 8 and 9 is obviously God's Wrath is stupid. And has nothing to do with a lack of the word Wrath.

The first 4 Trumpets in Chapter 8 are about Natural Disasters.  Jesus specifically tells us not to consider such things signs, for such things always happen.

Revelation 9 is about things Demonic creatures do.  God allowing these creatures to be released from the Abyss could be called his Wrath in a sense.  But when he pours out his Wrath is only what God does himself.  So to me saying Revelation 9 is God's Wrath is outright blasphemy.

Biblically Trumpets are warnings.  In the days of Joshua the Trumpets were sounded for 6 days before Jericho fell on the 7th.  Ezekiel 33 further makes that clear.

The Bowls are distinct from The Trumpets for a reason.  The entirety of the accounts of the Seals and Trumpets used the word Wrath 3 times.  The third after all 7 Trumpets are sounded.  But this word is linked to what happens with the Bowls for the entirety of their role.

At the end of Chapter 14 which clearly describes The Parousia "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.".

The Bowls alone are defined by The Text as synonymous with God's Wrath.  Therefore a sound Biblical hermeneutic says only they should be refereed to as synonymous with God's Wrath.

No comments:

Post a Comment