Plagues come to unbelievers so that they will flee to Christ.
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9).
Those who believe the Rapture occurs before the Great Tribulation point to this verse as proof for their position. I agree that believers will not experience the wrath of God. However, tribulation in the New Testament differs from wrath.
Jesus warned us, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Tribulation is what believers (called “saints” in the book of Revelation) suffer from men in a fallen world.
Wrath is what unrepentant sinners will suffer from God. To such unbelievers Paul says,
“…the kindness of God leads you to repentance… But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. (Rom. 2:4-8)
Wrath on unbelievers aims for repentance
The day of wrath will reveal God’s righteous judgment on unrepentant sinners. That last judgment will last forever (Jn. 3:36). But until that last day, God’s wrath aims to drive unrepentant sinners to repentance—if they do not respond to His kindness (Rom. 2:4 above).
The seven trumpet judgments (Revelation 9 and 11) consist of divine plagues that fall on unrepentant sinners during the Great Tribulation. These plagues do not fall on the 144,000 who received God’s seal of protection (Rev. 7:1-4).
What of believers on earth other than the 144,000, who do not have that seal? They will have opportunity to join the Jews who flee to the wilderness during the last 3 ½ years (1260 days) of the Antichrist’s reign. They will find “a place prepared by God” for them (Rev. 12:6).
Blessed places during the Great Tribulation
Blessed places during the Great Tribulation will be like oases in the desert (see Rev. 12:6).
There they are “nourished for a time and times and half a time [3 ½ years] from the presence of the serpent” (Rev. 12:14). We can assume God will not let the seven trumpet plagues fall on these blessed places. In the same way He did not let the last seven plagues of Egypt fall on the Israelites, who lived in the land of Goshen (Ex. 8:22-23; Ex. 9:26).
What happens to believers who do not join the Jews in the wilderness during the Great Tribulation? The Antichrist—and Satan who possesses him—makes war against them (Rev. 12:17; Rev. 13:7).
He kills as many as he can, but they still refuse to take his mark or worship him. For “they overcame because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” The Great Tribulation during the Antichrist’s reign will test believers. But Jesus will give them the courage to overcome.
Like the seven trumpet plagues, the seven bowls of wrath in Revelation 16 are divine plagues that fall on unrepentant sinners, not on believers. They display fierce wrath. At some point, sinners who have taken the mark of the Antichrist will not be able to repent. Instead, “they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory” (Rev. 16:9; see also Rev. 16:11).
See Is there hope for those who are left behind?
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