We will never have an appointment
with the Wrath of God.
Noah was a righteous, blameless and faithful
man among the people of his time.
They were carried through the flood
protected in the ark.
Session 4 Judgment (Part 2)
In modern life we have appointments. We are expected to take part in activities at certain times and
places because of responsibilities or because of who we are. We need to review an appointment you
are never to attend as a Christian.
Please read 1 Thessalonians 5:8-10
1. What is the appointment we will never keep
as Christians?
Now we hear the rest of the story. That we are not doomed for wrath as Christians! No, we are destined
to be saved from it through our Lord Jesus Christ. A very literal “escape clause” if you will, from
God’s wrath. Just think of it, the fearsome description of the Day of the Lord or any other future
display of God’s wrath does not apply to us. We are simply not scheduled for those appointments. In
fact, even the earlier examples of God’s Wrath
we looked at in the last session demonstrate this
“escape clause”. First let’s look at the rest of the
story for Noah. Please read Genesis 6:8-9.
2. Recall from the last session what other people
were like. How was Noah different?
3. How did Noah and his family avoid the wrath of God?
At this point we take a little detour and explore story of another pre-flood patriarch named Enoch. It
turns out that Enoch was Noah’s great-grandfather. In an age when people were living to be about 900
years old, he very likely could have been present for the flood and God’s wrath. He would have had to
have been 1034 years old when the flood started which is only 65 years longer than his son Methuselah
lived (969 years). Speaking of Methuselah, it would
appear that he might have died in the flood or right
before it. (see footnotes)
8
Let’s read this story in
Genesis 5:23-24.
Genesis 6:8-9 NIV
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the
account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man,
blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully
with God.
1 Thessalonians 5:8-10 NIV
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith
and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9
For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we
are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
Genesis 5:24 NIV
24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because
God took him away.
Enoch walked faithfully with God. A very
close relationship.
Enoch was taken out of a terribly wicked
world. Long before the flood took place.
They were taken out of the city almost by
force.
Apparently, they were righteous and God
said he would not destroy the city if at least
10 righteous people were there.
4. What does the scripture say about the relationship God has with Enoch?
5. Is the story of Enoch a story of God’s Mercy?
Now we should review the story of Sodom and
Gomorrah again to see who benefited from God’s
mercy. (Genesis 19:15-16)
6. How did Lot and his family avoid the wrath of
God?
Through a conversation between Lot’s
uncle Abraham and God we see a glimpse
of the reason why Lot is spared an
appointment with destruction. Let’s look at
the beginning and end of this conversation
and skip some of the very respectful
pleading of Abraham in the middle.
(Genesis 18:23-26 and Genesis18:32)
7. What is the reason why Lot and his
family was spared?
So, if this is the “escape clause” from the Wrath of God how does that apply to us? There are several
scriptures in the new testament that explain how. Two are 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Romans 10:4
So logically, if we appear to be righteous
before God, and if God does not express his wrath upon the righteous, then we avoid the wrath of
God. Therefore, as we have already seen, we are not appointed unto wrath.
Genesis 19:15-16 NIV
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry!
Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be
swept away when the city is punished.” 16 When he hesitated, the
men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two
daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was
merciful to them.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God.
Romans 10:4 NIV
4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be
righteousness for everyone who believes.
Genesis 18:23-26 NIV
23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away
the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous
people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[e]
the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it
from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked,
treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will
not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of
Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
……
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just
once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
He will be saved out of it. (Not taken out of it) He will break
the yoke or burden off of them
and tear off their restraints. No
longer will foreigners enslave or persecute them.
The Rapture
Comfort one another with these words of prophecy.
Now we turn our attention back to the future
prophecy of Day of the Lord. Do we see
evidence of this mercy within this future
prophecy? Please read Jeremiah 30:7-8.
8. What is God’s act of mercy to Jacob (aka
Israel ref Genesis 35:10)?
At this point you may be asking why Israel is
specifically mentioned as being saved from
the time of trouble. Where are we at during
that point in time? Now we look at a mystery
that will explain our absence. It also is related
to the fact that we are not keeping that appointment for wrath. Please read 1 Corinthians 15:51 as we
start looking into this mysterious prophesy.
9. We are pretty confident you are aware of a more common name for this event in the future where we
are changed in a moment. What do we call this event?
For more details of this prophesy read 1
Thessalonians 4:15-18. So now we see two
ways that people will avoid the wrath of God
in the prophesied Day of the Lord (two escape
clauses!). One is being carried through the
event which will be what happens for the
Jewish people, and the other is being taken out of the situation which will be the case for the Church.
Examples of both can be seen in the scriptures. Noah was carried through the flood. Lot was taken out
of Sodom. Enoch was taken out of his very
corrupt pre-flood culture (in a very Rapture type
way).
10 What are we to do with words of the
prophesy concerning the Rapture?
Jeremiah 30:7-8 NIV
7 How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a
time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. 8 “‘In that
day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will break the yoke off their
necks and will tear off their bonds; no longer will foreigners enslave
them.
1 Corinthians 15:51 NIV
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed
trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 NIV
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are
alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means
precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with
the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then
we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always
be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these
words.
Word Study
By the way, for those who might say the word rapture is not in the
bible we would like to point out that the word for the phrase “caught
up” is rapiemur in Latin
9,10,11
is a word that eventually becomes a
source for the English word rapt and rapture.
Wrap up
In this study we have looked at God’s Mercy that he shows to those who are faithful and righteous
(through His gift). We have seen that Christians do not have an appointment for His wrath because of
His Mercy. We have seen that there are two ways to avoid His wrath. One is to be carried through it,
and the other is to be taken out of it. The first will be the path the nation of Israel will follow during the
Day of the Lord and the other will be path the Church will be taking as they will be “caught up” before
God’s wrath is ever expressed. The last two sections of study were pretty heavy, with a lot of
information, but please view it as a framework for the rest of the study over all.
We have not really addressed much about the sequence of events yet for these topics so we will start to
address some of that in the next section. There is a seven-year period of time prophesied, called the
Tribulation, that details a sequence of events that will help place these topics in chronological order.
In the next session we will start to address, relatively speaking, when will the Rapture happen, when
will the Day of the Lord happen and what happens in between.