All the region were going out to him, and they were baptized, confessing their sins. Matthew 3:4-12.

 I am a big fan of the series The Chosen. If you were to ask why, I would tell you that even though we have limited information to define the events we see on screen, there is enough information in scripture to validate that an event, such as the feeding of the five thousand, happened. To those who would include me among the false teachers because I can enjoy The Chosen and be deeply and emotionally moved by the love of God through what I see there, you need to eliminate the box that your religious practices force you to keep Jesus and God inside; they are NOT big enough to hold such love. Like the old wineskins Jesus described, you will burst if you try to take in this much love and be ruined. There is all that and the fact that I read my Bible and know immediately whether a conversation or physical act is valid according to scripture. I also apply my ability to think and ask questions like, does what I just saw invalidate the entirety of scripture and therefore need me to scream that Dallas Jenkins and the producers of the show are all false teachers, which they are not.

One of the things that surprised me was the portrayal of John the Baptizer.

John enters the scene by jumping out from behind a large bush while trying to shock and surprise Jesus, Philip, and a couple of other disciples carrying knives to subdue their fears of living in the wilderness. John is laughing while his crazy-looking hair goes in every direction. Jesus catches His breath and joins in the laughter, obviously, deeply pleased to see His cousin, that He loved. Philip, a disciple of John and now a recent member of Jesus' team, seems used to John's peculiar behavior and gladly gives John a big hug.

What does scripture say that might confirm that John the Baptizer was “unusual”?

“This John had his clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather girdle round his loins; his food was locusts and wild honey.”
(Matthew 3:4 Moffatt NT)

Food is the Greek word trophē, meaning nourishment or meat.

If you were to try to argue that this was the seed pods off of the Locust tree, you would be hard-pressed to convince me. It is fairly obvious that locusts were common and plentiful. Honey speaks for itself. Since I have the potential of a horrid allergic reaction to bee stings, you won't find me playing with bees. So, yes, this is a bit unusual.

Having your clothes made from camel hair is the antithesis of a fashion statement.

Look at what Jesus said.

“Now as they were leaving, Yeshua began to talk to the crowd concerning John. “What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? No? So what did you go out to see? A man dressed in finery? Look, those who wear finery are in the palaces of kings! Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, even more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before You, who will prepare Your way before You.’ “Amen, I tell you, among those born of women, none has arisen greater than John the Immerser. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Immerser until now, the kingdom of heaven is treated with violence, and the violent grasp hold of it. For all the prophets and the Torah prophesied until the time of John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.”
(Matthew 11:7-14 TLV)

To say the least, he was unusual.

I used to seek an answer as to why Jesus could say of John - the Baptizer,

“among those born of women, none has arisen greater than John the Immerser. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Immerser until now, the kingdom of heaven is treated with violence, and the violent grasp hold of it.” 

I used to think that the answer was associated with the belief that John was the first to be filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but I couldn’t prove that assertion, so I stopped saying it. Consider that all prophetic words from the Lord fell silent for 400 years, right before the advent of John and Jesus. Jesus, I can understand because He is the Son of God. On the other hand, John is a six-month-old baby in his mother (Elizabeth’s womb) when she had the Holy Spirit infill her. 

Why, by the way, would the Holy Spirit filling Elizabeth be unusual? 

Because, as Jesus told His disciples, “if I do not go away, the Comforter (Gk: paraklētos – advocate, comforter) will not come.” [John 3:16].

That could, in some minds, make the infilling of the Holy Spirit before Jesus’ return to the Father impossible or improbable at best.

“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,” 
(Luke 1:39-41 ESV)

Filled is the Greek word plēthō and means to “fill,” however, it also (literally or figuratively) means to imbue or influence. 

Imbue – according to Webster, is an old English word that means to dip in water to saturate it. So the key word here is to saturate.

A piece of evidence to validate the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of humans prior to Jesus departing the earth can be found when we look at this prophetess, Anna.

“And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
(Luke 2:36-38 NASB)

Anna had no television advertising and no theological training with a special emphasis on the prophetic. She, we are told, never left the temple but served day and night by fasting and praying. And yet, at the right moment in time, the Holy Spirit moved her to greet the family with the baby Jesus as they came near the doors of the temple to be circumcised. Consider one more thing about her, she was a woman. Women were not allowed to serve in the Temple, and they were certainly not permitted to participate in circumcision. Mary was restricted to the outer court for women, just as Anna would have been subject to. Since Jesus was most likely considered to be illegitimate and ostracized in any town where they were known, He would not have been able to have a Bris ceremony.

What happened next in Anna's life?

She went about and began giving thanks to God and speaking of the Messiah to all those who were looking for the redemption of Israel. The end of this sentence is important because not everyone, even if they sit next to you in church, is looking for the redemption of Israel. In our case, the catching away of the church.

-----

When I was too young and naive to stand up for myself, receiving the Holy Spirit was an absurd and irritating experience. We were not told that the Holy Spirit came into our lives when we received Jesus Christ.

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,”
(Ephesians 1:13 ESV)

If you are a religious zealot, then what I just said probably set you into a rage because you were never taught that, and even if you were, you, much like I was, could not see the Holy Spirit as an integral part of the Godhead, the three-in-one.

Perhaps that understanding would have changed everything for you as well. I know that for most of those early years, I felt powerless. 

Back to John.

“Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”
(Matthew 3:5-6 ESV)

In a previous post I discussed how difficult it is to see Jesus coming to John to be baptized, especially since there is about a 72 mile span between the two locations.

Let's say you read the Bible from front to back and saw many times the admonitions to offer sacrifices for your sins.

Did you see anything that instructed them to immerse in water for the forgiveness of sins?

The answer is NO. The Jews did baptize slaves and there was the ceremonial cleansing in a mikveh (a ritual bath,) where the person would discretely get naked and dunk themselves, quickly and completely, underwater in an act that indicates that they had been born anew. At this point, they were considered to be sinless, like a newborn. The problem with that is that it ignores that we are born into sin.

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
(Matthew 3:7 KJV)

Apparently, there was an association between spiritual cleanliness and an escape from the coming wrath. Since that wrath would be at least over 2000 years later, and many Jews still refuse to understand, I am not sure the logic is working for them.

“Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance;” (Matthew 3:8 TLV)

In Matthew 3:5,6, the implication is that everyone from that region came to John to be baptized. If that was the case, then there should have been a tremendous amount of evidence that demonstrates their repentance or change of heart (for the better).

Jesus said,

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.”
(Matthew 12:33 BSB)

First, horticulturalists have observed and studied to determine if a peach tree variety with good flavor and valuable qualities could be grafted onto a rootstock that is NOT susceptible to the nematodes in your soil. Then, because someone else did the hard work for you can trust that the fruit tree you just purchased from the garden center will have a healthy start and will, in most cases, have a rootstock that resists disease, while the upper portion of the tree that brings enjoyment will be what I consider a good variety. 

Secondly, assuming that you allowed someone who realizes that issues must be overcome, such as sin in the case of a human, appropriate actions have been taken to procure a good tree. If you merely dig a hole, shove it in the ground, and walk away from it, what are the chances that it will produce good fruit or any at all? Marginal at best. So, again I have to take actions, such as nutrients, soil amendments, and water – like a drip system so that I don't water the weeds and ensure that the tree gets adequate sunlight. In many cases, like apples, it should get satisfactory cold temperatures. Did you know that many trees produce fruit on second-year growth? That means that the trees need to be pruned to promote healthy growth.

The tree, in itself, has the innate qualities needed to be a good tree. Failure to maintain that tree and the fruit will be poor in quality and eventually inedible. Can you see how the Word of God and an active relationship with the Father promote and maintains this tree called us.

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will remain—so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.”
(John 15:16 BSB)

Our relationship with Christ is meant to produce fruit.

“Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. ”
(Romans 7:4 BSB)

And if you are not sure what your fruit is supposed to look like, there is this.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
(Galatians 5:22-23 BSB)

John the Baptizer continued to say,

“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”
(Matthew 3:9 ESV)

Obviously, the ESV uses the word presume instead of think.

The UCRT conveys that the word “think. Gr. dokeō, *S# G1380. (Implies) Think not for a moment (Aorist). This is an idiom to be frequently met with in the Jerusalem Talmud and means be not of that opinion” (CB)

The New Living Translation conveys,

“Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.”
(Matthew 3:9 NLT)

Can you imagine that?

“Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!”
(Matthew 3:10 TLV)

Dr. J Vernon McGee (who, for me, always had a rural attitude) says, “Fruit bearing is the result of having the right kind of tree. Only a fruit tree can produce fruit. He talks here about the axe being laid to the root of the tree, and the reason is that the tree is not bearing fruit.”

Let's try to finish this until the next look at Matthew.

John is still speaking.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
(Matthew 3:11-12 BSB)

In trying to find a validation for John to baptize, I am only concerned with passages from the Torah and Tenach, the law or instructions given to Israel. I find none. I am jumping ahead a bit because Jesus spoke about this very thing.

“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.”
(Matthew 3:15 BSB)

So, Jesus was fulfilling some act of righteousness. Perhaps this is it.

““Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish, along with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. Make them out of fine wheat flour, put them in a basket, and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams. Then present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water.” (Exodus 29:1-4 BSB)

Apparently, this can be perceived as preparation for Jesus to serve as a priest in human eyes.

Have you ever wondered why denominations ordain someone as a pastor? Think about what they do: they present that person before the crowd; in Jesus' case, it may have been a very small number of people, but for the most part, it seems to have been Pharisees and scribes. So, John would have been, unwittingly, presenting Jesus before the elders as a representative of God to serve as a priest.

Perhaps you doubt this, then consider what the writer of Hebrews tells us.

“Every high priest is appointed from among men to represent them in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is beset by weakness. That is why he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest, but He was called by the One who said to Him: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.” And in another passage God says: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him and was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
(Hebrews 5:1-10 BSB)

No, He is not the ominous God that will strike you down at a moment’s notice, but He can. The passage above tells us what His nature is when it says, 

“He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is (was) beset by weakness.”

I have been to the cemetery on multiple occasions with my wife. Then, one day I read this: 

“Do not mistake kindness for weakness.” 

God, who showed you who He was through His Son, is kind. You should have been able to pick up on that fact when He put Himself on that cross for you. 

Now, as for the ominous God that we correctly understand. Very soon, He will lift His church off this earth and unleash His wrath upon a world that has repeatedly rejected Him.

Some seem to think the first half of the seven years will be a cakewalk; you could not be farther from the truth. It will be filled with heat, fire, poisoned water, death (at the hands of just about everyone,) starvation, diseases, and then the second half begins; and Jesus told us that this portion will be so bad that it will seem like no one will survive, and so God shortens this time for the sake of the Jews. Rest assured that the remaining Jews will wholeheartedly turn to the Lord by then.

I would turn to the Lord now rather than later.

A voice cries out in the desert: “Clear a way for the LORD." Matthew 31-3.

 Matthew chapter three opens with a fast-forward of about 25 years.

The headline from the Berean Study Bible (and most of them say the same thing) reads:

“John the Baptist Prepares the Way”

“And in those days John the Immerser comes, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea,”
(Matthew 3:1 LSV)

FYI: The LSV = The Literal Standard Version of The Holy Bible is a registered copyright of Covenant Press and the Covenant Christian Coalition (© 2020).

I don’t know if the LSV carries any extra importance, but I like to check to see if it offers some insight that others may have missed. Immediately I am delighted because of the emphasis on John being the Immerser. This word can be substituted with baptizer; however, it is what he did, not who he was, a Baptist. Amir Tsarfati told the story of a person approaching him after a tour lecture and asked, so, was Jesus Catholic or Protestant? One part of the obvious is that there were no church affiliations as there was no church as yet. If you insist that John was such and such, then he was more of an evangelist who called the nation and Herod (who was half-Jewish by blood) to repentance.

In the series “The Chosen,” John (the immerser) is portrayed as someone a bit unusual, to say the least. He has a classic, Jewish, sarcastic sense of humor, and if you think about the comments he made to the Pharisaical crowd that came to be baptized by him, he called them vipers – a bit of a harsh jab. Our introduction to John has him jumping out from behind a bush as his cousin, Yeshua, and a couple of the disciples walk by. Jesus smiled and was glad to see John. Philip was one of those disciples from John’s team and threw his arms around John’s neck, demonstrating how loved he was. Several episodes convey to us how attached Andrew was to John. (When talking about the disciples, you can begin to see where making a distinction as to which John you are referring to can come in handy.)

Pay attention to where John is immersing, Judea, which was, at one time, the Southern and separate kingdom from Israel to the North. The wilderness of Judah runs North to South and parallels the Dead Sea. 

The point is that I have no idea how Jesus and John got together, for, as you can see, there are close to 90 kilometers or 70 miles between the two.

“Turn away from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Matthew 3:2 TLV)

He was referencing Jesus, the Son of God, and, by the way, the Messiah. 

Almost all of Israel looked for and longed for the Messiah, as He would free them from the bondage of the Romans. Well, that was not going to happen.

Matthew describes John the baptizer as the one crying out. However, the designation “crying in the wilderness” certainly makes it sound pessimistic.

I started this blog almost twenty years ago, and that is what I named it, The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Experience has taught me that few listen, and I am not just talking about listening to me; they don’t listen to God either. So the idea of a wilderness speaks to me of the barrenness of our souls without the Word of God being poured into them. You would be foolish if you are willing to depend on someone else doing the pouring; this has to be you.

“This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness (shouting in the desert), Prepare the road for the Lord, make His highways straight (level, direct).” [Isa. 40:3.]
(Matthew 3:3 AMP)

I have used the Amplified as they frequently give you the related passage. It is Matthew who gives us this.

“And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” (Matthew 11:14 NASB)

So, allow me a moment here. Elijah was lifted off this earth without dying, and scripture tells us that:

“... it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment “ (Hebrews 9:27 NASB)

Well, when did Elijah get his turn?

I do not know, and I will not accept the idea that he was reincarnated as John the baptizer. Just the fact that Jesus refers to Elijah in terms of coming back merely promotes the idea that Elijah did not die and must yet die. Consider the fact the two witnesses, who come from God, stand in the streets of Jerusalem witnessing about Jesus as the Messiah and the glory of God, will die after their time is done (3.5 years.) But, after lying dead in the street for three days, they will rise again and return to the Lord.

Appointed is the Greek word apokeimai and means reserved or awaited.

I will let you in on a little-known fact. There is nothing that will prevent this body from dying. The body, which carries the broken DNA chain that motivates us to sin, has to be purified. A passage that almost everyone has heard at least once tells us that our works will be tried by fire; this is probably part of the bema seat judgment and where the body will die.

You are aware that Jesus died? Right! Then you should also be mindful that He came back to life and continued to walk this earth for forty more days, sharing the good news.

Does God's wrath equal tribulation?

 A brother in Christ that I used to sit with decided that we, the church, must go through God's time of wrath. He, of course, called this time frame the tribulation.

If you read this and say it's too much, there are too many references, and I don't see the point. Consider how this conversation initiated with a brother in Christ trying to tell me that we must go through God's wrath. If you read the passages from Romans 2:5-11, then you would understand that the unbeliever is bringing the wrath upon themselves.

Dear Lord, you need to read the scriptures for yourselves, or you will stumble as though you are in darkness, and because of these conversations, I am convinced few of you that call yourselves Christians ever read your Bibles. If you fall into this category, you don't have a clue about what is coming.

Let's start off with a bit of honesty.

The prefixes "pre," "mid," and "post" are human constructs, NOT God's, and you, of course, know that "pre" indicates something happening prior to an event, such as God's wrath/judgment, and "post" applies to things which occur after the event. However, there is nothing in scripture that expressly identifies this time as a "pre," "mid," or "post" event. 

As some see it, it is a reasonable assumption to apply those mid and post prefixes to God's wrath. My friend thought it was entirely logical to think this way, although the only thing he could come up with to back up his argument was emotion.

Because God's promises (a few of them are shared in this post) tell us that we are NOT destined for wrath, I can, with confidence, consider myself a pre-tribulation supporter. 

The word tribulation has become a roadblock between fellow believers as we have taken something that Jesus promised would be an everyday aspect of our lives and turned it into a timed event, as though we are in competition with each other.

 Because Jesus, in Matthew 24, shared this with us, I share it with you.

 "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), (16) then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. (17) "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. (18) "Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. (19) "But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! (20) "But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. (21) "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. (22) "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short." (Matthew 24:15-22 NASB)

Note how Matthew gives us the context, which is the Abomination of Desolation as a trigger for the "great tribulation," an event that has not occurred in the world as yet and will not happen until three and one-half years into the seven-year "treaty" put forth by the antichrist.

Tribulation is the Greek word thlípsis. This word has several possibilities for meaning: squeeze, compress, press, crush, trouble, affliction, break, and Tribulation.

Do any of those descriptives fit some aspect of your life? They do mine.

In conversations, my friend struggled with 2 Thessalonians 2:3

"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (which, in the Geneva Bible, is accurately translated as departure) comes first, and (then) the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, (4) who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God." (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 NASB.)

Those who have a Biblical understanding are watching Turkey, and the activities of Russia and Iran, as they prepare to make strategic and alarming moves into Syria. (How drastically the world has changed since I initiated this post in 2019)

We are NOT asleep; we are awake. So while I could take a pre-tribulation stand based on 2 Thessalonians 2: 3, 4 alone, it only gets better and easier to understand as I progress to 2 Thessalonians 2: 6-8. Each one of these has its own clarity.

“You know what it is that now holds him back, so that he will be revealed when his time comes.” (2 Thessalonians 2:6 GW)

I explained how the word revealed can also mean to expose or make known. 

“For the secret of evil is even now at work: but there is one who is keeping back the evil till he is taken out of the way.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7 BBE)

“And then the lawless one (the antichrist) will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by His appearing at His coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8 AMP)

The Antichrist will not be revealed to the world until we, the church, check out. This is somewhat important since we are NOT destined for wrath, and wrath from God is what is coming. 

You asked me in another post about the sentence, "pray that your flight is NOT in the winter."

“But pray that your flight is not in the winter, nor on the sabbath day;”
(Matthew 24:20 MKJV)

If you keep a Middle Eastern perspective, then, of course, there are the elements. 

1. It would be miserable;

2. If Israel is under such a severe attack, where will those who are running for their lives go?

   Imagine trying to escape the Los Angeles area with our freeway system. The reality is, in a situation like this, we will most likely, not survive. We already have an awareness that these will primarily be Islamic die-hards. For example, the temple mount is controlled by the Muslims. Many of them wholeheartedly believe in chopping off heads. I suspect this will be the major aspect of this great tribulation.

The promise of wrath is all throughout the Old Testament.

“Go inquire of Jehovah for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found. For great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the Word of Jehovah to do according to all that is written in this Book.” (2 Chronicles 34:21 MKJV)

The record about curses in Leviticus 26:1-46, and Deuteronomy 27-28, was sufficiently clear to convict of sin.

But if they did not obey the LAW, this is what happens:

“But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;  (15)  And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.  (17)  And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursues you.  (18)  And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.  (19)  And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass.” (Leviticus 26:14-19 KJV)

The seven sabbatical years preceding the Year of Jubilee. These were the sabbaths that Israel did not obey and therefore went into Babylonian captivity. 

“In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”
(Daniel 9:2 KJV)

Daniel, a captive, was reading the scroll of Jeremiah.

“And this whole land shall be a ruin and a waste. And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall be, when seventy years are fulfilled I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, and the land of the Chaldeans, says Jehovah, for their iniquity, and I will make it an everlasting ruin.”
(Jeremiah 25:11-12 MKJV)

Some other examples of God's wrath are in the Old Testament.

"And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass." 2Chronicles 24:18 

"Now be ye not stiff necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you."
(2Chronicles 30:8)

If you have time, do a word search for the number of times wrath shows up in the Old Testament, it is overwhelming.

In the New Testament, the word wrath also shows up prolifically.

“For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
(Revelation 6:17 KJV)

Who is making this statement? The great day of his wrath has come.

“...The kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the chief captains, the mighty men, every bondman, and every free man...”
(Revelation 6:15)

John the Baptist, speaking to the scribes, elders, and a great multitude, said,

"O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Luke 3:7 KJV)

Jesus, in Luke's gospel, is giving the same response we see in the Matthew 24 account. When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of your coming?

According to Luke's gospel, Jesus said,

“But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.”
(Luke 21:23 KJV)

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"
(Romans 1:18)

Romans 2 is important because it speaks about the glory and honor due to the follower of Christ.

But because of your stubborn and unrepentant heart, you are reserving wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will repay everyone according to what that person has done: eternal life to those who strive for glory, honor, and immortality by patiently doing good, but wrath and fury for those who, in their selfish pride, refuse to believe the truth and practice wickedness instead. There will be suffering and anguish for every human being who practices doing evil, for Jews first and for Greeks as well. But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who practices doing good, initially for Jews but also for Greeks as well, because God does not show partiality.” (Romans 2:5-11 ISV)

Did you catch that? 

You are storing up wrath for yourself. Although wrath is coming, our justification by his blood has saved us from that wrath.

“But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  (9)  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  (10)  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  (11)  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” (Romans 5:8-11 KJV)

The wrath is coming upon the sons of disobedience, among others.

“For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (6) Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (7) Therefore do not be partakers with them;”
(Ephesians 5:5-7 NASB)

Paul wrote similar words to the church at Colossae.

“Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (6) For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,” (Colossians 3:5-6 NASB)

To the church of Thessaloniki, Paul wrote:

“For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, (10) and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.”
(1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 NASB)

The writer of the book of Hebrews (a book written to Jewish followers of Christ.) He says,

“do not harden your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was grieved with that generation and said, They always err in their heart, and they have not known My ways. So I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest.” (Hebrews 3:8-11 MKJV)

One of the primary places we look to find information on God's wrath tends to be the Revelation.

“The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. (15) Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; (16) and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;” (Revelation 6:14-16 NASB)

The people defined in verse 15 are not those I would think realize that this punishment/wrath is from God. I marvel at why they know.

Aside from the brother in Christ that seemed to want to go through the time of God's wrath, I got into a heated argument with a false teacher, as he tried to tell me that the seven-year period was not a time of wrath and judgment. Oh, it is.

More passages from Revelation on the wrath.

Rev_11:18; Rev_14:8 ; Rev_14:10; Rev_15:1; Rev_15:7; Rev_16:1; Rev_16:19; Rev_18:3; Rev_19:15 

The angels could NOT destroy Sodom and the surrounding cities until Lot and his family were removed, and so they physically removed them.

“and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (8) (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), (9) then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, (10) and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties,” (2 Peter 2:7-10 NASB)

One of the issues some have is over the wording in 2 Peter 2:7-10, which talks of “the day of...” This is really not an issue as God has referred to this seven-year time frame, as well as Jesus' return to earth, as the day of the Lord. The day of judgment is the seven-year period, but it is also the day Jesus returns physically to earth, and it can also apply to the time of the great white throne judgment, which has NOTHING to do with believers. Figuring out which day He is talking about is one of our biggest challenges, but most of the time, it can be accomplished by looking at the context.

In the book of Revelation, the seven seals, the seven bowls, and the seven trumpets are all a part of the wrath and judgment of God upon the nations and the Jews.

Once the seven years begin, there is no separation of time, for it is all God's time, even if it seems that He is using humans to help bring about the wrath that He has determined. An example of this can be seen here in Jude 1:6, where angels carry out the judgment.

“And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,” (Jude 1:6 NASB)

At the beginning of the millennial age, Satan is thrown into the bottomless pit for a thousand years.

Does that mean the fallen angels are also gone?

Absolutely, since they carry out Satan's wishes, and there is no longer any temptation. This next statement will mess up many Christians as they have chosen to follow some twisted teaching from a false teacher.

Abolishing Satan does not remove the free will from those still here on earth, and their choice to act poorly will be quickly and effectively dealt with during the thousand years. At the end of the millennial reign, Satan alone gets released and deceives the world, and we see no one with him.

The short book of Jude is the only place in the Bible where you will find a reference of this sort about Enoch.

“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, (15) to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” (Jude 1:14-15 NASB)

So, when do we see God/Jesus coming with thousands of His holy ones?

At the end of the seven years and at the beginning of the millennial reign. Jesus will come as the warring Messiah, and He will silence His enemies.

“And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; (7) and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”
(Revelation 14:6-7 NASB)

One last thing.

You talked about “the murder of our people.”

You, like a few others, merely wrote me an unexplainable note, and I can only assume that you are calling these “our people” because we sit by many of them in Church.

If they did not go up in the rapture, then they fall under the category of “the nations.” I say this, even though it probably upsets you, because right now, in this “pre-rapture" state, there are only three people groups: the Jews, the nations, and the church. Obviously, the rapture will change that equation and remove the church, leaving the Jews and the nations.

Who is God's wrath being poured out upon?

You got it, the Jews and the nations. The church became part of the body of Christ, and He already suffered all the wrath necessary to satisfy the debts owed on our behalf. He is NEVER going to do that again.

A logical question would be, will those who missed the catching away of the church accept Christ during the seven years?

Scripture tells me that an uncountable number will, and that should bring you some peace. Just know this, they will have everything we today have (like repentance and forgiveness,) yet without grace, they will have to prove their love and allegiance to God.