Hey, Randy.
For future reference, it is a shame to waste a thoughtful response like this on GISMYS, LoL. He's never going to respond to you substantively in return.
Hey at least I was able to elicit a response from a thoughtful person like you! ;) To be honest, I know when someone isn't open. I use their arguments to try to reach those reading who may be open. I expose propaganda when I see it. If the arguments are good, then they are worth trying to answer.
I never assume my own views are 100% correct or pure. Even my "delivery" is often flawed. So I'm just following the various trains of thought wherever they may lead. But thanks for the compliment! :)
But let me give you a real reply. And for starters, your last paragraph I am in agreement with. But now, I actually subscribed to the interpretation you provided for quite some time myself and even included it in one of the Bible Studies I wrote. But I now find it problematic. The time of trial the Lord referenced was one which would encompass the entire world, so the theory of it being something that took place historically runs into trouble there.
I hear you. I suppose it can be taken in two ways--not just one.
Let me tell you what I think the trial refers to. The reason many Post-Trib interpreters run into difficulty here is in not understanding that the tribulation and the Day of the Lord are two distinct events that do not overlap. The tribulation is a trial that comes upon believers, both Gentile and Jew, until the three and half years of the Antichrist's reign of genocide are over. At that point, the rapture comes, and then the Day of the Lord begins, a time of trial which comes upon the entire world as retaliation from the Lord upon the world for how they treated His people, and served and worshipped the Beast in bringing death to the saints.
I've spent a lot of time on another forum trying to explain how I think Jesus defined the "Great Tribulation." And I've spent some time here, doing the same. It is popular thinking to believe that the "Great Tribulation" is the 3.5 years of Antichrist, and I don't necessarily disagree with that. My point here is that the more broad definition of "Great Tribulation" incorporates the entire age of Jewish Tribulation, as defined by Jesus himself. He called it a Jewish "Punishment." It would last from 70 AD until the last day of the age.
The 3.5 years of Antichrist's Reign is simply the end of this long stretch of time, that being with a prophecy directed to Israel. Today, this Tribulation effects Christians not just in Israel, but in all nations. We are all going through suffering because of the course this wicked world has chosen to go in. When Antichrist rises, his reign will just be more of the same--only perhaps worse. It will, in fact, be worse, because it will effect all nations!
The Day of the Lord is the day Christ returns to end his reign of terror. You will find that described in 2 Thes 2. Christ comes back to destroy him with the breath of his mouth. Christ will simply say, "You're done!"
You can see this in scripture once your eyes are open to it. In Daniel 7, it is during the tribulation period that the Antichrist wears out the saints and kills them. But in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul declares that the church will NOT go through the time of God's wrath. They are two very distinct time periods.
"Wrath" can be defined either as a divine sentence against someone or a period of destruction aimed at the wicked, but also experienced by the innocent. Christians have been going through "times of wrath" all through history. For example, WW1 and 2 were "times of divine wrath," and Christians had to go through this along with the wicked who were actually being judged.
Jeremiah suffered a "time of wrath" when Israel was being judged by God through the Babylonian invasion. Jeremiah was not the object of God's wrath, but he certainly experienced the time of God's wrath.
I think the semantics of this gets in the way of determining whether Christians can go through the *time* of wrath. And clearly we do go through plagues and epidemics that were punishments upon the wicked, and only experienced by us as innocent victims, much as Christ suffered not for his own sins but for the sins of others.
25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, and shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law.
Then the saints shall be given into his hand, for a time and times and half a time. (Daniel 7:25)
8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. (1 Thessalonians 5:8-10).
God bless, and let me know what you think after considering it.
I agree with most commentators that indicate the Philadelphian Church was allowed to escape some turmoil that was widespread in that part of the world. Often God will answer prayer and deliver those who are in the middle of an epidemic or a natural disaster. Prayer matters.
The Jewish Church was given to escape the 70 AD judgment, simply by obeying Christ to "flee and not look back." So I do believe Philadelphia was being helped in their time period, which is an assurance to the Church in all ages that God is with us, whatever we may experience. We can expect that God will hear our prayers, and be there for us, preserving our legacy, if indeed we choose to walk in the path of righteousness.
