1 Thessalonians 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (KJV) and — 1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, (KJV)

These passages are clear if one wants to hear. Jesus has already delivered us from God’s wrath. This was done on the cross when He took our sin and died in our place, granting to us the salvation spoken of here. The only wrath that is in sight here in these and in Paul’s other writings concerning the wrath that we are delivered from is the wrath that will be poured out upon the wicked who are without Christ. That wrath is hell and the lake of fire. I have written more than one complete post on God’s wrath should you wish to look them up.

I will just say here that the wrath that we see in Revelation 16 is poured out in the last few days or perhaps weeks of the Tribulation. This is understood based on what the bowls themselves represent. I will be listing here 3 verses describing this event.

Revelation 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

Notice each angel go their own way to accomplish their own mission and this is a command — Go.

3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. (KJV)

First it seems from the instruction given that these bowls would actually be poured out somewhat simultaneously. Certainly once the second and third angels pour their vials there will be little time left for earth, because without water on earth, all life will cease shortly. Here is the response to this command and these actions:

Revelation 16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. (KJV)

This certainly implies that there is no more water to drink henceforth.

Further, The Lord actually announces His coming as a thief to coincide with the announcement of the unleashing of Armageddon at the pouring out of the 6th bowl. We will exit this earth upon His return in the sky above. This wrath will not be experienced by His people who are present. And these verses even in their own way tell us that.

Our next rapture passage:

1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? (KJV)

There is no scriptural basis for this verse being applied to a separate gathering or rapture apart from Christ’s coming. It even states that this will be Paul’s joy and crown at His coming, not emphasizing a separate Rapture at all. If you can determine one from scripture, please comment and enlighten me. We covered 1Thess. 4:13-18 in our last post in this series. So now we will look at:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (KJV)

The Greek Word transliterated Parousia is translated coming or presence in both chapter 2:19, and 5:23 here. It is claimed that this word usage makes it a different coming than the coming to earth, but the second coming in 2nd Thess. 2:8 is also Parousia, and it is obviously referencing the end of Tribulation. So this word in no way makes a distinction in Jesus Coming making us believe it to be two comings.

We will continue with 2 Thess. 2:1 from this list in our next post in this series Part 5.