Page 23 - Watchman- What of the Night

Testament. They are orge and thumos. Orge appears 36 times of which 28 refer to the

wrath of God. Only eight have to do with the wrath of man. Thumos appears 18 times,
of which 7 speak of the wrath of God. All of these seven are in the Book of
Revelation. The other eleven uses speak of the wrath of man or Satan. The two words
appear a total of eleven times in the Book of Revelation to express the indignation and

wrath of God in judgment upon the world. The difference if any, between the two
words would seem to be that orge denotes wrath stored up for judgment, and thumos
denotes wrath actually outpoured.
The word thlipsis─tribulation is never used in connection with the direct judgment

of God upon a wicked world (as set forth in the Book of Revelation), and neither orge
or thumos are ever used of God toward His own children.
From this survey of the occurrences of these words in the New Testament, and the
connection in which they are used, we are sure that the careful and conscientious

student will agree that the distinction here made between tribulation and wrath, the
former being that which God‘s children suffer in and at the hands of the world and its
god, and the latter as that which God finally outpours in vengeance upon the world, is
a legitimate one and in accordance with the laws of language, logic and sound

interpretation.
When we have on occasion earnestly warned that God‘s people must be prepared to
suffer tribulation in the age-end since that is consistently declared to be the believer‘s
portion, we have been flippantly answered by some devotee of the theory of

pre-tribulation rapture, with the quotation: ―God hath not appointed us to wrath‖ I
Thess. 5:9. Indeed, beloved, He has not appointed us to wrath, but wrath is not
tribulation and cannot be confused with tribulation without serious consequences.
And is it not deeply significant that the same author in the same epistle, chapter 3,

verse 3, says: ―…that no man should be moved by these afflictions
(thlipsis─tribulation): for yourselves know THAT WE ARE APPOINTED
THEREUNTO!‖ Do you not see, dear reader how important distinctions have been
glossed over and fictitious distinctions introduced to support a false theory? We are

appealing here against superficiality, dogmatic assertion, wishful thinking,
flesh-gratifying theories, to a sober, careful study of what the scriptures really teach,
even if it shatters some of our pet traditions and destroys the complacent notion that
all saints of this age are going to be raptured out of the world before Antichrist rules,

and world-wide persecution and tribulation flame forth.

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