"Then I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying scroll. And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I answered, 'I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.' Then he said to me, 'This is the curse that is going forth over the face of the whole land; surely everyone who steals will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears will be purged away according to the writing on the other side. 'I will make it go forth,' declares the Lord of hosts, 'and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by my name; and it will spend the night within that house and consume it with its timber and stones'" (Zechariah 5:1-4 NASB).

This a clear example that the wrath of the Lord begins with the open scroll. The scroll of Revelation (pictured on "The Revelation Seals" menu page) is sealed with it's seven seals. Not until all seven seals are opened does the wrath of God begin (Rev. 6:15-17 NASB). The Greek tense for "wrath has come" in verse 17 of Revelation chapter six is the aorist tense. The same example is found in Mark 14:41, where in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus says, "the hour has come." The very next event is His arrest. Following the sixth seal is this statement; just before the seventh seal is broken open. Only two events are between the sixth and seventh seals; the sealing of the 144,000 Jews from the twelve tribe and "a great multitude, which no one could count" in heaven (Rev. chapter 7). The 144,000 Jews are sealed to protect them from God's wrath to come on the whole earth and the "great multitude" is the church, the body of Christ raptured to heaven just prior to His wrath. That wrath begins in Revelation 8:1, with the opening of the seventh seal.

I have come to experience three categories of Christians. The first are those who may or may not have strong convictions, nevertheless are dogmatic in their doctrines to the point of intolerance and inflexibility. The second category are those, unfortunately, with no doctrine nor convictions of faith. Nothing can be said for this sad lot, except they call themselves the Pan-tribulationalists. They say, "what ever pans out I'll believe." Finally the most noble are those with strong convictions of faith, but realize that doctrines are man-made and not infallible to err. When new light reveals truth they are quick to see; after testing everything against the Holy scriptures first (Acts 17:11).

To the church of Sardis is written, "Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you" (Rev. 3:3 NASB). The obvious implication here, is if we are awake then we will know the hour of the day of the Lord and He will not come as a thief to us who are awake.

Just prior to Jesus' ascension He says, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority" (Acts 1:7 NASB). This statement and "but of that day and hour no one knows" (Matt. 24:36 NASB) has caused confusion, if not dissension within the body of Christ. This confusion is cleared, however when we come to understand the dispensational break between the Jews not accepting their Messiah (Acts 28:25-29 NASB) and the revelation received by Paul (Rom. 16:25, 26; Gal. 1:12; 2:2 NASB). This revelation allows Paul now to say, "now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you" (1Thess. 5:1 NASB). Paul goes on to explain how we can now know the hour and the day of the Lord; because of the revelation we are no longer in darkness "that the day should overtake" us, "like a thief!" In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 Paul continues to clear the confusion within the church that has been "shaken" and "disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from" Paul. Times haven't changed!