Tribulation is not Wrath

[Last Daze]

I've heard some people say that tribulation is the same thing as wrath and that the words can be used interchangeably.  However, after doing some digging, I've found out that such a claim is simply not true.  Here are the Greek words for each and the definitions:

~~~~~

Tribulation

θλῖψις thlîpsis - pressure (literally or figuratively):—afflicted(-tion), anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation, trouble.

Wrath

ὀργή orgḗ - properly, desire (as a reaching forth or excitement of the mind), i.e. (by analogy), violent passion (ire, or (justifiable) abhorrence); by implication punishment:—anger, indignation, vengeance, wrath.

~~~~~

The words tribulation and wrath come from different Greek words and have different meanings.  I couldn't find anywhere that the Greek word for tribulation is ever translated wrath, or vice-versa.  If they are the same words, or similar, you'd expect some overlap in the translations or semantics but I couldn't find any.

I've yet to hear a rational explanation as to why they mean the same thing when they're clearly different.  Granted, both tribulation and wrath are similar in that they are unpleasant when experienced but does that make them the same?  No.  Is a hurricane the same thing as a tsunami because they both cause flooding?

I would encourage those who are interested in end time prophecy to make this distinction that scripture makes between these two words in order to get a clearer understanding of the things to come.  Those who believe that tribulation and wrath are the same thing, can you explain why?  They certainly look distinctly different to me, but maybe I've missed something.

[Adstar]

Christians suffer tribulation when they are persecuted by other people for their faith in Jesus..

When God avenges Christians who have suffered tribulation from these people he pours his wrath upon them..

In the following verse tribulation clearly does not mean Gods Wrath..

John 16: KJV

33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

 

 

 

 

[Daniel 11:36]

Get this .... the tribulation of the 70th week decreed for Israel is God's wrath period .... all of it

 

[Last Daze]

39 minutes ago, Daniel 11:36 said:

Get this .... the tribulation of the 70th week decreed for Israel is God's wrath period .... all of it

Prove it using scripture and maybe I might.

[JoeChan82]

23 hours ago, Last Daze said:

Prove it using scripture and maybe I might.

What? Use scripture? That is a ridiculous idea. It takes up too much space. (This was a bad attempt at humor. I'll refrain from comments like these in the future.)

Edited June 20, 2018 by JoeChan82
This remark was provocative.

[Last Daze]

33 minutes ago, JoeChan82 said:

What? Use scripture? That is a ridiculous idea. It takes up too much space. 

Yeah, I know.  It's asking a lot.  I blame Twitter for lowering the bar.  However, those who claim to rightly divide the word should have no problems, if it's true.

[JoeChan82]

He who controls the lexicon, controls the argument.  That is why I do not refer to Daniel's 70th week the "Seven Years of Tribulation". Once you put the term Seven Years of Tribulation into play, you then divide it into 3.5 years of tribulation and 3.5 years of Great Tribulation.  Argument closed. All verses will be interpreted from that perspective. So when someone tries to point out that wrath and tribulation are not equal, the proponents of the pretribulation rapture theory can tell you to go read your bible and be entirely sincere. The argument is this; the church is not here because it is gone. It's gone because we are not appointed to wrath and the "Seven Years of Tribulation" is entirely wrath. They cannot yield a single point without opening other questions to debate and that, claim they, is false teaching. How somebody could actually read George's topic on the slanderous topics about prophecy and simply double down is beyond me. Rudyard Kipling wrote:

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

 

 (I edited out the middle of the poem for brevity)

 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

[Last Daze]

1 minute ago, Sojourner414 said:

"I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 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; 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; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” " (Revelation 6:12-17, NASB, emphasis mine)

Sometimes I wonder if folks even take Scripture seriously...

I never said that the wrath of God wouldn't come.  Did I?   I'm just showing that tribulation and wrath are not synonymous terms.  So, what exactly is your point here?  How am I not taking Scripture seriously?  Please expound.

[Last Daze]

4 hours ago, Adstar said:

Christians suffer tribulation when they are persecuted by other people for their faith in Jesus..

When God avenges Christians who have suffered tribulation from these people he pours his wrath upon them..

In the following verse tribulation clearly does not mean Gods Wrath..

John 16: KJV

33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

I agree.  The distinction is quite clear.

[Last Daze]

58 minutes ago, JoeChan82 said:

He who controls the lexicon, controls the argument.  That is why I do not refer to Daniel's 70th week the "Seven Years of Tribulation". Once you put the term Seven Years of Tribulation into play, you then divide it into 3.5 years of tribulation and 3.5 years of Great Tribulation.  Argument closed. All verses will be interpreted from that perspective. So when someone tries to point out that wrath and tribulation are not equal, the proponents of the pretribulation rapture theory can tell you to go read your bible and be entirely sincere. The argument is this; the church is not here because it is gone. It's gone because we are not appointed to wrath and the "Seven Years of Tribulation" is entirely wrath. They cannot yield a single point without opening other questions to debate and that, claim they, is false teaching.

Several times I have cautioned against using terms that are not in the Bible for precisely that reason.  Those who are serious about studying the scriptures will let scripture explain itself.  Fabricated terminology is only required to plug a hole in a leaky interpretation.  That's why I think its very important to establish biblical terminology and usage according to scripture.