Overcoming the Tribulation (Part III): Before the Wrath

In this article, we conclude the OTT-series, as author and pretrib-rapture critic Annette Bell is starting to show her true colors. She recently reviewed a documentary film called Before the Wrath, but was it really a review? Or was it loaded with ad hominem fallacies? Let's find out what her article on this pretribulational rapture film was all about. You can read her review here.

Gnosticism
If you are expecting a thorough rebuttal of the documentary film, this is not the place you want to go. There's really not much there, concerning the contents of the movie. Rather, she deals mainly with suspicions, instead of going straight after statements made in the movie. I said mainly, because she eventually does point out some inconsistencies, which I will address later. Anyway, first things first; let's see where she goes wrong. After a lengthy paragraph that describes some of the movie's scenes and Annete's thoughts, she writes that the film is gnostic in concept. That's a pretty bold statement, for which she doesn't really give a good argument. Does she even know what gnosticism really is? Let me tell you some facts. Gnosticism is a deviation from christianity (and Judaism) in that it elevates the gathering of knowledge, rather than salvation of sins through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Spiritual knowledge is venerated as a goal in itself, rather than a means by which we can find salvation in Christ and learn to follow Him. The way Annette explains it, gnosticism is basically all extrabiblical knowledge. She apparently has no clue to what cultural context is, and how it is completely valid to use examples of anthropological evidence to support idioms or customs used in the Bible, that we otherwise wouldn't understand properly. Most theologians wouldn't be so shy to use the extrabiblical works of Josephus to get a clearer picture of what the cultural context was back in the first century. Even Annette herself used "extrabiblical evidence" to support her case for an explanation of the parable of the wheat and tares, inserting "brix" into the text. Ouch. Is she also a gnostic then? Of course not. As 21st christians, we don't always understand specific customs or idioms, as we never lived in that era. The anthropological evidence therefore can be very helpful in understanding that context. 

Substantiation
The film tells how the Galilean Wedding is basically a blueprint for how the end times will play out, and proves that the rapture has to happen before the 7-year tribulation. Annette points out that the movie doesn't really provide any substantiation for these claims it gives on the Galilean Wedding, which is something I found very concerning too and even mentioned, when I reviewed it a few years ago. Bell claims that theologian Jay McCarl didn't want to provide his sources, but that is not the case. He didn't have them sourced in the movie, but did put an excerpt from the book "Before the Wrath" on his personal website, with a lengthy bibliography added. You can read that here.

As I wrote in my own review (in Dutch), back in the spring of 2020, the explanation of the parable of the 10 virgins was poorly communicated. And yes, that's even an understatement. 

" 17. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. 18. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. 19. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 20. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." (Isaiah 26:17-21, KJV)

Theology
Annette spends some time on Isaiah 26, which she believes is quoted out of context in the documentary film. According to her, this is talking about the passover, where people had to hide in their homes until the indignation was past. While that might have been true in Exodus 12, it certainly is not the context here. Yes, it might be reminiscent of that, but there's some additions to that original layer. We can clearly place this prophecy in the end times, as verse 17 tells us the time of delivery is nearing. Gods people are instructed to hide, which is demonstrably not the rapture. You can't initiate the rapture to hide yourself. Question: who are Gods people in this context? You guessed it. Israel. Which is exactly what I argued for in the previous two episodes of this Overcoming the Tribulation-series. The tribulation is meant for Israel, not the church. So yes, Annette is right in that this is bad theology. But she doesn't do a much better job herself. She believes that Proverbs 10:30 teaches the righteous will never be removed. Is she aware that she's quoting from an early 17th century Bible? And that re-moving there might have different semantics than it has in 2023? When she had consulted Strong's Concordance, she would have undoubtedly noticed that this "removal" was based upon the Hebrew word mot, which means "not to be shaken".

Satanism
​When you're out of arguments, you can of course always resort to ad hominem attacks, which is what Annette Bell does in the last few paragraphs. She believes JD Farag may be a satanist, because he is making the OK sign with his hands several times. Anyone who really knows Farag, knows this couldn't be further from the truth. He is a Middle-Eastern man, who likes to use his hands a lot while talking. A lot of people do that. Annette herself may not be accustomed to that, but her guest in that last video sure did. At the 27.09 minute timestamp you can even see this Ethiopian man doing the OK sign. Is he a satanist too, then? Of course not. At least I hope not. Satan isn't hiding behind every tree, my dear. Sometimes people just want to make a point and use their hands as if they are really dotting an i. It's called emphasis. I find Bell's attitude very concerning. We should not be so militant and divisive over this. Yes, there's bad theology on both sides, but we do not have to personally attack each other that way. Farag is a dear brother in Christ, and she would do well to see him like that, whether she agrees with his eschatological views or not. The moment of the rapture is not a salvific issue, so wether we will be raptured pre-, mid or posttrib.. as born-again christians we will still be raptured and explain each other on the way up (:

Annette Bell interviewing Tariku Fufa, who is doing the OK sign.