and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead-- Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
How will God keep believers "away from" His wrath as He pours it out during the Tribulation? Pretribulationists say He will do so by taking us to heaven before the Tribulation begins. [Note: John F. Walvoord, The Rapture Question, p. 72. Cf. Revelation 3:10.] Midtribulationists say we will enter the Tribulation, but God will take us to heaven before the outpouring of His wrath that will occur only during the second half of the Tribulation. [Note: Harold John Ockenga, "Will the Church Go Through the Tribulation? Yes," Christian Life (February 1955), pp. 22, 66.] Posttribulationists believe we will go through the entire Tribulation and God will protect us from the outpouring of His wrath during that time. [Note: George E. Ladd, The Blessed Hope, p. 121-22; J. Barton Payne, The Imminent Appearing of Christ, p. 143; Arthur D. Katterjohn, The Tribulation People, p. 98; William R. Kimball, The Rapture: A Question of Timing, p. 70; and Alexander Reese, The Approaching Advent of Christ, p. 226.] 1 Thessalonians 1:10 does not state exactly how God will deliver us "away from" His wrath when He will pour it out in the Tribulation. Other passages in 1 Thessalonians, however, point to a pretribulational deliverance (e.g., 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:4-10).