Just as prewrath is a unifying view of futurism, resolving the differences between post- and pre-tribulationalism, futurism in general and prewrath in particular are the inclusive views of biblical prophecy that can adopt and accept the types and themes offered in the preterist, historicist, and spiritualist views. Prewrath is the umbrella view of eschatology.

In the graphic above, futurism is shown as the goal and target of the themes and types in other views. Spiritualistic themes, including God's plan for man's redemption, span across the Bible. These themes are critical in providing the genesis and backbone for futurism's fulfillment. As such, the arrows are horizontal, reflecting themes spanning the spectrum of history.

As we will discuss below, the other views can be accepted into the futurist fold based on the types and foreshadowed events they present. As God works through history, thematically displaying the spiritual truth of His ways, certain historical events can be seen, even cyclically, as picturing His greatness as He speaks to a particular generation. These events are the result of His overarching plan to restore mankind and are represented by many vertical arrows through the various stages of history.

As the issue of biblical eschatology rages within the Church (most notably, today, between pretribulationist Tim LaHaye and partial preterist Hank Hanegraaff), prewrath offers a cohesive and comprehensive structure that can maintain its overall integrity by entertaining the opinions and perspective of other views. In fact, prewrath is enhanced by the contributions made in the apparently “competing” views of biblical prophecy. In discovering biblical truth, one should expect such an alignment to exist.

Prewrath: A View From History

“Prewrath,” as a term describing a certain aspect of biblical futurism, has only been around a relatively short time, but many of its ideas on key aspects of the Second Coming have been around for a long time, although until recently, they were not given a name.

One does not need to do extensive research to see this. For example, the prewrath stance on the sixth seal and seventh trumpet were, for the most part, held in the late 1800s by founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance A.B. Simpson. Through more inclusive in approach, he saw how the accounts of Christ in the Bible allowed for a merger of various views. Even though A.B. Simpson believed in certain conglomerations of views that those who hold to prewrath do not agree with, he did provide an example of how futurism and historicism could coexist.

Four Biblical Approaches to Prophecy

There are a number of approaches that have been developed to understand biblical prophecy. I will assume the reader's familiarity with the terms.

Biblical prophecy has been complicated by the tendency of men to narrowly define every corner of theology and then retain the comforts gleaned from the truths of those insights. A polarization resulted from man's finite abilities, and certain parties began to lay exclusive claim upon universal methods such as exegesis and hermeneutics. If we can, as fallible men asked to love one another, just acknowledge our own limitations and inability know all, then perhaps we might be able to grasp how all of biblically grounded, Holy Spirit inspired prophecy can work together.

Accepting futurism as the overarching view is distasteful for many who have staked their reputations upon their publicized understanding. And yet, it is a natural outcome of all orthodox Christian views. Spiritualists, historicists, and partial preterists all look forward to the Second Coming of Christ and the resurrection to the glorified state. It should not be a mystery that futuristic fulfillment is innately the goal of all divine prediction.

Mankind has come up with a number of various mental constructs in its attempt to define and categorize the boundless mind of God as revealed in the Bible. There are four categories of thought, each with competing views that need to be discussed. Amongst these categories, there is the tendency for affiliations to be built between certain of the views of other categories. This will become apparent as we go along.

Hermeneutics and Literature

The first category is regarding hermeneutics and literature. This category asks, “Is the passage symbolic or material, literal or figurative, narrative or poetic, historical or anecdotal?”

These dichotomies are generally false. Oftentimes, God uses a mixture of types, just as a piece of architecture not only expresses higher ideas, but also provides for basic material shelter. In reading apocalyptic literature such as Revelation or Daniel, it would not be out of the realm of possibility to suggest that the images portrayed are symbolically pregnant reality in some cases and divine core truth in others (i.e. the fantasy images like the red dragon). Attributing rigidly literal description of things in apocalyptic material can be as dangerous as ascribing human or animal features to God, even though clear anthropomorphisms are used (see, for example, Ruth 2:12). Spiritualizing everything without allowing for a simple material fulfillment is also as dangerous as usurping God's throne as if one could know God's mind and ways better than He (Isaiah 55:8,9).

The use of numerals offers a wonderful example of how apocalyptic literature works. The best and most clear example involves the seven churches of Revelation. God could have chosen more than just seven churches from the same area. In fact, if you were a messenger following the path from church to church in the geographic order given in Revelation, in order to get to Laodecia, you would have to pass by the church of Hieropolis mentioned in Colossians 4:13. There were other local church bodies in the immediate area of Asia Minor, as well. This clearly tells us that the symbolic meaning of the number is as important as the actual number.

This intertwined truth would have been plainly evident to the early church. The number seven is associated with the concept of perfection and completeness, while there are yet seven literal and material churches. Both are true.

Three Audiences of Prophecy

This complex truth helps us to understand a subtopic of biblical literature, the three audiences of prophecy: original, general, and target.

In looking back at the prophecies of the First Coming, the first to read and accept the words of the prophet were the original audience. The content of the prophecy had specific meaning uniquely applicable for that time alone. For instance, the “virgin” referenced in Isaiah 7 was used in response to the king being given a sign regarding his own kingdom. Conversely, the same prophecy has specific and unique application to the target audience living at the time of Messiah. Between and after the original and target audiences, the passage also provides meaning for the general audiences though the centuries.

Rather than focusing on a specific aspect of these various audiences as each view tends to do (historicism/preterism focuses on original, spiritualistic focuses on general, futurism focuses on target), we should seek to see how they all work together, with futurism as the inevitable target of biblical prophecy.

From the prewrath perspective, symbolism and spiritual meaning enhance the understanding of material reality. The Bible not only pictures God's plan of redemption from the Garden to Garden City, but in the eternal state, we will look upon the monuments and memorials to this reality. Prewrath is not involved in “adding” spiritual meanings where none exist. Nor does it “take away” the literal implications of the reality afforded to us by God in the book of Revelation (Rev. 22:18-19). Prewrath offers the path to a balanced approach.

Four Ways to View Prophecy

The Second Category involves four ways of looking at biblical prophecy: futurist, historicist, preterist, and spiritualist/idealist. These four views can be broken down into three distinct aspects of prophecy that can all serve under the heading of prewrath. These three aspects are types, themes, and actuality.

For instance, historicists and preterists both point to how certain historical events align with the meaning of Revelation. Historicists find deep parallels with the sequences of Revelation and historical events concerning the Roman Empire and what they believe to be its successor, the Roman Catholic Church. There is no doubt that there have been some interesting documented predictions made by historicists that did come true regarding the fall of papal power during and after the French Revolution. It is hard to condemn the majority of Reformers for adopting this view, given their role in history and the hindsight they were able to achieve at the time.

Preterists align the events of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and sometimes the fall of Rome in 476 AD to show the purpose of Revelation as a warning letter to the emerging church. In Luke 21, Christ's publicly refers to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Preterists impose Luke's interpretation upon the other apparent synoptic accounts, while the prewrath perspective sees how Matthew 24 and Mark 13 point to a private interpretation of these matters to the disciples regarding the Second Coming so that they can maintain hope during the tumultuous events about to unfold at the crucifixion.

Historicism and preterism may offer some interesting historical alignments. Moreover, it is quite possible that God intended for these alignments to exist to give us continued hope for today. But in the end, futurism can accept the truths in these various interpretations as types and shadows. Futurism does not lose its integrity by accepting the destruction of the temple in 70 AD or the fall of papal power during the French Revolution in a typological fashion.

I suppose a partial preterist would be quite disarmed if they heard a futurist agree with them to the extent that their understanding only represents a type of what will be ultimately fulfilled. The strength of futurism is that it acknowledges the near aspect of Revelation's relevance to the original audience, the example it has been to many generations in the general audience of readers, and the unique relevance afforded to the target audience living during the actual fulfillment of prophetic events.

A similar approach is available for the spiritual/idealist view. Rather than being understood as types, spiritualistic views can be accepted thematically. These various views expound global patterns and the spiritual movements of God. Many of the spiritual themes proponents highlighted by this view are seen as cyclical in history. One could say that spiritual themes highlight specific typological fulfillments pointed out by historicists and preterists. Yet, futurism remains. A literal understanding and fulfillment is not dismissed when a spiritual theme or historical type is uncovered. Rather, it is enhanced, particularly from the prewrath approach, which has already shown its ability to uniquely bridge the gap between post- and pretribulational thought.

Those who tend towards the spiritual/idealist interpretation will also tend to elevate the symbolic and allegorical truths of Revelation. Though this type of interpretation has always existed, it slowly started to make it way to the fore after 313 AD when the emperor of Rome became a Christian. There were a number of factors for this transition away from “material fulfillment” interpretation to the expectation of a future millennial kingdom as many people came into the Church. Foremost was that many of the elite educated in Greek and Persian thought sought favor and power in the new political landscape. They brought with them their Platonic and Manichaean ideas, which emphasized the superiority of the abstract and spiritual over the mundane and distasteful frailty found in ever-changing material things. As the Church grew in the Gentile world, it left much of its “Jewishness” founded in materialism behind as the memory of Judah faded into historical ambiguity. In this type “enlightened” spiritual of thought, when the 1000 years in Revelation is encountered, it is immediately assumed to be figurative, leading us to the next category regarding Revelation 20.

Categories of Millennial Thought

The third category to keep in mind when approaching biblical prophecy is regarding the Millennium: pre-, post, or a-.
As mentioned above, the spiritual approach that seeks out the “higher” truths and themes focuses on what the numbers mean in Revelation. For instance, seven means perfection and completion, 12 refers to godly government, and 144 is the multiplied truth of the godly government between the 12 disciples and the 12 tribes of Israel. One thousand is an eternal and large number of no specific accounting that equates to the divinely ordained Church Age. Put together, 144,000 represents the highest genius of the government of God's people during the Church Age and into the eternal state of the redeemed in God's kingdom. These associations are core components of amillennialism.

As described earlier, there is no reason to deny the meaning of the numbers any more than there is reason to deny the literal accounting of each. Just as architecture provides for the abstract enjoyment of style, it also provides for physical security and shelter. Though many of those with the amillennial bent criticize futurists for their literal view, presumably because they perceive that the abstract spiritual meaning is more intellectually lofty than the lowly carnality of physical reality, premillennialists (particularly prewrath adherents) can even accept thematically many of the spiritual truths amillennialists offer.

Postmillennialism is a bit of a misnomer. While premillennialism reflects the material and literal bent and amillennialism is generally associated with the allegorical and spiritualist bent, postmillennialism is not as concerned with these as it is focused on a type of Christian militant theology in which Christians are charged with transforming the world with the gospel so as to usher in a golden age of the Christian kingdom on earth. In the sense that the kingdom is on earth, it is material. In the sense that the golden age does not have to be 1000 years exactly, it is allegorical. The “postmillennial” aspect is that Christ comes at the end of the golden age.

Postmillennialism is frequently associated with partial preterism, since it still looks forward to the Second Coming. Since, in their view, Revelation has for the most part been fulfilled, the Church is to be about transforming the world so that, when He comes, they can be found doing the Master's business. They would accuse futurists of seeking the doom and gloom of Armageddon while they are focused on the mission of spreading love to the masses. Prewrath adherents and other futurists can learn from this. For it is true that many of the futurist camp have fallen to claims of sensationalists who have all but written off Christians who happen to be Palestinian in favor of a secular Israel. Additionally, it seems that pretribulationists, in particular, attempt to be more “rapture ready” than “gospel ready” at times.

“Grafting In” the Branches

The fourth category involves how we see the Church and think about the grafting in of branches as described in Romans 11. On one extreme, there are those who see the Church as having replaced Israel. In this view, what God promised to Israel materially was either forfeited or misunderstood since those promises were to be ultimately fulfilled spiritually in the Church. Sometimes, it is referred to as “covenant theology.”

The other extreme keeps material Israel absolutely distinct from the Church to the point that the guests at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb are distinct from the Bride of the Lamb in Revelation 19. These ideas are associated with dispensationalism.
Though these terms have names deriving from covenants, distinctly perceived economies, or modes of God thoughout history, one primary illustration seems to applicable in Romans 11, the olive tree as Israel.

Rather than charging out from the corners of finite human thought, we should be seeking to master the word pictures of the Bible, using it as our standard to ground understanding. Neither extreme provides a balanced view on the lesson given by Paul on this topic. There is only one tree, which means there is only one Bride and thus only one body of the righteous. All must come to God through Christ.

However, God does call specific people groups to specific tasks with specific rewards, just as He has called specific individuals. Though there is one Bride, each man's reward will be different based upon calling and faithfulness. Individuals, families, and nations make up the Bride (Rev. 21:26). In Israel's case, the calling was to a nation and their offspring. Blessings were dependant upon faithfulness. That is not in dispute. The dispute is whether there are future blessings for Abraham's offspring yet to come because of his particular faithfulness. Without question, Abraham did not live to see all the fulfilled promises. Might there be yet some specific blessings God wishes to give to Abraham's offspring without separating them as the one Bride? Didn't the disciples expect that after all the years of following their master and His teaching in Acts 1:6?

The advantage of prewrath is that it can accept the possibility that God still has special blessings He wishes to bestow upon Abraham's physical offspring just as He has more blessings in store for Abraham's spiritual offspring. The premillennial view not only allows for this possibility, but it also provides a distinct period of time in which redemption and faithfulness to God can be explored on a new level during a true theocracy during the Millennium. God is very concerned about redeeming mankind and displaying His justice by giving fallen man every opportunity, whether through long life or great miracles, before the final judgment. No man will say God was not fair and that He should have given us the chance to be ruled more directly.

The truth is that God's Kingdom is coming and has already come to an extent. We are to pray for God's Kingdom to come and we are new creatures in Christ; and yet, we still wait for the glorification. Today, God has decided to use us to spread His kingdom and love. Though there are many different views in understanding biblical prophecy, we must uphold the prime directive of “love.” Yes, we will encounter those who disagree with prewrath even though it demonstrably maintains its integrity as it umbrellas over the other views. But “love” should be our primary message. You may feel secure in the knowledge of how prewrath exists despite all the clamor of the others, but without love to your brothers, you might as well not speak at all.