Can't God shield a church in the midst of tribulation as He shielded Israel when the 7 last plagues fell in Egypt or like He shielded the 3 Hebrews in the fiery furnace or Daniel in the lion's den or Israel in the Red Sea which swallowed up the Egyptian army?
Of course He can.
Of course He can.
In your example using God protecting Israel, they needed to remain on the earth to obtain the land and all the promises that God has made to them. The church on the other hand has no reason to remain on the earth and in fact is never mentioned during the narrative of God's wrath from chapters 6 thru 18. It is the great tribulation saints who are referred to throughout the narrative, which are those who are introduced in Rev.7:9-17. These are those who will become believers in Christ after the church has been removed and during the time of God's wrath.
The word 'ekklesia' translated 'church' is used 19 times throughout chapters 1 thru 3 and then it disappears. The next time that the church is referred to is as 'the bride' in Rev.19:6-8 at the wedding of the Lamb which takes place in heaven. The next time the actual word 'church' is used again, is in Rev.22:16.
According to scripture, the only people who are protected will be the woman/Israel of Rev.12:6, 14 who will be cared for out in the wilderness for that last 3 1/2 years of the seven year period. And it mentions that those 144,000 Israelites who will have been sealed back in chapter 7, will be excluded from the results of the 7th trumpet which will be the stings of those demonic beings which resemble locusts who are released from the Abyss. Other than that, there is no mention of the church and not mention of them being protected. Regarding this, the beast is given power to make war and conquer the great tribulation saints. Therefore, anyone who claims that they are the church, it would show that the beast would be conquering them.
The church is not going to be on the earth during the time of God's wrath, because we are not appointed to suffer God's wrath, because Jesus already did. And because of this and the severity of said wrath, believers in the church must be removed.
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