Except that the good is sorted before the bad. That is the actual sequence of events which are described, even if the word "first" or "second" is not used.
I'm not suggesting that this proves anything about the order of events, which is exactly the point. Neither the parable of the tares nor the parable of sorting the fish proves anything about the order of events, because a timeline is not the lesson behind either parable. I'm suggesting that there is enough reasonable doubt regarding the order of events in these two examples that it is not good enough to simply point to "Matthew 13" as conclusive evidence of your interpretation.
It seems rather that you have basic unbelief that the word "first" has any importance in the lesson of the parable of the wheat and tares. Maybe it doesn't fit with your end times point of view.
Yes, I remember now. Thank you for refreshing my memory. It sounds to me, like you've based a theory which you've basically sworn to keep believing until events prove you wrong, on a single parable about the tares and wheat. I mean, you've come up with various scenarios for how the bowls/trumpets could play out, but the basis, the underlying evidence for why you believe this duel trumpet/wrath theory appears to be one parable.
No, my theory didn't come from the parable of the tares and wheat. It came from Jericho. The Commander of the Lord's army (most likely preincarnate Jesus since Joshua worshiped Him and was not rebuked) told Israel to circle Jericho each day, and on the seventh day, to circle it seven times. This reminded me of Revelation, since I remembered that the seventh seal is the seven trumpets. The seventh trumpet is when the kingdoms of the earth become the kingdoms of the Lord Jesus Christ, the wicked are punished and the righteous are rewarded. Then I looked at the seven bowls more closely, and I can basically see a relationship between them and the trumpets. And because the tares are gathered first, it also makes sense for the bowls to be done at the seventh trumpet. I don't really want to explain it further in here to you, because you are not showing yourself to be genuinely interested and it takes a lot of time for me to respond to your questions.
But there are several problem areas. There are three references to Jesus returning at the sound of a trumpet, and in particular the "last" trumpet. In Revelation 19, the armies of Heaven descend for the battle of Armageddon (the last bowl of wrath). If Jesus is meant to return for his elect at the end of the final trumpet/bowl, how could the bride already be in Heaven to descend for the final bowl? These people are specifically described as the Bride of Christ wearing white robes etc.
They are depicted in heaven with white robes as early as Revelation 6:9-11. But it says these are the souls of martyrs. That is also the way I see the great multitude who came out of the Great Tribulation and are clothed in white robes (Revelation 7:9-17). Just because their souls are in heaven doesn't mean the resurrection has taken place. People die from different things and not all are marytrs. I doubt that every soul described in the heavenly scene at the beginning of chapter 19 are martyrs but dead in Christ who are joyfully celebrating that the time has come for the Lord's vengeance on the wicked and for their own resurrections.
Also, there is a distinct, spiritual difference between tribulation and wrath. Although God COULD miraculously protect his followers from his wrath while they experience tribulation, it makes no sense for him to operate this way. It confuses and blurs the spiritual lesson behind each principle. Tribulation/persecution is always meant to teach, correct, and guide us into a deeper relationship with God. Wrath is specifically for God's enemies. To perform both at the same time will only bring confusion.
Look at 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10.
There's no reason why wrath can't happen to the wicked at the same time as others on the earth are tested and refined (such as Zechariah 13:8-9). In Exodus 15, the Lord is praised because of the wrath He inflicted on Egypt while the Israelites were protected.
Even when the beast's army is coming to attack Israel, in the sixth bowl, there is a command for the believers in that time to keep watch lest they be found shamefully exposed. Keeping watch is to continually believe the word of God and also continue to obey Him and reject wickedness.
Revelation 16:14-16
14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
Verse 15 makes no sense if there are still believers in earth after a rapture, since this is the sixth bowl. So, believing the trumpets and bowls are separated by the return of Christ necessitates two raptures. And nowhere does the Bible teach this.
Also, there is the Great Multitude that no one could number who "comes out of great tribulation". IN other words, the tribulation did it's job for these people. As a result of the tribulation they repented and came to God. That necessarily means that at some point they were NOT right with God which means, according to your theory, they SHOULD have been receiving the wrath instead of the tribulation.
You are reading way more into "comes out of the great tribulation" than is necessary. It doesn't have anything to do with the quality of their spiritual lives. It doesn't even mean they all repented as a result of the Tribulation. What about the people who repented years earlier but survived until the days of the Tribulation, during which they were killed? I plainly regard this great multitude as martyrs in the Tribulation. They don't have to be all baby Christians who come to faith only because of the Tribulation. They can be mature Christians, too, whose walk with Christ preceeded the days of the Tribulation. The people who are counted worthy to escape before these things come to pass are probably dying early (before the Tribulation starts) like Isaiah 57:1. That doesn't mean that every Christian left alive for the Tribulation and appointed to martyrdom is necessarily being punished for something lacking in their faith. God does things for His glory, and sometimes for His glory Christians experience all kinds of suffering.
It may be that you will argue that God knows ahead of time who will repent and therefore gives the Tribulation to unbelievers whom he knows will repent anyway, while giving the wrath to people who knows will not repent, but then if that is the case then it becomes completely pointless to perform both at the same time. There is no spiritual lesson or benefit which comes from doing so.
The point of the Great Tribulation is to give people the chance to repent even if God knows that they won't. He deliberately organizes it that way so that there is never a time when someone can say, "you gave THEM a chance to repent as a result of tribulation, but not me, therefore you are unjust", and they'd have a pretty reasonable case. No, the entire world will experience the tribulation and then, when Jesus returns at the last trump he will take those who've responded to their correction and leave behind a spiritually desolate world for God's wrath.
How do you explain Jesus' warning to believers in the middle of the sixth bowl? I'm not seeing things the way you do. I don't have a problem with God protecting the righteous and bringing others to repentance and faith at the same time as He pours His wrath on the wicked somewhere in the world. Note that the wrath of God is promised for those who take the mark of the beast (Revelation 14:9-11).
Please don't write me back and expect another defense. I talk to people who are open (or people who I think might be open if they saw more of Scripture). Once people make it abundantly clear that they are not open, I ignore them.