Fleeing from the Wrath to Come

It is quite popular in certain groups to claim that the "wrath to come" is a future period of physical danger that only affects alive people at the time that it occurs. But the Bible seems to present a recurring problem with this conception.

John the Baptist sees the Pharisees and says the following

Matthew 3:7
"You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1:10

"That is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come."

Did the Pharisees manage to flee from the wrath to come? Or did Jesus rescue them from this wrath already? If the wrath to come wouldn't happen for 2000 years and only affected the alive, then why would they be required to flee? Are we safe from the wrath to come after dying?

Paul also says later on

"It is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you...these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction."

If the wrath to come is something that affects the alive in a particular period of time, then why did Paul say their afflictions would pay eternally? Why would John the Baptist ask the Pharisees if they would flee from wrath that never ended up affecting them?

Lets go back to what John was saying.

Matthew 3:7
"You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

Now let's continue a little later.

"The axe us already laid at the root of the tree. Therefore every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Is this a description of the wrath to come? Or a completely different topic? Lets keep going a little further.

"His winnowing fork is in his hand and he will thoroughly clear his threshing floor. And he will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Is this about the wrath to come? Or is the wrath to come only something that affects a group in some undefined future?