Matthew 24 - The Kingdom of Heaven/God

[OnceWasLost]

Definitely pre-trib and you are right, it was a very good article...MARANATHA

:hat

[zcarter]

Originally Posted by Elect1 View Post
If you look at the context and parallel passages in Luke, these verses do not teach the pre-trib rapture. Verse 39 of Mathew 24 states that the wicked, just as in the days of Noah, are those that were removed from the earth.

Matthew 24:39-40 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.

This interpretation is confirmed if you look at the parallel passage in Luke. Christ was asked where those that are taken go to and he responds "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." The wicked are taken, separated from the righteous, and condemned.

Luke 17:34-37 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left." And they said to him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."

So rather than teaching the pre-trib rapture, these verses simply teach the separating of the wicked and righteous and the righteous inheriting the earth (Matthew 5:5).

Wat about.." And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

This is basically saying..God's chosen..or elect people are taken. Not the unrighteous.

[bigd]

Wat about.." And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

This is basically saying..God's chosen..or elect people are taken. Not the unrighteous.

I agree with the interpretation of MATT. Are you saying that there is no pre-trib rapture? So 1THESS 4:16-17; pre-trib or post-trib and why?
MARANATHA

[Anddra]

Wat about.." And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

This is basically saying..God's chosen..or elect people are taken. Not the unrighteous.

The elect passage in Matthew 24:31 refers to the regathering of Israel into the land immediately before the Millennium.

[savedbygracethrufaith]

(Matthew 24:40 NKJV) Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
(Matthew 24:41 NKJV) Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

To me, these two verses alone prove the pre-tribulation rapture.

These scriptures refer to the end of the Tribulation period when the wicked will be removed and the righteous that remain will inherit the millenial kingdom. The rapture occurs a minimum of 7 years before this.:preach

[His Bride]

These scriptures refer to the end of the Tribulation period when the wicked will be removed and the righteous that remain will inherit the millenial kingdom. The rapture occurs a minimum of 7 years before this.:preach

:thumb



Maranatha!

[zcarter]

These scriptures refer to the end of the Tribulation period when the wicked will be removed and the righteous that remain will inherit the millenial kingdom. The rapture occurs a minimum of 7 years before this.:preach

That's very interesting. It makes sense. I always thought it referred to the actual rapture where one was raptured and the other was left.

[OnceWasLost]

I like this one.

Acts 1:11 Jesus' departure looks quite different from what His return at the Second Coming is in Revelation 19:11

The Acts passage was for those watching and waiting, as will be the Rapture. His second coming is impressive and we are with Him. His robe is dipped in blood and in His mouth is a sharp sword, among other things.

These two events are miles apart (and about 7 years :heh)

[acceptedintheBeloved]

These scriptures refer to the end of the Tribulation period when the wicked will be removed and the righteous that remain will inherit the millenial kingdom. The rapture occurs a minimum of 7 years before this.:preach

Agreed! :thumb (Regarding Matthew 24:40-41 and context)

[bookworm1711]

Every time the Rapture is mentioned in the Bible it is always, in context, mentioned before any mention of the Day of the Lord or the Great Tribulation. That ought to settle the matter for all time for those who believe the Bible.

Case One

The central classic passage regarding the Rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18,


1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The word "Rapture" itself is not found in the Bible. Neither, of course, is the word "Trinity." Even the words "Second Coming" are not found as such in the Bible. But the Bible truly speaks of these things. The words "caught up" in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 provide the linguistic source for the term Rapture, for in the Latin the term is rapio. There is more to it linguistically, but that is deep enough for now.

Remember that there were no chapter and verse divisions in the original Greek manuscripts.

Nevertheless, in terms of sequence, what follows in 1 Thessalonians 5 (see especially 1 Thessalonians 5:2, "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night") makes mention of the day of the Lord after the mention of the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4, cited above. This is the clearest case or example I have found.

Case Two

The Rapture and the Day of the Lord are mentioned again, in that order, in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3,


2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;


The Rapture is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 in the expression, "and by our gathering together unto him." This is a literary allusion to the passage cited above in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, particularly 1 Thessalonians 4:17, "caught up together with him."

The notion that the word "apostasy" (Greek) in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, rendered in the King James Version properly as "a falling away" is a reference to the Rapture is a gross misunderstanding of the flow of Paul's argument in this passage, and is absolutely not well supported linguistically. It is a favorite, but mistaken view on the part of some expositors and Bible teachers who have not done their homework.

For the confused believers Paul was instructing, the Rapture could NOT be one of the signs which must appear first before the Day of the Lord appears, for no Christian believer would be here to witness it as one of the two signs Paul argues must take place first before the Day of the Lord is at hand, or already present (2 Thessalonians 2:2), as those believers were misled by false teachers to believe. Recall that the false teachers were teaching that the Thessalonians were already in the Day of the Lord and that the resurrection and Rapture were already past, the cause of their concern, and the reason Paul wrote to correct this heresy. Paul argues the Rapture had not taken place yet and they could not be in the Day of the Lord for two things must first transpire before the onset of the Day of the Lord: (1) the falling away or apostasy; (2) the revelation of the man of sin, 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

Therefore, in this passage, the Rapture is mentioned before (2 Thessalonians 2:1) the time of great tribulation that constitutes the Day of the Lord (a better reading from the Greek text than "day of Christ" in the King James Version, 2 Thessalonians 2:2), consistent with the chronology of events supporting the Pre-tribulation Rapture.

Case Three

Paul consistently adhered to this order, Rapture before Tribulation, in his discussion of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. He brings up the issue of the Rapture only in passing, but a careful examination of the passage supports the Pre-tribulation Rapture chronology. Notice 1 Corinthians 15:22-24,


1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.


The resurrection, which of believers, immediately precedes the Rapture, is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:22, "even so in Christ shall all be made alive." That the reference is exclusively to believers is confirmed by 1 Corinthians 15:23, "afterward they that are Christ's," an expression which of course exclusively applies to believers. As for the time spoken of, that is made clear by the expression "at his coming." This is the Rapture.

The next statement is a broad reference to all the events that clearly follow the Rapture, summed up with the words "Then cometh the end," an "end" which covers the Day of the Lord, the Great Tribulation, and extends through the time of the Millennium. But the point I insist on is the order: the Rapture comes first, and precedes these events.

Specific mention of the Rapture is again made by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 in conjunction with the final victory over death by means of resurrection. The Rapture is alluded to in the words of 1 Corinthians 15:52, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed" (verse 51), and "and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (verse 52). Verse 52 specifies the time as "at the last trump," which is not any trumpet mentioned in the book of Revelation, but the "trump" associated with the Rapture consistent with what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Case Four

Paul states (1 Thessalonians 4:15) the source of his knowledge about the Rapture: the very words of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he identifies by the expression "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord," an expression similar to what Paul uses to identify the earthly teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ during His ministry upon earth (see 1 Corinthians 7:10, where Paul plainly declares he has reference directly to the teachings of Christ; contrast another passage where Paul cites Hebrew Scripture, using the terms "as saith also the law," 1 Corinthians 14:34; see also where Paul cites as his underlying source of authority the teaching in all the churches, 1 Corinthians 14:33. Compare 1 Corinthians 7:17; 1 Corinthians 11:16).

The teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ about the Rapture possibly alluded to by Paul is recorded in John 11:25, 26,


Joh 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?


The resurrection of the dead in Christ that immediately precedes the Rapture is reflected in the words "he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

The Rapture of living believers who are changed to immortality without experiencing death is reflected in the words "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."

Jesus further spoke of His coming for his saints in John 14:1-3, where in verse 3 we have His promise "I will come again and receive you unto myself," a promise which follows His encouragement, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." Paul likewise associates the teaching of the Pre-tribulation Rapture with comfort in 1 Thessalonians 4:18, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." The same order of events, and the same comfort, is offered again in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11.