In
Mark, chapter 13, an abbreviated representation of the Olivet Discourse is
presented. In the Gospel of Luke, the Olivet Discourse seems to be separated into
several parts throughout the gospel. But beginning in Matthew 24, 97 verses
were penned by Matthew in the most comprehensive eschatological presentation
found in the four gospels. Matthew, Mark and Luke combine to present all that
is recorded from the Lord’s mouth on that
special day when he sat his disciples down on the Mount of Olives and answered the following questions:
Matthew
24:3
And
as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately,
saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
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Matthew 24:31
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.
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1 Corinthians 15:52
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed.
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1
Thessalonians 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:
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1
Thessalonians 4.16 is verse before the classic pretribulation rapture proof
text. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Paul tells the church at Thessalonica that when
Jesus returns, those who are alive will be “caught up” to meet Jesus in the
air. The words “caught up” come from the single Greek word harpazo, which was translated rapturo
in the Latin and thus, “rapture” in English. The word harpazo is a verb. Verbs describe actions whereas nouns describe
persons, places, things, events, etc. While it is true that verbs become verbal
nouns when “ing” is added to the verb, what must be understood in 1
Thessalonians 4 is that the name of the event has already been identified by
Paul in v. 15. Paul says he is talking
about the “coming of our Lord.” The rapture in this case is not a separate
event, but instead, is one of the actions that will occur when the parousia takes place. It is difficult to
imagine that after making specific reference to the parousia in verse 15 that Paul, just two verses later, is
describing a distinct event that that will occur 7 years before the parousia of
Matthew 24. Therefore, at face value it seems best to conclude that at the
Coming of the Lord, the Lord—through His holy angels— will harpazo the saints that are alive when He returns as described in
the Olivet Discourse.
In both
Matthew’s and Luke’s record of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus’ narrative of people
being “caught up” and others being left behind is included. This is described in Matthew 24.40-41 and
Luke 17.34-36. Although the Greek words
are not the same in 1 Thessalonians 4.17 and in the gospels, it is the same
Greek word, paralambano,
in Matthew 24.40-41, Luke 17.34-36, and John 14.3. In John 14.3 Jesus states He
is going to take believers back to be
with him, which some pretribulationists believe is a reference to the rapture
of the church.
Matthew 24:40–41
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,
and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall
be taken, and the other left.
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Luke 17:34–36
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed;
the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two women
shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36
Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other
left.
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John 14:3
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive [take] you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be
also.
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Jesus
said in that day of His Return (after the Great Tribulation, Matthew 24:29),
two will be in the field and one will be taken and the other left behind. In
that day, women will be grinding at the mill and one will be taken and the
other left behind.
What
the text does not say in Matthew and Luke is whether the saint is being taken
and the unbeliever left behind, or whether the unbeliever is taken and the
saint is left behind. The issue is significant because if it can be determined
that the saint is the one taken, then it appears that Paul is not describing a
mystery event previously undisclosed, but is rather making reference to what
Jesus taught in all four of the gospels.
Four Reasons
There
are four reasons why I believe the most natural interpretation of Matthew 24.31,
40-41; Mark 13.27; Luke 17.34-36; and John 14.3 is that Jesus is describing the
rapture of believers that occurs when He returns to destroy the wicked and
establish His Kingdom and that this event is the same harpazo of believers that Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 4.17.
1.
The first reason why I believe Matthew 24.40-41 is describing the rapture of
believers comes from Jesus’ previous reference to angels gathering the elect in
Matthew 24.31. In Mark 13:27 angels gather the elect from the earth and heaven.
Mark
13:27
And
then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of
heaven.
I
believe the gathering of the elect is exactly what Jesus goes on to illustrate
when he says one will be taken and the other left. The angels take Christians
with them back to Jesus. The angels act as God’s messengers (Revelation 19.17)
and servants who gather all of whom are still alive and are part of the elect.
The “elect” are the ones chosen by God; they are the saints; they are the born-again
believers.
2.
Reason number two comes from the context of the narrative in Matthew 24.40-41
and Luke 17.34-36. In the days of Noah, those outside the ark or those left
[behind] when the rain came and the ark began to float who were killed by the
flood. In Genesis 6.17 God says, “And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters
upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under
heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die.” Likewise in gospel
narratives, those who are left will suffer the same fate as those left in
Noah’s day. The wrath of Almighty God will destroy them as described in
Revelation 19.11-21. The ark protected Noah and seven others from the wrath of
God, and the purpose of the gathering the elect is to remove them from the
earth before the final consuming wrath of God is released against the wicked.
The ark is a picture of the rapture before the Battle of Armageddon.
3.
Reason number three comes from Luke’s record of Jesus’ words. In Luke’s account,
an additional detail is provided which is very helpful in properly interpreting what Jesus was
communicating in the Olivet Discourse. Luke says that Jesus made reference to
Lot, and this is very important. Notice below in v. 29 the specific reference
to Lot leaving Sodom.
Luke
17:26–36
26
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of
man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were
given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood
came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days
of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they
builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it
rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30
Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
According
to Genesis 19:1, God sent two angels to get Lot and his family out of Sodom
before the destruction of the city occurred. Lot was not left behind. Lot was
taken out. In fact, two angels were sent by God to take Lot out. In the same
manner angels are mentioned Matthew 24.31, Mark 13.27, and 1 Thessalonians
4.16.
The
Apostle Peter provides even greater clarity. In 2 Peter 2.7, Peter describes
Lot as just and suggests that it was God who delivered Lot from the
destruction. Peter also references Noah and the destruction in the same manner
that Christ did. Peter states that God saved Noah and brought destruction upon
the world. In v. 9 Peter says, “The Lord
knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations [trials], and to reserve
the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” The rapture is one of the
ways God delivers the godly out of temptations.
So,
in Luke’s record of the two in the field and one being taken and the other left,
the inclusion of “just Lot” (2 Peter 2.7) as the one taken shows us that in Matthew
24 Jesus is not describing angels taking people to be judged as in Matthew
13.30 where reapers gather the tares. Instead, the specific reference to Lot
makes it clear that in the same way two angels took Lot out of Sodom, angels
are going to take the elect out of the way before God judges the world for its
apostasy, idolatry, and utter wickedness.
4.
Reason number four comes from John 14.3. In John 14, Jesus promises to return
and receive “you” (disciples) to Himself. The disciples that heard those words
died. Jesus did not return for them. I believe they surely thought He was going
to return in their lifetime, but it was not God’s will to end the age at such
an early time. In fact, concerning the delay of the Lord’s coming, Peter suggests
that it may not happen for a very long time when he says a day with the Lord is
as a 1000 years (2 Peter 3:8). In Luke 20:9, Jesus portrays Himself as the
owner of a vineyard who would be gone for a “long time,” but the point of
looking at John 14.3 is to examine the verb “receive” (KJV) in this verse.
John
14:3
And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
This
word “receive” is paralambano. It is
the same word used by Matthew and Luke in the narrative of “the one shall be paralambano and the other left.” Although
this does not prove the point, it adds even greater evidence to the truth that
Jesus is not describing “one taken in judgment” where angels are
gathering unbelievers to be judged (Matthew 13.30). At this point, it is helpful to examine the
outline of the usage of this word from Strong’s Interlinear/Concordance or
Lexicon.
1.
to take to, to take with one's self, to join to one's self
a)
an associate, a companion
b)
metaph.
1)
to accept or acknowledge one to be such as he professes to be
2)
not to reject, not to withhold obedience
2.
to receive something transmitted
a)
an office to be discharged
b)
to receive with the mind
1)
by oral transmission: of the authors from whom the tradition proceeds
2)
by the narrating to others, by instruction of teachers (used of disciples)
In
the context of John 14.3, Jesus promises those whom He takes will be with him. This
seems to fit the narrative of Matthew 24.31 well where angels are gathering the
elect to be with Jesus at His Second Coming.
Based
upon these four reasons it seems best to conclude that Jesus’ inclusion of the narrative
of “one shall be taken and one left” from various locations and scenarios was a
reference to the future rapturing of those who are alive and are part of the
elect at the coming of Jesus, which occurs at the Revelation of Jesus Christ
prior to the Battle of Armaggedon. In fact, it would seem quite illogical to
explain all the details of the tribulation to the disciples and future readers
of the text (Mt 24.15) if the promise of being gathered or caught up occurs
before the Abomination of Desolation. But we know from both the stories of Noah
and Lot that once God removed His people (the elect), the rest were immediately
destroyed; first by water (with Noah) and then by fire (in Lot’s case). Therefore,
we can conclude that the gathering or taking away in Matthew 24.31 is not a pretribulation
gathering where destruction comes seven years later but the gathering that
occurs at Christ’s Parousia. Moreover, it is very interesting that Paul
used nearly the same Greek word in 2 Thessalonians 2.1 (Strong’s G1997) for
“gather” as Jesus did in Matthew 24.31 (Strong’s G1996).
While
it is true that this does not prove that the church will not be raptured before
the tribulation, it does show that Jesus did not reference a pre-tribulation
rapture in the Olivet Discourse. Moreover, it shows that there is a strong
probability that Paul was not teaching the church at Thessalonica about a pretribulation
rapture which was distinct or separate from the parousia. We can conclude this with an even greater degree of
assurance because of Paul’s reference to the need to see the “son of perdition”
in 2 Thessalonians 2.1-4 before the Day of the Christ [Lord]. Paul follows the
chronological order of Christ’s narrative in making specific reference to the Abomination
of Desolation occurring before He returned in Matthew 24:15.
At this point, the only text left to consider
from the Apostle Paul for a separate pretribulation rapture event is 1
Corinthians 15. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul makes specific reference to the dead in
Christ being raised from the grave (v. 21, 23 and 52) and being changed “in a
twinkling of an eye.” All evangelicals and fundamentalists agree that Paul is
describing the glorious time in the future when those who are in Christ receive
their glorified bodies. But when does this happen? According to 1 Corinthians
15:24, this change event happens just before “the end.” Verse 24 says “then cometh the end.” In 1 Corinthians 12.22
Paul writes of “his parousia” where his is understood to be a reference to Christ.
It is difficult to imagine that Paul is
describing an event that occurs 7 years before the end. Is this the same parousia in 1 Thessalonians 4.15? And is
this the same parousia in Matthew 24
referenced four times, or is this a different parousia? Perhaps at this point it would be helpful to examine the
lexicon usage of parousia. Notice
usage number 1 is “presence.” When Christ returns he establishes a presence on
this earth. According to Zechariah 14.4 his feet stand on the Mt. Olives in
Jerusalem.
1)
presence
2)
the coming, arrival, advent
a) the future visible return from
heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally
and gloriously the kingdom of God
Are
there two parousia events or one parousia event? In so much as nothing is
mentioned about the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by the exiled prophet
Daniel to the church at Corinth in either of the two letters in the NT canon,
we need to look at Paul’s reference to the “last trumpet” (1 Corinthians
15.52). Is this a different trumpet and a different blast from the one
referenced in Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4, or is this the same sound and the
same event? There is nothing in the text that says that this is the same event
or isn’t the same event. Paul doesn’t write like that. The reader must decide
for himself; but the natural conclusion with the same Greek word parousia being used, the dead being
resurrected like in 1 Thessalonians 4, and the “last trumpet” being
specifically mentioned is that Paul is not describing a different
pretribulation event from Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4.13-17.
Moreover,
the chapter concludes with death being swallowed up in victory, which hardly
makes sense if this is a pretribulation resurrection of the dead in Christ (v.
54-55) when the reader knows from the book of Revelation that saints will be
put to death during tribulation by the thousands upon thousands. Saints are
dying for the cause of Christ throughout the book of Revelation. In Revelation
6.10-11 there are a specific number of saints that must die before the sixth
seal is opened, and the wrath of God is poured out against the beast
(Revelation 6:17).
King James Version
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord,
holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on
the earth? 11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was
said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their
fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were,
should be fulfilled.
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English Standard Version
10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and
true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell
on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a
little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their
brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had
been.
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How
is death swallowed up in victory if there are still seven more years of death?
Again, it seems best to conclude that Paul’s reference to the dead in Christ
being raised from the grave includes all who die during Daniel’s 70th
week (the 7 year tribulation) such that there is one final resurrection of the
righteous from the grave before the kingdom of God is established. Furthermore,
if Paul is describing the first resurrection before Daniel’s 70th
week comes, how can he write in verse 24:
1
Corinthians 15:24
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.
In
verse 24 the word “cometh” is not in the text. It is in italics in the KJV to
remind the reader that the translation committee added that word. The most
literal rendering is “then the end.” But how could Paul write “then the end” if
there were yet 7 more years till the second coming occurs where the kingdom
would actually be established? Is this a reasonable question? Why wouldn’t Paul
provide a better connection point? He knows about the Abomination of Desolation,
yet he says nothing of this event. Instead, he writes “then the end” when
Christ delivers the kingdom to the Father. But according to the classic rapture
then revelation dispensational timeline, this does not happen for 7 more years—3
½ of which will be hell on earth.
Moreover,
one must consider the truth that the Apostle John in Revelation 20.5 makes it
clear that the time between the resurrection of life and the resurrection of
the rest of the dead is 1000 years. It is not 1007 years, nor does John permit
his reader to create a third resurrection such that the resurrection “1 part A”
occurs 7 years before the resurrection “1 part B,” and then 1000 years later
the second resurrection of the dead occurs.
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Pretribulationists must not be dogmatic
concerning the assertion that Paul revealed a mysterious rapture of the church
occurring before the Abomination of
Desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel in either 1 Thessalonians 4-5 or 1
Corinthians 15. There are far too many potential problems with supporting a
pretribulation rapture from the four gospels, 1 Corinthians 15, and 1 and 2
Thessalonians to permit one to be dogmatic in the assertion that the church
will not go through the tribulation. A wise shepherd will tell his people to be
prepared for tribulation and to watch for the coming of the Lord according to
the signs Christ revealed in the Olivet Discourse and reinforced by the
Apostles. In Mark 13:35-37 Jesus said,
Watch
ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or
at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find
you sleeping. And what I say unto you I
say unto all, Watch.
Luke records Jesus telling those listening to
Him and all who would read Luke’s Gospel that “when these things [all the signs previously identified] begin to come
to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth
nigh” (Luke 21.28). All Christians need to know the signs of Christ’s Parousia. And looking for the signs does
not mean that one is looking for the Antichrist instead of Christ. On the
contrary, the one looking for the signs is doing precisely what Christ said to
do: “Watch!” Jesus said, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch
is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: So ye
[followers of Jesus] in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors
[emphasis mine] (Mark 13:28-29). “These things” is plural.Therefore, we are not
looking for Jesus only; we are looking for the things He said would happen
before He returns.
Are there other texts to be studied? Yes, and
in the interest of focus and brevity I did not address Revelation chapters 3
and 4 in this essay. Let the reader pursue such an endeavor, for God is well
pleased to have His Word searched daily by those who like the ancient Bereans “searched
the scriptures daily” (Acts 17.10-11) to compare what they have been taught
with what the Canon actually says to see whether Jesus or the Apostles taught
that Christ will rapture the church before the tribulation. Is John a
representation of the church being raptured? Is the promise to the church at
Philadelphia a promise of protection or rapture? Does the promise apply to all
churches or only faithful churches? These are just some of the questions that
need to asked and answered. As a final point, Baptist traditions, novels,
movies, dispensational charts, commentaries, and preconceived ideas must be set
aside. The only authority for eschatology is the Word of God.
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[1]
Concerning Matthew 24.40-41 John MacArthur writes: “This is clearly not a
reference to the catching away of believers described in 1 Thess. 4:16, 17” (The MacArthur Study Bible, 1997).
