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WHO WILL BE LEFT BEHIND?
RichardAnna Boyce
presumably at the rapture; unbelievers will be left behind.
Tara Sing Bhandari
RichardAnna Boyce this is what most of baby Christians believed !
And pastors also teach , do not be blind and dumb to God’s word it is written and many will read but with out Holy Spirit .
“But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Matthew 24:37 KJV
https://www.bible.com/1/mat.24.37.kjv
Gary Micheal Epping
Or maybe those waiting for the non-rapture event at the beginning of the Tribulation. Boy, howdy! Troy Day and the Pre-tribbers will be singing their new hit single, ‘Gotta do my time for 7 more years; Woe is me.’
RichardAnna Boyce
Tara Sing Bhandari Matthew 24:37-42. Because no one knows the exact time when “the Son of Man” will return, His coming will be unexpected by many (vv 37,42). The world in “the days of Noah” did not expect the sudden judgment of the worldwide flood (v 39). Similarly, in the future the world will be pursuing normal, routine activities. Suddenly and without warning, meals and weddings will be interrupted. Jesus’ coming begins with the sign-less Rapture of the Church. Then after seven years He will set foot on the Mount of Olives and overthrow Israel’s enemies (Zech 14:4-5,9). Unbelievers will be suddenly taken away to judgment just as unbelievers were in “the days of Noah.” In this view those taken away in v 39 are the unbelievers, as are those in vv 40-41. Believers then, are left to go into the Millennium (cf. 13:40-42,47-50). Therefore believers are to watch, being on the alert for the unexpected (24:42).
An alternate view is that Jesus was referring to the Rapture, and not judgment, when He spoke of “one who will be taken” (vv 40-41). The word for took in v 39 is airœ, whereas the word for taken in vv 40-41 is
paralambanœ. Because Christ used two different words, two different kinds of taking are in view. The taking away of v 39 is to judgment, while the taking away of vv 40-41 is to glory. In vv 40-41 the ones left are those who will experience the Tribulation judgments. If this view is correct, then the judgment of the Tribulation will come on the unbelieving world like the Flood—at a time they were not expecting it (vv 34-36). But before that happens, God will deliver His own from the world (vv 40-41; cf. 1 Thess 5:1-13).
24:42. The disciples whom Jesus addressed were saved individuals, particularly as part of believing Israel. The saved must remember that while they are exempt from the Tribulation, they are not exempt from the Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. Rom 14:10-12; 2 Cor 5:9-10; 1 John 2:28).
Therefore believers need to watch (gr¢goreœ) in light of Christ’s sudden unexpected coming. This same term, gr¢goreœ, is used in relation to the Rapture by Paul in 1 Thess 5:6,10 (cf. Acts 20:31; Rev 3:2,3; 16:15).
Varnel Watson
Looks like Gary Micheal Epping and Link Hudson will be along with Philip Williams if believe in post-Trib Rico Hero
Philip Williams
Troy Day The Word of God stands forever.Where do the fearful cowards go, those afraid of persecution?
“But the cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””
Revelation 21:8
Varnel Watson
Philip Williams yap that;s all who did not keep THE command
For the ones who actually kept it He says Revelation 3:10 ►
Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
Philip Williams
Troy Day Noah was kept from destruction, but he sailed right through the waters that were destroying m everyone who lived upon the earth.
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
John 17:15
Jesus gathers us to save us. That’s how the church was able to survive the destruction coming from the fall of Rome. In the same way he will gather his people to save them from the far greater destruction with the fall of Pax Americana.
Philip Williams
Troy Day but if you are afraid of the great tribulation, you don’t have Jesus in your heart. You are a shameful excuse for a believer in Jesus. Perfect love cast out all fear.
Of course Jesus will keep us from the hour of tribulation. We ought already to be out of this world, but the vast majority of Christians are not. Their hearts and minds are on the things of this world.
RichardAnna Boyce
Revelation 3:9-13
Connecting these two verses 9-10 fits well with the biblical teaching that Christ expresses His love in special ways toward believers who obey Him and take a stand for Him (cf. John 14:21-24). In Rev 3:8, Christ had just commended this church for obeying His word and now He is rewarding them because they obeyed His command to persevere. They would not give up even when their enemies were relentless. “The synagogue of Satan” refers to Jews who were antagonistic to Christianity (see also comments on Rev 2:9).
3:10 b. Christ promises His people that He will “keep (deliver) them from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” The hour of trial refers to a time of trouble that the entire Roman world would undergo in the readers’ lifetimes. That it is not referring to the Tribulation Period is clear as all Church-Age believers will be protected from that hour (via the Rapture). Here Jesus assures the obedient believers in Philadelphia that they would have His protection during this time of turmoil sent to trouble “those who dwell on the earth” (i.e., the unsaved; cf. 6:10; 11:10; 13:14; 14:6; 17:8).
3:11. Christ reminds His people that He is “coming quickly” (soon; see comments on Rev 1:1). Therefore they are to “hold fast” to their obedience and perseverance right up to the end (cf. 2:26). To give up on following Christ because of persecution and opposition is to allow the enemies of Christ to “take your crown,” that is, to allow them to cause you to forfeit the ultimate eternal reward of ruling with Christ forever in His kingdom (cf. 2 Tim 2:12-13). Eternal life is a free gift and cannot be lost but the reward of ruling with Christ forever requires faithfulness to the end (cf. 2:10).
3:12-13. Christ promises several different eternal rewards for the believer who overcomes (see comments on Rev 2:7). The believer who has been faithful to the end will become “a pillar in the temple of His God.” Since in eternity the Father and the Son will be the temple (cf. 21:22), this reward is probably an especially wonderful experience of nearness to God as well as a key position of support and prominence in God’s eternal kingdom. Second, the phrase “he shall go out no more” refers to the permanence of these rewards. Once these positions of honor and authority are given to the overcomer, they shall never be rescinded. He is securely set as a “pillar” in Christ’s eternal kingdom and as such will never be separated from this special relationship to God.
Brian Roden
Where is scriptural support for saying that one must believe in a pre-trib rapture in order to be taken in said rapture, and that those who hold a different eschatological view will be left behind? Are we now saved by theological precision on secondary and tertiary doctrines?
Gary Micheal Epping
Troy Day or, ‘he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.’ Yep, it says to the end.
Link Hudson
RichardAnna Boyce Do you have any scripture for that theory that the church will be raptures before the second coming? Isn’t the lack of evidence in the book of Revelation rather glaring considering the subject matter?
Paul taught that those who are Christ’s will be made alive at his coming. Pre-trib sets this seven years before His coming.
RichardAnna Boyce
SHOULD PRETRIBULATIONISTS
RECONSIDER THE RAPTURE
IN MATTHEW 24:36–44?
Part 2 of 3
JOHN F. HART
Professor of Bible
Moody Bible Institute
Chicago, ILA CONCLUSION. serious dilemma exists if Matt 24:36 has reference to the Second Coming of vv 29–31. But through a careful notice of the peri de construction that introduces v 36, the exegete may perceive the beginning of a slightly new subject matter—that of the imminent coming of the day of the Lord and the pretribulational rapture of the church. The terms ―that
day‖ and ―(that) hour‖ have reference to the coming day of the Lord, not the posttribulational return of Christ mentioned in 24:29–31. Verse 36, therefore, concerns the unpredictability and imminence of that eschatological event.
Jesus‘ Noahic illustration also pictures the coming judgments of the day of the Lord. Life before the flood as a portrait of the future parallels Paul‘s concept of the world attitude that prevails prior to the thief-like advent of the day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:1–3). Additionally, as early as the OT and confirmed in the New, the flood has become prophetically typological of the coming eschatological judgments, i.e., the tribulation or seventieth seven of Daniel. To be more specific, 1 Pet 3:20–21 lends support that Noah‘s ark prefigures the church. But like Noah and his family, believers in the church will be delivered from the day of the Lord
(2 Pet 2:9) by the pretribulational rapture. Nothing about Noah (or Lot) in 1 or 2 Peter potentially symbolizes the rescue of the Jews (and/or Gentiles) at the close of the tribulation period. As the flood swept away the unsuspecting pagans of the flood era, so the unbeliever will be swept away in the unsuspecting judgment of the tribulation wrath.
In the third study on Matt 24:36–44, a closer investigation will be
made of the word for ―took…away‖ (airoÝ) in v 39 and the word for ―will be taken‖ in vv 40–41 (paralambanoÝ). An examination of aphieÝmi (―will be left‖), the contrasting word to paralambanoÝ, will also be examined. The major question is this: What is the natural sense of these Greek words and how does this contribute to the pretribulational rapture in the passage? It will be necessary also to examine the nature of the thief imagery in the Discourse and in other NT literature, and its bearing on the passage. Consideration will be given to the command to ―watch‖ (greÝgoreoÝ) for the Lord‘s Parousia as it is presented in the NT. The series will conclude with brief answers to a few key objections proposed by
pretribulationists against finding the rapture in Matt 24:36–44.
RichardAnna Boyce
PART 1 CONCLUSION
In light of these findings, it can be concluded that in the Olivet Discourse a change of subject from Matt 24:4-35 is introduced at v 36. The Tribulation judgments that comprise the day of the Lord have been unfolded (vv 4-28). But when will these judgments begin? The ―when‖ question is now answered. Jesus instructs His disciples that the coming of the day of the Lord is imminent. As such, the time of its arrival cannot
be known by anyone other than the Father (v 36). Paul‘s teaching on the impending arrival of the day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:1-2) is in full agreement with Jesus‘ teaching on the subject.
Peter‘s teachings about the day of the Lord also harmonize well with Matt 24:36-44. Matthew 24:35, with its mention of the passing of the heavens and the earth, has obliquely broached the subject of the day of the Lord. Then in v 36, Jesus mentions the imminent coming of the day of the Lord, followed by the short parable of a thief in the night. It is this thief imagery that forms a central focus in the Lord‘s teaching in 24:43- 44.
Peter also brings together the destruction of the heavens and earth, coming of the day of the Lord, and the thief imagery. Being informed by the Lord‘s teaching in the Olivet Discourse, Peter wrote, ―the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar… and the earth and its works will be burned up‖ (2 Pet 3:10). If indeed Jesus addresses the imminent arrival of the day of the Lord in v 36, it would be quite natural for Him to address the pretribulational and pre-day of the Lord Rapture in vv 39-44. Paul addresses the same subjects side by side, just in reverse order (Rapture, 1 Thess 4:13-18; day of the Lord, 1 Thess 5:1-11).
The following articles in this series will develop the Noahic illustration, the interpretation of those who are ―taken‖ or ―left‖ (24:37-41), the thief imagery, and the Lord‘s warning to be alert and watchful (24:42- 44).
RichardAnna Boyce
PART 3 CONCLUSION
It is the contention of this study that pretribulationists should indeed reconsider the rapture in Matt 24:36–44. All pretribulationists agree that according to John 14:3, Jesus was the first to predict the surprise snatching away of the church. If the proposal of this study is exegetically and theologically sound, then it is time that pretribulationists credit the Lord of the Parousia with a more extensive role in originating and predicting
the “blessed hope” than we have given Him.
RichardAnna Boyce
Evidence for the Rapture: A Biblical Case for Pretribulationism
Posted in Book Reviews
Evidence for the Rapture: A Biblical Case for Pretribulationism. John Hart, editor. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2015. 276 pp. Paper, $19.99.
John Hart is a Professor of Bible at Moody Bible Institute. He has taught at MBI for over thirty years. He is the editor of this work as well as one of its authors.
In addition to Hart, the authors include Robert Thomas, Michael Ridelnik, Andy Woods, Glenn Kreider, Nathan Holsteen, Michael Vanlaningham, Kevin Zuber, George Gunn, and Michael Svigel. My favorite chapter, Chapter 2, is worth the price of the book. That is Hart’s discussion of the Rapture in Matthew 24. Most Dispensationalists do not think that the Rapture is in Matthew 24.
Indeed, George Gunn in this very book says that there are only three passages in the NT which discuss the rapture in detail: John 14:1-3; 1 Cor 15:51-54; and 1 Thess 4:13-18 (pp. 99-100). Gunn does, however, suggest a fourth major rapture passage is Phil 3:20-21 (p. 101). Clearly he does not consider Matt 24:36-44 to be a rapture passage. That Hart allowed an implicit dig against his own view in this book he edits is a credit to him.
Hart makes a very compelling case, providing nine rock-solid proofs (pp. 51-65). And as one typically finds in Hart’s writings, he has lots of outstanding footnotes (72 footnotes which run over five pages long in small print, pp. 66-71).
I also really liked the first chapter, the one on imminence by Robert Thomas. While many Dispensationalists today believe that there are signs of the Rapture, Thomas makes a great case for the fact that there are no signs of the Rapture. He also does a great job of showing why various views of “imminence” are illogical and are really evasions of what imminence means (e.g., pp. 33-34).
The other eight chapters were helpful. Of those chapters I found the chapters by Holsteen (on apostasia in 2 Thess 2:2) and by Svigel (on Rev 12:5) as the most interesting and engaging.
Despite Gunn’s claim of only three or four NT passages which discuss the rapture in detail, the other authors in this book find scores of passages supposedly dealing with the rapture. While I am convinced that Matt 24:36-44 is a pre-trib rapture passage, I am open but not yet convinced that the rapture is found in 2 Thess 2:2, the seven letters of Revelation 2-3, and Rev 12:5. Some of the authors in this book may try a bit too hard to find the rapture in passages which really aren’t talking about it.
One final point that might interest JOTGES readers: Gunn in his discussion of John 14:1-3 cites Barbara Rossing as saying concerning 1 Thess 4:13-18, “Yes, to be sure, Paul says people will be snatched up in the air to meet Jesus, but it [sic] never says that Jesus turns around, switches direction and goes back up to heaven for seven years. They have to insert that. They have to make that up because it’s not in the text” (cited on p. 101, emphasis his). Gunn then responds, “In fact, with the exception of John 14, no major rapture passage (1 Cor. 15:51-54; Phil 3:20-21; 1 Thess 4:13-18) explicitly mentions the return to heaven. Only John 14 specifically describes the return to heaven as the final venue of the rapture event” (p. 101).
But does John 14:1-3 actually describe “the return to heaven”? Gunn thinks that passage does in the words, “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3). The third heaven is not specifically mentioned there. The point is that believers will be with Jesus and will be wherever He is.
Zane Hodges held the view that at the rapture believers meet Jesus in the air and that they spend seven years with the Lord there, in the atmosphere surrounding the earth (probably in a different time-space dimension). Then at the end of the seven years the believers, who were with Christ the entire seven years, now continue to earth with Him. They spend the 75 days between the end of the Tribulation and the start of the Millennium on earth with the Lord. They spend the Millennium on earth with the Lord. Then after the destruction of the heavens and the earth, they spend eternity with Him on the new earth. Hodges held the view that neither Jesus nor believers return to the third heaven after the rapture. Maybe a return to heaven does occur at that point. But John 14:1-3 doesn’t say that. Nor does 1 Thess 4:13-18; 5:1-11; 1 Cor 15:51-54; Phil 3:20-21; or Matt 24:36-44.
I recommend Evidence for the Rapture. The chapters by Hart and Thomas make it one of the best books on the Rapture available today.
Robert N. Wilkin
Associate Editor
Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society
RichardAnna Boyce
Many writers recognize 1 Thess 1:10 and 5:9 as among the strongest of proofs of a pre-trib rapture. Both of these verses use wrath in reference to the tribulation period. Because they say that members of the universal church will be delivered from this wrath, and are not appointed to this time of wrath, many expositors see the rapture referenced in 1 Thess 4:13-18 as a promise to be removed before the tribulation period begins. In other words, once again ìwrathî is not a NT reference to eternity, but rather to something temporal.
RichardAnna Boyce
Revelation 21:6-8 The new creation is provided by the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” This eternal existence in glory is offered to anyone who desires it. Jesus promises that He “will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” Eternal life is a free gift (cf. John 4:13-14; Rom 6:23; Eph 2:8-9; Rev 22:17). All who believe in Christ alone for the water of life (i.e., eternal life) acquire it the very moment they believe (cf. John 4:13-14; 5:24; 6:47).
To those who have received the free gift of eternal life by faith, Jesus motivates them to stay faithful to Him till the end. He promises that the one “who overcomes (see comments on Rev 2:7) shall inherit all things (MT: these things), and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” Victorious believers will be given many experiences and rewards in eternity, among which is the privilege of ruling with Christ (cf. 2:26-27; 3:21; 2 Tim 2:12). The term son (never used elsewhere by John of believers) is a reference to the Davidic Covenant and God’s “adoption” of the Davidic king as His son (cf. 2 Sam 7 and Ps 2). Overcoming believers are His sons because He gives them “these things” in company with the Lord, the true Davidic king, that is, they co-rule.
Finally, Christ speaks clearly and seriously regarding those who reject Him and His Word. He says that “the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Sinful people will play no part in the eternal state and will all be “outside” the holy city, that is, in the lake of fire (cf. 22:15). To live and to die without believing in Christ leads to eternal and unending misery.
Varnel Watson
Brian Roden how can something happen to you except through FAITH ALONE? Will you get healing without faith? Will get saved without faith? Will you get raptured without faith?
The scripture is clear in Rev 3 10
Because you …
then I …
RichardAnna Boyce
Revelation 3:10-11
3:10 b. Christ promises His people that He will “keep (deliver) them from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” The hour of trial refers to a time of trouble that the entire Roman world would undergo in the readers’ lifetimes. That it is not referring to the Tribulation Period is clear as all Church-Age believers will be protected from that hour (via the Rapture). Here Jesus assures the obedient believers in Philadelphia that they would have His protection during this time of turmoil sent to trouble “those who dwell on the earth” (i.e., the unsaved; cf. 6:10; 11:10; 13:14; 14:6; 17:8).
3:11. Christ reminds His people that He is “coming quickly” (soon; see comments on Rev 1:1). Therefore they are to “hold fast” to their obedience and perseverance right up to the end (cf. 2:26). To give up on following Christ because of persecution and opposition is to allow the enemies of Christ to “take your crown,” that is, to allow them to cause you to forfeit the ultimate eternal reward of ruling with Christ forever in His kingdom (cf. 2 Tim 2:12-13). Eternal life is a free gift and cannot be lost but the reward of ruling with Christ forever requires faithfulness to the end (cf. 2:10).
RichardAnna Boyce
Matthew 24:37-41 Jesus was referring to the Rapture, and not judgment, when He spoke of “one who will be taken” (vv 40-41). The word for took in v 39 is airœ, whereas the word for taken in vv 40-41 is
paralambanœ. Because Christ used two different words, two different kinds of taking are in view. The taking away of v 39 is to judgment, while the taking away of vv 40-41 is to glory. In vv 40-41 the ones left are those who will experience the Tribulation judgments. If this view is correct, then the judgment of the Tribulation will come on the unbelieving world like the Flood—at a time they were not expecting it (vv 34-36). But before that happens, God will deliver His own from the world (vv 40-41; cf. 1 Thess 5:1-13).
Philip Williams
According to Jesus’s reference to Noah’s Flood, those taken are taken in judgment. Those saved are the ones left behind.
Varnel Watson
Philip Williams roughly wrong point of view IF looking from the point WITHIN the ark/rapture the ones taken were taken FROM the judgment and the ones left were left into perdition
Philip Williams
Troy Day but in those prophecies Jesus is referring to false Christs and false prophets deceiving and taking people away from the faith, even those among our own number.
Philip Williams
Troy Day when the Spirit is no longer present, the churches are but a dead body which those vultures will devour. Note what has happened to the mainline churches. They have been devoured by false teachers and prophets.
Philip Williams
Troy Day it is the Spirit that restrains the man of sin who takes over the church, the temple of God? Worship of man well describes a Christian world that no longer believes in God but trusts man’s knowledge and power, just what former Christian America has become.