📖Matthew 24:40–41 “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
✅ 1. The Context of Matthew 24 Is Israel, Not the Body of Christ which was still a Mystery hid in God back here, first revealed to the Apostle Paul - The Apostle of the Gentiles Romans 11:13
📖Matthew 24:1-3 — The disciples ask Jesus about the temple, the end of the age, and His coming - And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 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?
This is rooted in Jewish prophecy, not Pauline mystery.
📖Romans 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: [9] And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
📖Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
📖2 Corinthians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more
Jesus answers and references:
🔹Daniel’s prophecy (v.15),
🔹The holy place (temple),
🔹The Sabbath (v.20),
And tribulation language tied to Israel’s prophetic program - Daniels 70th Week.
📌 Note: The Body of Christ had not yet been revealed. It was still a mystery hidden from the prophets (Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:5–9). The Body of Christ did not exist, was not present, and the Catching away (Rapture) was not yet taught - Israel were not looking to be taken to Heaven, they were looking for a promised eternal city/Kingdom to come to earth.
🔹Isaiah 9:6–7 – speaks of the Messiah ruling on David’s throne.
🔹Jeremiah 23:5–6 – a righteous King will reign and execute justice in the earth.
🔹Daniel 2:44 – God sets up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.
📖 Acts 1:6-7 “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
The disciples, all Jews, were still expecting a literal, earthly kingdom promised in the Old Testament — one where Israel would be restored and rule under the Messiah.
The Lord Jesus Christ does not correct their expectation of a restored kingdom; He simply tells them the timing is not theirs to know (Acts 1:7).
✅ 2. The "Taken" Are Taken in Judgment, Not in/to Glory
📖Matthew 24:40–41 — “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”
Many modern day sensationalist prophecy teachers assert this refers to the Catching away of the Body of Christ, but that’s not true nor consistent with the text.
📖Matthew 24:37–39 “...so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood... the flood came, and took them all away...”
In Noah’s day, those who were taken were taken in judgment (drowned in the flood), and those left (Noah and his family) were preserved and entered a new world.
🔁 So likewise in Matthew 24:
🔹The "taken" are those removed in judgment at Christ’s Second Coming.
🔹The "left" are those who survive the tribulation and enter the millennial kingdom
📖Matthew 25:31–34 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:).
🔹Luke 17:37 – Proves The “Taken” Are Taken to Death
📖Luke 17:37 — “And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.”
The disciples asked, “Where are they taken?” and Jesus replies with a vivid image of corpses and birds of prey—a symbol of mass death and judgment.
Parallel with:
📖Revelation 19:17–18 — “...Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings...”
These “eagles” (vultures) are invited to feast on the slain enemies of Christ at His Second Coming—a picture of wrath, certainly not rescue.
✅ 3. The Catching away (Rapture) Is a Mystery, Not Found in Matthew 24 and was exclusively revealed to Paul, not the 12
📖 Ephesians 3:1–5 “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given ME to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit…”
📖1 Corinthians 15:51 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed...”
📖1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “...the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up... to meet the Lord in the air...”
Paul speaks of being taken up to be with Christ, not left on earth to suffer His wrath.
The catching away (or rapture) pertains to the Body of Christ—God’s heavenly people—who must be taken to their eternal home in heaven. In contrast, Matthew 24 describes events that occur on earth and are specifically related to Israel—God’s earthly people—during the time of tribulation
✅ 4. Those Left in Matthew 24 Enter the Earthly Kingdom
📖Matthew 25:34 — “Then shall the King say unto them... Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you...”
The "left" are the righteous Jews and Gentiles who came to faith during the tribulation (Everlasting gospel Revelation 14:6-7) who successfully endure and survive the tribulation.
They are not caught up to Heavenly places but rather enter the millennial kingdom—an earthly reign promised to Israel under Christ (Isaiah 2:2–4, Zechariah 14:9–16).
📖Matthew 19:28-30 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. There are no tribes or nationalities in the Body of Christ - Neither Jew nor Gentile but a New Creature
This is the opposite of the Catching away, where the Body of Christ are taken to be with the Lord in heaven. He came in the clouds to call Paul, He will come in the clouds to collect us
📖2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, ETERNAL in the heavens.
The Body of Christ is not waiting for a kingdom on earth, we are a heavenly people (Philippians 3:20) and will be taken to glory before the wrath of God is unleashed
📖1 Thess 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
📖Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
📖1 Corinthians 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The “last trump” in 1 Corinthians does not refer to one of the seven trumpets of Revelation, which were not a mystery. Thus, the “last trump” of the Body of Christ happens before the first trumpet of Revelation ever sounds
1 Corinthians 15:52 / 1 Thessalonians 4:16 — The trumpet is a call to gather the Body of Christ to meet the Lord in the air.
Revelation 8–11 — The trumpets are judgments, unleashing plagues, war, and destruction on the earth to which we are not appointed.
📌 One is a signal of hope and transformation; the other is a warning of wrath and judgment.
📖1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. 11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
📖Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
📖2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. 8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to MY gospel: 9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
📖2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
These things will happen and tomorrow is not promised to anyone, you have a choice about where your never-dying soul will spend eternity — in the glory of paradise with Christ, or in eternal torment, burning in the lake of fire. The good news is this: Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day. Believe this gospel of grace from your heart, and you are saved in that very moment — fully, freely, and forever 1 Corinthians 15: Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Sarah A
No comments:
Post a Comment