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NASB | Matthew 24:22 "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 24:22 "And if those days [of tribulation] had not been cut short, no human life would be saved; but for the sake of the elect (God's chosen ones) those days will be shortened. |
Subject: Questions for a Pretribulationist |
Bible Note: Hi Kalos, I will be posting answers to these questions, since you asked. Of the "questions" in this article, the majority are an attack on the proponents of pre-trib rapture, without much substantiation or scriptural support. An example is: (quoting from the referenced article) "Third, pretribulationism views substantial sections of New Testament Scripture as having no application to the Church (in fact, many pretribulationists find it necessary to eliminate the entire Book of Matthew). For this reason, the applicability of the Beatitudes to the Church is denied, as well at the Great Commission in order to protect pretribulationism from the plain and obvious teachings concerning the timing of Christ's return as given in the Olivet Discourse!" Additionally, "Pretribulationism sees much, if not all, of the Book of Matthew and most of the Book of Revelation as not written for the Church, but rather for "unsaved" Israel that will come to know Christ during the 70th Week. How can the Church not be in mind in these key passages in light of the given audiences to whom these books are written (Rev. 1:1 - His bondservants, and 22:16 - the churches, and Mt. 28:20 - the new disciples from all nations)? In reality, pretribulationism accomplishes for the conservative Christian what he dare not do with culture. Liberalism throws out Scripture because it says it is cultural. Pretribulationism throws Scripture into what Greek scholar, Samuel Tregelles, called "The Jewish wastebasket" because it says it is not applicable to the Church." Personally, I cannot think of any, not a one, pre-trib believer who would even dream of "throwing out the book of Matthew"! Or any other scripture, for that matter! The application of scripture is to all of us, whether or not the events spoken of happen to me, or to you, or to Jonah. Neither of us has been swollowed by a fish, and it doesn't seem likely to been happening, but we don't simply disregard the book of Jonah for that reason. Obviously, the sermon on the mount, and all the rest of Jesus' teachings are "useful for doctrine, correction, etc." Not to mention, immediately after the rapture, there will be 144,000 Jews who will be saved, as the focus moves from the church (just removed) to Israel (blinders coming off). The Bible is written for them also. The fact - here's a fact, folks - is that both pre-trib and "pre-wrath" teach that there comes a time when the church is removed from the earth, and that there are events described in the Bible that happen after that time, and before the church returns to the earth. The difference is simply when that happens, and how much time passes between. I would imagine that "pre-wrath" (actually, pre-trib rapture is "pre-wrath", since that more then anything defines the timing of the rapture) proponents would not describe themselves as "throwing out scripture". Is this article a scholarly argument, or a personal insult? Love in Christ, Mark |