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NASB | Matthew 24:39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 24:39 and they did not know or understand until the flood came and swept them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be [unexpected judgment]. [Gen 6:5-8; 7:6-24] |
Subject: left during flood,left second coming |
Bible Note: Greetings, Barry! Thank you for your interesting insight! However, I'm not quite sure if I can see where Jesus differentiates in Matthew 24 between two 'separate' comings. Do you believe in a "Second Coming", and then a "Third Coming"? I'm not sure if I see what you mean when you say that Matthew 24 is describing 'two' comings. Also, if you do say that there are 'two' separate comings, do you have some Scriptural support? I do not quite agree with what you have stated about the Rapture, but I'm open to hearing what you have to say. I'm not quite sure of how "those who will be left behind" are those who will be raptured, since 1 Thess. 4:17 is speaking of how we are 'caught up', and 'caught up' and 'taken' (in Matthew 24) are very close in meaning. I believe that the church will be 'caught up' and 'taken' away, leaving those who will suffer God's wrath to be left behind. In my opinion, Matthew 24, Rev. 8, and Rev. 16:9 are clearly speaking of the wrath that God is going to pour out onto the world, against those who have rejected Him and have blasphemed His name. Despite all of this wrath, those who are left on earth will still continue to blaspheme God (Rev. 16:11). You have mentioned Acts 1:11.. What is important about this verse is not the number of people who saw him ascend, but it is the method by which He ascended into heaven. This verse clearly shows us that that is the "thing" that will be exactly the same when He makes His Second Return. The amount of people that saw Him ascend is trivial. It didn't matter if the whole world saw Him ascend or not- it was/is the duty of His disciples to tell the world of how to look for Him (Matthew 28:19). However, I agree with you that the whole world will see Him in His glorious Second Coming! About Rev. 3:10... The Lord clearly states that those who are His ([believers] the church) will not endure His punishment that He will bring upon the world. However, this verse does not say that believers are exempt from witnessing and experiencing the wrath of Satan, in which the Antichrist will come to power. Obviously, believers in Christ are not spared from every temptation or test of Satan, since Christians are tested by Satan every single day. However, if we prove ourselves as faithful to the Lord during the persecution of Satan, and refuse to bow down to Antichrist or his images, then the Lord will protect us from His wrath. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 2 Peter 5:9 also agree that the Lord will protect us entirely, so that we will not be present here, during His wrath, but He does not assure us that we will be entirely spared from the wrath of Satan. We must not forget that we shall prove ourselves as "overcomers"! (Rev. 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26, 3:5, 3:12, 3:21) Overcomers of what?? Overcomers of Satan's wrath and persecution! :-) "Who is on the earth for Satan to deceive.." you ask? Micah 7:17 says that there will be a remnant of Gentile nations that will survive the wrath of God, who "will come trembling out of their fortresses; to the Lord our God they will come in dread, and they will be afraid before Him". Those who, in addition to surviving God's wrath, survive Christ's judgment of the nations (Matt. 25:31, 32; cf. Rev. 20:4), will become the remnant of the non-Jewish nations that go into the millennial kingdom. They will be the very same people who Christ and we, the redeemed, will 'rule' over, and they will be the same who will be deceived by Satan after he is let loose at the conclusion of the 1,000 year Millennial reign of Christ. I hope that I have explained my view a little more clearly! Blessings to you, Makarios |