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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: Brother Markarios, You have explained your view just fine. First I must apologize if I didn't represent my view well. You said "I'm not quite sure of how "those who will be left behind" are those who will be raptured". What I meant by "left behind" is as it states in 1 Thes 4:16-17"and the dead in christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds”. Basically, the Church. Again I didn't explain myself well with Acts 1:11. You're absolutely right, it's not how many people were there to see him ascend, it's the fact that he was taken up in a cloud, very quietly, with only believers seeing him and this is how I believe the Rapture will be, as he states in Matthew 24:37,39. My main point here sir is this: Matthew 24:30 states of Jesus coming in Power and Great Glory. He says that all the tribes on the earth mourn and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven. Now, in verse 31 he sends his angels to gather the elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to another. This is way different than the son of man coming like a thief in the night, in the twinkling of an eye. Do you see the difference between the coming of our Lord in Verse 30 and the way the lord describes it in verses 37,39. This is not a discrepancy, but the “Rapture” and then the coming in Power and Great Glory. You said: “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.” Exactly Marcarios, the church will be caught up leaving those behind to suffer the wrath in the tribulation. Then after the tribulation is the coming in Power and Great Glory, the gathering of the elect and those all across heaven, chaining and throwing Satan into the bottomless pit, reigning with Jesus for a thousand years…. etc, etc. Overcomers of what?? We have to overcome every day, as you well know. There are also Christians in the world these days that are killed for their beliefs and I'm sure it's going to get worse. Sorry but my question "Who is on the earth for Satan to deceive” was somewhat rhetorical but thank you for you answer. A few other points if I may: Rev 4:1-2 is after the church age and before the tribulation. The location of this event is right for the Rapture, a representation of the Church in Heaven. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with the seven successive periods of church history. Chapters 4 and 5 present a vision in heaven and chapter 6 introduces the Tribulation Period. Another point I would like to make is the fact that the “Church’ is referred to 16 times in the first 3 chapters of Revelation whereas chapters 6 through 18, which cover the tribulation, do not mention the Church once. The natural conclusion drawn from this is that the Church will be absent from the events of the Tribulation. The rapture of the Church is not explicitly taught in Revelation 4 but definitely appears here chronologically at the end of the Church age and before the Tribulation. I’m sure we agree that Revelation is in chronological order. Thanks for the discussion. I await your thoughts if you are so inlcined Have a great night Barry |