My left behind itches...
You can ask different biblical scholars this question and get different answers. At the end of the day we really don’t know but it is fun to argue about.
NC?
Ya just want my stuff, doncha!
- Irenaeus
“We who see that terrible things have begun, and know that still more terrible things are imminent, may regard it as the greatest advantage to depart from it as quickly as possible. Do you not give God thanks, do you not congratulate yourself, that by an early departure you are taken away, and delivered from the shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent? Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free from the snares of the world and restores us to paradise and the kingdom.”
- Cyprian
“We ought to understand thoroughly therefore, my brothers, what is imminent or overhanging. Already there have been hunger and plagues, violent movements of nations and signs, which have been predicted by the Lord, they have already been fulfilled (consummated), and there is not other which remains, except the advent of the wicked one in the completion of the Roman kingdom. Why therefore are we occupied with worldly business, and why is our mind held fixed on the lusts of the world or on the anxieties of the ages? Why therefore do we not reject every care of worldly business, and why is our mind held fixed on the lusts of the world or on the anxieties of the ages? Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from the confusion, which overwhelms all the world? Believe you me, dearest brother, because the coming (advent) of the Lord is nigh, believe you me, because the end of the world is at hand, believe me, because it is the very last time.
Or do you not believe unless you see with your eyes? See to it that this sentence be not fulfilled among you of the prophet who declares: “Woe to those who desire to see the day of the Lord!” For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins. And so, brothers most dear to me, it is the eleventh hour, and the end of the world comes to the harvest, and angels, armed and prepared, hold sickles in their hands, awaiting the empire of the Lord. And we think that the earth exists with blind infidelity, arriving at its downfall early. Commotions are brought forth, wars of diverse peoples and battles and incursions of the barbarians threaten, and our regions shall be desolated, and we neither become very much afraid of the report nor of the appearance, in order that we may at least do penance; because they hurl fear at us, and we do not wish to be changed, although we at least stand in need of penance for our actions!”
- Ephraim the Syrian
I want to be with God in heaven.
Hope that’s unambiguous enough...
The problem is this: taken means killed.
If you lived "in the days of Noah," getting taken by the flood wasn't a good thing. It didn't mean being rescued, it meant getting taken out. Dead. Gone. Killed. Knocked over by the judgment of God. Wiped out by the flood.
Good luck getting this little bit of common sense through the dense noggin of any idiot religious fruitcake.
Thanks so much for posting this. My father was a theologian. Could read Greek/Hebrew. He’d tell me the modern day church skewed much of the Bible because they didn’t understand the original meaning of a word or set of words....or didn’t understand the implication of an example used. Sort of like a camel through the needle. The needle was an opening so small it was difficult to get a camel through with it’s big load of goods to enter the city. So a sewing needle is not what was being spoken of. Plus Christ did tell his disciples some of the current generation would be alive when “these things come to pass’. Yet folks try to say it’s for this generation and have been for quite a few generations!
The Greek word for taken is παραλαμβάνεται in both verses 40 and 41. It is in the present indicative middle/passive tense.
The root word is παραλαμβάνω.
HELPS Word-studies
3880 paralambánō (from 3844 /pará, "from close-alongside" and 2983 /lambánō, "aggressively take") – to take (receive) by showing strong personal initiative.
The greek for left is ἀφίεται.
The root word is ἀφίημι
863 aphíēmi (from 575 /apó, "away from" and hiēmi, "send") – properly, send away; release (discharge).
It is understood that you are leaving someone and not taking them as a companion.
The greek contradicts what you are saying.
In this case you do want to be taken. Who is doing the taking? Christ is. You want to be taken by Him and not left behind by Him as this would mean you are not His companion.
Does it really matter if you believe in the Rapture or not if you believe that Jesus was the living Son of God, lived without sin so that He could become the scapegoat for us all?
Another know-nothing who feels compelled to broadcast his weak point of view.
Darby was the ultimate fruitcake. His Plymouth Bretheran spawned a cabal of demonic influences that continue to curse the world.
There are generational curses instigated by his followers in which their families have suffered horrors for 3 and 4 generations.
I have done intervention on behalf of some of these sufferers for over 40 years with very limited success. They have all turned away from a God they perceive as hate filled and vengeful.
Rest assured those who are taken will suffer the loss of their greatest hope. They will not be left behind to reign with Christ.
Interesting post. This passage indicates we should consider it a gift to suffer for Christ:
Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
So does this one:
Act 5:41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
And this one:
Luk 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
Luk 6:23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
In Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in John 17 there’s also these tidbits:
Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
So Christ is praying for believers at that time in verse 9, then He prayed for all who would ever believe in verse 20. In between, in verse 15, He specifically prayed that the Father (absolutely) not take them out of the world, but to guard them from the evil.
So I see insufficient evidence for a pretrib rapture. On the contrary, I see that Christians are supposed to be prepared to suffer for Christ’s sake, and consider it a gift, because of the eternal rewards involved.
I’m a little confused. Haven’t there already been several “Left Behind” movies?
The important thing to remember is that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from God's wrath. So why would God send those for whom he already died and paid the price through his wrath from which they are saved?
In the flood while Noah is the type of the Jews 144,000 who are sealed and protected through the judgment. Enoch was the type of Christ he had a close relationship with God and was taken up before the judgment.
The best scripture on the rapture, is found in I Thessalonians 4:13-18: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: 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, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
It would not be very comforting to remind each other that we have to go through 7 years of God's wrath. As far as the attitude this should create in us. As we see the prophecies being fulfilled and the stage set for the end times we should be presented with a renewed urgency to spread our faith. We cannot count on the foretold happens of Revelation to convince people the devil has been preparing for this time well (Matthew 24: 24) and Jesus could come back at any time (Matthew 25:13).
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.
God’s mission is not to get us out of earth and into heaven or hell, but rather to redeem earth from the destructive power of sin, death and hell.
Nuf said.
Enoch
Book 1: Watchers
Chapter 1
1 The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be 2 living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed. And he took up his parable and said -Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come.
3 Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them: The Holy Great One will come forth from His dwelling, 4 And the eternal God will tread upon the earth, (even) on Mount Sinai, [And appear from His camp] And appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens.
5 And all shall be smitten with fear And the Watchers shall quake, And great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth. 6 And the high mountains shall be shaken, And the high hills shall be made low, And shall melt like wax before the flame
7 And the earth shall be wholly rent in sunder, And all that is upon the earth shall perish, And there shall be a judgement upon all (men).
8 But with the righteous He will make peace. And will protect the elect, And mercy shall be upon them. And they shall all belong to God, And they shall be prospered, And they shall all be blessed. And He will help them all, And light shall appear unto them, And He will make peace with them'.
9 And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones To execute judgement upon all, And to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.
Reference this to The Parable of the Tares...
Matthew 13
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
You've got to hand it to Jezebel, the rapture is one of her greatest works, the trinity is the other...
There is no scripture supporting pre-trib rapture.
Who are all these believers in the great tribulation (Jacob’s trouble) if they have all been removed from earth?
Pre-trib rapture would mean Jesus returns a second time, yet there is no scripture that says Jesus returns more than once.
There’s two different stories here...
We know that the Lord when he comes, is going to pluck the tares off the earth and leave the wheat...
We also know that the Christians are going to be caught up in the air to meet the Lord...
I think your author ended up wrong because he started out wrong...He doesn’t realize that ‘things that are different are not the same’...`