Quote:
Originally Posted by Raven
Millions in merchandising have been made by the creators of the "Left Behind" series. If you grew up in Pentecost, as I have, you can remember revivals, youth camps, and conferences, where altars were full of crying young people and the smell of brimstone was almost real. Perhaps an evangelist had screamed into a mike that the trumpet was about to sound and many were going to be left behind. Or you walked into an unexpectedly quiet house after school and panicked when Mom couldn't be found. Left behind! You missed the Rapture! You lived in fear of being left behind.
Perhaps it is time to take a new look at some old things. I'm not here to discuss Rapture, Pre- Mid- or Post, but to examin the scripture that was used to propagate the "left behind" doctrine. Are you sure you don't want to be left behind?
Matthew 24:37-41
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
It is obvious, with some examination, that the ones "taken" are taken in judgment and that Noah was "left" behind. Whatever one believes about the "Rapture", you certainly, from this scripture, want to be left behind!
Raven
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I disagree.
Here is why. The immediate context could look as though Jesus is comparing the flood victims with those that are taken, but the grammar is quite different.
Mat 24:39 And they knew nothing until the flood came and
took them all away. It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man.
airō
A primary verb; to lift; by implication to take up or away; figuratively to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind); specifically to sail away (that is, weigh anchor); by Hebraism (compare [H5375]) to expiate sin: - away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).
Now compare that to the other verse.
Mat 24:40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be
taken and one left.
Here is the word for taken
paralambanō
to receive near, that is, associate with oneself (in any familiar or intimate act or relation); by analogy to assume an office; figuratively to learn: - receive, take (unto, with).
That doesn't sound like judgment
Now here is the larger context.
Mat 24:30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Jesus was explaining in the later verses about the "gathering" to Himself of His elect