Originally Posted by Originalist
My rebuttal will be simple, appealing to simple grammatical construction....
Jesus starts his discourse speaking of a sorrowful time that is to come preceding his coming....
So we have sorrowful time that includes deception by false Christs, wars and nations rising against nations, etc. But then Jesus tells us more things that will happen at this time of sorrows...
In verse 9 he says…..Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Notice the word “Then” in this verse. “Then” is a pronoun, a word that takes the place of a noun. Every pronoun has an antecedent, which is the noun that the pronoun is replacing. It is found “ante” or before the pronoun in the discourse or sentence. So what is the “then” Jesus is referring to in verse 9 describing a time when men shall betrayed, delivered up, afflicted, hated and killed for their allegiance to the name of Christ? The answer is very simple. Look for the antecedent, which is this sorrowful time described in verses 5-8. Simple grammar. It’s a continual grammatical flow. This also applies to verses 10-14…
The pronoun “then” in verses 9 and 10 share the same antecedent. The continual use of the word “and” in verses 10-14 connect them to verse 9, which I’ve already proven to be connected to the sorrowful time described in verse 5-8. The grammatical river is flowing along nicely thus far.
Then, in verse 15, Jesus tells us what launches this time of sorrow…..
The word therefore is key here. It is backward looking, describing everything mentioned in verses 5-14 as a consequence of what happens in verse 15. The Abomination of Desolation launches this time of sorrows mentioned in verses 5-14, also known as the Great Tribulation…
Again we see the pronoun then pointing back to its antecedent found in verse 15, the Abomination of Desolation. Jesus is clearly talking about the same period of time in verses 5-22. The basic grammar dictates this.
Jesus continues on….
Verses 25-27 also prove that this whole discourse is talking about one period of time, the events immediately leading up to the coming of Christ and our gathering unto him. Notice in verse 25 he reminds them that he has already warned them about false Christs. He did this in verse 5. Therefore, verse 5 is connected to verses 26-27 which are telling us how to distinguish between false Christs and the real Christ, and the way we know the difference is how we see Christ at his second coming. This eliminates the possibility that, as you put it, verses 4-8 and verses 5-9 are describing separate periods of time.
Continuing…..
Notice the pronoun “then” in verse 30. The antecedent for "then" is the time immediately after the tribulation when supernatural, destructive cosmic events begin to happen. The son of man returns at this time and his saints are gathered.
Simple grammatical rules have proven that Jesus is referring to the same period of time from verses 5-31.
Of verses 36-51 you said…..
..
It appears that you are saying that the events in verses 36-51 are distinct from and happen prior to the events described in verses 29-31. Again, simple grammar will prove otherwise with no difficulty. Look at verse 36….
Ah, another one of those pesky, inconvenient pronoun that requires an antecedent!
Notice the pronoun “that (day)” in verse 36. What day? We must find the antecedent to know and the nearest antecedent is found in verses 30-31…..
“That day” in verse 36 is none other than the day that Jesus returns found in verses 30-31. To say otherwise is to ignore grammar. It will not work. This is also true of verses 37-51. The pre-trib doctrine falls without a whimper by simple grammar.
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