Decypher

Matthew 24

[37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[38] 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,
[39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[40] Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
[41] Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.



Is it good to be "taken" in Matt. 24:40-41, or bad?

Keith&Co.

People were having a good time until the Flood 'took them all away.'
If this is meant to provide an analogy, 'taken' seems to be a bad thing.

James Brown

I was always taught that this passage describes the Rapture, and every Christian wanted to be in on that gig.

Especially if you saw the film A Thief in the Night.

Decypher

With the "rapture" believers, (pre-trib), most of their commentators deny that this passage is about the rapture.

Decypher

Perhaps. But it's noted that the greek words used are different.

James Brown

Not been my experience.

Here's an old standby campfire song from the church camps I attended every year, "I Wish We'd All Been Ready"

Two men walking up a hill;
One disappears and one's left standing still.
I wish we'd all been ready.

There's no time to change your mind.
The Son has come, and you've been left behind.

funinspace

Me three, with 12 or so years of Evangelical church experience.

Decypher

Thomas Ice:

"In the early 1970s, probably the most popular song within the “Jesus movement,” was one entitled: “I Wish We’d All Been Ready,” by Larry Norman. I was involved in this movement and we rarely met when we did not sing Norman’s song....


While I tend to like songs about the rapture, (I generally like this song), I do not think Matthew 24:40–42 (compare Luke 17:34–37) is a reference to the rapture, instead, Christ has in mind His second coming."

http://www.pre-trib.org/data/pdf/Ice...Interpreta.pdf

Decypher

John F. Hart provides:

...By far, the most common interpretive approach by pretribulationists is to assign Matt 24:29-31 and 24:36-44 to the same posttribulational Second Coming of Christ.6 Accordingly, the Rapture is not found in the Discourse whether it is a posttribulational or pretribulational Rapture.7 Nevertheless, a few, but only a few, pretribulationists argue that the Rapture is taught in Matthew 24, specifically in 24:36-44.8...


6 Contra Carson, who thinks that the most common view among pretribulationists is to assign vv 36-40 to the rapture of the church. D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 8:494. Later, on p 495, however, he acknowledges that many dispensationalists deny the rapture in the Discourse.

7 Louis A. Barbieri Jr., “Matthew,” Bible Knowledge Commentary, NT, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1983), 76-79; Paul N. Benware, Understanding End Times Prophecy: A Comprehensive Approach (Chicago: Moody, 1995), 209; Ron J. Bigalke Jr., “The Olivet Discourse: A Resolution of Time,” Conservative Theological Seminary Journal 9 (spring 2003): 106-40; Thomas R. Edgar, “An Exegesis of Rapture Passages,” in Issues in Dispensationalism, ed. Wesley R. Willis, John R. Master, and Charles C. Ryrie (Chicago: Moody, 1994), 217, 221; Paul D. Feinberg, “Dispensational Theology and the Rapture,” in Issues in Dispensationalism, ed. Wesley R. Willis, John R. Master, and Charles C. Ryrie (Chicago: Moody, 1994), 242-43; Feinberg, “The Case for the Pretribulation Rapture,” Three Views, 80, 225, 229-31; E. Schuyler English, Rethinking the Rapture (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1954), 41-55; Ed Glasscock, Matthew, Moody Gospel Commentary (Chicago: Moody, 1997), 476; William K. Harrison, “The Time of the Rapture as Indicated by Certain Passages: Part III: The Time of the Rapture in the Light of Matthew 24,” Bibliotheca Sacra 115 (April-June 1958): 109-19; John MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 24–28 (Chicago: Moody, 1989), 70-72; Russell L. Penney, “Why the Church Is Not Referenced in the Olivet Discourse,” Conservative Theological Journal 1 (April 1997): 47-60; J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study of Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1964), 162, 275-85; James F. Rand, “The Eschatology of the Olivet Discourse” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1954), 126, 162; Charles C. Ryrie, Come Quickly, Lord Jesus: What You Need to Know about the Rapture (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1996), 94-97; Ryrie, What You Should Know about the Rapture (Chicago: Moody, 1981), 82-84; Renald Showers, Maranatha: Our Lord Comes! (Bellmawr, NJ: Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1995), 178-84; John A. Sproule, “An Exegetical Defense of Pretribulationism” (Th.D. dissertation, Grace Theological Seminary, 1981), 56, 60; Gerald B. Stanton, Kept from the Hour (Miami Springs, FL: Schoettle, 1991), 57-65; David L. Turner, “The Structure and Sequence of Matt 24:1-41: Interaction with Evangelical Treatments,” Grace Theological Journal 10 (spring 1989): 21-22; Stanley D. Toussaint, “Are the Church and the Rapture in Matthew 24?” in When the Trumpet Sounds, ed. Thomas Ice and Timothy Demy (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1995), 235-50; Stanley Toussaint, Behold the King (Portland: Multnomah, 1980), 280-82; John F. Walvoord, The Blessed Hope and the Tribulation (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 85-90; John F. Walvoord, “Christ’s Olivet Discourse on the Time of the End: Part I,” Bibliotheca Sacra 128 (April 1971): 116.

8 Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events (San Antonio: Ariel Press, 1982), 446-47; Hodges, Jesus, God’s Prophet, 24-32; Dave Hunt, How Close Are We? Compelling Evidence for the Soon Return of Christ (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1993), 105-6, 210-11, 238, 314-15; J. F. Strombeck, First the Rapture (Moline, IL: Strombeck Agency, 1950), 68-71; Ray C. Stedman, What on Earth’s Going to Happen? (Glendale, CA: Regal Books, G/L Publications, 1970), 130-43. Beechick understands the Discourse as a double reference, applying to both tribulation saints and the church. Allen Beechick, The Pretribulation Rapture (Denver: Accent Books, 1980), 231-68. Wood states that the Discourse implies the rapture in 24:42-44 and that Jesus’ language has an unusual similarity to other passages on the pretribulational rapture. Leon J. Wood, The Bible and Future Events: An Introductory Survey of Last-Day Events (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1973), 91.

(John F. Hart, Should Pretribulationists Reconsider the Rapture in Matthew 24:36-44? Part 1 of 3)

Decypher

Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum:

"Within premillennial and pretribulational circles, the majority view today is that this passage is speaking of the Second Coming rather than the Rapture."

http://www.quickening-spirit.com/pdf...-discourse.pdf