Bible Rebel

Let’s return to an earlier post in this Rethinking the Rapture series, where I raised a question concerning the words of Jesus in Matthew 24: “One will be taken and one left.”

Matthew 24:40–42 (KJV):

“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.
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”

Would the disciples, to whom Jesus was speaking those words at that time and in that place, have understood Him to be referring to a future Rapture of the Church—where some people would disappear into the sky in a secret event, while their walking or working companions would be left behind on earth?

The context strongly suggests that they would not have understood His words to mean a future Rapture.

The immediately preceding verses, 37–39, compare the coming of the Son of Man to the days of Noah, when people were eating, drinking, and marrying—until the flood came and took them all away.

Plainly, the ones who were “taken” were those swept away in the flood in judgment. The ones left behind were Noah and his family, who were spared and remained on the earth to begin anew after the flood judgment.

Understanding this context should make it crystal clear who Jesus was referring to in Matthew 24:40–42 when He said, “One will be taken and one left.” The one taken is taken in judgment, not in a Rapture. And the one left remains to experience the blessings of the Kingdom—not the punishment of woe and tribulation.

Rethinking The Rapture: Introduction

Rethinking The Rapture: Questions

Rethinking The Rapture: More Questions

Rethinking The Rapture: N.T. Wright’s ‘Farewell to the Rapture’

Rethinking The Rapture: What 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 Doesn’t Say

Rethinking The Rapture: Millions Of Christians Were Not Delivered From Wrath

Rethinking The Rapture: What Does ‘Delivered From Wrath’ Mean?

Rethinking The Rapture: What Does ‘Delivered From Wrath’ Mean? Part 2